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Apologies

Sorry for the lack of posting.  Our three day weekend (which happened to contain my birthday) is being followed by three days out of the office for CPE.  So I don't know when I'll get another one up.  Let's quickly try to run through the last few games.

Thursday
Hero: Cesar Izturis.  Three for five in the leadoff slot.  Too bad the people behind him couldn't drive him in more.
Goat: Joel Pineiro.  A yucky game in a series of yucky games.  Will he be the first one removed from the rotation when Wainwright returns?
Notes: Missed out on a chance to sweep the struggling Braves, which would have really helped the overall race a lot.

Friday
Hero: Jason Isringhausen.  It wasn't exactly pretty--a definite Izzy save--but it was a save for the all-time Cardinal relief ace.  Hopefully that's a great step in the right direction for him.  Of course, Ludwick probably should get it for his 4-4, 2 HR game.  But Izzy's return might have been even bigger.
Goat: Albert Pujols.  0-4 with a double play.
Notes: Nice to get a win and chop a game off the Cub lead.  Even if it didn't last..........

Saturday
Hero: Ryan Ludwick.  Call it a makeup from Friday, but he did drive in the only run with yet another HR.
Goat: Joe Mather.  0-4 in front of Pujols (who didn't do much to stay out of the Goat level either).
Notes: At least the pitching staff did their part.

Sunday
Hero: Ryan Ludwick.  Two hits including yet another HR.  Glaus was a close runner up with a ninth-inning blast of his own.
Goat: Russ Springer.  Even the best of the bullpen can have an off day.
Notes: Another series loss, making the Birds 2-3 in series since the All-Star Break.

So, where do the Birds stand after all of this?  Well, depending on the outcome of tonight's Cubs game (hopefully it'll just be called for the Astros) they sit 6 out of the divisional lead but only 1/2 game out of the wild card.  Amazingly, they still have the third best record in the NL.  Still, seeing the Cubs extend their lead is pretty sickening, though hopefully the Redbirds can do something about it this weekend.

Carpenter goes tomorrow.  Looking forward to seeing how he builds on last week's outing.  Hope the bullpen won't be blowing a good outing for him.

I'll try to get back here before the end of the week!

Holiday Happenings

I really did mean to get to the computer this holiday weekend, but it didn't happen.  Let's take a look at the games in our own special way and then hit some of the other happenings.

Thursday
Hero: Yadier Molina.  Two hits, including a double.  There wasn't much to choose from in this game.
Goat: Mitchell Boggs.  Give up 10 runs, you probably are going to get the goat.

Friday
Hero: Albert Pujols.  #300 and the only run the Cardinals scored.
Goat: Troy Glaus.  Popping out with two on and one out and striking out (even if umpire-aided) to start the ninth.

Saturday:
Hero: Rick Ankiel.  Home run and game winning hit.
Goat: Troy Glaus.  0-4 with 3 K.

Sunday:
Hero: Adam Kennedy.  Two hits are pretty nice for a guy that didn't even start.
Goat: Russ Springer.  Could have chosen any of the pitchers, but two runs in an inning pretty much put the game out of reach.

Some big shifts in the roster on Sunday.  Brian Barton goes on the DL with a hand injury.  How realistic this injury is remains debatable, since it allows the Cards to put the Rule V player on the DL and not lose him.  We'll see if he's back before September.  Joe Mather comes up to take his slot.  Cesar Izturis is back, as Boggs takes that beating and works on it in Memphis.

And, of course, the big news is that Mark Mulder is going to start.  Which is not all that bad of an idea, but the execution leaves a little something to be desired.  I mean, to start him against that offense in that park?  I know that there is a day off today and the All-Star Break is coming (congrats to AP and Ludwick for their nods) but it seems like the bullpen is going to get a lot of work this week.  Even in a best-case scenario, he can't go past five innings, can he?

And what to do with Wellemeyer?  It is starting to look like he's coming back to earth.

