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Splitting The Weekend

Two games, one win.

A Great Day For Cardinal Prospect Watchers

The hyperventilating prospect geek fraternity will be out in force today

The term coined by Joe Strauss and used as a hashtag on Twitter (#hpgf) will get a workout this morning, as last year's first round draft pick Shelby Miller throws a bullpen, along with prospects Sam Freeman and PJ Walters.  Walters brought the good news that his daughter, who was born prematurely, is doing better, though is still in the hospital.

Miller, though, will be the focus of the early part of camp.  He's not to the level that Stephen Strasburg is, of course, with the possibility of making the team right off the bat, but there is a lot of interest to see just how well he does.  He's not going to make the team, but he might just give a glimpse of the future.  With the farm system as reportedly barren as it is, any glimpses are wonderful things.

It gets started for real today, as well, because Tony LaRussa's going to have his annual speech, then the first full-squad workouts get underway.  A real game, albeit one that doesn't count, is just nine days way!  (Sounds like TLR deviated a little bit, allowing some veterans to talk as well today.)

Among those position players with something to prove is Joe Mather.  As with many articles in the spring, he's claiming great health and is ready for a big year.  I'm still not sold on him being the everyday third baseman, but to be able to do that, play outfield, etc. and have that power in his bat, he'd be a great bench asset for this team.

Brendan Ryan actually made it in to camp yesterday.  He's positive he'll be ready for Opening Day, but I'm still hedging my bets.  Just knowing how injuries tend to linger on for Cardinals, for whatever reason, and I wouldn't be surprised if he starts on the DL and comes off after the 15 days are up.

A lot of us are interested to see how Brad Penny will do in St. Louis, especially when paired up with Dave Duncan.  Over at Bloomberg Sports, they indicate that he could be a fantasy steal late in drafts, which is good to hear.  It's nice to have some outsiders giving support to what we fans are thinking.  Penny is the key to the season, in my book.

A note about tomorrow night's UCB Radio Hour.  We are scheduled to have another guest join us, as Fox Sports Midwest media relations person Geoff Goldman will be calling in to talk about his job, what to expect from this year, and if Jim Hayes really is that much of a goofball.

Someone that won't be joining us, for once, is Nick from Pitchers Hit Eighth.  Nick and his wife welcomed their first son into the world yesterday.  So you probably won't see that UCB roundtable transcript up on his site today!  Congrats to the whole family.

Cardinals Getting Ready

Before we get to the news of the weekend, it's just come across Twitter that the Cards have invited Shelby Miller and Sam Freeman into camp.  While it's most likely to make sure they have enough arms for whatever drills and situations that they have in mind, it's still interesting to see Miller get a chance in front of the main Cardinal brass.  Hopefully he'll get into some of the early spring training games, so we can see a little bit of what he looks like.

Also this morning, Julio Lugo made it to camp, the last player expected anytime soon.  Brendan Ryan is still rehabbing from surgery (I find it kinda strange that Lugo didn't know anything about that--not really in the Cardinal loop there, are you Julio?) and PJ Walters is with his family, including his premature daughter.

There was plenty of stories from this weekend, though, as Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday made their way into camp.  Albert had his first interview with the media and it went about the way you'd expect.

It was interesting to see him talk about this team maybe being the best one he's been on.  On paper, there's no doubt it's a strong squad, though we'll have to wait and see if it stacks up with the 2004-2005 version.  I've been very positive about this team, especially if a couple of the "ifs" pan out (especially Brad Penny), so it's nice to see AP is on the same wavelength.

It was not surprising, however, that he didn't want to talk about his contract.  Of course, he's going to have to realize that it's one of the biggest stories in baseball, not just in St. Louis, so he's going to get a lot of questions about it.  I do like hearing a quote that "it's going to work out," but as most fans, we'd like to see that sooner rather than later.  Hopefully there's more going on behind the scenes than we know.

What the Cardinals may want to do is come up with a package deal.  AJ Pujols has reported to camp as well and has a pretty decent swing, even if he's tired of having more siblings (apparently).

Tony LaRussa talked about lineups some on Sunday, joking that he'd just make 162 copies of one lineup for the season.  Everyone gets a hearty laugh out of that, because we know that if TLR only had 10 players, he'd still do 200 different lineups.

Still, the combinations are much more limited for TLR this year.  Most games, you are locked in at 3-4-5.  You shouldn't see the outfield mix and match with Ryan Ludwick and Colby Rasmus like we saw last year--they'll be pretty much everyday players.  Yadier Molina is out there 90% of the time.  Skip Schumaker will be at second and most likely leading off on a regular basis.  If David Freese locks down third, he'll be a fixture. Brendan Ryan should get a majority of the time at short.

