The Final Wrapup

Sadly, the season is now over.  Let's take a quick look at the last four games.

Thursday
Hero: Albert Pujols.  3-3, a HR, 4 RBI.....what else do you want from him?
Goat: Wow, tough to find one in a 12-3 win.  In possibly the toughest call yet, we'll go with Jason LaRue.  Even though he drove in two, he was 1-5 and left nine on base.
Notes: Really take no pleasure in eliminating the Diamondbacks, but that's the way it goes.

Friday
Hero: Troy Glaus.  You bring in the game winner, you get the tag.  Though Pujols and Felipe Lopez laid claims as well.
Goat: Ryan Franklin.  It wouldn't be the same without some bullpen meltdowns in the last week, would it?
Notes: Pujols ran his consecutive hits streak to seven in this game.  Too bad there wasn't about another week or two, or that Chipper had been healthy enough to play.  Albert might have gotten another batting title.

Saturday
Hero: Ryan Ludwick.  Two for three while filling a lot of columns in the box score.  Plus he didn't leave anyone on base.
Goat: Chris Perez.  They weren't earned, but he's going to have to do a better job of keeping runs from scoring if he wants the closer role next year.
Notes: You know, if the Cards could have played this well against teams they were supposed to beat, this might have been a different season.

Sunday
Hero: Felipe Lopez.  4-5, 2 runs, 3 RBI.  VEB's got a discussion of Lopez up today.  I'm in the "bring him back" camp, because something seems to have clicked for him in St. Louis.  He'd definitely be a step up from most of our middle infielders.
Goat: Kelvim Jimenez.  A good game all around for most everyone, but Jimenez gives up a HR to the first batter he faces.  Not good, even in a blowout game.
Notes: Awesome way to end the season.  Players get pulled for standing Os, no real drama, just a fun day at the ballpark.

And apparently Kyle Lohse will be a Cardinal for a while longer.  The team has a press conference today which should be to announce his long-term contract.  Leaving the money issue alone for the moment, two things about this struck me.  One, the Cardinals were able to get a Scott Boras client to sign without testing free agency.  Granted, Lohse's experience in the FA market last year wasn't quite what he was looking for, but still you'd have to think coming off a 15 win season instead of a 9-12 season would get a number of teams interested.  I wonder if this is a case of the client telling the agent, "This is where I want to be.  Make it work."

Secondly, in my mind it means they are very concerned about Chris Carpenter.  Getting Lohse now means that they have a bird in the hand, so to speak, when they go out into the free agent market.  They can get a #3 type starter and not have to go for broke on a Burnett or something like that.  You have Wainwright, Lohse, Wellemeyer locked in for next year.  Get a FA and the fifth slot could be filled with Carpenter, if his health issues actually clear up, Pineiro, Garcia, Boggs--there are a lot of options.  If you think Carp's going to be good to go from day 1, though, I think you wait and see what you can get on the market, maybe sign Looper back because he'll be cheaper.

Speaking of, that should be the end of Looper in a Cardinal uniform, something that kind of surprises me.  Being that he was such a personal project of Dave Duncan and Tony LaRussa and that he'd been basically as effective, mostly, as Lohse, I figured that the Cards would go after him first.  I guess it's possible they'd bring him back, but I think if they go into next year with the same starting rotation, people would be a little restless.  Though it's true that's not the weakness they really have to address.

John Mozeliak said that this offseason would be "aggressive and creative".  I'm not sure that Lohse counts on the creative side (unless it opens more options) but it definitely is aggressive.  We'll talk about the money when we are sure what it is.

Postseason baseball will be a topic here as well.  First off, I can almost guarantee that the Tigers win today.  Every couple of years, these scenarios come up where a game will have to be played Tuesday and things will be thrown out of kilter.  It never fails that something happens to keep that scenario on paper instead of reality.  If the Tigers win today, that would follow that script.

The Angels are going to be a tough team for anyone to beat.  With Beckett not getting to go twice, the Sox are already at a disadvantage, though it's not like they are a weak club.  That should be a good series, but I'd go with the Angels.

In the National League, I think you have to give Philadelphia the edge since Sheets is out for the Brewers.  Sabathia's proven his worth, but even he can't win three games in a five game series.  On the other side, I sincerely hope the Dodgers will take out the Cubs.  If Zambrano is more like the Zambrano the Cards beat around recently, there's a decent chance.  If he's on, especially in a short series, he and Harden will push the Cubs to the NLCS.

A big UCB project is in the works.  More on that later.


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