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Posted on November 23, 2011 at 10:49 AM
Filed Under: St. Louis Cardinals
Of course, it's a slow news cycle, as people start to get ready for the holidays.  However, that doesn't mean that the papers/internet are completely barren.

One of the more distressing topics came to light yesterday.  Deadspin published a very unflattering profile on Dan Lozano, Albert Pujols's agent.  Be warned--it's not a family friendly piece, with some inappropriate (and definitely NSFW) pictures involved.  The most relevant claim in my mind (because, honestly, we aren't surprised at sleazy agents anymore) is that Lozano has been pretending to be a person of faith when he's just trying to stay close to Pujols.

Earlier this year, I made the comments that I thought Lozano would make a good deal for Pujols because they were close.  Albert had Lozano on the advisory board of the Pujols Family Foundation, for instance.  I didn't think he'd do that unless he had a close and personal relationship with the man.  I thought they would be able to work together to get Albert what and where he wanted without perhaps having to score the biggest payday.  If this story is right, I was way off target.

So that leaves us really two options.  One, Albert had no idea about these allegations and has been duped by Lozano's behavior.  Or two, Albert knows and doesn't care.

There is some of the latter in the USA Today story from earlier this year.  Albert is quoted in that as saying that he's heard rumors from other agents but he's dismissed them, saying that Danny's "been an open book".  Perhaps that's true.  Perhaps these allegations are just a smear tactic by some of the other agents that would like to get Albert into their stable.

However, rumors are one things.  To take a twist on an old Dizzy Dean quote, it ain't lying if you can back it up.  The Deadspin article, in my mind, does a great job of outlining and verifying some pretty repugnant behavior, even if you assume the pictures are photoshopped or otherwise manipulated.

I really think Albert is going to have to address this in one form or another.  The Pujols Family Foundation motto is "Faith. Family. Others."  If these charges are accurate, Lozano's done a good job of violating all three.  Perhaps they can find some evidence that vindicates Lozano.  Maybe they can show that he's changed his life.  However, just letting this sit out there is probably not a great idea.

I'm not saying that Albert has to jettison Lozano, especially this far into his free agency.  It could be time-consuming to find another agent, get him up to speed, and have him start negotiating.  That said, I think he needs to take a hard look at this relationship and realize how much it can affect his Christian witness to be represented by someone that has this kind of dirty laundry out there.

On to more pleasant things......

Baseball America has put out their top 10 Cardinal prospects, which you can find over here.  A lot of it looks like the Top 7 the United Cardinal Bloggers put out earlier in the year.   Not surprising to see Shelby Miller at the top of the list--but will he be eligible to top it next year?  We'll have to wait and see.

Apparently ticket prices have gone up, at least on some seats.  It's not necessarily a preemptive move on the Pujols front, but I'm sure the extra revenue won't hurt.  Plus, when you are coming off a year like that, you have to figure prices are going to increase as demand will likely do the same.  I imagine the five-game packs that have the David Freese bobblehead game, the ring replica game, and a WS flag game in them will be very popular.

The Cards also have to offer arbitration to their free agents today.  Obviously they will on Pujols and I figure they will on Edwin Jackson, Rafael Furcal and Octavio Dotel.  Not sure what their thinking might be on Arthur Rhodes.  Having him back wouldn't be a bad thing, but Mike Matheny might not obsess about having two lefties in the pen.

Finally, I want to bring your attention to something the St. Louis Men's Group Against Cancer is doing.  They are holding an online raffle as a fundraiser, which is pretty neat in and of itself. But take a look at the prizes!

A Rams road trip, including seats on the team jet.  A brand new Cadillac.  A trip to New York to see the "Spiderman" musical.  An iPad2.  All of those are great things and worth putting your money down to try to win.

However, this press release probably doesn't come to me if there wasn't a Cardinal tie, and surely there is.  For $1 a ticket, you enter to win the best prize of all, a trip to spring training.  You'll stay at the team hotel.  You'll get tickets to two games while you are there.  C'mon, how much fun is that?