The biggest question in camp in regard to lineups is probably who will bat second.  Rasmus gets a lot of play in this discussion, and there are good reasons why.  He could see a lot of fastballs with Pujols and Holliday coming up, he has the power to make that a "damage" position, and he's got enough speed to move well on a double by AP or at least stay out of a double play.

As LaRussa points out, though, that puts the two lefties together (and you know how he hates that).  He's got a point about opponents being able to bring in the tough LOOGY to get them both.  But if you hit Rasmus sixth, which would seem to be the logical other place for him, who slides in the 2 hole?  Brendan Ryan?  I would think that'd be the only other option.

With challenges like this, it's no wonder that LaRussa isn't thinking about retirement--at least not during the season.  It's not like him to go out with a farewell tour like Bobby Cox or Joe Torre.  (Not that those guys were looking for the publicity, there were good reasons for those announcements, but that's never going to happen with TLR.)

However, I was thinking about this before I saw the article.  Is there anything that LaRussa still wants to do in a Cardinal uniform?  I mean, he's won the Series, managed a Cy Young and an MVP, who just happens to be an all-time great, he's managed Mark McGwire and see the home run record fall, then brought McGwire back into baseball, he's managed two All-Star Games, he's been a part of an ASG in St. Louis, he's got the most wins in Cardinal manager history.....what else is there?  Is there a goal left for him to accomplish (besides another title, of course)?

Almost all of the focus for fans this spring training to see how the pitching staff, mainly the bullpen, shakes out.  A lot of people are promoting Mitchell Boggs as a late-inning guy and an article like this makes you see why.  (Small sample size warning on all the following.)  His splits last year between starter and reliever don't look promising at first blush, but you have to like the significant decrease in BAA in that role.  A majority of the problem came in one game against the Cubs, so when you only throw about 9 innings total, that'll skew things quickly.  I never was much of a fan of Boggs as a starter, but this reliever idea has me pretty intrigued.

Boggs might be in the mix for the ninth inning if Ryan Franklin isn't able to get back to form after struggling down the stretch last year.  Franklin thinks he'll be fine for this year, of course, but I wouldn't be surprised if Boggs or Blake Hawksworth or someone doesn't get a few save opportunities early in the year so that they don't wear down Franklin for the stretch.

Little bit of housekeeping.  The United Cardinal Bloggers are doing their annual pre-season roundtable.  I'll try to post a schedule at the official site sometime this evening, but today the first question was posed by Nick at Pitchers Hit Eighth, so you should be able to check the transcript of our discussion out over there tomorrow, unless Nick's bundle of joy arrives and keeps him away from the computer.  (Personally, I've always wondered about the guy's priorities.  Delivery rooms have wifi, right?)  We've got about 17 Cardinal bloggers involved with this roundtable, so there should be some good discussions in the next couple of weeks.

Plenty of radio this week.  Nick and Dustin from Whiteyball chatted up Cardinals minor league director John Vuch on Saturday, so head over and give a listen to that.  Yours truly and Andrew from Pitchers Hit Eighth are on the schedule to host this week's show on Wednesday night. 

I don't know that I've mentioned it before, but Mike from Stan Musial's Stance has branched out to do a little Padres work and has his own podcast dedicated to them.  If you are up late on a Thursday (or want to listen after the fact), tune your ears to that.

Finally, the second installment of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance's BBA Baseball Talk will be Tuesday night at 10 Central.  Steve from The Eddie Kranepool Society and David from Rockies Review are on the schedule for that.

Those Sweet Words

Kyle McClellan Weekend

If you wanted to find out about the Cardinal reliever that's looking to be the fifth starter in 2010, this was your weekend.

First, the Post-Dispatch put out an article with quotes from Kyle McClellan.  Then Brian Walton over at The Cardinal Nation Blog had a post up on him as well.

However, if you wanted to hear from the man himself, you had the UCB Radio Hour.

Nick from Pitchers Hit Eighth and I had the opportunity to speak with McClellan Saturday afternoon and found it a completely enjoyable time.  Kyle reiterated that he never necessarily requested to be a starter, but that's something he'd like to do and is fired up about trying it.  Obviously, he's good with whatever the team chooses, but he's glad to have a competition for that fifth slot.

