Recently in Cardinal Nation Category

Big Win in Philly

The Cardinals showed last night that the road doesn't intimidate them this year.  They've struggled away from Busch the last couple of years, but this year they can beat people anywhere.  In fact, they have the best road record in the National League, one of only two NL teams (Philadelphia is the other) with a winning record on the road.

You can't say enough about the job Joel Pineiro did last night.  He had a tough draw, going up against Cole Hamels in a launching pad, but he kept the powerful Phils off the board.  The Cards really needed a win after the weekend and all the trading activity in the division and he provided.

Tough to give anyone a Goat tag when they go up against someone like Hamels, but Troy Glaus gets it not only for his 0-4 but his double play he hit into in the ninth against Lidge.  An insurance run there would have made me feel a lot better about Ryan Franklin facing Utley, Howard and Burrell in the ninth, though it turns out it wasn't necessary.

The Cubs called the Brewers' raise in the pitching department, getting Rich Harden to add to their stable.  We all know the caveats on Harden, but if he is healthy, that gives the Cubs the 1-2 punch they've been lacking.  I've always thought that Zambrano was basically the only pitcher on that staff and they were getting by with the rest of them.  Adding Harden makes me a lot more concerned about their postseason life--they may have enough to go deeper in October, if they get there.

So what do the Cardinals do now?  Both of the top competitors have added aces.  I know Mozeliak is going to say things like "no need to do anything," "nothing on the burners", "the calvery will be like a trade," but is that really true?  I know that Wainwright will be back sometime in August, which does give a boost, but that's just getting the team back to health.  If Carpenter does make it back this year, he's not going to be able to provide significant innings, so as nice as it'll be to see him on the mound, will he really be the difference maker if he's going two times a week out of the pen?

I'd like to see the Cards make a run at Erik Bedard, if they can get him at a reasonable price.  These last couple of trades may make that unlikely, since both the Brewers and the Cubs gave up some good talent and, more notably, a good number of bodies, but the flip side of that is that two of the teams most likely to be in any Bedard derby are now out.  I'm not sure any AL team will be that excited to get him after his Seattle showing, which may mean the Cards just need to compete with Philadelphia, the Mets, or teams like that to get him if Seattle puts him on the market (and they'd probably be crazy not to.)

If a package that didn't really damage the farm system (i.e., no Colby Rasmus, Jamie Garcia, Jess Todd) was put together, I'd be in favor of it.  A couple of days ago Larry at VEB mentioned moving Mitchell Boggs or Clayton Mortenson would not be a bad thing if they could get value.  If Anthony Reyes or Chris Duncan had value, I'd suggest some sort of modification on the Santana deal I proposed last winter, but that's wishful thinking.  If the price is dropped because of the reduction of teams, I'd think the Cardinals might be able to be in contention for someone like Bedard.  If it hasn't, though, then they should go ahead and pass.  Anything that happens this year is gravy, since this team is really designed for 2009 and beyond.

Of course, tonight's game might go a long way toward showing whether any kind of deal is really necessary.  Mark Mulder takes the mound against rookie J.A. Happ.  If Mulder can be somewhat effective, it might lead to hope that he can be a part of a second half surge.  I don't expect he'll get past the fifth, just because he's not thrown that much lately, but if he could give five innings and just a couple of runs, there'd be a lot more optimism in Cardinal Nation.  Whether that'll happen or not is a different story.

And, before I forget, it's XM Radio ad time!  XM will be all over the All-Star stuff.  Shows will be hosted from New York, the Futures Game (featuring four Cardinals, don't forget!) will be on XM 175 on Sunday, then the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game itself will be on XM 176 on their respective days.  If you want to stay up on what's going on with the All-Stars, tune in to your XM!

Speaking of the All-Stars, I see where AP is saying he'll do the Home Run Derby if asked.  Last time it didn't affect his swing (I think he hit more homers after the break!) so I'm all for that.  I love seeing Cardinals do anything during the All-Star festivities.  Seeing all the different jerseys (well, that's only in the game now, so they can make more money on All-Star sales) on the same field is really neat.

