Erik's weekend main page post regarding selling echoed the opinions that have been bouncing around in my mind for quite some time.  For the past ten years, the organization won enough and was in a place where buying at the trade deadline was the only option.  Many of us fans have never known, or perhaps forgotten, the times when the Cardinals were sellers at the trade deadline.
    Rationally, we cannot view selling as giving up or surrender.  In any infinite contest, there  are times that the actors have to concede defeat for the moment if it provides a stronger tactical position at future date.  Anyone who has run a business or been in a relationship understands this idea.  In clichés it is referred to as "losing the battle, but winning the war."  This strategy comes with a couple of limitations.  
    First, is the perception of the fans and its impact on the revenue stream.  A few weeks ago, in response to a pretty heated discussion of Elijah Dukes in which I participated, a community member posted a diary in which he/she maintained that Cardinals organization does not care what the fan thinks.  I would maintain that argument is only half correct in that the Cardinals do care when it negatively impacts the amount of money that fans are spending on the Cardinals.
    The Baseball Prospectus gang have researched this issue in far more detail than I could ever imagine, and their conclusion is that the strongest factor on attendance is winning.  If you build a winner, they will come.  Their research also indicates that fan perception of winning also affects ticket sales; if fans believe an organization is not trying to win, then they will stay away.  Anecdotally, I would suggest the Brewers as an example of the second hypothesis as the Brewers have grown ticket sales over the past three years as fans believe the team is building towards something.  
    Any team considering selling is presented with a dilemma, sell now and potentially negatively impact ticket sales, merchandise sales, and general good will or sell and try to improve the team in the future and future revenue streams.  While Busch Stadium is near capacity for the rest of the year, the organization is also concerned about getting people to attend the game as concessions are a larger contributor to the bottom line than actual ticket sales.
    The second factor affecting the decision to sell is the market for the pieces the team is willing to part with.  Besides the obvious factor of the perceived value of the expendable player is also the demand for the given position and the supply of players at the given position.  A buying team is less likely to consider a teams demands when it has multiple potential trade partners who are selling the same piece.
    The recent acquisition of Troy Percevial sparked many rumors about an impending departure of Izzy.  Izzy's contract status, his recent successes, and his track record make him an ideal target for such rumors and he would probably attract some interest on the open market.  Setting aside the issue of whether the Cardinals should trade Izzy, let us look at the two known factors: the demand for a closer and the supply of closers that could be moved at the trade deadline.  
    Teams shopping for closers will have quite a few options to choose from.  The Rangers have apparently already made it know that Eric Gagne and Otsaka are available.  The Nationals seem to always have Chad Cordero on the market, while the Colorado Rockies are probably going to shop Brian Fuentes.  Price being equal, most teams would probably opt for Fuentes who has been extremely effective throughout his career and through this season.  
    Demand at this point is tougher to gauge as it is still relatively early in the season.  There are a few teams that are definite contenders that could use closer improvements.  For a rough measurement of a team's relative "contender" status, I am going to use Clay Davenport of BP's Monte Carlo simulation.  Davenport sims out the season one million times and then generates a report on the percentage of times a team wins their division, wins the wild card or makes the playoffs.  I'm going to use the last stat, percentage of times the team makes the playoffs,  As we saw last year, anything can happen once you get to the dance.  
    Gauging the effectiveness of a closer is a far more debatable task.  Without going into the great debate save, I'll just say that for a rough estimation I looked at WHIP and blown saves.  My theory on this is that a bad closer puts people on base and that generates more potential for saves, and thus ball games, to be blown.  Again, I'm not saying that the following guys are the worst closers or my measurement is the best, its designed to generate a list of teams that might be interested.  
 The Detroit Tigers (Davenport playoff expectancy 60%) are a prime candidate to add bullpen help before the trade deadline.  Their closer, Todd Jones, has been at best mediocre with a 1.64 WHIP, batters are hitting .293 against him this year.  His two backups, Fernando Rooney and flamethrower Joel Zumaya have both been beset by injuries.  Add into the mix the fact that the Tigers have no major weaknesses at any other position and they look like serious bullpen buyers at the trade deadline.  
    The Cleveland Indians (70% playoff) have had problems with the closer position as well.  Joe Borowski, has been mediocre in the position (batters are hitting .294 against him)  but a bullpen that features a lot of young pitchers tagged with the closer in waiting tag (Betancourt, Mastny) has yet to have someone step up and take the mantle from Joe-Bo.  Like the Tigers, they have few noticeable other hole, with the possible exception of another frontline starter.  Betancourt has been effective with a .180 BAA and 1.11 WHIP, but I question whether a organization and city so desperate for a championship will had the closer's job to a journeyman pitcher.  
    Third, the Atlanta Braves are currently on the bubble as a buyer, 2.5 games behind the New York Mets. The Braves could look to add an arm to a bullpen that lost Mike Gonzalez to injury and features middle of the road Bob Wickman at closer.  Wickman, who perpetually seems to be in danger of losing his job regardless of the team he plays for, has blown only three saves but sports a mediocre .253 BAA.  The Braves could consider promoting set-up man Rafael Soriano (.129 BAA) to the role.  (Personal Note:  Schurholz could also consider recalling Joey Devine from AA.  I saw Devine a couple nights ago in person and he looked very, very good, striking out the side on 12 pitches.  Devine's three quarters release point is very deceptive to hitters and allows him to put good movement on the ball.)  
    A fourth, but definitely more speculative possible suitor is the Oakland A's (50% playoff odds). Any dealing with Oakland A's is resplendent with story lines, chief among them is that Izzy came to the Cardinals from the A's and the much maligned last trade between the A's: which involved Mark Mulder for Danny Haren and Daric Barton.  Since a season injury to Huston Street a few weeks back, the A's have used Alan Embree at closer and have discussed using starter Rich Harden in the role.  
    The major question when considering the A's is Billy Beane.  Beane is a notoriously difficult dealer and one of the first general managers to realize that hording prospects is the only way to build a successful small market team.  What he will be willing to give up for a position that he believes to be overvalued is anyone's guess.  
    With five closers for 2.75 openings, it will be a buyer's market for closers.  The availability of arms will probably drive down the price of the available talent.  Any team looking to sell would probably be best served to move quickly our possess an advantage over the other sellers: short contract, low contract, or your player is a lefty (which gives the Rockies an advantage over the other sellers.)  The market for Izzy might not be as strong as we believe, or the market for another player might mean his movement at the deadline.  
    Let us assume for a moment that the Cardinals do opt to sell Izzy.  Setting aside the fan reaction/revenue stream analysis that I do not have the market data or knowledge to do, from a strictly baseball perspective they would do best to move immediately and beat the Rangers, Rockies, and Nationals to the market.  That way the Cardinals would be able to set the market rate and would have their choice of suitors.  

Just visiting from vivaelbirdos, the SB Nation Cardinal blog.  I just moved to Connecticut, and am looking to get down to the Stadium this summer for a game.  I checked tickets on line and found that tickets are available in the $19 nosebleed section.  Before I buy them, I just wanted to make sure that I can move around and actually see the stadium if I have a ticket there.  Or am I locked into the upper deck with no movement at all.  

Any tips or things I should know?

Thanks!

Went to the game at McCoy Stadium today.  Jason Hammel, whom John gave a grade of C+ to, took the mound for the visiting Durham Bulls, while Abe Alvarez went for the home team.  The final pitching lines don't tell the whole story.  

