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A Holliday Weekend

It's late in the day, I've already written about my electronic tragedy of the weekend and I've worked up my Baseball Digest column (to be up later this evening, probably).  Let's take a quick crack at this weekend's series with the Oakland A's.  Oakland is one of those teams I'm a little fond of, though not as much as when Tony La Russa and Mark McGwire were running around over there.  Still, love those green uniforms.

Playing Pepper 2010: Oakland Athletics

Last year before the season began, I posed five questions to a blogger for each team, so as to get to know the rest of baseball.  I focus so heavily on the Cardinals that sometimes the rest of MLB can pass me by.  That went very well, so much so that it spawned not only a postseason edition but was part of the impetus for the formation of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.

So this year, I've brought Playing Pepper back, with a little bit of a twist.  Instead of five questions, I posed 10 questions, and this year every team got the same set.  Plus, tapping into those BBA connections, I sent them to every blogger representing that team in the BBA.

We'll try to do two a day in a general alphabetical order---ah, who are we kidding, we'll get them up when we get them up.

Oakland Athletics
2009 Finish: 75-87, fourth in the AL West  Continue Reading

Cardinals Get Holliday

Well, Albert Pujols may read this blog, but obviously the front office doesn't.

Just When You Want To Give The Front Office Credit

Maybe this is just writer speculation.  Maybe it's Billy Beane trying to drive up the price for Matt Holliday amongst other teams.  Maybe it's a joke that's gone too far.

But this report that the Cardinals might be starting to consider sending Brett Wallace to Oakland for Halladay sends chills up my spine, so much so that you are getting a short blog post dealing with it.

Let's list out the reasons that this is a bad idea, shall we?

1) Matt Holliday is a Scott Boras free agent.  You aren't likely to get him to sign a nice, hometown discount extension.  You aren't likely to have smooth negotiations to get him to give up his shot at free agent riches.  You are likely to have the same hole in the offense after October that you do right now without the hope of a prospect coming up to fill it.

2) Matt Holliday isn't a game changer.  Holliday's a good player, don't get me wrong.  Under other circumstances, I'd love to have him in St. Louis.  Even with his recent hot streak, though, he's not an MVP candidate outside the confines of the Rocky Mountains.  He's a good, solid bat, one that could help but not necessarily carry the offense.  I don't know that putting him instead of Ryan Ludwick (especially with Ludwick's resurgence) makes teams more likely to pitch to Albert Pujols instead of walking him.  You don't trade your top guy for a nice player.  You trade your top guy for someone that you are as close to 100% as possible will make a major difference.

3) You could get the same offensive boost, perhaps, in just promoting Wallace.  Tony LaRussa seems to want Mark DeRosa at third, fine.  Put Wallace in left field.  We've dealt with Chris Duncan's defense out there for so long, I think we could tolerate Wallace's, especially if he starts contributing offensively.  If he gets really bad, move DeRosa out there and him back to third.  I know he's no great shakes there either, but you've got the option.

4) It's Billy Beane.  Have we learned nothing from the Mark Mulder trade?  Beane may have lost a little bit of his invincibility aura, but he's still got the reputation.  And while Daric Barton, the big time prospect in the Mulder trade, didn't pan out as expected, I think we still would rate that deal as a loss, right?  Do you really want to see Wallace dominate the AL for 5 years for two months of above-average production from Holliday?

5) Pitching is more pressing.  There are a lot of options in the offense. Ludwick is in good form again.  Pujols is Pujols.  Colby Rasmus is becoming a dependable bat.  DeRosa is chipping in.  You have the new acquisition of Julio Lugo, seeing what he can do.  You have the possibilities of Troy Glaus and Khalil Greene returning.  If you used 13 hitters, you probably wouldn't have to worry as much about the offense either, allowing for more pinch hitting and matchup play than you have with this short bench.

Whereas the GM and manager both say that there are no better options in the system than Todd Wellemeyer.  Todd Wellemeyer has a 5.68 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP.  If there's no one better, you need to go out and find someone.  I wouldn't use Wallace for just anyone, of course, but as I've said ad nauseum, Roy Halladay would be one that I would.

