The Final Nails

Wow.  Don't blog for a while and see what happens.  The Cardinals had been able to fool themselves that they were on the fringes of a wild-card race.  The last five days took care of that.

Wednesday
Hero: Albert Pujols.  Two for four, drove in one, scored one.
Goat: I guess I'll go with Felipe Lopez because of the costly errors, but Looper wasn't pitching that well in that inning anyway.  He'd allowed three straight hits to start the inning, allowing the tying run to score, before Lopez became involved.  And the way that Lilly was going, just one more run might have made the difference.
Notes: Momentum is your next starting pitcher.  After the late comeback against the Cubs on Tuesday, the Cardinals again can't continue it.  In fact, it's very similar to the comeback against Milwaukee, because then the Cards lost their next four.

Thursday
Hero: Wow, did anyone really play well enough to get that title?  Let's flip the above and give the Hero to Felipe Lopez, for his 1-4, RBI day.
Goat: Albert Pujols. To whom much is given, much is expected.  A chance to tie the game in the ninth but instead he ends it.  Toss in the error that lead to some unearned runs and a 1-5 day and there you have it.
Notes: If I were a Cub fan (and actually could live with myself), I'd be really nervous about taking Kerry Wood into the postseason.  Kinda like how Cardinal fans felt about Izzy this year.

Friday
Hero: Josh Phelps.  Why not?  Another game where no one really distinguished themselves.  Phelps was 1-2 and scored a run.
Goat: Joel Pineiro.  Seven runs in four plus innings?
Notes: If you ever wondered about whether this team was in decline, having a beatdown put on you by a team that hasn't been able to score since the trading deadline will pretty much confirm it.

Saturday
Hero: Felipe Lopez.  2 for 6 with a two-run HR that (I thought) had put the game away.
Goat: Adam Wainwright.  If he'd pitched as well as he hit (2 for 3) it'd have been a totally different story.  With a four run lead and Waino on the mound against Pittsburgh, you'd almost put your life savings on a Cardinal win.  But to not even get an out in the fifth?
Notes: Give the bullpen some credit.  They went 7.1 innings and allowed two hits and a run.  Unfortunately the Cardinals didn't score and that run was in the 12th, but still, a darn good performance overall.

Sunday
Hero: Brian Barton.  Two for three and a walk.
Goat: Brad Thompson.  For all the talk about who was going to pitch Friday and Sunday, it turned out it didn't really matter what order you threw Thompson and Pineiro in.  Six earned runs and he couldn't even make it into the fifth before blowing up like the rest of the rotation did.
Notes: I'm sure there was a lot of frustration building in that clubhouse, as evidenced by the brawl at the end of the game.  That said, looking through the box scores, you don't get the feeling of frustration but more of apathy, of weariness.  It looks like this team will be ready for the 29th to get here.

And, of course, we must talk about the fact that a team that was so blessed with outfielders that they couldn't find room for their top prospect is now using Aaron Miles in center field occasionally.  This is getting a little long, so more after the jump.




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In an article this weekend where he pledged to have an "aggressive" offseason, John Mozeliak said that the decisions not to promote David Freese and Colby Rasmus were "defensible".  They are--but that defense was pretty thin for a while there, though now that the Redbirds are roasted it's not as big of a deal.

Let's look, though.  Glaus is out.  Ankiel is out.  Carpenter is out.  Duncan is out.  Molina is hobbling and, with his exit yesterday, is questionable.  Mather is out.  Garcia is out.  Izzy is out.

That's a lot of outs.  (Almost as many as the Cardinal offense produced this weekend--but I digress.)  Doesn't it make sense a week or so ago, when teams were trying to hand you a wild-card berth, to shore up the team somewhat instead of going out shorthanded all the time?

Nothing against these players, but when you see a lineup with Josh Phelps and Nick Stavinoha in the outfield, Felipe Lopez at third and Brian Barden at second, does that make you feel like you've got a strong chance to win?  I know Lopez has done well since he got here and Barden had a strong minor league campaign, but overall, does that look like a team contending or a team just playing out the string?

Would Freese or Rasmus been the savior of the squad?  Probably not.  Would they have contributed?  Good possibility.  If nothing else, getting a breath of fresh air at a crucial time could help the team mindset.  It seemed like the same thing that happened after the treading deadline.  Cards went and lost two of three and went 5-5 in their first 10 after the deadline passed.  Would a small deal have helped?  Who knows?

If nothing else, it seems like the front office gave up on 2008 before the team and fans did.  Sometimes they have to do that, I know.  Not sure that this was one of those times, though.

And, of course, it's possible that we've already alienated the guy that was supposed to be our next big thing.  Rasmus was originally scheduled to play winter ball, but now apparently has made the personal decision not to do so.  The team says his knee is an issue, he says that the leg is 100%.  And when he sees Miles playing center, what do you think THAT does for his mental well-being?

Add the fact that there are rumors that the Cards would consider trading him when earlier in the season he was an untouchable and it makes you wonder just exactly what has gone on behind the scenes this season.

The offseason should be one full of discussion, promise and activity.  We'll see if that actually happens, but some of that is starting now.  You'll remember that I advocated going after Roy Halladay at the trading deadline.  The Red Baron wrote about that this weekend at VEB, working up a package that'd bring him in.  I hope these are the kind of things that Mozeliak is looking at, rather than ideas in the vein of the past gambles of Matt Clement and Mark Mulder.

Something to keep an eye on.  In his Facebook group, Derrick Goold notes that Perez and Motte aren't locks for the ninth inning next season.  If the Cardinals go out and spend money on a closer, I think a lot of the fears that we had about Mozeliak being "Tony's man" might be a little closer to fruition.  The story line the whole year was let the kids play, let's see what we have, and let's develop prospects for cost control down the road.  These prospects were too valuable to let go at the trading deadline to make a push for this year.  Should we really be looking at not using them in the roles they were intended for in 2009?

Speaking of prospects, a player that I left off our recent rankings but I'm starting to hear more about is Niko Vazquez.  If he's for real, the Cardinals may have an answer to their middle infield problems in a couple of years.  Alex at Baseball-Intellect has analyzed Vazquez and his swing.  Pretty interesting if you want to check it out.

The final day off of the season today, then a two week push to the end.  Hopefully there will be games much better than the last ones to discuss.  Programming note: a live blog for the UCB and our readers is coming this weekend!