Just keep an eye on Philadelphia tonight.  A big part of the rest of the season could be riding on it.

Reading the T-Shirts

I have a lot of Cardinal red in my closet.  In fact, it's pretty rare not to see me in some sort of St. Louis regalia.  And, in the last few years, I've started accumulating a number of the T-shirt jerseys.  You know what I'm talking about, the shirts with the Cardinal logo on the front and the player name and number on the back.

A few days ago, while trying to decide which one to wear, I started thinking about what the player on the back says about the person wearing it.  I'm not much good at this, but I'll give it a try.  (Oh, and the starred ones?  Those are the ones I have hanging in my closet right now!  I wouldn't necessarily lay claim that the descriptions fit me, though.)

Albert Pujols #5*: Having Pujols on your back could say a number of things.  It could say that you appreciate greatness.  It could say you know that he is this generation's Stan Musial.  Or it could say you are a front-runner who only knows Pujols on the current roster.  If you see this guy talking on the phone at the ballpark during the sixth with runners on and the game in the balance, count it as front-runner.

Rick Ankiel #24*: You are big on redemption.  You love the Hollywood movies.  You know, the one where the hero is knocked down but eventually makes a dramatic return and earns the standing ovation.  You teared up when he hit his home run in his first game back.  It's OK, you can admit it.

Rick Ankiel #66: You still pine for what could have been.  You remember the devastating curveball and the blazing fastball.  You get a little sick when you think of the 2000 playoffs.  Make that a lot sick.  And, also, you need to update your wardrobe just a bit.

Jim Edmonds #15: You are a little flashy.  You appreciate diving catches and dramatics on the field.  You tend to rush into the bank at 4:59 just ahead of the closing doors, even though you probably could have been there five minutes earlier if you wanted to.

Jim Edmonds #15 (Cubs): You are either obsessed with Jimmy Radio or just mentally deranged.  Either way, please seek professional help.

J.D. Drew #7*: You always thought J.D. was the whipping boy in St. Louis, that he was more productive than most gave him credit for and not quite as injury-prone as everyone made him out to be.  You also have sprained your shoulder patting yourself on the back and must miss a couple of days of work.

Chris Carpenter #29*:  You love seeing gambles pay off.  You'll put down $5 to win $500.  You remember 2005 and figure if a guy can be mentioned with Bob Gibson, he's good enough for your back.

Scott Rolen #27*:  There are a couple of options here.  You either love defense, remembering the leather Rolen flashed fondly, or you are one of those who formerly took LaRussa to task about most everything (though less loudly since 2006) and you wear 27 as a silent protest.

Yadier Molina #4: Defense is your passion.  You love seeing runners thrown out or picked off.  You love testing your reflexes by having people toss you items, just to see if you can catch them. (Usually, you can't.)  Or, perhaps, you just like to say Yadier Molina (which, I believe, is why my three-year-old son is so fond of him.)

Adam Wainwright #50*: You believe that pitching wins pennants.  You remember the curveball to Beltran more fondly than your wedding day.  You think the trade with Atlanta was just as good as the trade with Oakland was bad.

Jason Isringhausen #44: You live life on the edge.  You drink milk two days past the expiration date.  You renew your car tags on the second of the next month.  Adventure, excitement, these are your companions.  Unfortunately, they often leave you at the ER waiting for the on-call doctor.

Brendan Ryan #13: You love the scrappy guy.  This is the latest in a long line of shirts for you, starting with Joe McEwing and then Bo Hart, which you still break out occasionally.  Whether they have talent or not, it doesn't matter.  You also don't feel like it's a good day until you've gotten your clothes dirty in some form of exertion, even if it's just diving off the couch for a loose chip.

Colby Rasmus #?: You are always looking ahead.  As Yoda said, "All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was."  The present is nice and all, but you continue to plan and hope for a better day.

Jamie Garcia #?: You are actually Erik Manning.

Mark Mulder #30: You believe in miracles and you think the best bandwagons are the ones with plenty of room.