Gotta run, unfortunately.  Try to do better tomorrow.

Catching Up (Again)

Our office just went to doing 40 hours in four days, so as to have Friday off, which meant I've been away from the computer for most of the weekend.  Let's recap, then discuss:

Thursday (vs. Cincy)
Hero: Troy Glaus.  1-4, but drove in both runs with a homer.
Goat: Randy Flores.  Both he and Mark Worrell were credited with two runs in the box score, but Flores let them all score.  A bases-loaded walk and then a bases-clearing triple?  Ouch.

Friday
Hero: Skip Schumaker.  As much as anyone can be in a 20-2 game.  Three hits, including a home run.
Goat: Pick a pitcher.  I guess I'd have to go with Todd Wellemeyer, since his eight runs in three and 1/3 innings really put the game out of reach.  Ron Villone's six in an inning and two thirds was pretty ghastly as well, and Worrell, Russ Springer and Ryan Franklin didn't cover themselves with glory either.  When the best pitcher of the night is Aaron Miles, that's a bad night.

Saturday
Hero: Kyle Lohse.  To come out the afternoon after that shelling and to shut down the same offense is pretty impressive. Runner up to Ryan Ludwick for his acting job.
Goat: Rick Ankiel.  0-4 with two left on.

Sunday
Hero: Can we say Tom Gordon?  No, the rules say just Cardinal players.  So it comes down to Schumaker and Glaus again, both with two hits and a home run.  We'll go with Skip this time, since he left one fewer man on base and his home run came in a tighter game.  (Granted, Glaus's was just a couple of batters later, but you have to drawn the line somewhere.)
Goat: Randy Flores.  You come in with two on and two out. Then you walk two guys, forcing in a run?  Springer wasn't much better, walking in another one, but at least he got an out.

Wonderful thing about baseball.  The Cards scored less in the series than the Phillies did in the first game, yet they won two of three.  It really proved that momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher.  The Cards still couldn't gain any game on the Cubs, but it could have been much worse.  Sitting 3.5 out at this time of year is pretty much beyond anyone's wildest expectations.

And best wishes to Yadier Molina.  That was a nasty collision in the ninth inning.  All reports seem to indicate that it wasn't as severe as it appeared on the field (I thought it was great to hear "Yadi! Yadi! Yadi!" as he was being taken off) and it should "just" be a concussion.  Hopefully he'll rejoin the team quickly--with Pujols and Wainwright already being down,  you'd hate to see Molina be out as well.

Lot of activity this weekend, with Joe Mather and Mark Worrell going back to Memphis in exchange for Jason Isringhausen and Anthony Reyes.  Izzy's definitely saying all the right things, so hopefully he's got his mindset right and he'll be able to restore order to the ninth inning soon.  Reyes already got a win in his first game back and apparently will be used out of the pen as a long relief guy, though he could start for Wellemeyer Thursday if there are medical questions.  In other words, we may not see him again for a week.

Speaking of medical questions, Chris Carpenter is getting a second opinion after being shut down last week.  I don't think a lot of people are surprised.  Carpenter was being talked about as being back in the next couple of weeks, but that seemed like a stretch for the surgery he had.  Besides, it's the Cardinals and pitching.  Everyone has at least one setback that extends the return timetable.  It'd be nice to hear that it's not needing more surgery or that it isn't anything serious, but that may be too much to ask.

The rehab calvary might actually be close to arriving, though.  Mark Mulder had a very impressive outing in Springfield Saturday, getting up into the 90s on the gun and throwing five shutout innings.  Granted, he's been good before in the minors, but he never was throwing that hard.  Matt Clement was a little less impressive, but he had a decent outing.  We'll see if the innings continue to take a toll on him, however.  Personally, I'm a little more excited about Mulder now.  I don't know if it'll hold up, but as excited as people that should know are about this new arm slot and seeing the first results, it's very encouraging.