It didn't seem to bother him to bounce back and forth, though I'm sure he'd like to have a set role during the season.  The fact that he's already down in Jupiter shows, in my mind, that he's ready to play some ball.

If you haven't listened to the interview, I'd suggest that you do so.  Nick especially asks some great questions about the difference between starting and relieving and how prepared he is for the new role, if he gets it.  McClellan believes he could throw 150 innings in the bigs without much trouble now, which is a good sign.

Also, you get to find out something about Fredbird that I bet you never knew and the location of the bullpen motorized cooler.  So get over there and give it a listen!

United Cardinal Bloggers To Interview Kyle McClellan

The United Cardinal Bloggers will be interviewing St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle McClellan on Saturday, February 6, at 4:30 pm Central for a special edition of the UCB Radio Hour.

McClellan, a Missouri native who has spent two years with the Cardinals, was 4-4 with a 3.38 ERA coming out of the pen last year.  He has been a solid part of the bullpen since his debut in 2008 and has been conditioning himself to challenge for the fifth spot in the St. Louis rotation this spring.

The United Cardinal Bloggers were formed in 2007 to foster communication and collaboration between those that blog about St. Louis.  The UCB Radio Hour began late in 2008 and now is a weekly staple, airing Wednesdays at 9:30 pm Central at Blog Talk Radio and available for download as a podcast from that site and from iTunes.

No callers will be taken for the McClellan interview, though callers are encouraged on the regular Wednesday show.

The McClellan interview can be heard here, and the show page at Blog Talk Radio can be found here.

UCB Project: All-2000s Cardinals Team

As I sit with the winter weather falling around me, it seems an appropriate time to do some reminiscing.  The United Cardinal Bloggers are coming together today to look back at the last decade and pick out their All-Star team from the 2000s.  Lots of similar names, of course, but it's always good to remember.  Continue Reading

UCB Project: Top 5 Stories of 2009

There is no doubt that 2009 was a very eventful one for the St. Louis Cardinals. From the surprising dismissal of Adam Kennedy right before spring training to the continued pursuit of Matt Holliday as the year comes to a close, there was little time this year when something wasn't happening. The United Cardinal Bloggers are doing their annual look back with the Top 5 Stories for 2009. Below are my selections:

1) Midseason Madness Time was, Cardinal fans were used to moves in the middle of the season. Walt Jocketty cleaned up at the deadline numerous times, including a very active 2000. However, even when Jocketty was wheeling and dealing, he didn't make the impact moves that John Mozeliak made this summer.

First off, Mozeliak made the move most everyone was clamoring for, trading off Chris Perez and a PTBNL (which turned out to be Jess Todd) for versatile player Mark DeRosa, who was toiling away for a Cleveland club that was well out of contention. While the price was steep, especially in retrospect, Mozeliak made the move that made the most sense for the team at the time.

So, after getting possibly the second best hitter on the trade market, Mozeliak then pulled off a deal for the first. Giving up on top prospect Brett Wallace, along with Clayton Mortenson and Shane Robinson, was a steep price to pay for a player that wasn't guaranteed to return to the club in 2010. However, Holliday sparked the Cardinals and provided another big bat in the St. Louis lineup. To go along with all of that, Mo still made moves to rid the team of Chris Duncan, something many never thought they'd see, and to get a productive player for him to boot. The team also signed John Smoltz after he was put on waivers from Boston, and while he wasn't exactly vintage Smoltz, he definitely was a boost to the rotation.

  Continue Reading

A Time Of Thanks

Cardinal Nation breathed a bit of a sigh of relief yesterday as Albert Pujols won his well-deserved third MVP.  Pujols not only didn't lose the award, but he was one of the rare unanimous selections in NL history.  Which, of course, touches off articles of praise for the best player in the game.  You have Stan Musial congratulating the best Cardinal since he played.  You have the discussion of how both the "art" and "science" side of baseball can come together in selecting AP.

You also get this from the man himself:

"This is my place.  This is where I want to be.  I don't hide that.  I'm still going to be a Cardinal for two more years and hopefully 15 more years--if I can play for that long--and retire as a Cardinal."

That might be more appropriate for Christmas, as it really is a gift to the fans.  It's great to have Albert make all these public comments about wanting to stay.  It's not, "Well, I'm a Cardinal for two more years and then we'll just have to see what happens."  Pujols genuinely seems to want to stay in St. Louis and since both sides want the same thing, I hope that we'll have an extension to talk about soon.