Of course, these are in all the traditional team colors.  You hate to see people of the female persuasion decked out like this.

Any more suggestions?  Post them in the comments!

Cards Win! Cards Win!

Let's take a quick look at the Heroes and Goats of the successful series against those Cubbies before moving on to the Rockies series that starts tonight.

Friday's game should have been a lot less stressful than it was.  I don't think anyone would argue that the latest Jason Isringhausen meltdown would give him Goat status again.  Allowing two runs in the ninth to a divisional rival, risking a game that was won, is not good at all.  And it raised worries that he's hurt again, which would be pretty bad for the Cardinals, though LaRussa would probably move Kyle McClellan into that role.  Honorable mentions: Troy Glaus (0-5, 2 K, 4 LOB) and Cesar Izturis (1-5, 1 K, 5 LOB).

When you win a game with a home run in the eleventh inning, you pretty much assure yourself of Hero status.  So, Skip Schumaker, congrats on being Friday's Hero!  Honorables: Yadier Molina (2-4, 2 RBI), Adam Wainwright (6.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 K).

Saturday's game was well-dissected by the United Cardinal Bloggers.  Kyle Lohse's rough inning plus the fact that Russ Springer couldn't stop the runners from scoring made for a tougher decision, but the starter gave up more and has to take a lot of the blame for that game.  Ugly results there.  On the Hero side, I'll go with Yadier Molina, with a 2-3, HR outing.

I got to watch a lot of last night's game, my first extended look at the Cardinals since Tuesday.  I will say I was a little surprised that LaRussa pulled Wellemeyer when he did, but with him reaching close to 100 pitches, I guess it wasn't much of a stretch at all.  McClellan looked good in his first inning, but the next thing I know the bases are loaded.  For the Cards to get out of that jam with only one run allowed was pretty impressive.  And it was great to see Izzy come back and be effective.

Our Hero, though, has to be Adam Kennedy.  Not only does go 2-2 with 2 walks and drive in the insurance run, but he's the headline of the Post-Dispatch, and who am I to argue with Joe Strauss?  Goat, I believe, would be Rick Ankiel, who went 0-3, left three on and at least twice popped up in the infield.  Rick's a streaky guy, but I hope he's not heading on the downside of his streaks now that the Cards are going on the road, a place where he's not hit much in his career.

So the Cards win the series against the Cubs, which gives you a nice warm glow even when first place isn't on the line, but is even better when it gives the Cardinals a 1.5 game lead in the NL Central.

Amidst all this, though, you have the news that Anthony Reyes has been sent down to Memphis.  Looks like Duncan and LaRussa have won this round.  Obviously, he was just being used as a mopup type pitcher, which gave him irregular work.  And this lack of work is blamed on him not being sharp.  Vicious cycle there.

I think Reyes can be a decent pitcher and I'd like to see him do it in St. Louis, but I think it's become obvious that if he's ever going to reach any potential, he's going to have to do it in a different organization.  As long as John Mozeliak isn't going to give him away--and rumor has it he hasn't been looking to so far--I think most in Cardinal Nation will accept a deal.

The Cardinals don't get a chance to savor the series win, though, because they head out on an eight-game road trip to Colorado and Milwaukee for the rare back-to-back four-game series.  I'm not sure the last time the Cards had that kind of road trip, but hopefully they'll play better than their 6-5 current road record.

Joel Pineiro is scheduled to go for the Cardinals, though his back has been bothering him and recently called-up Mike Parisi could go.  Assuming Pineiro is fine, though, the Rockies might be glad to see him.  He missed the season-opening series against this team, but in extremely limited action (only one person has more than 3 ABs against him), the Rockies hitters have been able to put the wood on the ball.  All of these appearances seem to have been in interleague play when Pineiro was with the Mariners and then the Red Sox and they have not seen him since his resurgence in the National League.

