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Warming Up the Winter

Posted on January 21, 2008 at 10:17 AM

I've often thought I might like to make the effort to go to the Cardinals' traditional Winter Warm-up. It's baseball talk in the winter, a chance to actually see the players and hear some news. I've never been able to afford it, though, nor take out the time to get up there. Plus I'm not much on crowded areas.

The good thing about the Warm-up, combined with the internet, is that we finally get some Cardinal news. So let's take a look at what came out over the weekend.

First off, Chris Carpenter is throwing again. The whole dynamic of the season could change if he's healthy and effective earlier than schedule. He's not pushing himself too hard, which is great. It'd be outstanding if he was back in June, but I wouldn't count on it. My prediction is still mid-August, enough time for him to get back into baseball shape and let the Cardinals see what he's got for 2009.

Staying on the injury theme, it looks like Josh Kinney could be back by time the season starts. A valuable part of the 2006 bullpen, he could help bolster the 2008 version as well. It'll be interesting to see what he has when he comes back and if he can be effective.

The same article talks about the rehabbing of Chris Duncan and Braden Looper. Both sound like they are doing well and are basically ready to go, but there was no reason to think that they wouldn't be. Still, nice to hear there aren't any unexpected setbacks.

At the end of that article (wow, Goold really packed it in, didn't he?) was a note about Ryan Franklin planning to be a reliever again this year. Larry at VEB has repeatedly made the case that Franklin should start, but with the number of starting pitchers already in camp, it probably does make sense to have a solid part of the bullpen return to that role. There's nothing to say TLR won't move him into the rotation halfway through the year anyway.

Which is bigger news, that Scott Spiezio is doing well in his personal rehabilitation, put out a CD, or that he doesn't have the famous red facial hair anymore?

Then there are plenty of WWU posts over at Bird Land. Definitely check out the quotes quiz. I don't see the answers yet, but the quotes are worth reading.

Oh, and some Santana news, one that the Cardinals did inquire, the second that they'd "kick the tires" if he became a free agent. It makes you want to see what'd happen if he didn't get traded, doesn't it?

The Warm-up finishes today, so maybe more news will be made!