Day off today for the Redbirds (Yadi needs it, for sure) before the Royals series starts Tuesday.  I'll take a look at the pitching matchup, etc. then.

Off the Wagon

If Wednesday's win was a step toward recovery, St. Louis fell off the wagon on Thursday and landed with a thud that might be felt for days to come.  The same problems reared up on Thursday afternoon--a lack of the big hit, the inability to continue to pile on, and the shakiness of the bullpen.

This game was very similar to the one Ian Snell started against the Cardinals earlier.  They got out to the big lead, couldn't add to it, and lost it late.  It's possible the game turned in the first inning.  If Adam Kennedy's bases-loaded, two-out hit gets down, there's a couple more runs right there and the game could have gone quite differently.

From what it sounds like, this could be the last time for a while that Jason Isringhausen gets the goat.  Some sort of decision apparently will be made today, and it has to be.  Odds are there will be a DL move, especially since you'll note in that story people are now saying he's still getting treatment for his hip, something that hadn't been mentioned before now.  But Izzy did make that a little harder on them with his blunt honesty:

"I don't know what we're going to do," Isringhausen said. "I wish I could say I was hurt, my arm was falling off, or I couldn't land. I can't do that. People (hitters) standing at home plate tell you what the end result should be. I'm not getting any swings and misses, so that says something about my stuff. I feel healthy. But maybe my 'healthy' just isn't good enough."

While Izzy gets most of the brunt, most of the bullpen can come under the same indictment.  I ran the numbers since the middle of the Colorado series, when Izzy blew the win late.  Here's what the bullpen has done since then (again, apologies for formatting):

Randy Flores: 2.2 innings, two hits, one ER, three walks, two strikeouts, 3.37 ERA, 50% inherited runners scored (1-2)
Ryan Franklin: 3 innings, two hits, 0 ER, two walks, one strikeout, 0.00 ERA, no inherited runners
Jason Isringhausen: 3.1 innings, 8 hits, 6 ER, four walks, one strikeout, 16.22 ERA, 100% inherited runners scored (2-2)
Kyle McClellan: 3.1 innings, four hits, 2 ER, three walks, three strikeouts, 5.41 ERA, 67% inherited runners scored (3-2)
Mike Parisi: 5 innings, seven hits, three ER, two walks, three strikeouts, 5.40 ERA, no inherited runners
Russ Springer: 3.1 innings, one hit, 0 ER, two walks, 1 K, 0.00 ERA, 0% inherited runners scored (2-0)
Ron Villone: 2.2 innings, nine hits, eight ER, two walks, one strikeout, 26.97 ERA, 0% inherited runners scored (1-0)
Total Bullpen: 23.1 innings, 33 hits, 20 ER, 18 BB, 12 K, 7.72 ERA, 50% inherited runners scored (10-5)

Save for Franklin and Springer (and, to a lesser extent, Flores), everyone is struggling out there.  It doesn't seem to be overwork--that's an average of just over 2.1 innings per game over the nine game stretch--but something does need to be done.

I'd expect that the first thing that is going to happen is the promotion of Chris Perez when they do whatever they do with Izzy.  That should give the bullpen another look and a good power arm to help in some situations.  As you can see above, the relievers are only striking out one every two innings during that stretch.  That many balls in play is going to lead to some problems.

Villone obviously needs some time off as well.  He had a 0.90 ERA in April, but in half as many innings in May his ERA is close to 9.  The decision needs to be made soon whether he's going through a rough patch and needs to tinker or he's run out of gas and needs to be released.  There are a few other relievers in Memphis that might be worth taking a look at in St. Louis.

As for the offense, I don't know what you can do about that.  It's not that people aren't hitting--the team racked up 14 hits yesterday and they hit .313 for the Pittsburgh series--but the team can't seem to get them when they are needed.  37 men were stranded in three games in this series.  A couple of hits in the right spot and it's a sweep by the Cardinals, possibly rendering some of this bullpen angst moot.