So head over to rafflestl.com to see all the prizes (but if you want a direct link to the Cardinal package, click here).  It supports an organization that's been around for 40 years, helping out St. Louis related cancer charities.  It's the season of giving, so consider giving a little bit and, who knows, maybe you'll get something as well!

I have a couple of more posts planned, including a wonderful giveaway for some of my loyal readers.  Normally, I'd make a joke here about "all two of them" or whatever, but after bringing home hardware from the Cardinal Blogger Awards, I can't say enough about those that read this site.  To win best individual Cardinal blog and best post means a lot to me and I appreciate all those that voted for me in those categories.

Be safe if you are traveling today!
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Heroes
Matt Holliday (5)
Matt Carpenter (4)
Rafael Furcal (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Jon Jay (3)
Kyle Lohse (3)
Lance Lynn (3)
Yadier Molina (3)
David Freese (2)
Adam Wainwright (2)
Lance Berkman (1)
Allen Craig (1)
Shane Robinson (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Hero: Lance Berkman (24)
2010 Top Heroes: Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols (24)
2009 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (28)
2008 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (25)

Goats
Matt Holliday (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
David Freese (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Jason Motte (3)
Marc Rzepczynski (3)
Adam Wainwright (3)
Rafael Furcal (2)
Tyler Greene (2)
J.C. Romero (2)
Fernando Salas (2)
Mitchell Boggs (1)
Matt Carpenter (1)
Tony Cruz (1)
Daniel Descalso (1)
Jon Jay (1)
Erik Komatsu (1)
Kyle Lohse (1)
Victor Marte (1)
Eduardo Sanchez (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Goat: Ryan Theriot (12)
2010 Top Goat: Brendan Ryan (14)
2009 Top Goats: Rick Ankiel and Todd Wellemeyer (13)
2008 Top Goat: Troy Glaus (13)

2012 Happy Flights
Happy Flights: 7
Happy Flight Opportunities: 12
Happy Flight %: 58%

Through 5/20

    Cardinal Nation Approval Ratings (March 2012)
    Adam Wainwright 91.9% (down 2.8%)
    Chris Carpenter 90.1% (up 3.2%)
    Lance Berkman 88.6%
    Tony La Russa 88.2% (up 17.4%)
    Yadier Molina 87.4% (up 3.7%)
    Matt Holliday 87.3% (down 3.8%)
    David Freese 85.5%
    John Mozeliak 85.4% (up 13.3%)
    Mike Shannon 85.3% (up 0.4%)
    Jose Oquendo 84.7%
    Derrick Goold 82.8% (down 5.0%)
    Mark McGwire 82.6% (up 20.1%)
    John Rooney 81.5% (down 2.8%)
    Mike Matheny 81.1%
    Bill DeWitt 79.8% (up 8.8%)
    United Cardinal Bloggers 78.9%
    Skip Schumaker 73.3% (up 9.2%)
    Jim Hayes 71.9% (down 4.2%)
    Jon Jay 71.1%
    B.J. Rains 69.5% (down 0.9%)
    Kyle Lohse 68.9% (up 13.8%)
    Dan McLaughlin 68.0%
    Joe Strauss 67.7% (up 10.2%)
    Ricky Horton 67.5% (down 1.6%)
    Al Hrabosky 66.4% (up 3.2%)
    Albert Pujols 54.9% (down 45.5%)
    Colby Rasmus 46.5% (down 35.3%)

    2011
    Dave Duncan 87.9% (up 0.9%)
    Matthew Leach 85.5%
    Pop Warner 76.7%
    Ryan Franklin 72.8% (up 3.1%)
    John Vuch 68.9%
    Jeff Luhnow 66.4%
    Dan Lozano 58.7%

    2009
    Rick Ankiel 83.9%
    Chris Duncan 69.1%


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