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The Second Half Begins

Before we get to tonight's game, let's take a look at a few of the stories floating around about the Cards.

First off, there's the rumor that the Cardinals might part with Colby Rasmus.  Here's the relevant part of that link (took me a minute to actually find it):

Overheard at the pre-All-Star Game bash out on Randall's Island. The contending Cardinals might even consider parting with top outfield prospect Colby Rasmus, a major surprise. If so, it may put them in line to land Pittsburgh's Xavier Nady, or even Jason Bay.

OK, one, I don't believe the Cards would move Rasmus, that this is more of someone's either wishful or uninformed thinking.  Second, if they did move Rasmus, they darn well better do it for someone better than Nady and probably for someone better than Bay as well.

Speaking of rumors, apparently there was one on XM that had Rasmus, Bryan Anderson and Mitchell Boggs going to Colorado for Matt Holliday and Brian Fuentes.  I'm not fond of this one either.  With Holliday not completely proving he's not a Coors Field creation and the fact that Rasmus should be able to do what he does soon and for much cheaper, it just doesn't make sense to trade two top prospects for that package.

I really don't think Mozeliak will trade off Rasmus.  It just doesn't make any sense from the Cardinal perspective.

In fact, that was emphaised in an interview with Bill DeWitt on the Post-Dispatch site.  To quote:

P-D: Back to the club. Much speculation has sprouted about how far the organization will go to acquire help for this year's team if it remains in contention. What does that say about the availability of premium prospects such as Colby Rasmus?

BDJ: They're must-haves for any organization. I don't think you can trade potential premium prospects unless you get premium players back. I think what a lot of clubs have done historically is trade premium prospects for less-than-premium return. I don't agree with a short-term fix. A lot of quick fixes don't work. Time goes on, you're down the road, and your former prospect is out there putting up All-Star numbers for someone else.

P-D: Is there a chance that Rasmus could play his first major-league game in another uniform?

BDJ: I don't anticipate that. No.

The rest of the interview is pretty good as well.  I think DeWitt has taken a lot of unnecessary criticism over the years, so it is good to see him out in the press taking on some of the questions.

Closer to the field, it looks like the injured pitchers are getting better.  Adam Wainwright is looking to return in the next three weeks or so, it appears, and Chris Carpenter really liked how his simulated game went.  I would expect a solid return from Wainwright, maybe in time for the Cubs series August 8-10, but I still don't think we'll see Carpenter on the mound until the end of August and even then, I'm not sure how effective he will be.  But it's good to know things are getting better.

The Cards are the wild-card leader at the moment and they try to stay that way when they take on the Padres in Busch tonight.  It's a matchup of current aces, as Kyle Lohse and Jake Peavy take to the hill.  Not many of the Padres have seen a lot of Lohse, though outfielder Jody Gerut seems to have his number. The Cardinals have actually been able to put up some good numbers on Peavy, which really surprised me knowing the kind of pitcher he is.  Both Albert Pujols and Troy Glaus have two home runs against him.

Even so, I'd expect this to be a low-scoring game.  It's a good thing the Padres offense has been so weak--the Cards may not have to score much to win.

Series preview is up at the Clubhouse and the YNOT is active as well.  Ready to get it started!

Inconceivable!

Before we deal with last night's disaster, let's be positive and talk about Friday's game.

Friday night was one of those great games to watch, the ones that make you think this team is going someplace.  Kyle Lohse threw a great game, the offense in general was rolling, and Rick Ankiel in particular was hot, with three hits and a home run.  Jaime Garcia (and, for all of those that come over from Future Redbirds, how could you not tell me I'd been spelling his name wrong all this time!) even got in and had an effective debut.  Looking for a goat in that game is tough, but Skip Schumaker would get it for going 0-5.

All that good feeling evaporated late Saturday night, making me feel like Fezzini.

Losing after being up 10-4 in the seventh?  Inconceivable!  Giving up four runs in the ninth?  Inconceivable!  Blowing a lead provided by Troy Glaus?  Inconceivable!

