So,

On this whole pitching inside fiasco between the Cardinals and practically every other team I just want to throw something out there.

At times Larussa has accused the Pirates young pitchers of pitching inside when they didn't know how. Milwauke says it is necessary to pitch Pujols up and in. Freese has been marred twice by pitches inside. Once on his hand and now the one to the head. Pujols has taken a bruised hand. Lohse lost over a year and a half. It makes sense that Tony is against throwing up an in. It is dangerous and not fair to the hitter that the pitcher can take such liberties without any risk to themselves. My solution is to even the playing field. Any time a hitter is hit by a pitch he did not intentionally move in to the batter gets one free lick at said pitcher with a fungo. If a pitcher hits a batter and said batter misses games due to injury the pitcher should not be allowed to pitch until that hitter returns. It is fair. If a pitcher takes a hitter out for multiple games by taking risky action that pitcher should be out as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCbuRA_D3KU

If this doesn't make you laugh then you have no soul. I love the Descalso and the only thing that can explain my love of a .220 third baseman is this video. I couldn't think of a better ode than this one...I hope that some day this is his walk out music but until then please enjoy the music. Danny boy. oh danny boy. no one has the glove that you do...

I love this game and the team but this is far from the end of the world.

There are better days ahead.

I hope we pull in a Matt Holliday or two.

All I can say about Boyer/Barton/Herron etc...is that this farm system is so full of mediocre players we need to purge the duplicates from our prospective talent.

It's healthy to clean out the lower ranks and turn them into major league players that can make an impact.

 Potential is useless unless it is realized.

Rasmus and Greene rock.

Motte or Perez if not both will be valuable.

Dump the rest and let's move on to better days ahead.

Everyone wants to be like the Rays but how long did they have to suffer as a chew toy for the rest of the AL East before they amassed enough quality prospects to be competitive?

We have an established franchise.

Players want to come here to compete and win.

Rookies want to stick with this club and play every last remaining game of their career as a Cardinal.

If it takes parting with a DJ tools or a Wallace or Boggs then so be it I want to see winning baseball not an "oh just wait till we draft 3 or 4 uber prospects for nothing and they develop in an unfathomable 3 months into superstars and we smash the entire league with their divinity" approach.

You don't get something for nothing.

Go get us a Holliday or Dunn.

Get a God Damn third baseman not a MIF or an OF who used to play third but a bonafide"I was meant to play there and I am good at it and I can hit" third baseman and maybe a fill-in 5th starter/longman and lets get on with winning this division and on to the post season.

Go Cards.

Boo MIFs who play 3B and crappy Left Fielders.

Game On.

"The Walrus"

I don’t know if anyone brought this up but I read that SI piece from the link that was provided by tom s.

What really stuck out in my mind was this quote…

We all saw Albert about the same way," says Allard Baird, who was then general manager of the Kansas City Royals. “We weren’t sure he had a position. He didn’t have a great baseball body. We all saw him the same way, and we were all wrong.” Blockquoted paragraph

Remind you of anyone we know?

Today I was reading someones reply on Cards Talk or Bernies Box to what to do now that the Mang is down for a few weeks.

The poster suggested moving Glaus to 1B and bringing up Barden and keeping Duncan in AAA to find his missing stroke. I said to myself that won't work because Freese  should come up before Barden since he is playing 3B and Barden is playing SS.

Then it clicked. Barden  is at SS. I'm not sure how he is fielding wise but his bat is looking decent. He is hitting .301 with a balance split between Lefties and Righties. He seems to be talking walks and has an OBP 20 points shy of .400. Also for a SS he has some gap power with the ability to put one over the fence once in a while.

My question is if he continues to hit and field does he all the sudden have more value now that he is a SS with some pop instead of a light hitting all glove 3B?

If so do we give him a look soon or deal him to another team?

The Birds don't seem to be getting any traction out of the revolving door that is our cleanup spot in the batting order.

I thought for sure Ankiel would solidify that spot and he may still but I have another idea.

No, not Ludwick. (wouldn't jive with the stupid trade proposal thingy anyways)

How about cashing in some chips for a young dynamic player that can hit for power and play stellar defense who also got signed up for a reasonable contract?

If they would(they being Florida) could Mo justify trading Rasmus, Anderson, Kozma, & Reyes/Garcia to Florida for Hanley Rameriz ?

If not what would be a fair trade keeping in mind you have to persuade Florida to say yes to trading the face of thier franchise.

Okay. So maybe the Barton at 2B thing is a little far fetched. It's still spring and I have yet another proposal to fix the kink we have in this team at 2B.

No disrespect to Kennedy but maybe we can spin him to Colorado or DFA him in hopes someone else will take a shot on him.

To replace him why don't we get Brian Roberts from the O's.

We have plenty of talented OF's that can play defense.

Let Duncan go somewhere he can be more of an asset and play everyday wether it be LF, 1B or DH.
Send him along with Reyes. If they need one or two more minor leaguers just do it as long as they are not asking for prime prospects. Maybe include Hoffpauir since we won't need him if we get Roberts.

Duncan, Reyes, Hoffpauir, B level pitching prospect = Brian Roberts.

Is it worth it?

Just wanted to post an outside the box thought about filling a weak link with a young talented hitter athletic enough to make spectacular plays at 2B. I'm not talking about Hoff, Ryan, or anyone else that might come to mind.

I think the man for the Job is....

Barton.

His noodle arm is a non-issue at second base. He has the athleticism to cover 2B. He is young enough to learn a new position. His bat will play above average at 2B. You put all that together and you have a perrenial All-Star.

Please Mo if your reading this see what you can do about Tony giving the kid a shot at 2B. I know Oquendo can shape Barton into an everyday 2B given the chance.