Hammel's best pitch is clearly his fastball, which he touched 97 with in the second inning and was hitting low 90s in the fourth still. He worked out of some trouble in I believe the second or third and threw a couple good breaking balls for ground ball outs.   His curveball and change abondened him in the fouth inning and hence the huge spot the Paw Sox put up on him.  He pitched better than his line would suggest I would say.  I cannot but help to think that he would make a better power reliver if he can develop a set up pitch for what's a pretty nice fast ball.  

Alvarez, I don't think anyone considers him for much of anything now, except maybe a AAA roster filler.  So, I won't spend too much on him.  Way up in the zone that lead to him getting hit HARD.  He got lucky that a lot of well hit balls found mits.  

Ben Zobrist DHed.  He signed an autograph for me early, which required some effort from him.  McCoy, as some of your probably know, is elevated so the stands are not on the field.  Some fans use buckets and strings to get autograph items to players below.  I threw Ben a ball and he signed it.  Stuggling mightly at AAA, but tatooed a ball on the second pitch of the game that Alvarez left up.  Sometimes its tough to remember that guys at AAA, even if they suck there, are great athletes and will capitalize on mistakes.  

Jacoby Ellisbury had a great ten pitch at bat to lead off the first.  He showed some good pitch recognition in that at bat, though it ended with a fly out to mid left.  Still, a well managed AB that ended with a firmly struck ball.  The other two ABS that I saw, he topped the ball into the dirt and towards first, one of which resulted in a 3-4-3 double play.  He didn't look as fast as most commentators say he is.  

I'll try to put some pictures up on Flickr this week.  

So those are my notes.  A great way to spend a day off.  McCoy Stadium, at least on my first visit is a great traditional ball park.  They minimize the silliness and don't blare music to drown out all your thoughts.    

Unrelated question.  Can someone tell me the last newsletter John sent out?  Cause I don't think I've been getting mine.  Before I bother him or his wife, I want to check.  

Poll

Best Reason to go to a MiLB Game?

35%

Cheap night out.

11 votes

6%

The crazy promotions.

2 votes

51%

See the stars of tomorrow, today!

16 votes

6%

Local culture.

2 votes

31 votes | Poll has closed

Gang:

     In a couple weeks, I'm heading off on my annual minor league road trip.  This year its six games in six days with stops in Springfield (Missouri), Memphis, Little Rock, Montgomery, Birminingham, and Louisville.  I'm hoping that those of you that either live in, frequent, or know about these towns can help me out with some great info.  I'm looking for:

1.  Cool musuems, historic locations, or generally touristy stuff to do.  (So my what I did on my summer vacation report can be some what educational!)
2.  Restaurants and bars.  Where do the locals eat?  What's the MUST place to dine.  Also, we need some place to drink after the game.  My group tends to like multitude of beers on tap, good juke box, and a nice place to talk and watch the end of the West Coast game.  
3.  Micro-breweries?  Breweries?  Anything along those lines?  
4.  Where should we stay?  Location, not neccesarily specific hotel will do.  

I've been to Memphis quite a bit, so I know a lot about that city.  But, I'm always looking for new places and sites. In Louisville, we are going to the Slugger factory, so I know that.  

Other than that, feel free to let me know!

Greetings all.  In less than a month, I'll be heading out on version 2.5 of my hopefully annual minor league baseball trip.  The first version was a quick Memorial Day weekend trip to Memphis to see the Redbirds, where my brother, my cousin and I got a chance to see an Anthony Reyes start.  The second trip took us to Huntsville, Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville.  Six games, five days, four parks.  
    This year, in addition to adding one of my best friends, we are going even bigger.  Six games, six parks, six days.  This is where I need help from all of you, the outposts of Cardinal Nation.  Our trip takes us to: Springfield, Missouri; Memphis, Little Rock, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Louisville.  What can you tell me about your city?  Where are the places to eat? Places to see? Places to go after the game?  Places to stay close to all of the above?
    I'm pretty familiar with Memphis, so I don't need as much help with that one.  Though, I am always looking for an off the beaten path addition.  I've only been through the other stops, so you have carte blanche.  We're looking for  local places, great restaurants, good bars, breweries, brew pubs, whatever the "must." is in your town.  

Thanks.  

Poll

Which Cardinal affiliate would you most like to catch a game at?

7%

Palm Beach (Sun... and some young pitchers.)

4 votes

5%

Quad Cities (I hear Davenport is lovely this time of year.)

3 votes

7%

Johnson City (I love the mountains and single A ball.)

4 votes

41%

Memphis (Bar B Que Nachos....hhhmmmmmm......)

22 votes

3%

Batavia (I HEART NEW YORK!!!)

2 votes

33%

Springfield (See the future....today!!!)

18 votes

53 votes | Poll has closed

I started writing this last week, on the first day of the NCAA tournament.  Sorry for its length.  

I am glued to the television, watching the NCAA Tournament on what I believe to be the two "must watch" days of the sports calendar.  However, my enthusiasm for the great television is dampened a bit as I think how baseball fails to generate similar interest in opening day.  Baseball caters to the already dedicated fan, though the recent Direct TV deal makes me question that, and fails to attract the casual fan.  In short, they are squandering a perfect opportunity to build the fan base.  

Before I outline my proposal, let me address a few of the critiques immediately.  First, I am not foolish enough to believe that opening day can acquire the cache and the viewers that the tournament generates.  The NCAA tournament is something special and it has a couple of key advantages:  1) the tournament is one and done, which leads to increased drama.  2) The tournament is focused on college sports, which generate an intense loyalty by alumni and non-alumni that live in the team's market.  3) The tournament's egalitarian nature plays into America's myth that through hard work one can succeed.  Every team has an equal chance to win the tournament, but the odds are obviously longer for some than others.  Setting all those aside, baseball could better format opening day to generate more hype, and as a direct result more fans and increased ticket revenue.  

Programming

Any discussion of marketing must begin with media.  To facilitate the opening day event mentality, baseball needs to develop programming to broadcast all the games played on opening day.  CBS has turned this into an art form.  They have crews assigned to all of the tournaments opening day games, with the default game being either A) a regional match up or B) a national game of interest, i.e. one that will draw ratings.  During that broadcast, CBS cuts in with updates from other games, building viewer interest in that second game.  If your default game gets boring, or becomes a forgone conclusion, they cut to the back up game or another game that is close.  

Baseball could do something similar, with a broadcast on national free TV.  The first game on opening day starts at 1:05 Eastern time.  The broadcast could begin at 12:00, and could include season previews, interviews and special events, which I will discuss later.  MLB needs to create a package of personal interviews and player previews so that viewers can get to know other players outside of the Yankees and Red Sox.  My suggestions would be:  "Future Fish: The Young Florida Marlins" or "Alex Gordon: ROY Candidate" or "Vernon Wells: The Best Player You've Never Heard Of" or "The Chicago Cubs: Does Money Mean It Is Their Year."  The list is really endless.  

Once the games go live, MLB should adopt the primary game, and secondary game approach.  Each region should receive a local team, NO BLACK OUTS.  Assuming there is any fiscal cost in putting the game up for free, consider it an investment for the future, an effort to build the base.  When a game gets out of hand, or intense moment develops an another game, cut to that game.  Imagine, "Let's go out to Atlanta where John Smoltz has one out, two on, and Ryan Howard stepping to the dish.  Howard, the defending MVP is looking to tie this ball game."  Baseball has an inherent advantage because there is no half time, so no real time to fill.  In between the main games, go to a sports center type desk with analysts and interviews.  The guys who are good quotes, let them develop their star power through features or interviews.  