Yet, just as in Fezzini's case, it all happened.  Perhaps the word doesn't mean what I think it means.

Where do you go for a goat on this one?  I mean, Ryan Franklin got it all started with a two-run homer.  Kyle McClellan allowed the tying run to score (though, granted, he did his job and got the double play ball, it just didn't happen) and put the winning run on base.  Chris Perez allowed Jason Michaels' game winning home run (one I was afraid of when I saw him come up, due to his earlier grand slam against Adam Wainwright)

But, as bad as all of that was, I think you have to go to someone who has gotten the label way too often in 2008.  Jason Isringhausen started the ninth with a four run lead and even struck out the first batter he faced.  To allow three runs in that situation is inexcusable.

Inconceivable.

It's games like that which have me really concerned about this year's incarnation of the Cardinals.  I don't know that this team has the ability to consistently win, to put together a long winning streak needed to get back into the race.  Right now they are sitting at 5 1/2 games back.  Obviously well within the realm of possibility to catch the Cubs, but not nearly as likely as when they were staying 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 back.  The Cubs hopefully will cool off in the second half, especially at home, but can the Cardinals take advantage?  I don't know.

Perhaps it is good that this is happening now, before Mozeliak gets pressured into doing something rash at the deadline.  I'm sure that Jayson Stark will be coming out with one of his crazy number columns soon, saying something like no team out more than 5 games after the 90 game mark has won their division in 20 years or something like that.

And it could be that is just negative thinking.  A Cards win today and a Cubs loss and they are sitting just 4 1/2 out at the All-Star Break, even if the break is a little later this year.  Maybe it's reading too much into an admittedly atypical game, both from the offense side and the pitching side.  I guess we'll have to just wait and see.

In other news, the Cards have put Garcia into the rotation, penciling him in for next Sunday.  Hopefully that will give the team a little boost to start off the second half.

Today the Cardinals try to bounce back, win the series, and finish the first half on a high note.  If they'd gone into the break on last night's game, having to think about it for four days or so, it might have been more of a problem.  Redemption is usually just a day away in baseball.

The matchup is Joel Pineiro against Ian Snell.  Wow, the Cards have seen Snell a lot this season, haven't they?  This will be the fourth time he's gone against the Redbirds, with an 0-1 personal record but a 2-1 team record to show for it.  The Cardinals have been able to get to him early at times, but not been able to put him away.  He has a 9.64 ERA against St. Louis this year and here's what the hitters have done against him in his career.  As always, Pujols is looking forward to it.

Pineiro has faced the Pirates twice, the first time giving up a run in seven and getting the win, the second allowing four in five in a Cardinal loss.  At least the first one was in PNC Park, site of today's matchup.  For the most part, the Pirates haven't done much damage against him, but I'd keep an eye out on Jason Bay.  He's on a roll, especially after yesterday, and he's got good numbers against Pineiro.  If he's auditioning, he's definitely making an impression.

BTW, CardsClubhouse folks.  There is supposed to be some downtime at the site today.  If it happens at the game, feel free to use this as a game thread/discussion platform.

End of the Line

That's the last time we'll see Mark Mulder in a Cardinals uniform.  It's probably the last time we'll see him on a baseball field at all.

I don't say that with any malice or glee.  I really was hoping that Mulder's new arm slot would be the key to getting him, not to his Oakland level, but at least to a serviceable starter.  Instead, he faces three batters, walking two and leaving the mound again in pain.

If that was the end of the line for Mulder, it's too bad St. Louis never got to see the really good version.  (If Billy Beane knew about Mulder's health issues--and I wouldn't put it past him--I'm not sure how he sleeps at night.)  The only really positive memory I have of Mulder is that epic 10-inning shutout against Roger Clemens.  Other than that, there's not much.