6) Wallace is cheap.  When Pujols's contract comes up, you are going to need quality players that are being paid at below-market rates due to club control.  Rasmus is one of those guys.  Wallace can be another.  You don't just give him away for a guy that, even if you are going to resign him, would take millions of dollars, dollars that may mean the difference between Albert Pujols, lifetime Cardinal and Albert Pujols, New York Met.  At least if you got Halladay, you'd have him for two years and could let him walk after 2010, getting picks and saving money.  You can do that with Holliday, but instead of two playoff pushes, you get one.

This is a horrible, terrible, no-good, rotten idea and I hope that this is the only time it sees the light of day.

Playing Pepper 2009: Oakland Athletics

As the players start getting themselves ready for another season, I thought it'd be a good idea to do the same.  I contacted a blogger for each major league team and posted them five questions.  This is the result.  You can find the tentative schedule of teams here and today's main post is right here.

For a while there in the mid-90s, when Tony LaRussa was fresh in the managing chair in St. Louis, it was like Oakland East under the Arch.  LaRussa brought a number of coaches and players with him that had worn the green and gold and that helped him have early success in the Midwest.

The most recent dealing with the A's, though, has been decidedly less in favor of the Redbirds, as we all remember the calamitous Mark Mulder for Dan Haren, Kiko Calero and Daric Barton trade.  Long will it live in infamy.

To see how the current Oakland squad is doing, I turned to Arin of Arin It Out, another Blogs By Fans site.
  Continue Reading

The World Series Reprise Continues

Before we get to the upcoming series with Detroit, lets pause for a moment and remember Sunday's game.  From all accounts, it was a doozy.  Piniero pitched great; Lester was slightly better.  Paplebon was proven human.  There were clutch hits (Kennedy in the ninth off the Sox closer), timely pitching (see McClellan in the 10th and Izzy in the eleventh), and off your seat drama (Duncan cut down at home).  I only wish I could have seen it.

Congrats to Nick Stavinoha, who got his first ML hit on Sunday in the sixth.

I'll award the Hero for this game to 2 folks:  Joel Piniero, who shook off my dire predictions of doom to throw 7+ innings and allow only 2 runs, and Aaron Miles, for his 5-hit effort.  Anytime your name is linked to Don Mattingly's (the last visiting player to have 5 hits in a game at Fenway) that's good.  Goat?  Mike Parisi.  Sorry, Mike.

Although the sting of losing that 2004 world series will always remain (granted, the sting will eventually fade to almost nothing as time passes), the Cardinals have won both regular season series from Boston since (in 2005 and this past weekend).  We haven't been so lucky with the Tigers, getting swept in Detroit last year.  Looper, Reyes, and Thompson were the victims during that May Series at Comerica.  Looper gets another crack at them today, facing Kenny Rogers.  The best pitching matchup of the series, however, is tomorrow, as Kyle Lohse meets rookie wunderkind Armando (don't call me Andres) Galarraga.  Wellemeyer's balky elbow will face hit or miss Nate Robertson in the finale Thursday.

The Cardinals, a team that has not shown much plate discipline lately, would be well served to be deliberate at the plate and run up the pitch counts early.  That would get the starter out and get us to their bullpen; other than Zumaya (who's just back off the DL), it is one of the worst in the AL.

One other item worth discussing today:  Mark Mulder's name has been bandied about for a possible start in Kansas City this weekend.  He was scratched from his rehab tune-up last night.  Despite two surgeries and countless hours rehabbing his shoulder, Mark's never gotten his arm back to the form he displayed as one of the Oakland A's anchors in the first part of this decade; whether it's a loss of velocity due to diminished strength in the arm following the surgeries, or his elusive arm slot issues, he isn't the same pitcher he was in 2004.  Also, as he progresses higher in the minors he's gotten slapped around pretty good by AA/AAA hitters.  I don't see how he's even an option at this point for a spot start with the big club.  Mark deserves all the credit in the world for his determination to get back on the field and resurrect his career.  I just don't think it's going to happen.

Frankly if Mulder's name appears as a better option for a spot start than Anthony Reyes from here on out (once Reyes returns from the DL), there's something seriously wrong with the thinking in the front office.

(PS - There was no Mitchell Boggs on the 1970s A's teams; the guy I was thinking of is Mitchell Page.)