The national evening game should be the defending world champions.  I like that you book the defending champs against the team they beat in their league championship.  Keep that.  You've squandered good TV the past few years by not showing the victors receive their rings.  Granted, Boston went overboard and gave everyone in the greater Boston area a ring, but it was touching to see guys like Johnny Pesky come out and get a ring.  Chicago's ceremony was nice as well as they broke a streak LONGER than the Red Sox.  I know that the Cardinal fans will be equally appreciative and ruckus, show that.  Let people see that ball games are fun, that they are an event.  You do not do enough of that.  

The second component is the atmosphere at the stadium.  Football learned this along time a go.  You need to build a party atmosphere with cache to get more than the hardcore fans to watch and attend.  Somebody, I want to think it was on this blog, said "The NFL can build a stage during halftime of the Super Bowl, put Prince on it, but MLB cannot put a working mic in front of John Mellencamp for one acoustic song!"

Before the games even start, baseball should have the kickoff party like the NFL does each year.  Two cities, dueling concerts.  I would choose bands closely identified with their cities.  For example, let Aerosmith rock out from Landsdowne Street, right out in front of Fenway.  Also, baseball, for the love of everyone below forty, you need to expand out from the middle age rocker/ country artist demographic.  Here's an idea: hold a Fall Out Boy conference from one of the roof top decks across from Wrigley.  (Don't slam me, not a Fall Out Boy fan, but it was the first band I thought that met both the city and youngish requirement.)  In later years, you can expand the concept to other cities, so that perhaps each city has a concert before hand.  

I'm Bringing Cincy Back!    

One last thing I want to talk about is a dirty secret about which you refuse to talk.  In the name of making a couple extra bucks, you stole the right to hold the first game from Cincinnati.  For a sport that likes to bath itself in tradition as core tenant of its marketing plan, that's hypocritical.  Give Cincinnati back opening day, and do it in grand style.  Make opening day in Cincinnati the second most important event in your calendar after the World Series.  (Sorry, the All-Star game will never be that.)  I have generated a couple of ideas about this possibility.  

*    Embrace the baseball geeks.  We are your best advocates because no matter how hard you try to wring us, we come back.  To that end, embrace fantasy baseball and the sports memorabilia market.  There are companies that sponsor destination drafts; people travel many miles to put up serious money for serious fantasy baseball competition.  Join that market.  If you are afraid of the possible gambling aspects,  offer prizes that only you can offer:  after hours tours of the Hall of Fame with a Hall of Famer of the person's choice,  the chance to throw out the first pitch at the World Series,   whatever, but have those drafts opening weekend in Cincinnati.  
*    Sports Memorabilia conference.  In conjunction with the fantasy drafts, put together one of the largest sports memorabilia shows in the country.  Line up personal appearances and autograph sessions by a slew of legends.  I know that the MLBPA alumni group is active in fundraising for impoverished former players.  They did an autograph mail in fundraiser.  Work with them to set this up.  As a Cards fan, if I could go to one place and get Musial, Brock, Gibson, Sutter, and Red in one day, I would be there.  
*    International Futures Game:  I enjoy the Futures Game, but it gets less coverage than the Kenny Mayne softball game.  Move it to the Sunday before opening day, to take advantage of the focused attention on baseball.  The growing international aspect of the game should be showcased through a US vs. The World format.  Let each team send one squad member, but then take the players that excelled last year at their given level.  If a player has rookie eligibility, and they are not on the opening day roster, they are eligible to play in the game.  
*    Fan Fest:  I know this idea will get a lot of critics, but its become the event de jour.  I have addressed marketing to the baseball purists, but have not brought to the table anything for the casual fan.  Fan fests provides events and activities for the casual fan, and more importantly for kids.  The fan fest could be held at the newly renovated convention center, which I didn't even know about when I began this diary!  http://www.cincyusa.com/  Make it an all ages baseball party.  Oh, and those musicians that you invite to regularly do events, let them perform here so you can still rock out to those musicians you seem to like so much.
*    The first pitch of the season.  Cincinnati gets it.  No Sunday night game to start the season.  The season starts in Cincinnati.  Let the other stadiums get in on the action, and have them show the pitch on the jumbotron.  It will be baseball's equivalent of "Gentlemen start your engines!"  

I say all of this out of love.  Tough love maybe, but it hurts to see MLB taking short term gains and not developing anything that resembles a long term vision.  Hopefully, baseball will take these small steps towards developing and growing the fan base.  

I thought I would post this because someone would probably be interested.  

Dice-K's first inning...

First batter:  College kid lines a double down the first baseline on the first pitch.  Straight fastball down the middle.

Second batter:  First pitch: outside called strike.  Second pitch, low strike, which the batter check swings into the dirt right in front of JV, out 2-3.  

Third batter:  First pitch, curve ball for a strike. Second pitch: fastball inside, called strike (questionable in my op.)  Third pitch, a slight sinker, outside, fouled off.  Fourth pitch: fastball clocked at 92 mph, outside, called third strike (another questionable call.)

Fourth batter:  First pitch: FB outside.  Second pitch: FB, fouled down 3Bline.  Third pitch:  low in the dirt.  Fourth pitch: FB, inside.  Called third strike.  

Overall impressions:  Very efficent arm movement.  Dice-K gets a couple of questionable strike calls and learns not to say your first pitch will be a fastball.  

He's supposed to throw a second inning.  I'll report back on that.  

Well, just when I thought I was out, it sucked me back in.  I wasn't going to compete with you all this year for many reasons, none which had to do with any of you.  But then, I started to miss my NL only keeper league, and thought that maybe this would be a little different.  

So, I went and setup an NL only league on Yahoo that should go very, very deep as it has the tradtional postions: 2 Cs, CI, MI, and FIVE OFs.  It won't be a keeper league, just don't want to take that on.  

Its a standard 5X5 roto league except I changed BA to OBP.  Why?  Because it opens up more guys to being valueable.  

So, I'm looking for a few NL diehards who cringe at the thought of a DL.  I'll also accept guys who are looking for a new challenge.  Please, if this is your first league, I'd suggest going elsewhere as a NL only league this deep will be pretty patience testing.  

If you are interested, I got a Saturday afternoon draft time for March 10 starting at 3:30 central.  

Email me and I'll send you the information.  Also, if you played last year with us, I'll give you first dibs.

Here are the results from a brand new 5X5 fantasy league of which I am member.  Rather than just posting the draft and letting people have at it, I thought I would go through my picks, give my rationale, and let people have some insight into my thought process.  I do NOT profess to be an expert, just a guy that likes baseball, watching it, reading about it, playing fantasy versions of it.  I figure there are couple guys like me in each of your leagues, so I thought doing a show my hand diary might be more useful than just posting this list and moving along.  Also, it will be helpful for me to hear comments about my draft.  

My thought processes and biases.  This is the first time that I've done a minor league draft.  An NL only league does a mini, two round draft each year.  So, this draft is already four times deeper than that.  Plus, my bias is NL guys since I've been reading about them for the past three or four years to keep up with that league.  Either because of my bias or something else, I ended up with all NL players.  