We still need a Hero out of yesterday's game.  It's a tough call, really.  The pitching's out, either because of ineffectiveness or they didn't have a chance for a big moment play.  Numerous batters had multiple hits yesterday, which makes it a bit hard to narrow down, but I think I'll continue to honor the resurgence of our third baseman and select Troy Glaus for his 3-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB day. His bounceback is one of the reasons the offense is at least getting runners on.  Though we may have to use John's excellent Photoshop more often than we'd like!

It promises to be an interesting day whenever the decision on Izzy comes down.  But until then, there's also a ballgame to focus on for tonight.

The Cardinals and Rays were the last two of the current teams to meet, facing each other for the first time down in Tropicana in 2005.  The Cards swept that series 3-0 and haven't seen the Rays since.  Unfortunately for the Cardinals, this version of the Tampa Bay squad is much better than the previous incarnation.

Braden Looper is going for the Cards tonight.  Not surprisingly, there's not much history between him and the current Rays batters, being that most of them are homegrown ALers.  Looper's pitched fairly well since his shelling by the Giants and hopefully can continue that.  He's pitching a little better in Busch than on the road, so that may help out some as well.

Andy Sonnanstine goes for the Rays.  You have to figure the team is going to lean on Troy Glaus a lot this weekend, since he's the only player that's faced Sonnanstine and likely any of the hurlers that will be going for Tampa Bay.  Sonnanstine hasn't had the best of seasons, but being that he's a fresh face to these guys, it could be a long night.

With the Rays coming to town, Troy Percival gets to return to St. Louis.  We'll see what kind of reaction he gets when he comes into a game.  The Rays have some young hitters that should be fun to watch as well.

Just as long as they don't go beating around the bullpen like everyone else.

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.

Padding the Lead

Great start to the homestand by the Cards, as they take out their closest competitor and raise the lead in the Central to 1.5 games.

Braden Looper pitched just well enough to win.  Five walks in five innings is asking for trouble, and if game Hero Kyle McClellan hadn't been there, that 3-1 lead he left with could have vanished very quickly.  McClellan got a key double play and the crisis was averted.  That seemed to wake up the bats as well, as they then stretched the lead to 6-1 before the final out.

Obviously Tony is quite taken with McClellan.  "Where he goes, I'll go with him."  I can't remember when a rookie pitcher made that much of an impression on the manager, save the 2006 postseason where the whole unproven corps got significant work.

It's a good thing that Adam Kennedy went 3-4 with two runs and an RBI.  His errant throw was going to earn him Goat status otherwise, especially if it looks like there's some long-term damage to Pujols's wrist.  Since AP played the rest of the game, hopefully it's fine and we can move on.

That does mean we have to assign a Goat, though.  Everyone in the starting lineup got a hit and the bullpen did its job (including another scoreless inning from Mr. Reyes, who seems to be enjoying the bullpen somewhat), so it makes it tough.  I really don't know who to give it to, so I guess, due to all those walks, it'll be Looper.   But it's definitely not a strong Goat.

The Cards get to throw out their ace, Adam Wainwright, to try to make a little more breathing room at the top of the division.  Wainwright's had some success against the Brewers, though none of them have had 10 plate appearances against him.  Prince Fielder may be in for another long night of trotting to first, as he has a .429 average with a home run off the Wagonmaker.

The Brewers have Carlos Villanueva on the hill tonight.  Albert Pujols is pleased, since he is hitting .400 with 2 homers off of the Milwaukee hurler.  Chris Duncan has a homer off of him as well, and we'll probably see Skip again tonight since he's 2 for 5 against Villanueva.  I still think that Brian Barton is getting buried on the bench, but Skip's production lately does make it hard to sit him.

Could be a fun game for the Cardinals tonight, if the stats hold up.  Unfortunately, when it comes to the Cardinals, it sure seems like a lot of times they don't.