Ubaldo Jimenez goes for the Rockies.  He faced the Cardinals back in April, his only appearance against the team.  The Cardinals won that game 3-0 and Jimenez allowed three runs (and five walks, foreshadowing the coming trend) in five innings.  If he's that erratic tonight, the Cardinals might pull out another one.

Around the Blogs: A Blazing Start

I may try to make this a semi-regular activity, linking up what the other quality blogs in Cardinal Nation and elsewhere.  There's a lot of good stuff out there.  You probably have seen some of it, but in case you are missing out, let me point out a few things I found interesting.

Not surprisingly, the tone in the Cardinal blogosphere is, for the most part, pretty upbeat after a 5-1 homestand to begin the year.  Witness Stan Musial's Stance, for example.  It's a good wrapup of all that went right for the Cardinals in their first week of 2008.

The Redbird Blog did a little schedule analysis and figured an 18-11 record at the end of April would be pretty reasonable, with 20-9 not out of the question.  Imagine that kind of April, with the team then fortified with Joel Pineiro and Mark Mulder coming back.  If they show they can have success and Mozeliak is then able to trade off some pitching for some offense, people might have to take the Cardinals a little more seriously.

Rockin' the Red, sporting a bit of a new look, has a good look at the patience Cardinal hitters are showing so far this year. Having batters on base when the thumpers get to the plate can only bode well for the Cardinal offense this season.  There's a long way to go and we can't be sure that this is a continuing trend, but it definitely looks like a positive development.

Mike on the Cards has a look at last night's game, plus the anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition.  Not being a drinker myself, that doesn't make much impact on me save the fact that beer money has fueled the Cardinals throughout my entire life.  So a toast to that!

CardinalNationGlobe points out how much he enjoys watching Brian Barton play.  Told you he'd become a fan favorite!

Not everything is great in the Nation following the hot start.  Some raised expectations have created some ugly scenes when things go south.

You want good sabermetric discussion of the Cardinals, eventually everyone goes to Fungoes.  Pip takes a statistical look at the Cardinals' starting rotation and whether it has been as good as we think.

A new look for the premier Cardinal minor league blog on the web, but the same great content at Future Redbirds.  Check it out daily for the Daily Farm Report.  In today's, you'll find that the Cardinals are moving around Pete Kozma (for reasons not quite understood) and that Memphis had their hitting shoes on last night.

Matthew Leach doesn't have his tidbits up for today yet, but keep checking his blog for them.  Being the beat writer for the Cardinals for MLB.com, he usually has info before almost anyone else.  Same goes for Derrick Goold and Bird Land, who did a nice live blog from last night's game.

View From the Cheap Seats takes a whack at the Dave Duncan/Kevin Slaten controversy.  Not being a St. Louisian, I don't hear Slaten, but what I hear from word of mouth isn't good.  From looking over the transcript of the call, it definitely appears like an ambush and that's not good radio, in my opinion.

Check out the Team Audit from Baseball Prospectus.  All you need to know about the Cards in one handy-dandy stop.  Very rare to see a hitter besides Pujols at the top of the VORP standings.

Reading Joe Posnanski is a treat, no matter what topic (well, topics) he's writing on.  Today's entry references the new book he's writing about the Big Red Machine, last night's basketball game, and Joe Morgan.  (Love that the entry title is a takeoff of one of my favorite sites.)  Along the same vein (and what is it about the Royals having great writers with unpronounceable last names as fans?), check out Rany Jazayerli and his thoughts about the Royals.  Yeah, those above .500 Royals.  They're going to surprise some people.

You want awards?  The Hardball Times has them.  Maybe they aren't the mainstream ones, but who could turn down "The Harmon Killebrew Batting Average Is For Wussies Award"?

That should give you plenty to examine.  If you've got any other links, put them in the comments.  I'm always interested in finding new blogs!

Around Cardinal Nation

It’s been a pretty busy week for me, so I’ve not been able to examine all the Cardinal related news and blogs like I would have liked.  But in the limited time I’ve been online, there’ve been a few things that have jumped out at me. 