My second bias is that I wanted to gravitate towards guys who were close to ready or projectable. Again repeating that I'm not expert, I trusted the guys who are.  For the first seven rounds, I did NOT have John's book.  However, I had complied his newsletters together and had taken all the guys he ranked B+ or higher and made a list of them.  I then compared that against Kevin Goldstein's lists at BP, to determine consensus rankings.  After I had those, I compared them against the PECOTA numbers.  I used PECOTA only to break out and not ties, or at least ties in my mind.  

2007 SCFBL Minor League Draft Order
Round 1

Chris: Delmon Young, OF, TB

Matt: Alex Gordon, 3B, KC

Nik: Philip Hughes, SP, NYY

Scott: Brandon Wood, SS, LAA

Jesse: Homer Bailey, SP, CIN

Zach: Matt Garza, SP, MIN

Jason: Chris Young, OF, ARI

Mike: Justin Upton, OF, ARI

Ryan: Billy Butler, OF, KC

JJ: Mike Pelfrey, SP, NYM

Kenny: Cameron Maybin, OF, DET

Stephen: Evan Longoria, 3B, TB

Round 2

Stephen: Andrew McCutchen, OF, PIT

Kenny: Tim Lincecum, SP, SF

JJ: Hunter Pence, OF, HOU

Ryan: Jay Bruce, OF, CIN

Mike: Scott Elbert, SP, LAD

Jason: Ryan Braun, 3B, MIL

Zach: Andrew Miller, SP, DET

Jesse: Andy LaRoche, 3B, LAD

Scott: Troy Tulowitzki, SS, COL

Nik: Yovani Gallardo, SP, MIL

Matt: Luke Hochevar, SP, KC

Chris: Adam Miller, SP, MIN

Round 3

Chris: Felix Pie, OF, CHC

Matt: Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, BOS

Nik: Carlos Gonzalez, OF, ARI

Scott: Reid Brignac, SS, TB

Jesse: Elijah Dukes, OF, TB

Zach: Fernando Martinez, OF, NYM

Jason: Clayton Kershaw, SP, LAD

Mike: Gaby Sanchez, 1B, FLA

Ryan: Joey Votto, 1B, CIN

JJ: Joe Koshansky, 1B, COL

Kenny: Jose Tabata, OF, NYY

Stephen: Donald Veal, SP, CHC

Round 4

Stephen: Chris Iannetta, C, COL

Kenny: Chuck Lofgren, SP, CLE

JJ: Josh Fields, 3B, CHW

Ryan: Billy Rowell, 3B, BAL

Mike: Adam Lind, TOR, OF

Jason: Colby Rasmus, OF, STL

Zach: Clay Buchholz, SP, BOS

Jesse: Travis Snider, OF, TOR

Scott: William Inman, SP, MIL

10.Nik: James Loney, 1B, LAD

Matt: Eric Hurley, SP, TEX

Chris: Brandon Erbe, SP, BAL

Round 5

Chris: Erick Aybar, SS, LAA

Matt: Adam Jones, OF, SEA

Nik: Jeff Niemann, SP, TB

Scott: Nick Adenhart, SP, LAA

Jesse: Philip Humber, SP, NYM

Zach: Lars Anderson, 1B, BOS

Jason: Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C, ATL

Mike: Ryan Sweeney, OF, CWS

Ryan: Jacob McGee, SP, TB

JJ: Chris Volstad, SP, FLA

Kenny: Angel Villalona, 3B, SF

Stephen: Eric Campbell, INF, ATL

Round 6

Stephen: Kevin Slowey, SP, MIN

Kenny: Humberto Sanchez, SP, NYY

JJ: Carlos Carrasco, SP, PHI

Ryan: Brad Lincoln, SP, PIT

Mike: Brandon Morrow, SP, SEA

Jason: Eric Patterson, 2B, CHC

Zach: Mark Pawalek, SP, CHC

Jesse: Joba Chamberlain, SP, NYY

Scott: Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B, SD

10.Nik: Dustin Pedroia, 2B, BOS

Matt: Michael Bowden, SP, BOS

Chris: Elvis Andrus, SS, ATL

Round 7

Chris: Chris Carter, 1B, ARI

Matt: Bryce Cox, RP, BOS

Nik: Daniel Bard, SP, BOS

Scott: Brent Lillibridge, SS, ATL

Jesse: Daric Barton, 1B, OAK

Zach: Jeff Clement, C, SEA

Jason: Taylor Tankersley, RP, FLA

Mike: Russ Ohlendorf, SP, NYY

Ryan: Dexter Fowler, OF, COL

JJ: Jeff Baker, OF, COL

Kenny: Dellin Betances, SP, NYY

Stephen: Franklin Morales, SP, COL

Round 8

Stephen: Chris Parmelee, OF, MIN

Kenny: Ian Stewart, 3B, COL

JJ: Billy Sadler, SP, SF

Ryan: Pat Neshek, RP, MIN

Mike: John Danks, SP, CHW

Jason: Miguel Montero, C, ARI

Zach: Wade Davis, SP, TB

Jesse: Freddy Guzman, OF, TEX

Scott: Jonathan Sanchez, SP, SF

Nik: Jeremy Hellickson, SP, TB

Matt: Micah Owings, SP, ARI

Chris: Jeff Samardzija, SP, CHC

Round #1:  Pick: Chris Young:  Rationale:  In the first round, I wanted a player that was ready to step in and play.  Our keeper system is such that you get the guy for free for three years, or two after the season in which they lose rookie status.  I like the speed and power combination that Young provides.  Arizona will be better than they were last year, and so he should have more RBI opportunities and score more runs.  That said, the west coast parks suppress power.  In his first season, I'll settle for a 4th outfielder numbers from him and think he'll get 15-15 at  least, and 20-20 probably.  
    I also considered:  Tim Lincecum.  I had him down as the best pitching prospect for a 5X5 league.  I didn't him take because of two reasons:  A) It didn't keep with my philosophy to lock up "a sure thing" in the first round and B) My experience, which proved true later on, is that pitching prospects are always available in later rounds.  
Round #2:  Pick: Ryan Braun.  Rationale:  20-20 potential again.  I must admit that I've man crushed Ryan Braun since I saw him play last year at Huntsville.  The guy can flat out hit, and hit for power.  He runs the bases well, picks his spots to steal, and on top of that, he's a third baseman!  (Ok, maybe not for much longer.)  I can tolerate a move to a corner OF position for a 20-20 guy that I believe has a shot at hitting .300.
    I also considered.  Yovani Gallardo, Tulo, and Andy LaRoche.  The will he or won't he develop power scared me off Tulo very early.  Watching the pitching that went and the order it went, I was not wholly convinced that Yovani might bounce back to me.  Pipe dream, probably, but there were a handful of quality pitchers still available, who were only a slight notch below Gallardo.  This became a debate over Andy LaRoche and Ryan Braun.  I read almost every post in which either was mentioned, read and re-read the major sources on each, and then went and consulted a Ouija Board.  (Did you know Ouija is Microsoft's spell checker?  Cultish influence runs DEEEEEEP!)  Finally, I went with Braun because of the better speed and LaRoche's slight injury concerns.  Honestly, this one could have went either way, except for my man crush.

Round #3:  Pick: Clayton Kershaw.  Seriously, do I need to justify this one?  I would say that I was considering others, but I wasn't.  I thanked my lucky stars and ran.  