Home Stretch

A while back, the United Cardinal Bloggers (some of who did the roundtable that you can find below) put out their predictions for the way the different standings around the league would pan out.  Daniel at Redbirds Fun told me at the time he typically waited until closer to the regular season, and you can now find his selections at his blog.

Not your traditional Opening Day, but the Red Sox and Athletics have kicked the season off in Japan.  Looks like Boston's in good shape to win this one in extra innings.  Our network friends at Who Made You Mirabelli? and Beantown West will likely be all over this, albeit from the Boston perspective.

Cards won another one yesterday, 8-4 over the Twins.  13 hits for the Redbirds, so most everyone had a good day.  Even Cesar Izturis drove in two with a single in his only AB.  You know it's a good day when something like that happens!  (He did get caught stealing, however.)  Colby Rasmus again made the trip and drew a walk.  Being that the Cards don't have another road trip, that may be his last appearance with the big squad in the spring.

Brad Thompson threw a pretty decent outing, two runs in five innings.  He even struck out four, which usually isn't a big part of his game.  The only pitcher with a rough day was Chris Perez, who allowed two runs in the ninth and was yanked before he could finish it.  That probably seals his demotion to Memphis, but he will see St. Louis sometime this summer, barring injury.

It really is the home stretch for the Cardinals.  They have home games today and tomorrow against the Nationals and Orioles, respectively.  Then, on Thursday, they are the "road team" for the last Fins and Feathers game against ST roommates Florida.  Friday and Saturday has them playing in Springfield, MO against their AA team before heading to St. Louis to start off the season on Monday.

Joel Pineiro pitched against AAA batters yesterday and did pretty well.   According to the article by Matthew Leach, if all goes well Pineiro could be back with the major league club by mid-April.  I don't know what the odds are of that happening.  I'm sure they go up dramatically if he doesn't report pain today.

There's an article up today about the pitching of Thompson and Todd Wellemeyer.  I don't know that they should bear the brunt of the outrage of Anthony Reyes not being in the rotation.  I still don't think Wellemeyer can keep up his numbers if he had to stay in the rotation for a whole year.  Thompson would probably have a better chance, but I do think of him as a reliever as well.  The biggest problem is that we've got these guys plus Braden Looper when our top prospect of a couple of years ago languishes.  It just doesn't make a lot of sense.

Rick Ankiel is hitting .369 for the spring, coupling the average with power.  If anyone had said 8 years ago that Ankiel would be our cleanup hitter, it would have been a joke about a weak offense.  He's definitely developed into a reasonable alternative in that slot.  Of course, the jury is out on whether he can continue to be effective until the regular season gets started, but I think he'll be fine.

This offense really has me excited about the 2008 season.  There should be a lot less of "oh, we aren't going to score" this year.  Last year, if Pujols or Molina weren't coming up, a lot of times scoring opportunities were wasted.  There will be a lot more firepower in the lineup this year, it appears.

Mr. Goold is on the ball again today, bringing us the lineup.  Anthony Reyes is on the mound and hopefully will have another great start.

1. Skip Schumaker, RF
2. Brian Barton, LF
3. Albert Pujols, 1B
4. Troy Glaus, 3B
5. Rick Ankiel, CF
6. Jason LaRue, C
   
7. Aaron Miles, 2B
8. Anthony Reyes, RHP
9. Cesar Izturis, SS

The bullpen is stocked with LHP Ron Villone, LHP Randy Flores, RHP Ryan Franklin, RHP Jason Isringhausen, RHP Kelvin Jimenez, RHP  Hugo Castellanos.

Also on the Network: √ The Hybrid: College Football Is Back, Fools [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ "It Didn't Look Like They Wanted To Come Out And Beat Us" [C70 At The Bat] √ Cardinals Keep Destroying Hope [C70 At The Bat] √ Jay Cutler Is Dating Kristin Cavallari: A Gratuitous Photo Gallery [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ White Sox Acquire Manny Ramirez: A Roundup [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Cardinals Hit Rock Bottom, Break Out Jackhammers [C70 At The Bat] √ Another Lost Cardinal Weekend [C70 At The Bat] √ Glenn Beck, The Big Hurt, And Suh Killed A Guy: Your Extra Juicy Monday Roundup [Tremendous Upside Potential]