Mark Mulder threw five pretty solid innings at A Palm Beach.  His next start will be at AA Springfield, so it seems like he's on track to be back in St. Louis by the beginning of May.  Speaking of pitchers returning from injury, Russ Springer could be back pretty soon, which will make for some interesting decisions.

I've added two blogs to my blog roll, The Cardinal Virtue and Keeton's Cards.  Check them out when you've got a chance. 

Also, the United Cardinal Bloggers are in the planning stages of their next project, which may be something that's never been attempted in the history of the Internet.  And it's pretty cool, too, if I do say so myself.  I need a lot of bloggers involved, so if I sent you the e-mail, I hope to hear from you soon.  If I don't have your e-mail and you are interested in participating (or just want to know more), send me a note through the "Contact Me" at the top of the page.

A Couple With The Nats

They haven't been easy, but the Cards have another series win after taking the first two from the Nationals.  Ironically, it's been the aspect that people thought was a strength before the season--the bullpen--that's been causing all the heartburn.

Let's look at Friday night first.  I've never been shy in noting that I'm not a big fan of Braden Looper in the rotation.  I think his season last year was overrated somewhat, with his numbers skewed by a strong April.  While he could be serviceable, he'd be someone I'd look at first to move either to the bullpen or to another team when the injured pitchers return.

That said, he did a pretty darn good job on Friday, limiting the damage against the Nationals to one run and five hits in his six innings.  He left with a 5-1 lead (this is about where I turned it on) and most fans, I expect, thought that another one was in the books.

You had to know there was trouble when Cristian Guzman, who hardly ever gets hits, much less muscles up, sent one over the wall against Russ Springer.  The next two batters reach via hit and that's Springer's night.  For that performance, he received not only a DL stint but Friday night's Goat award.

Other potential goats were Ron Villone, for walking the bases loaded, and Troy Glaus, whose error on a ball that hit him in the glove plated the fourth Nationals run.  Kyle McClellan did a heck of a job with what he was given.  It's obvious that he's going to be in bigger and bigger situations as the season goes on.  LaRussa really trusts the kid--which would surprise some--and he's so far producing.

If he'd come in and had a one-two-three inning, Jason Isringhausen would probably have gotten the Hero award.  But even striking out the side doesn't seem so great when you put the tying and winning runs on.  Still, he was in consideration.  Cesar Izturis got a couple of hits (side note: unlike errors, the Goat award is never reviewed after the fact).  You have to like McClellan's work.  But I think, due to the home run giving the Cards an early lead, the Hero again goes to Rick Ankiel.

On to Saturday.  The Hero is pretty obvious on this one.  Adam Wainwright was, well, what'd you expect out of a staff ace.  Eight innings, two earned runs, four strikeouts, and even chipped in an RBI single. You also could consider Izturis (again!) for reaching base three times.  Yadier Molina probably would have gotten the nod if Wainwright didn't after a 2-4 day with 2 RBI.

He didn't blow the game, but for getting it as close as he did, the Goat has to go to Anthony Reyes.  About as opposite from his last outing as you can get.   I was watching the game while playing with the kids and, from what I could tell, the first hit that Reyes gave up was on a pretty decent pitch.  However, giving up a home run after that, putting the game in jeopardy, wasn't what you'd want to see.  And then he had to watch Randy Flores get the easiest save ever--throw one pitch, get a fly ball, game over.

Both games were similar--good starting pitching, fairly solid offense, and heart attacks induced by the bullpen.  Even when they were successful, they were scary.  The box score shows Ryan Franklin with a hold on Friday, with one unblemished inning.  However, two of those batters hit long fly balls, the last had Ankiel up against the wall to catch it.

I've been reading the Baseball Prospectus annual and I just got to the Cardinal section today.  One of the points that continually popped up in the player writeups was just how much went right for the Cardinal bullpen last year, such as low BABIP numbers, things that would be expected to revert to form--or worse--this year.  Hopefully having players like McClellan, maybe Perez later on, whatever happens with the rotation when players start returning, things like that will negate those like Springer and Franklin that may slide from last year's results.

