Nothing Doing

At least not in the Cardinal neck of the woods.  No deals made at all, not even a minor prospect for a reliever.  That's a bit disappointing, as I talked about in this morning's post.  It just seems to me that with the momentum of a decent Carpenter start, making a gesture trade, at least, would have an impact in the clubhouse.  I'm sure that some players will take this as "they think we've got enough to win" but a lot of Cardinal Nation is taking it as an overvaluation of prospects by those that drafted them.

I'm not saying that they should have parted with Rasmus or three or four of the top guys.  But we all remember when Player X or Pitcher Y was the next big thing who would be a big star, only to see them fizzle out at the major league level.  There comes a point where you have to accept the risk that a player will blossom elsewhere to obtain a player that can help you win right now.  Otherwise, you have situations like Anthony Reyes, who went from a World Series starter who would have commanded quite a bit of talent after the '06 season to a middling talent in '07 to barely worth a minor league reliever (apparently) in '08.

There could be waiver deals still, of course, though the chances of quality left-handed relievers being available is very slim.  Right now, though, the Cards have to win with what they have.  A victory tonight over Atlanta gives the Cards the Wild-Card lead after the Brewers were swept by the Cubbies.  (Not something I particularly wanted to see, but you take the silver lining where you can.)  If you can go into August in the WC lead, you've probably done something right with your season.

Let's hope that the shuffling of roles in the 'pen pans out (if Izzy can get back to closer level, that's huge) and when Wainwright returns, his presence helps the team out as well.  Buckle up, folks, we've got a wild ride ahead.


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