The biggest one is this rumor with the Pirates involving Brad Thompson, among others on our side and players such as Jack Wilson, Matt Morris and Jason Bay on the other side.  Bay is the only one in that group worth getting.  Sure, maybe you take Morris on if the Pirates take a lot of salary and if it helps you get Bay, but other than that, there’s not much value. 

Tom over at CardinalsGM really broke this deal down.  I agree with him, if it’s Duncan, Thompson and Reyes going for Bay, Morris and Wilson, you can’t do that deal.  If you could get Bay for Reyes and Thompson, you’d probably have to do some serious thinking about it, even though outfield is where the Cardinals are overstocked at the moment. 

Wilson makes no sense with the glut of mediocre middle infielders we already have.  Why bring on another one, especially at that price? 

Also, over at VEB, they’ve started the community projections.  We did this at CCH last year and you may remember seeing the results.  We’ll start them up at the Clubhouse soon, but if you’ve not had a chance to put in your thoughts on what Matt Clement will wind up with (and I need to do that), head on over there and post them. 

Finally, there was no movement on Mark McGwire getting into the Hall of Fame this year.  He received exactly the same number of votes as he did last year, putting him around 23%.  Something is going to have to give, though.  Either players like Bonds and Clemens aren’t going to get in when they are eligible or people are going to have to give a second look to McGwire.  Heck, he wasn’t even named in the Mitchell Report as a steroid user, so why does he not get a little more benefit of the doubt?  I wish he’d come out and talk about it, but if he’s not going to, should that be held against him? 

Hopefully we aren’t still having this discussion 10 years from now, but I wouldn’t put it past the baseball writers.

Year In Review: Top 5 Cardinal Stories

The United Cardinal Bloggers strike again, this time with a recap of 2007. We each selected the five stories that we thought were the most important for 2007 in relation to the Cardinals. Check out CardinalNationGlobe, CardinalGM, Readin' Redbird, Rockin' the Red and Stan Musial's Stance for their takes. (I'll direct link to their stories when they are up.)

And, after the jump, my selections:

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The Phenom

With the Cardinal offseason not providing much fuel for the hot stove, Cardinal Nation is getting warm with thoughts of the Next Big Thing, Colby Rasmus.

Derrick Goold had the piece in the Post-Dispatch earlier in the week and has amplified that with more stats in his blog.

He tops all the prospect lists over at Future Redbirds.

Larry broke down those that, like Rasmus may, jumped over AAA to the majors.

Various other media outlets have written stories or profiles of the outfielder.

So will he make it?  Will he start out in St. Louis in '08 or Memphis?  When will he take his rightful place as the heir of Edmonds?

With numerous players that can play a passable center field, players like Ankiel and Schumacker, I think that it's likely Rasmus will start in Memphis next season, but I'd expect him up by June or so unless he really struggles at AAA.  It's possible his energy and fresh approach will help inspire the team as Ankiel's callup did last August.  Since besides the normal excitement that is provided by Albert Pujols there may not be much to watch on this team, the front office may feel a bit pressured to move him up quickly.  Then again, if he hits well in Memphis, there's really no reason to have him wait any longer.

I'm excited to see what he can do.  I hope he plays his way on to the team from the word go.  It's been a long time since the Cardinals had a prospect this highly touted (at least in the field) and it'll be a lot of fun to see him go to work.

Quick Hit

Just a short note, since I don't have much time today.  Not a lot going on in Cardinal Nation anyway.

Cards are keeping an eye on Mark Prior, which is nice to know.  Of course, I've advocated for him in the past, though apparently he just wants a one year deal.  That's not what the Cardinals need, since he won't be around until June or so.  If there's a team option with it, then that's another thing.

Cards missed out on Carlos Silva, which is not a bad thing.  Silva would be an interesting Cardinal, since he's very much a pitch-to-contact, ground ball type, but at those prices, St. Louis was smart not to spend much time looking.  Hopefully they are doing the same with Kyle Loshe.

May not get a post up tomorrow and who knows with the holidays when I will, so in case I'm not back until after Christmas, have a wonderful Christmas with family and friends and always remember the reason for the season.