Speaking of returning, it looks like Joel Pineiro will be in St. Louis pretty soon.  We may see him before Tax Day, which means that decision time will be coming for the Cardinals.  I'd guess one of Thompson or Wellemeyer would move to the rotation and Kelvim Jimenez, who came up with Springer's injury, going back to the minors.  What will happen when Springer gets healthy could be interesting.  Also, Mark Mulder threw in extended spring training, so we may see him in the middle of May.

Something tells me John Mozeliak is keeping the trade lines open, in case this surplus holds.

The First Annual Cardinal Blogger Awards

The votes have been cast. Now let's see who won!

First off, a comment from Kujo at Rockin' the Red for a new title for the group:

How about Cardinals Bloggers United, in the likeness of the soccer hooligan firms in England?

That's not bad. Those involved, what do you think? Or perhaps United Cardinal Bloggers would be more your style? If we are going to keep doing projects, we gotta find a name. And I do hope we keep doing projects.

OK, to the awards. I'll post some quotes from those bloggers that elaborated on their selections.

  Continue Reading

My Ballot for the Cardinal Blogger Awards

This is the first attempt at a Cardinal blogger collaborative project. I hope that the bloggers involved enjoy it enough to try doing more things together in the near future.

Those scheduled to post their selections today include Readin' Redbird, Redbirds Fun, CardinalsGM, Rockin' the Red, Redbird Ramblings, and CardinalsNationGlobe. Check all of them out (I'll direct link to their post when they get them up) and then come back here next week for a consolidated ballot. (Future Redbirds has theirs up now as well.)

So, without much further ado, let's see my selections for the CBA. My selections are noted in bold.

  Continue Reading

Back to Front

Yesterday's big Cardinal news was that Russ Springer will be returning for another year. Couple that with the team picking up Izzy's option and signing Franklin to an extension earlier in the year, and almost all of this year's bullpen will be returning. That's probably a good thing, but I have a few doubts.

It seems to me that relievers can fluctuate a lot. For his career, Springer is a pitcher with a 4.70 ERA. Here are his ERA numbers for the last eight seasons:

Year	ERA
2000	5.08
2001	7.13
2002	DNP
2003	8.31
2004	2.63
2005	4.73
2006	3.47
2007	2.18

Now, obviously, this wasn't a terrible deal for the Cardinals to make, but it seems to me that bullpen pitchers and bench players are types that you can find on the cheap that will do a serviceable job for you. I understand the Cardinals wanting to at least feel like their 'pen is strong due to the instability in the rotation and, being that there is no GM, you aren't going to have too many bold moves made. I'm just afraid the Cards are going to hang on to people like Springer a year too long.

Other than that, still in the holding pattern in Cardinal land.  There's talk that the GM search is proceeding quickly, with phone calls weeding out those they don't necessarily need to see in person, but I'd still be surprised if one is named in the next week.  I again repeat that I hope one is in place before the Series is over.  Otherwise, the Cardinals will really be behind the eight ball.

Totally off-topic, but apparently the best thing I ever did for this site's views was to use Harry Potter in a post title.   Daily, I get people here searching for "Harry Potter pitchers".  I assume these people have slipped in their typing and really want pictures of the boy wizard, but hey, whatever gets 'em here.

Also on the Network: √ Kevin Curtis Out With Sports Hernia [Depressed Fan] √ Trying to Find the Bright Spots [Arin It Out] √ You Have GOT To Be Kidding [C70 At The Bat] √ Fantasy Football Anyone? [Depressed Fan] √ Damon's Miscue Sinks Yankees [Green Pinstripes] √ Two F'ing Hands. [Depressed Fan] √ More Newbies, Please [El Lefty Malo] √ Shea Stadium Seats: This Explains Everything! [Loge 13]