Of course, there will be more revisiting of the most rehashed trade in Cardinal history.  I'm still firmly convinced that if Dan Haren had been a lefty, the trade never would have been made.  It was all about getting an lefthander into the rotation.  And, at the time, the trade was reviled because of the inclusion of catcher Daric Barton.  That's not the problem.  Barton had to move to first (which means he couldn't play in St. Louis anyway) and isn't just lighting it up yet, three and a half seasons after the deal.  It's the fact that Haren developed into so much more than the Cardinals (and the fans) ever thought he would that has made the deal so lopsided.

The hero from last night's game probably has to be Brad Thompson.  I really liked Troy Glaus's AB that tied the game, but Thompson coming in with two on and one out in the first and getting out of it, then pitching effectively from there really stands out.  I've got trouble giving out the Goat, though.  I can't give it to Mulder--just can't tag a guy like that after possibly his career ended.  Kyle McClellan gave up the go-ahead home run to Howard, but he pitched well the inning before that and it was Ryan Howard.  I guess I'd probably give it to Chris Perez, because the Feliz home run made it just that much less likely the Cards were going to rally off of Brad Lidge.

One last comment on the game.  Does anyone else think it was cheap that they gave Skip Schumaker just a double on that ball that "stuck" under the wall?  Victorino looked like he was going to get it, then realized he could just keep it there and get an advantage.  I think there should have had to be an attempt at the ball before he could throw up his hands.  That was pretty lame in my book, though must be part of the ground rules at Citizens Bank.

The team is already moving on the Mulder front, likely disabling him and bringing up Jamie Garcia, which will please Erik at Future Redbirds immensely. Garcia will work out of the pen at least until the break.  If nothing else changes, I'd expect him to move into Mulder's slot after the All-Star Game.

Changes, though, are what Tony LaRussa wants to see.  This will be the first real test of the Mozeliak/LaRussa dynamic.  Up until now, it's pretty much been "hey, this is great, more than we thought, but let's wait and see."  Now, Mo's still there but LaRussa's competitive nature has taken hold and he wants to see something.  This is where Jocketty would go out and make some move that, in recent years, was little more than combing the waiver wire.  Will Mozeliak do that?  Will he start looking for a bigger trade?  Will he take Tony's dogs hostage until he quiets down?

Couple of vets going this afternoon.  Braden Looper looks to keep the bullpen off the field when he takes the mound, but the Phillies may have other ideas.  Pat Burrell has two homers off of him and probably will be excited to take his cuts today.  On the other side, Jamie Moyer is one of those you'd expect the Cardinals to struggle with, a soft-tossing lefty.  Really, though, for a guy that's been around as long as he has, the Cards (save Glaus and Kennedy, guys that saw him in the AL) haven't gotten a lot of ABs against him.  Glaus does have five home runs off of Moyer, so maybe he'll break out the big bat today.

The UCB is working on their next project.  If you weren't e-mailed and want to join it, let me know.  It should be a good discussion.

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.

It's All About Pitching

Let's see, what's on the PD site this morning?

Well, the biggest news probably is the status of Adam Wainwright.  According to Derrick Goold, he can start throwing anytime now, but it's going to be after the All-Star Break before they even start talking about a return date.  I'd expect he'll probably get one rehab start, so if he's back by my birthday (August 2, mark your calendars) I'd be a little surprised.  Still, it doesn't sound like he's having any setbacks, which is good news.

Chris Carpenter is working his way back as well, but it doesn't look like he'll be in the majors before August either.  In fact, it may be with expanded rosters before we see him in St. Louis.  I've said all along that if he was back before mid-August that it'd be pretty surprising, even when the team was talking about him being back at the All-Star Break.  Tommy John just doesn't heal that quickly.

And, even in times of pitching need, Matt Clement cleared waivers and is going to work as a reliever in Memphis.  Talk about a move that backfired.  Granted, it was a low-risk move, but Clement seemed pretty well in spring training and I really thought that part of the improved pitching this year would be because of him.  Now, he may be an August or September callup as well and in the bullpen (which needs the help).  I guess it's still possible the Cards would pick up his option for next year, just to see if they can get something out of him, but this is not what Mozeliak thought he was getting.