Round #4:  Pick:  Colby Rasmus:  My other bias is sometimes I try too hard not to look like a homer.  Colby is in the second tier of outfield prospects that should, if they perform as they should, break into A or A- grades next year.  The speed and power combination is just too much to pass up.  Plus, he's only twenty.  I tried to spread this picks out in terms of distance from the majors.  He's the best prospect that was on the board at the time.  I tried to make a case for Travis Snider, but it just wasn't there for me.  

Round #5:  Pick: Salty.  Geez, how the mighty have fallen!  Two years ago, guys were offering ridiculous trades to try to get the number one pick to take Salty.  Now, he falls to round five?  I'm not going to bore you with my thoughts on Salty, but I think he still has it and will probably be traded for some pitching help during the season.  
    I also considered Eric Campbell and Angel Villalona, who both went later in the round.  I though at my position it was too early for  both.  I might regret making that decision.  Also, in about round number 3 I started playing a game with Kevin Kouzmanoff.  Here it accelerated to full steam.  Part of the game was to see how truly low he would go.  Then again, part of me was screaming to take him, hold him in reserve, and trade him to someone when their third baseman goes down for the season.  

Round #6:  Pick:  Eric Patterson.   Brad Lincoln and Morrow disappeared right before my eyes and Patterson was left.  I actually like Patterson a lot, and believe that he will get a call up during the summer to take over second, when Jacque Jones is dealt, probably again for pitching.  See round five for my who I thought about taking, because Kouz was still there and I was seriously considering him.  Why didn't I move on him?  Patterson plays second, which there aren't that many great fantasy second baggers out there, so there is low requirement to be a valueable fantasy player.  Possible .300 hitter and 30 steals exceeds that requirement by juuuuust a smidge. Plus, I have Braun, why do I need another third baseman.

Round #7:  Pick:  Taylor Tankersley.   I am so smart, S-M-R-T.  I had been plotting this pick since at least the fourth round, again playing fantasy chicken.  Unlike Kouz, I thought I might actually pull this one off because Tankersley is not on the top 100 of ANY prospect list, and probably doesn't deserve to be.  However, he's going to have a legitimate shot at closing in Florida, and that's worth a seventh round pick for me.  I'm joking about being so smart, I just thought this was the right time to pull the trigger on a good opportunity.  
    I considered Franklin Morales here, but I'm just scared of Colorado pitchers.  I believe humidors are best for Don Tomas maduros, one of the finest inexpensive cigars you will ever have.  I couldn't take him.
Round #8:  Pick:  Miguel Montero:  At the time of the pick, I typed something like, a catcher with plus power?  I'll take it.  Who else I considered?  I"ll never tell, because at least three guys are still available.  

Here are the results from a brand new 5X5 fantasy league of which I am member.  Rather than just posting the draft and letting people have at it, I thought I would go through my picks, give my rationale, and let people have some insight into my thought process.  I do NOT profess to be an expert, just a guy that likes baseball, watching it, reading about it, playing fantasy versions of it.  I figure there are couple guys like me in each of your leagues, so I thought doing a show my hand diary might be more useful than just posting this list and moving along.  Also, it will be helpful for me to hear comments about my draft.  

My thought processes and biases.  This is the first time that I've done a minor league draft.  An NL only league does a mini, two round draft each year.  So, this draft is already four times deeper than that.  Plus, my bias is NL guys since I've been reading about them for the past three or four years to keep up with that league.  Either because of my bias or something else, I ended up with all NL players.  

My second bias is that I wanted to gravitate towards guys who were close to ready or projectable. Again repeating that I'm not expert, I trusted the guys who are.  For the first seven rounds, I did NOT have John's book.  However, I had complied his newsletters together and had taken all the guys he ranked B+ or higher and made a list of them.  I then compared that against Kevin Goldstein's lists at BP, to determine consensus rankings.  After I had those, I compared them against the PECOTA numbers.  I used PECOTA only to break out and not ties, or at least ties in my mind.  

Poll

How would you rate my draft?

5%

Grandpa Simpson: (Stodgy and too old.)

4 votes

24%

Homer Simpson: (MMMMMMM DRAAAAAFFFFTTTTTT!!!!)

19 votes

22%

Lisa Simpson: (Smart and savvy.)

17 votes

20%

Bart Simpson: (Cunning, yet needs to put in more work)

16 votes

27%

Marge Simpson: (Conservative, yet dependable)

21 votes

77 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »

I just looked at my baseball calender and today is Albert's 27th birthday.  Twenty-seven, three years younger than me.  Hmmm.... makes me wonder what the heck I've been doing with my life.

What do you get the man who just got the one thing he wanted, a world series ring?  My birthday wish for him:

1. Good health
   
2. A collective destruction of the east coast bias so he can win the MVP awards he so deserves.  
   
3. Ice cream, because everyone likes ice cream.

Any other thoughts what to get the big guy?  

After making the move out to Boston, I realized that the Connecticut Defenders (the AA affilate of the Giants) are also about an hour from my office.  Thanks to all of you, I picked out a nice 25 game schedule of tickets for the PawSox and am looking to compliment that with ten games with the Defenders.  I already have tickets for the all star game there but am trying to round out the schedule.  I think I know the relative depths of the systems, but I'm having a hard time nailing down which guys will be where next year and if they will be in AA.  So, I'm asking again for your help.  

You can vote for as many as you like and I believe that all teams made the list.  If you could, please let me know a few thoughts concerning your votes, so that I can help make decisions.  

The Giants system looks pretty weak, except for Linceum and don't know where the giants plan to play him next year.  

Poll

Which teams are a must see for this coming season?