A Cardinal Thanksgiving

Tomorrow, as you all know, we stop to say thanks for the many blessings the Lord has given us.  This list below is what we as Cardinal fans can be thankful for.  Of course, there's the family, friends, country bit and I'm not suggesting these take precedence.  But, strictly from a Cardinal perspective, thanks for:

Ownership.  OK, let's get the controversial one out of the way first.  Lots of people don't feel that this ownership is much of anything to be thankful for.  They feel that Bill Dewitt and company are cheapskates who know that the devoted fans of St. Louis will come to the ballpark no matter what product is out there, especially with the new stadium.  Let's say that's true.  I don't believe it is, but I'll even give you that.  When the team was up for sale, there could have been investors from another town who said, "Hey, who cares about tradition?  I want to see the New Jersey Cardinals instead!"  Keeping the team in St. Louis should give them some thoughts at this time of year, if nothing else.

Then, they spent enough to put a great team together in the middle part of the decade.  Cynics will say they did that to keep interest up to get a new ballpark.  Fine, believe that if you want.  It doesn't take away from the fact that we saw two 100 win teams in a row followed by an improbable World Series title.  Some of the credit--and the thanks--have to go toward them as well.

Plus, they locked up Albert Pujols to a long term deal.  We'll talk about him next, but anything that keeps El Hombre in Cardinal Red is a very good thing.

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A Blog Rundown

There's not much to say today that other people aren't saying better, so let's see what they are saying.  Of course, all of these topics can be discussed further at your local Cardinal message board.  I know the Clubhouse has threads on just about all of them.

*Molina loses out on a Gold Glove.  Bird Land really lays out the unjustice, and I have to agree.  Any catcher that stops the running game like Yadier does, that makes the first base pickoff a legitimate option, has to be the Gold Glover.  I don't think I'd ever seen a 1-3 pickoff until Molina, and now it's almost a regular occurrence.  Others talking about this: Bernie's Extra Points, Deaner at Cardinal Nation Globe, and a diary at VEB.  Pujols was denied a glove as well, which was in and of itself an injustice, but nothing compares to Molina not getting one.  Hopefully next year they'll both be able to take home the hardware.  The tough 2007 Cardinal season continues, it appears.

*Tom over at CardinalsGM gets you ready for next year's fantasy season (because, in my mind, you never start that early enough) with a look at the top players.

*The Cardinals have declined the option on outfielder So Taguchi.  Pip at Fungoes has a mixed take on this one.   I've appreciated what So has done here in St. Louis, but it probably is time to move on, especially since outfield is a place the team is deep at.  Stan Musial's Stance has a fitting tribute to the outfielder.

*Along with the daily prospect report, Erik at Future Redbirds is already looking forward to next year's first-year draft with his projection of who the Cards will take.

*Dan at Get Up, Baby! looks back at Scott Rolen's lost season and discusses why not to trade him right now.  I'm a Rolen fan and I'm of the opinion that he'll be an asset for the team next year.  As Dan says, though, even if you aren't sold on that, you can't trade him now because his value is so low.

*Readin' Redbird has the news that Curt Schilling is going back to Boston.  That's not a huge surprise--a one year deal for a guy that's legendary in the organization and wants to retire a Red Sox?  Even the traditionally unsentimental Theo Epstein had to go for that one.  And, as I've said, it doesn't bother me that he's not coming to St. Louis.

*And Whiteyball is doing a link post.  What kinda cop-out is that?

Also on the Network: √ Yanks Beat A Lefty? [Depressed Fan] √ Yanks Start Second Half With "W" [Green Pinstripes] √ All-Star Breather: The Giants Catchers [El Lefty Malo] √ Rock Is Dead; Shea Stadium July 18, 2008 [Loge 13] √ Citi Field Revealed (FYI: No Loge Here) [Loge 13] √ My Rifle, My Pony and Me [Beantown West] √ Quick Chicago roundup [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Giants Reveal New Stadium Ticket Plans [Loge 13]