General tangent: I'm going to do my All-Star rant in a little bit, but in other baseball news, I wanted to say how nice it was to see Milwaukee get CC Sabathia.  Not in the competition aspect--it makes Milwaukee the favorite in the NL Central in my book now--but in the fact that here's a small market team being able to make a play for the biggest name on the trade market.  Sabathia didn't wind up in New York or Boston or Chicago.  That's a good thing for baseball, in my book.

The matchup tonight is not exactly one that screams "win" for the Cardinals.  Joel Pineiro will go into Philadelphia and take on Cole Hamels.  The good news is that the Phillies don't have much of a book on Pineiro, at least not from personal experience.  The bad news is that some of the Phillies that have seen him have done pretty well.  As for Hamels, well, both of those statements pretty much apply to him as well.  Albert Pujols has done a good job against him and hopefully will continue that now that he's gotten #300 out of the way.  As long as they realize that some things you hear about Hamels may be exaggerated, the Cards could be OK.

Housekeeping:  You'll notice a few new links over on the blog roll.  St. Louis Sports Magazine has been nice enough to link over here a couple of times and I appreciate that.  Player to be Named Later is back from hiatus.  And a couple of the more, well, colorful Cardinal blogs, Cardinal Diaspora and Bert Flex, are on the list as well.  Bert Flex was nice enough to include me in their Cardinal Blogger Appreciation Month, which I appreciate.

Good Start, Lousy Finish

Another one of those "get a lead, but don't add to it" games for the Cards, as they get ahead 3-1 but lose 7-4.  Not really the way to start off a month.

You have to wonder what that stellar, Pitcher of the Month May did to Todd Wellemeyer.  Since the end of May, Wellemeyer has a 6.60 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP.  His strikeout rate has stayed fairly strong--his K/9 rate is 6.12--but last night his inability to finish off batters killed him.

Heroishly, even though Rick Ankiel had a nice two-run HR, for his work saving the bullpen (and doing it very effectively), I'll award it to Brad Thompson.  Four innings and only two hits, though one was a David Wright long ball.  Thompson may be increasing his trade value as well.

Speaking of trade, I got to hear some of the FSN interview with John Mozeliak last night.  Mozeliak is probably playing cards close to the vest, but it doesn't sound to me like he feels there's much reason to do any dealing, which is understandable.  Hopefully he keeps that mentality and doesn't overpay to make a run this year.  Of course, he also says he's not been in touch with the Rockies, reports about the Cards asking about Brian Fuentes and Matt Holliday to the contrary.  If he's going to bring someone in, a guy like Holliday (who won't be a free agent until the end of '09) wouldn't be a bad choice.

For a farm system that's lately been considered fallow, the Cardinals look to have a stranglehold on the Futures game this year.  Colby Rasmus has been added to the roster, which already includes Jamie Garcia, Bryan Anderson and Jess Todd.  Cardinal fans may have more reason to watch that game than the All-Star Game this year!  For more, of course, head to Future Redbirds.

Joel Pineiro goes for the Cardinals tonight and they could use a strong start out of him to get the taste of last night's game out of their collective mouths.  The Mets haven't seen him all that often, though Delgado has done a pretty good job against him in the past, something St. Louis doesn't want to see after not being able to retire him last night.

Pineiro goes against Pedro.  Not surprisingly, the Redbirds haven't done much against him.  Even Pujols is just 2 for 10.  Still, Martinez isn't the Pedro of old, sporting a 7.12 ERA this season in just over 30 innings.  He's only had one really decent outing (1 ER in 6 IP against Texas) and in his last two starts he's allowed a total of 12 earned runs.

Still, knowing the Cardinal luck, he'll find his old form tonight.  Hopefully Pineiro can match him.

Sand, Surf and Slugging

Hey, isn't Petco supposed to be a pitcher's park?