15%

Indians AA

6 votes

0%

Nats AA

0 votes

22%

RedSox AA

9 votes

0%

Blue Jays AA

0 votes

25%

Yankees AA

10 votes

0%

Orioles AA

0 votes

22%

Twins AA

9 votes

7%

Detroit AA

3 votes

5%

Pirates AA

2 votes

2%

Phillies AA

1 votes

40 votes | Poll has closed

Cayronut wrote earlier asking about information on Spring Training.  I fired off a slap dash response while trying to get things done at work.  I promised a more thoughtful and well linked response, so here is my attempt at providing that.  My first piece of advice is that you can do this on your own.  I haven't looked at the Cards packages, but I can imagine that they are high end and won't address your needs as an individual.  Unless they are offering some very cool activities for only package participants, like bp off of Gibson, I would shy away.
    The Cards train in Jupiter, Florida, a small community which is twenty-five minutes north of West Palm Beach, Florida.  There are two main highways in Florida that run north and south, the first is 95 and the second is the infamous Florida Turnpike.  Unless you  absolutely cannot afford it, I would recommend that you take the Pike for all your travels, especially between the hours of 7 AM to 10 AM and from 3 to 7 PM at night.  95 becomes the world's largest parking lot between those hours.  If you have a transponder from another turnpike system, it might work down there, call and ask.  My Illinois one works out here in Masschustuess  The toll from West Palm to Jupiter is $1.20 one way.  Check at Floridasturnpike.com for more information.
    If you are flying in, there are a couple of airport options.  The best option is West Palm Beach, Florida, as it is the closest, usually the cheapest, and is quite easy to get in and out of.  Fort Lauderdale is an hour south and Miami is an hour and half south of Jupiter at the absolute minimum.  I cannot recommend or stress enough that West Palm is your best option.  
    On the accommodation front, I ran an expedia search for Jupiter and found four or five hotels, all of which seemed relatively new.  Jupiter is a new area, so most of the hotels should be clean and new.  The next town south is North Palm Beach Gardens, which has some new hotels, restaurants and a mall.  It also has relatively easy access to the beach and it right on the pike and 95.  The hotels there range from traveler no frills to your slightly more luxury but still road motels.  The cheapest I found hotels was in the $130 range.  I know where these hotels are and they are areas I would feel comfortable letting my wife stay in.  
    Let's talk baseball.  The Cardinals share their facility with the Florida Marlins.  It consists of Roger Dean Stadium, a very nice facility, and ten practice fields.  While most people think of Spring Training games, the real work of Spring Training occurs on these fields which are open to the public.  The Cardinals actually make it pretty easy and enjoyable to watch practice.  There are bleachers at the center fields and there are vendors that sell food, drink and souvenirs.  (Though, you can bring in your own, there ARE NO gates or admission fees.)  
    So what are you going to see on these fields?  The center fields are dedicated to your starters and their drills.  One field will be batting practice, one will be fielding drills, and one will be pitchers working on either fielding or something else.  On the outer fields, the rookies, minor leaguers and roster fillers will be working on their skill sets and trying to impress.  My best advice is to print a roster off the internet so you can follow who is wearing what number.  Interaction with the players is almost guaranteed.  
    Once practice gets done, about 12, you can head to one of the beaches on the Gold Coast, or head down to Palm Beach and do some high end shopping.  Just kidding about the shopping, keep away from that.  

I'll take questions......

I'm going to be that guy, and post a fantasy thread.  Sorry to do it, but I'd like to hear some input on my situation.  I've done my homework, but I want to hear some other ops.  

I play in a 4X4 NL only keeper league, that goes 27 roster spots deep.  We get five minor leaguers.  Currently, I have Colby Rasmus, because James Loney and Chad Billingsley got the call for me last year.  

I have four picks this year.  The fifth pick, the 11th, the 12th and the 17th overall.  I'm going to round out my minor league roster this year, as you can tell.  

Here's what I'm thinking about doing....

Continue reading this post »

Over at BaseballProspectus, Kevin Goldstien has his top ten Cardinal prospect list up.  Really, very few suprises...

Excellent Prospects
None
Very Good Prospects
1. Colby Rasmus, cf
Good Prospects

2. Jaime Garcia, lhp
   
3. Adam Ottavino, rhp
   
4. Bryan Anderson, c
   
5. Daryl Jones, of
   

Average Prospects

6. Chris Perez, rhp
   
7. Blake Hawksworth, rhp
   
8. Mark McCormick, rhp
   
9. Cody Haerther, of
   
10. Tyler Greene, ss

The commentary is behind the subscription wall.  My few thoughts are that I'm suprised to see Chris Perez ranked after Daryl Jones, but the difference between being ranked five versus six is so slight I'm willing to live with it.

In comparision, John Sickels' pre-season top ten looked like this (Avaiable at minorleagueball.com)

1. Reyes  B+
   
2. Rasmus B+
   
3. Haether B+
   
4. Greene B-
   
5. Wain. B-
   
6. McCormick B-
   
7. Stainhova B-
   
8. Anderson B-
   
9. Hanson C+
   
10. Lambert C+

  Many guys from this year's draft already jumping into the top ten.  Seems to me that is an indication of two things: 1) First, how lousy our farm system was before this year and 2) The fact we drafted a lot of college talent that is farther along in development.  That makes sense when you are trying to re-stock the system, but the Cards need to move away from that in a couple years and draft more high ceiling/high risk guys.

  To me, it seems like quite a few of our prospects are at make it or break periods.  Our attention should be focused on the Palm Beach Cardinals as Ottavino, Greene, Colby, McCormick and the unlisted John Jay and Mark Hamilton will all probably start the season there.  Greene, Stanhovia, Haether, and Lambert all face proving periods where they have to figure it out or risk getting left behind the system.  Greene struggled at High A so much last year that he was demoted back to Low A, where he put things back together. Haether was injured half the year at Springfield, which, combined with his lack of power, could spell the end for any hope of his being a regular corner outfielder.  

A couple of guys go unlisted on both lists: John Jay, Mark Hamilton, Amaury Marti (the secret Cuban) and Dennis Dove, who we assigned to the AFL for extra work and performed respectably in a very hitter friendly league.  Sickels should post his Cardinal top twenty some time after the new year.  I'll let everyone know when he does as he takes questions on the rankings.  

Incidentally, today Sickels issued his ratings on the A's and gave Barton a B.  

I need help.  My wife and I are moving to Boston this winter and she's buying me Paw Sox season tickets.  Their ticket system is kind of unique and very cool.  You can buy 100 ticket vouchers and then use them in any combination that you want.  So, I'm tackling the question of who I should preference seeing.  I can order tickets now, by using the vouchers, so I want to jump on some must see teams and prospects.  

Please bear in mind that it is just for this season, so we have to do some forcasting about where guys will be.  Louisville comes to town in late July so Homer Bailey may be gone by then.  

You can vote for as many teams as you want, but I would ask that you keep it to the two or three must see.  Also, reasons for your votes would be greatly appreciated.  I will happily post pictures and notes and hope to get some great autographs to trade.  Thanks for your time!  

Poll

These teams are must see...

17%

Yankees AAA

12 votes

18%

Twins AAA

13 votes

2%

Braves AAA

2 votes

1%

Blue Jays AAA

1 votes

8%

Tigers AAA

6 votes

2%

Phillies AAA

2 votes

0%

Nats AAA

0 votes

37%

D-Rays AAA

26 votes

10%

Reds AAA

7 votes

1%

O's AAA

1 votes

70 votes | Poll has closed

I was going through the MILB.com site, listening to the Arizona Fall League games.  (Which they stream for free.)  I stumbled across a Major League Players Alumni Association fund raiser that is selling personalized autographs from a bunch of former major leaguers.  Our favorites: Stan the Man, Lou, Gibby, Red, and Whitey are all helping out.  THIS IS NOT AN AUCTION! It is a sale.  Their prices are very competetive, a personalized Stan the Man baseball will set you back $100, which is normally about $150.  They have jerseys, photos, balls, all for sale.  Also, you can send them things to be signed.  

Here is the link:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/auction/mlbpaa_auction.html

The Alumni association promotes a number of causes, including helping former players.  You can find more about their causes at their site.  The holidays are coming up, and I'm sure we can all find something on the list that we would want.  

Now back to worrying about the playoffs.

The Swing of the Quad Cities, the Cards Low A team, won game two last night in their series against the Kane County Cougars.  Tonight is the decisive game number 3 and the Swing will start Adam Ottavino.  

If the Swing win tonight, I believe they will face the winner of the Peoria/Beloit series to determine who goes on to the Midwest League Championship.  

Hopefully, they will play the games on a night I can attend so I can report from at least one game.  

Poll

My interest in minor leage baseball is

52%

Somewhat high: Love following the Cardinals prospects

22 votes

23%

Somewhat Low: Just tell me when Colby Rasmus is ready to play center.

10 votes

4%

Low: Pujols isn't playing so who cares!

2 votes

19%

High: Baseball is baseball and nothing better then seeing the stars of tomorrow, TODAY!

