Posted on February 6, 2009 at 7:50 AM
Filed Under:
Playing Pepper
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St. Louis Cardinals
Umm, about that entry yesterday. Yeah, let's just ignore that one, shall we?
Less than 12 hours after my posting, we all found out why everyone has been avoiding Ben Sheets this offseason. It's not his injury past, it's his injury present, as he's
going to have elbow surgery and wind up being out most, if not all, of the season.
To be fair to those of us who were banging the drum, the ESPN article states that the injury wasn't thought to be serious and most teams were focused on his shoulder. Which, as far as we know, is still perfectly healthy.
That pretty much closes the book on the Cardinal offseason, I'd expect. The starters that are out there now aren't demonstratively better than Joel Pineiro or whomever takes the fifth spot in the rotation, at least not enough to go out and spend for them. Once the outfielders get to take the field, show what they can do, we may start hearing some trade rumors but there likely won't be any more signings.
Speaking of the spring and outfielders, that long-discussed urban legend of Skip Schumaker playing second?
Looks like someone took it seriously. From all reports, Schumaker wasn't much of an infielder when he was playing the position on a more regular basis. I imagine there are going to be some tough days for him in Jupiter and we probably won't see much of him at the position during the regular season, but if it works, it helps with the outfield situation.
I mentioned yesterday I was starting a new blogging project. As we get ready for the 2009 season, I thought it might be a good idea to "warm up" by checking in on the other teams around baseball to get a feel for what they were expecting, what's going on in their organizations and what we need to look for this season. And who better to give us that feel that a blogger that follows the team?
I contacted a blogger for each team and was pleasantly surprised to get a large positive response. I tried to get a variety of blog types, not just the SportsNation big blogs. (I did make sure to contact most of the fellow
Blogs By Fans writers, though!) I'm still working on a few teams, so the schedule below is tentative and subject to change.
I hope this will help you get ready for the season. If nothing else, it should while away the time before spring training games start!
February 9:
Baltimore Orioles,
Atlanta BravesFebruary 10:
Boston Red Sox,
Florida MarlinsFebruary 11:
New York Yankees,
New York MetsFebruary 12:
Tampa Bay Rays,
Philadelphia PhilliesFebruary 13:
Toronto Blue Jays,
Washington NationalsFebruary 14:
Chicago White Sox,
Chicago CubsFebruary 16:
Cleveland Indians,
Cincinnati RedsFebruary 17:
Detroit Tigers,
Houston AstrosFebruary 18:
Kansas City Royals,
Milwaukee BrewersFebruary 19:
Minnesota Twins,
Pittsburgh PiratesFebruary 20:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim,
Arizona DiamondbacksFebruary 23:
Oakland A's,
Colorado RockiesFebruary 24:
Seattle Mariners,
Los Angeles DodgersFebruary 25:
Texas Rangers,
San Diego Padres,
San Francisco Giants
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3 Comments
I could be smug, but to what purpose?
Instead, let's congratulate Mozeliak for staying the course. Even when the money required to sign Sheets moved into our range, he stayed with his plan and didn't do something rash.
Can you imagine the outcry if Mo had signed Sheets, and then found out he was damaged goods?
That would have been VERY ugly.
I wonder what's going through Kennedy's mind right now with this notion of Skip taking some reps at second base this spring. I know that he hasn't exactly ripped the cover off the ball since he re-arrived in STL but when looking at the entire body of work he produced in 2008 I thought he was very serviceable.
I just wonder how much of a head case, if at all, he's become over these last couple of years. He might just be taking it all in stride at this point. I would love to see him come out guns-a-blazing to start the season so we don't have to go through the agony (or at least perceived agony) that we've seen for the last two seasons.