I have to admit, I was a little concerned about last night's game.  All the pieces seemed to be in place for a Cardinal win, but those are the kind of games that tend to come up and bite this team.  From the get-go last night, though, it was apparent that neither the travel or the team was going to hold the Cardinals back.

Honestly, I wanted to give the Hero award to Cesar Izturis.  There was plenty of shock when I saw Gameday record his first home run of the year.  I personally savaged this deal in the spring, when Izturis was flubbing a ball a day and recording more errors than hits.  Even now, he can be a whipping boy for some fans.  But he's posting a .263 average right now, which is well more than most of us expected on the year.  He was hitting .186 on April 27.  Since then, he's gone 18-54 (.333) and now with a surprising home run.  You figure he'll slow down soon, but he's already proven that John Mozeliak might have a little idea what he's doing.

Still, when a guy slugs two home runs, both moon shots and one of which may not have landed yet, you gotta go with him.  Albert Pujols continues to show that he isn't to be challenged, though Ryan Ludwick is making it difficult for teams to bypass him.  Any surprise, then, that Pujols has three home runs in three games?

A little tough to find a Goat in yesterday's battle.  Wellemeyer pitched another stellar game and the bullpen kept everything in line.  Most everyone contributed something to the game.  (Gotta love--well, he might not--Yadi's bases-loaded HBP.  Takin' one for the team!)  So, for his 0-4 (even though he did draw a walk), the Goat goes to Adam Kennedy.

Not only is the press starting to rip on the Padres, the GM is getting into the act as well.  Which may mean a fired up squad comes out to play tonight.  The Cardinals will do well to not take them for granted, especially with the future Hall of Famer on the mound.

Greg Maddux has faced the Cardinals, as a team, numerous times.  Compared to the recent starters the Redbirds have faced, they are old friends with Maddux, but even then there are a number of players that haven't faced him or have faced him less than 10 times.  Pujols has been able to hit him well and surprisingly both Jason LaRue and Izturis have good averages against him as well.  It's always good to see Maddux play--he's been one of my favorites for years--but hopefully the Cards can get to him early.

Going for St. Louis is Joel Pineiro.  Pineiro has a solid body of work against the current Friars, but nothing dramatic.  Josh Bard will probably get the start as he's hit Pineiro well in the past.   Pineiro hasn't be quite on top of his game the last couple of outings, but hopefully the big park will help him keep the score down.

Some general notes:  I was half-watching highlights last night when I saw a Cubs outfielder make a great play with his back to the infield on Tal's Hill there in Houston.  I thought, "Hey, that's kinda like a play that Edmonds made for the Cardinals."  It didn't register with me until they showed him jogging off that it actually was Edmonds.  Having him in Cub blue is just so terribly wrong.

Did you see this part of the PD article about Stan the Man?  Personally, I think it's pretty neat:

Asked if Pujols, an avowed fan of Musial's career, could break his records, Musial said, "He has a chance to. He loves baseball, he's a good first baseman. ... You know the first time I saw Albert Pujols? He gave me a big hug and kissed me on the forehead."

Congrats to Jon Lester on his no-hitter.  Very impressive, especially considering where he was just a couple of years ago.   The only downside: more Boston talk.  I mean, c'mon, let's spread the no-hitters around, can we?

Note that Mark Mulder is having his rehab delayed.  At least it looks like it was something instead of just the Cardinals playing around with technicalities. Don over at The Redbird Blog talked about the injury situation with the Cardinals and how it is such an unnecessary mess.  It appears that Rick Ankiel might be ready to go tomorrow, but if not, it seems like the Cardinals are doing one of their trademark moves, playing short for a long length of time when it'd be better for the player to go on the DL.  He's missed three games so far, so it's not a big deal.  If he's not back in the lineup by Friday, though, it might have been better to bring up Joe Mather.

If you are enjoy the blog and want to add it to your personal site, use this widget and, boom, C70 headlines will be there.  And if anyone out there has an extra Stan Musial statue from this Sunday and would like to part with it, e-mail me and let me know if we can work something out!