8 votes

42 votes | Poll has closed

   This was talked about in one of the game discussions a few days back and I wanted to pull it so everyone knows about it.
   KTRS, which is known as the Big 550, is the new radio broadcaster for the Cards.  That's been covered extensively on this site in all it's heart sickening details.  However, they have a promotion where you can purchase two tickets to a Cardinal game the day of the game for $5.50 a ticket.  Here is how it works.
   At 9 AM, the tickets go on sale at the stadium.  I believe 500 tickets are sold this way.  You get two tickets per person and you MUST HAVE ID with you.  At that time, you get a voucher for two tickets.  An hour before game time, you return with your voucher and they hand you the two tickets.  The tickets range from box seats to standing room only.  
   I have not done this yet because I live in Wisconsin.  My family has on numerous occasions and here is their consensus scouting report.  Depending on the day of the week and the opponent, the line varies in length.  Generally, they try to arrive around 7:45 and have been successful every time.  The line forms right in front of the metro link (St. Louis light rail system) station so talking public transportation there is recommended.  
   My brother and mom went on the same day to get four tickets.  My brother received two lodge box seats in the right field corner while my mom got SRO.  However, my mom went to an usher and explained the SRO tickets and the usher allowed her and her friend to sit in seats until someone came.  The seat holder never showed up so they were in better seats.  My mom is in her mid 50s, so its not like she's real elderly.  Generally, I find the ushers in St. Louis to be an accommodating lot if you play you remember your manners.  For those of you out of towners, remember in many ways St. Louis is a southern city, so we have a high definition of politeness.
   The question was asked why don't they make this available on-line.  A couple of reasons.  First, this cracks down on scalpers of the tickets.  Second, it's a way for fans to get into to actually see the game.  Much was made in St. Louis about the number of seats going down and the prices going up.  This is program is specifically designed to appease those concerns.  

If I missed any details or you have any questions, just post them here and I'll respond.
 

Hi All:

   I just returned from a five day trip across the AA and AAA teams through the Mid-South.  I saw five games in five days:

Huntsville Stars vs. Chatanooga Lookouts
Memphis Redbirds vs. Alberqueue Isotopes
Nashville Sounds vs. Memphis Redbirds
Tennessee Smokies vs. West Tenn Diamond Jaxx
Nashville Sounds vs. Memphis Redbirds.  

I was wondering why minor league teams switch affiliations so often.  It seemed to me looking at the walls that the Tennessee Smokies, which are really just outside Knoxville, have switched affiliations three times in the past five years: Toronto, St. Louis and now the Diamond Backs.  Who generally is to blame for the switch: the local organization or the parent club?  Is based mainly on revenue/attendence or other reasons?  

Being a St. Louis fan, I'm quite familar with Branch Rickey's design of the minor system to foster fan interest in the parent club.  It really seems that we have gotten away from that with some clubs.  Really, the Marlins AAA team based in New Mexico?  

Any thoughts on the best player that I might have caught as well would be appreciated.  I read through the comments here, on Rotowire, and on baseballhq, but would like more input.  Since I recently read Last Best League, I was excited to see Jamie D'Antona.  A guy who I read nothing about coming into the game is the Smokies' second baseman Jerry Gill.  His numbers seemed pretty good for a second sacker, similar to D'Antona.  Any thoughts on him?

Disappointed that we didn't get to see Homer Bailer in our one shot, but hopefully we will be able to say we say saw some future stars back when they were in the minors.  Don't think any of them will be from that Memphis team though.  
   

I was in bar room discussion of this topic the other night and wanted some input.  What do you think is the most pressing issue?  Use of performance enhancing drugs?  Lack of a salary cap? Lack of revenue sharing?  Bud Selig?  The lack of clear cut marketing strategy?  Outrageous prices?  Lack of centralized autonmy?  Other?  

Sorry this is late in coming forth, but its finally nice here in the Badger state so any time outside of work has been used up working on the house and watching the first couple weeks of the season.  Being in a split household, means double duty in front of the television.  Getting the MLB Extra Innings package has been like selling my soul to the gods of lazy, but I am not complaining.  
    The wife and I took my parents to the second game of the Cards series at Wrigley.  I just wanted to post some thoughts on the experience, not the game.  Since my last visit a couple years ago, there have been major changes.
    First, the additions to the bleachers are very nice.  They expanded the bleachers section out adding about 1500 net seats.  It seems pretty seamless and fits very nicely into the feel of the park.  The section actually juts out over the sidewalk onto Waveland so there is tunnel like feeling as you filter into the game.  The walls are brick, which someone told is the way they were many years ago, but I do not know about that.
    Inside is even better.  The concourse ramps winding up to the sections have been expanded and are less steep.  They are more vendors and everything seems fresher, but not necessarily brand spanking new.  The park feels like its been thoroughly cleaned, not tinkered with.  (Talking to my dad I compared it to power washing our deck after we bought our house.  I thought the deck was painted green when in fact it just had that much crap built up on it.  That feeling.)  Overall, I was very impressed and the money was well worth it.
    Ok here's the bad part, and I don't know whether to blame my increasing age, the cold weather, or change in atmosphere, but the bleachers were a horrible place to WATCH a baseball game.  It was the second game of the season, which also could contribute to the problem, but it seemed like the pre 1998 years, when the only reason Cubs fans went to games was to get drunk.  I watched people down 6-8 overpriced, crappy Old Styles, talk on cell phones and discuss their latest sexual exploits.  AND half of these people were women!  80% of the people in the stands had no idea what was going on, we had to sit shoulder to shoulder with them while they spilled their beers on each other and us, and it was 40 degrees out.  
    Here are my suggestions for enjoying a game at Wrigley.  One, do not go on Cards vs. Cubs.  First, it jacks up ticket prices.  Second, it seems to draw out only the people who want to party.  Two, do not sit in the bleachers if you have an interest in watching the game.  Buy a ticket in another section; they are probably cheaper anyway because the demand seems to be greatest for bleacher seats. If you want to meet to your future ex wife or ex husband or something along those lines, by all means sit in the bleachers.  
    Overall, we were treated very well by the Cubs fans sitting around us.  They were there to have a good time, drink some beers and watch the game.  In that order.  I cannot say that went for all of them, but those seem the priority for the majority of the fans around us.  

Ladies and Gents:

   We still have an opening for more player.  It is a free Yahoo, 5X5 League.  The league number is 54987 and the password is mvpcyyoung.  We draft Saturday at 10:30 AM central time.  But, you don't have to be on-line to draft, you can pre-rank players.  
   Cardinal Nation unites from across the globe in the First Annual VEB Fantasy Baseball League!  It gives us something to talk about besides J-Rod's attitude.  

I was going to post a diary to gauge interest, but Yahoo already has the draft slots open.  For anyone interested in playing, the information is at the bottom.  The draft is set for Saturday, April 1st morning on line.  If you want to play and cannot make that time, you can pre-rank players.  Right now its set up as a head to head standard 5X5 league using all MLB players.  We can debate changing that.  I have it set up for 10 teams right now, but can adjust that if we have an overwhelming amount of interest.  Might be interesting to have a bunch of teams and deep rosters so we have to scrounge for diamonds in the rough. Go to yahoo to register for a Yahoo account and then log in to fantasy baseball with this ID

League ID#: 54987
Password: mvpcyyoung

Sorry to take up blog space, but I have some unrelated to baseball comments to make.  We discussed some of this stuff before, and given the slow week, I thought I might get some help here.  