Which, of course, leads into the discussion of what you should pay a guy that has never finished lower than ninth in the MVP voting, and that was the only year he finished out of the top five.  The Post-Dispatch roundtable on how much for just the Pujols came to the basic conclusion that, if he wants it, he should get it.  (Love some of the comments on that story, BTW!)  I do think that Pujols isn't going to hold the franchise up and get all that he can.  I think the organization will want to give him the biggest contract ever, but I do think that it's going to be less than people think, definitely less than he'd get on the free agent market.  I also expect they'll probably do a long-term contract that easily could be his last.  You just don't let a guy like this get away, even if he tails off later on.

However, in this season of giving thanks, Cardinal Nation is very thankful that #5 is still wearing the birds on the bat and will be for the foreseeable future.  Other things to be thankful for, if you are a Cardinal fan:

• An ownership who cares about winning and is cognizant of their fan base.  The owners could have hoped the team could win the division, but they went out and made the Matt Holliday trade to make sure of it.  It's also a smart organization, who isn't sold on throwing just everything at Holliday in free agency just because they traded for him.
• Wonderful pitching.  Watching Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, even Joel Pineiro running off strong start after strong start this season was a wonder to behold.  I know we won't see that (to that level) next year, which makes the run they had this year, when they went seemingly weeks without allowing even three runs a game, so much more memorable.
• Yadier Molina.  His offense will never carry him into that "must draft in your rotisserie league" status, but when you combine that with his defense, you have just about a good of a catcher as you can imagine.  I love those throw downs to Pujols trying to pick a runner off.  I can't believe that they still are able to do it--you'd think the league would just stay on the bag by now!
• A solid team, both on and off the field.  For the most part, the Cardinals seem to have good people that make up the roster and the organization.  Granted, some people have negative opinions of the personalities of some of the players, but others will gush over them.  Last I checked, none of them were perfect.  However, most of the debate about players involves how they are producing between the lines, not what they are doing on their time off.

To stick with the thankful theme, a personal note.  The United Cardinal Bloggers did our annual Cardinal Blogger Awards recently and you can find the winners at the home page.  This blog won Most Optimistic Cardinal Blog.  (I also was runner up in Best Individual Cardinal Blog, but I fell victim to one of the classic blunders.  The most famous of which is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go up against Pip when a blogging award is on the line!  You can't beat Fungoes in that category.  You just can't.)

Anyway, there were a lot of nice things written about this blog and its author over the course of that voting and I wanted to say that I'm thankful we have such a great blogging community.  I'm honored to be a part of it and to contribute in my own small way.

Of course, other people are thankful at this time of year as well......

• Matt Holliday is thankful that he didn't spend all year in Oakland and that some people are focused on what Ryan Franklin did in NLDS Game 2.
• Ryan Franklin is thankful he got that extension signed early and that some people are focused on what Matt Holliday did in NLDS Game 2.
• Kyle McClellan is thankful that Adam Wainwright doesn't hold grudges, especially since a 20th win could have put Waino's name in the history books.
• Keith Law is thankful that he doesn't live anywhere close to St. Louis, so he hasn't had to clean his house and lawn this week.
• Kyle Lohse is thankful that 2008 was his free agent year, not 2009.
• Joel Pineiro is thankful Jose Oquendo didn't let him pitch for Puerto Rico, motivating him for a great year.
• Mark McGwire is thankful that the Cardinals had award nominees, allowing his press conference to be pushed back.
• Tony LaRussa is thankful he doesn't have to train a new pitching coach.
• Fredbird is thankful that no one has yet to mistake him for a turkey.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving, with safe travels if you are doing that.  As a parting link for the week, if you've not seen this rendition of a classic rock song, well, you are missing out.  Enjoy the holiday!

My 2009 Cardinal Blogger Award Ballot

For the third straight year, the United Cardinal Bloggers are voting on the Cardinal Blogger Awards.  (It's probably best that we do it, instead of having the Dodger bloggers vote for the CBA.)  If you want to see the past winners, you can find them here (2007) and here (2008).  If you want to see who has voted in this year's incarnation, click here.  Continue Reading

Also on the Network: √ Things to Read: 3/10 [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Dubs Has Moved On: Introducing 'Stumbling Through' [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Playing Pepper 2010: New York Mets [C70 At The Bat] √ Whatever, Deron Williams Is Still Fat [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Julius Peppers Might Take Some Plays Off, But So Would You [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Things to Read: 3/9 [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Back Against It [C70 At The Bat] √ Julius Peppers Gets His Nickname [Tremendous Upside Potential]