Around the Blogs: Cracks Are Showing

The Cards are in a slump at the moment, having lost six of seven.  That has affected the tone in some quarters of the blogosphere (Mike on the Cards says they're in a funk and Redbird Ramblings would prefer not to discuss it), but that's not what everyone's talking about.

A point of discussion about last night's game is the usage of Ron Villone.  Stan Musial's Stance really can't figure out why he was out there instead of McClellan.  I'm not sure what LaRussa's thought process was, but it's better than the silly idea that he hates rookies, a meme I'm quite tired of.

The Red Baron, in his weekly Wednesday fill-in for lboros at VEB, hands out some first quarter grades.  There's not much to disagree with here.  I might bump the starting pitching down to a B and the relief corp up to a C-, but that's a judgment call.  Suffice it to say, though, that the bullpen has been the disappointment of the first portion of the season.  I know he grades down the middle infield, but really, we are getting what we expected out of these guys and maybe a little more.

Speaking of, the back of the Cardinal bullpen has been under scrutiny recently.  Fungoes shows that Jason Isringhausen really hasn't been quite as bad as we thought, just unlucky.  It'll be interesting to see if Izzy gets back into the closer role and if that luck will start to even out.

The Cardinal Virtue has his take on the rumored Jim Edmonds to the Cubs bit.  I wrote about that in today's main post and I agree with what John says here for the most part.  I'd like to think Edmonds would have enough of the love for the 'Lou to turn down a Chicago invite, but if that's the only place that's offering and you still want to play, it's hard to fault the guy.  Get Up, Baby! has the reaction many Cardinal and Cub fans are having over the news.

CardinalsGM ponders trading Chris Duncan.  I've honestly got no problem with trading him off, even though I think he gets a little more of the blame than he should at times.  That last name can be a double edged sword.  But if someone would give us good value for a Duncan/Reyes package, I'd do it.

As always, when you want to know something about the Cardinal minor league system, you head to Future Redbirds.  It was the first place I went this morning when I read that Stuart Pomeranz had been released, though Eric hasn't touched much on that.  (Redbirds Fun does have part of the article over there, though.) But the three up/three down feature is back and you always need to read the Daily Farm Report.

Don at The Redbird Blog goes the miscellaneous route as well, pointing out some stories you might not have seen other places.

A couple of good posts over at Rockin' the Red.  First off, some ideas for shaking up the lineup, as well as what some trade targets are doing.  Kujo would like to see Chris Perez and Joe Mather come north and help out the big squad, especially if that meant Duncan was moved.  However, in Mozeliak's chat today at the PD, he indicated that no moves with Duncan are planned at this time.  Not that he'd say if there were, but it comes across as not something they want to do.

Also, Kujo looks at the cost/benefit of signing Rasmus long-term.  With the price of young talent the way it is, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to do a deal similar to what Tampa Bay did with Longoria, but I'm still of the camp that he should play at least a year before you start thinking about long-term extensions.

The professionals are weighing in as well.  Derrick Goold looks at some of the advanced metrics in relation to Pujols's baserunning (something that had been discussed anecdotally at CCH) while Matthew Leach tossed out some tidbits yesterday, including the information about Mark Mulder's last workout.

To pull it back full circle, check out THEblindhomer Sees for his Pittsburgh preview/recap.

If I didn't get your blog in here, I'm sorry.  If I don't have your link, add it to the comments (and add mine to your rolls!)  I've been tinkering with the blog links recently.  If you scroll all the way down, I've even added some non-baseball links.  If there's something I'm missing, let me know!

Continuing to Falter

Last night's game was one the Cardinals really needed to win, in my opinion.  Fresh start, home game, opponent the Cards usually beat, everything was in their favor.  And when Albert Pujols ties it up with a long ball, you have to feel the tide has turned.

