A Helpless Feeling

Back in 1997, the Cardinals were in a pennant race with the Houston Astros.  At least from my memory, it seemed like the Cards kept hanging around and couldn't make a move.  All the talk was about getting McGwire.  Then the Cardinals played a series against the Astros right before the deadline and lost, pushing them 7 or so games out.  On the trading deadline, the Cards got McGwire, but it really was too little too late then.  (Though, obviously, it worked out in different ways over the long-term.)

That's the feeling I get with the Cardinals saying wait for Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright to get back.  Sure, Carp goes this week it now appears, but I still get the feeling that if you expect this to be that boost that puts the Cards over the top, it may come too late for them really to make a run.

Honestly, I'm thinking after this weekend, even though the Cards are still about where they were going into it, it's not likely to really matter without some sort of injection.  The bullpen is killing the team, but the starters aren't helping by forcing the pen into action much earlier.  And the offense--save the extra inning blowup, and even then there were some of the same questions--needs to kick into gear.

Let's recap in our own special way, starting with the last game of the Brewers series:

Thursday
Hero: Skip Schumaker.  2-4 on a night when the hits weren't plentiful.
Goat: Ryan Franklin.  Taking you from victory to defeat with one swing.

Friday
Hero: Ryan Ludwick.  2-4 with a run and a RBI.
Goat: Mitchell Boggs.  The Mets may have your number, but you've got to last longer than that.

Saturday
Hero: Albert Pujols.  Hitting the GW HR on a five-hit night will do that.  Honorable mention to Skip Schumaker for six hits, including getting AP to the plate.
Goat: Joel Pineiro.  Staked to a four run lead before taking the field, he immediately tried to give it back.  Plus he didn't even make it to the fifth either.

Sunday
Hero: Albert Pujols.  2-4 and kept Santana from getting the shutout.
Goat: Kyle Lohse.  That second home run in the sixth was on a "I don't care" pitch, it looked like.

So, as it stands right now, the Cards are four back of the Cubs, three back of the Brewers for the wild card.  It's hard to say mail it in, but what if this latest run of six losses in seven games is more of a testament to the Cards finally coming back to earth than just a bump in the road?

Being that I think the front office isn't going to panic and do something short-sighted to make a run this year, I don't think it matters too much here at the deadline which it is save for one thing: Kyle Lohse.  His value probably won't ever be higher.  If he could fetch two top prospects, wouldn't you have to do it if you think things aren't going to get better?

I'm not necessarily advocating such a move, I'm just saying that it'd be understandable if it came down.  I know a lot of people would be screaming about the Cards giving up on the season, but remember the white-flag trades of the White Sox had them celebrating in October just a couple of years later.

On the more realistic front, at least depending on your point of view, there are reports that the Cardinals are the front-runners for Brian Fuentes of the Rockies.  There's still talk about the Cardinals wanting Matt Holliday in that deal as well, but I really can't see that coming down.  Getting any arm into the bullpen may have a stabilizing effect on the rest of the corp.  I'm sure that's the hope, at least.

I've not heard any more on Roy Halladay than the initial report that the Jays had talked to St. Louis about him, but I would really like to see that one come down.  Getting a pitcher that could reliably go 7 innings would do wonders for the 'pen as well.

Off the field, as noted above, Carpenter comes back to the flock on Wednesday.  I'm actually a little disappointed, because his next rehab start was supposed to be with Springfield in Little Rock and I was starting to make plans to go.  That said, after his strong start on Friday at Memphis, there was little chance he wasn't going to make the next turn in the majors, especially with the team starting to crumble.  It'd be great if he could get into the sixth and be the real Chris Carpenter, but we'll just have to wait and see.

And, finally, the Anthony Reyes saga ended.  I don't know much about the guy coming back--I've not had a chance to read Erik's take at Future Redbirds yet--but to me, it seems to be a case of an organization just destroying a prospect.  Whomever was to blame and whatever the problems were, for his value to drop so drastically in just a couple of years is hard to fathom.  If nothing else, he should have been given a few more chances this year to build up his value a little bit.  I hope Reyes has a lot of success with the Indians.

That's enough for now.  We'll take a look at the starters sometime tomorrow.  Before I go, though, a note to the United Cardinal Bloggers.  Any of you that aren't on Facebook, you might want to consider joining up.  I've set up a group for us to use as a sounding board/discussion area for future projects.  Instead of sending roundtable e-mails around, we might just put up a discussion thread and then use that for the transcripts to blog.  So check it out when you can.




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