The wife and I are making a trip to NYC for the Pogues reunion show on St. Paddy's day.  Since the trip falls around my birthday and hers, we are trying to find special things to do and make it a fun filled trip.  I'm looking to some of you guys who I know are on the east coast for restaurant recommendations.  Any type from good cheap eats for lunch to good fancy meals.  I'm a big fan of Mario Batali (spelling) so I'm thinking we might check out one of his places any input would be great.  

So far here's our agenda...
Pogues show.
Going to see Avenue Q, the disgustingly adult musical with puppets.
Going to Ellis Island, to dig out the records of my great grandparents who came over from Croatia in the 1910s.  

On another unrelated note, I got a very cool band authorized sound board bootleg from a Wilco show in Montreal.  They do two discs worth of material.  Heavy on the newer stuff, but earlier albums thrown in as well. Sound quality is stellar.  RR, I know you are a fan so if you want a copy, email me and let me know.  Other copies I can do, but it might take me awhile since I'm out of town on business a lot the next month.  LB, I know you were in on the music tagents, so if you want a copy, you go to the top of the list for being our gracious host.  If I get quite a few requests, I'll re-post the list from which I will fill.  I don't have the discs in front of me, so I don't have the setlist.  But, its a show from Montreal from last summer.

Like I said, band authorized as long as its distrubted free, so its legal.  Trust me, I'm a lawyer.  

Just thought I would provide some joy to you wonderful people who provide me an intelligent distraction from work.  

Peace.

I had this discussion with a friend a couple weeks back and family medical problems stopped me from posting it at the time.  The game is Cardinal fantasy draft.  The rules are that you get to select from any player that has worn a Cards uniform and you get them at their performance for a given year.  The year HAD to be in a Cards uniform.  (So no picking Carlton and using a year he wore a Phillies uniform.)  The player had to play at least half his games with the Cards.  I'm not going to put mininum ABS or IP because I want this to be fun.  

The debate that raged was who is your first pick. The three contenders are Albert, Stan the Man, and Gibby.  I went with Gibby 68 because if you score more than 1 run, odds are you are winning that game.  Hell, if you score one run odds are that you are winning. I also said that I would slot him in the outfield on off days, but that was overruled.  Stan the Man with numbers of 356/450/702 in 1948 should also warrant consideration. Albert's numbers in 03 359/439/667.
Wow, putting those numbers next to each other makes you realize how great both hitters are.  First, Stans knocking those numbers before the days of training regimes and health sciences and Albert is tying the greatest hitter ever to wear a Cards uni in only his second year.  

So, give me your first pick in the draft and maybe who should go top five or ten.  

Not for the Cards, for you or yours.  Anybody giving or getting anything cool this holiday season.  The wife and I set a limit of 50 bucks on gifts for each other, so that we can spend money restoring our historic home.  She's already suprised me with mine.

When we were in Boston, I found this awesome picture from the 67 World Series of Lou stealing third base right in front of the tag.  The monster looms large in the background.  She slipped away for a few minutes while visiting her folks and bought that for me.

Also, she bought a Bob Gibson t-shirt jersey for me.  I don't wear baseball jerseys and my game of choice apparell is a sweet Toulca (Mexican soccer team) jersey that my folks got from me on their 25th aniversary trip.  My parents aren't the most daring people necessarily, and they split from their resort compound and made their way into a mexican town to the equivalent of the Mexican Sears and bought this jersey for me.  Its been my Cards good luck charm, going 8-1 last year alone.  

I like the jersey t-shirts because they let you represent a guy you like who might not be around forever.  I wish I still had my Tom Pagnozzi one from when I was a kid, or my Andy Van Slyke.  Getting a Gibson one is cool, because the wife at least knows enough to know the holy trinity...Musial, Gibson, and Brock.  

So, anybody want to share.  I figured we could use a break from rehashing the shortcomings of Aaron Miles and other assorted off season disapointments.

Going to have to look into getting a John Tudor jersey shirt made.  Now that would be cool.  

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=rotowire-attorrisitsthereegen&prov=rotowire&type=lgns

According to the above link, Matty Mo filed for free agency today.  This move, plus the money he will command and having two cheaper, and some would say, better pitchers waiting in the wings almost guarantees that Matty Mo will pitch in another uniform next year.  

While he's been up and down all year, I'm sad to see him go.  He's been a constant on the Cards these past few years and served us well through the numerous pennant runs over the same time.  

When I was living in Florida, I spent some time at spring training, eschewing games and choosing instead to watch practices.  Besides marrying my wife, one of the best decisions I ever made.  Its a sports cliche to talk about little things win ball games, but watching the committment the players put into bunting drills, fielding drills, and even practicing covering bases on ground balls spoke volumes about the type of player the Cardinal organization attracts and seems to retain.  

One of my favorite moments of those few days was talking to Matty Mo as he signed a handful of autographs for a few fans that had gathered waiting for the pitchers to finish a bunting drill.  Matty is a known dead head, a fan of the Grateful Dead, Phish and the other bands that fall into the amporphous jam band label.  To get his attention, I held out a ball and asked him if he'd been "phishing lately" which means had he'd been to any phish concents lately.  His eyes lit up and he walked over to sign my ball.  I let some kids go first, and we talked about shows and bands, and I told him about a recent North Mississippi All-Stars show I'd been to.  As he finished up the  autographs with my ball, he handed it to me, shook my hand and said, "Thanks for coming out brother."  

It always intersting to see the other, human side of these players.  I know that we can rag on Matty for his erratic performance, but to me, he will always be the fellow music fan that took ten minutes to sign some autographs and spread the good times and love to me and and half a dozen grade schoolers.  

Further on down the road, Matty.  

ESPN is currently running Top 5 reasons you cannot blame Don Deckinger for the Cards losing the 1985 World Series.  They will repeat the program again at 11 PM Central time tonight, Monday August 22, 2005.  

Keith Hernadez was just interviewed and said he wouldn't have dropped the foul pop up that Clark did.  Well Keith, that's nice to know considering....

Poll

85 Series, who do you blame?

52%

Don Deckinger for the call.

9 votes

23%

Herzog for going mental in game 7 and making bad decisions.

4 votes

17%

Jack Clark for dropping that pop up.

3 votes

5%

The Royals offense in game 7.

1 votes

0%

Daryl Porter for failing to cover the plate.

0 votes

0%

Brock, how old were you again?

0 votes

0%

Andy Van Slyke's poor throw to the plate.

0 votes

0%

John Tudor for cutting his hand in Game 7.

0 votes

17 votes | Poll has closed

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    A combination of factors leads me to this new diary; I promise to be brief, unlike my last post.  Reading Valatan's confession regarding his love for Ankiel and the all-time Busch stadium cross-reference penned by Boros, I got thinking about my own unexplainable allegiances to Cardinals now and past.  So its time for therapy...

    I'm not talking guys you are supposed to like, or who are/were stars.  Understandably, we all should like Albert, or Gibson, or Stan the Man, I'm talking guys who were role players or flew so far under the radar that only the most diehard Cards fan even remembers them.  (Dane Iorg anyone?)  For whatever reason, they made a mark on your psyche and now you elevate them in your heart so high, that your head cannot even justify it.  The type of guy that the more reasoned, disciplined, factual based argument would lead the reasonable person to believe, that guy stunk and you respond with a WHATEVER!
    Give them whatever heading you want, but here are mine.  

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