Instead, they leave the bases loaded in the ninth and the bullpen implodes in the tenth.  The latter is not that surprising, given the way the relievers have gone about their business this year.  A lot of the good fortune from last year is evening out this year.  Ron Villone had been pretty good most of this year, but he got the Goat label from last night.  When you face 8 batters, six of them reach base and four score, that's a rough night.

I thought Pujols would probably get the Hero tag, but after reading more about the game (I didn't get to see it), it's pretty obvious that Troy Glaus should get it.  Hitting one of those rare three-run home runs and going 2-5 is a good sign out of him.  Hopefully he'll have a few more home runs by this time next month.

The Cards have to shake that off and get back at it tonight.  If Joel Pineiro is on like he was last time, there's a solid chance they'll make a game of it.  Pineiro pitched six strong innings against the Brewers before faltering in the seventh.  Still, it was more the bullpen's fault he didn't get a win than his own.  Unfortunately, a number of Pirate hitters have had good success off of him in the past.  However, he did defeat the Bucs back on April 24, when he threw seven innings of one-run ball.

Paul Maholm goes for the Cardinals, meaning the Redbirds face yet another lefty.  Albert Pujols and Jason LaRue have had the most success against him, which may mean Tony sits Yadier Molina tonight and has him ready for the afternoon game tomorrow.  Maholm hasn't gone against the Cardinals this year.

Just taking a guess at the lineup.........

Barton
Miles
Pujols
Ludwick
Glaus
Ankiel
LaRue
Pineiro
Izturis

Check with Bernie's forum or the CardsClubhouse game thread later to see if I come at all close.

A few things to hit around the horn:

*John Mozeliak apparently is willing to be accessible.  He recently had a chat on MLB.com and today he'll go for his second chat at the PD website.  Somebody ask him when he's getting a blog.  He can join us in the United Cardinal Bloggers!

*It's a chat doubleheader at the PD, with Cardinal writer Joe Strauss taking his weekly turn in the tank after Mozeliak's done.

*Apparently the Cubs may sign Jim Edmonds.  I think Will Leitch summed it up quite well:  "It is rare to find anything that Cubs fans and Cardinals fans agree on. The horror of Jim Edmonds in a Cubs uniform is one of them."  Along with the Cub blogs in that Deadspin story, you can also see what fellow Blogs by Fans member Cobra Brigade thinks about it by following this link.  It does beg the question, though: Will Jim still get a standing O when he comes to St. Louis in a Cub uniform?  I think probably so.  John Mabry always was welcomed warmly, even when in Cub blue.

*I don't think anyone's really shocked that Tyler Johnson needs surgery.  I definitely wasn't.

If I get a chance, I'll do another version of Around the Blogs this afternoon, see what people are saying much better than me.

Era Ending? Edmonds Exits

The Padres have released Jim Edmonds.

I don't think many of us really expected that when he was traded back in December.  Sure, the contract was up at the end of 2008, but he should be able to put together the semblance of a decent year.  Even last year, a down year by his standards, he stroked 12 homers and hit .250.

Apparently, that wasn't the case.  After a .178 average and the fact that San Diego is struggling, sitting in last place in the NL West, he now finds himself without work.

If this is it for the man nicknamed Hollywood and Jimmy Radio, he leaves with a career .286 mark, 363 HR and numerous Gold Gloves.  Is he a Hall of Famer?  That'll be for more knowledgeable people than I to determine.  I do know that he's a shoo in for the Cardinal Hall of Fame, though.

If you wanted to be slightly melodramatic, you could say he couldn't stand playing anywhere outside of St. Louis.  A movie script would have him coming back to the 'Lou, taking a bench role, then producing down the clutch for one last hurrah.  Unfortunately, this isn't a movie, and the Cards have too many outfielders as it is.  Though if he wanted to do some coaching, I'd think the door would always be open.

All this does make that trade in December look more and more like a huge steal for the Cardinals, what with David Freese moving up the prospect ranks.  Maybe Mozeliak knew more than we gave him credit for.

For now, though, I'll say what I said in December.  Thanks for the memories, Jimmy!

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]