  I finally came to terms with Miggy being a Detroit Tiger. It took me a while because the moment the Fish put him on the block I was hooked with daydreams of him and Albert punishing the national league with a barrage of line drives and homeruns. I thought it was fated to be due to all the trouble that Rolen was having with Tony.

  Trade Rolen, clear salary, and trade Rasmus. I believed this would lead to long summer days of Miggy and Pujols competitively cranking out homers. Between the two there would really be no set 3 or 4 hitter. They would compete where whoever is hitting for the higher average that day bats third and the other fourth.

  I was outraged as some of you know that management saw fit to not pursue this trade. I was of the mind that Rasmus be damned man you get Cabrera at all costs. I mean how many chances do you get to acquire a hall of fame caliber 3rd baseman? I guess at least two but by all rights Cabrera to me is the holy grail of third basemen.

  What changed is that it just clicked for me a moment ago.... Rasmus. The kid is "phenomical"(tm). I caught myself day dreaming about how many long summer days we will get to watch him own CF.

  How many times will we watch him swipe a bag? How many homeruns will he launch while wearing the cardinal red? How many times will we see him make an incredible catch and then debate wether or not Jimmy Baseball could have made that same play?

  All the sudden I had my closure. But still there is a small part of me that smiled when I heard that Detroit failed to sign Miggy to a long term contract. That gives me just a sliver of hope that he could maybe clear free agency and then sign with the Birds. That would be truly sweet.

mlbtraderumors.com has reported the pirates are interested in Brad Thompson. Apparently Duncan for Wilson was discussed. How pissed off would everyone be if that had happened. Anyways some combo of Thompson and whatever is suppose to net us Morris & Wilson. I say if there is anything worth getting from the Pirates it's Ian Snell. Supposedly they talked about dealing him to the Mariners. I know it will take more than Thompson but how about throwing in Duncan and some AA talent for Snell and Bay. Hell we could throw in Schumacher and Mather. We have all kinds of spare parts for cheap which Pitt will need while they rebuild. Pitt wanted Adam Jones how about a poor mans Adam Jones by the name of Barton. Duncan, Barton, Boggs, Reyes, Thompson, Ryan etc... for Morris, Snell, Bay, Wilson. I would make that trade on Nintendo all day long. Thoughts?

I know there is a thread about Rasmus possibly being dealt for Bedard but I wanted to discuss the similarities between that potential deal and the one Boston made for Beckett by sending phenom SS prospect Hanley Ramirez to Florida so here it goes...

Bedard is a year older than Beckett. They show a very similar pattern if you look at the year to year numbers. Beckett came into his own with a better team around him in Boston than he ever would have had the chance of playing for in Florida. Beckett cost the Sox a highly regarded prospect. Ramirez was 21 coming out of AA ball. Sound familiar? It will sting intially but Bedard has more value in the post season. Beckett showed that this year. Not to mention Tejada could be our Mike Lowell. A throw in. Rasmus plus an assortment of lesser prospects for Bedard & Tejada is starting to grow on me. Keep Rolen and the infield looks pretty solid if Adam Kennedy can rebound. I would like to see a full year of  Duncan and Ankiel in the outfield with Edmonds starting and training a younger replacement with potential. I would argue that the acquistion of Barton makes Rasmus expendable and Barton can be that younger replacement with potential. Knowing that Baltimore already drafted a phenom catching prospect by the name of Matt Wieters who else do you think we would need to send over in a package with Rasmus to bring back Bedard and Tejada?

Mo should have been in the thick of it with this deal. That was our needs to a tee.

   I am fully aware at this moment in time that we will suck eggs for the next few years. I am outraged. The "right players" were out there to trade for and spend money and we didn't acquire them.

  Dewitt lies and MO is full of sh*t. I guess Izturis was the right guy to waste money on and to pretend we want to compete. We are a garbage can team or at least that is the philosphy and I for one am tired of this nonsense. Call me impatient or just call me out but Mo had his chance and blew it big time.

  Maybe we can be competitive by 2011. Might as well deal Pujols as much as I love to watch him play. I mean by the time we have the talent to compete again he will be done with us.

  I think the best thing to do now is to keep what we have and tell Rolen to shut up and play baseball. We should sign Eck back too and just wait for a better time.

[Update: azruavatar] I'm going to shut down these comments to prevent an all out flame war. They may be reopened later but for now, let's keep it civil and germane to Cardinal baseball. [/update]

Check out this post over at...you guessed it mlbtraderumors.com. In a nutshell they say Reyes is generating a lot of interest and that Duncan/Edmonds/Ankiel are all movable. Don't know how true that is but it looks like Mo is open to shaking things up. Maybe we can pull off a trade for Miggy afterall. Once the dominoes start to fall this could get real interesting. I love the Winter Meetings.

I know you all want him so why do we say we can't get him? Miguel Cabrera is the right handed hitter we need. Also he plays third base. Convenient considering Rolen is being run out of here on rails. Deservedly so considering his attitude towards Tony. But apparently Mo the Muddy is going after Cabrera. I'm all for it and you know this. If Rasmus must be dealt then there is no other player I would want back other than Miggy. Santana cost money and prospects. We would have a one two punch that would rival Bostons' Big Pappi and Manny. We all saw what they did in the playoffs. If they were not in that line-up Boston would have flopped. I don't care how hard Ellsbury played or how scrappy and selfless Pedroia was or how money Lowell appeared to be without the meat of that line-up they would have sucked. Players Like Manny, Pappi, El Hombre, & Cabrera elvevate the play of others. Get Miggy now. He is a once in a lifetime chance. Ankiel can handle Cf and if not him then Schumie. We can work on pitching over the course of the year.

This one is pretty weak but I picked it up over at mlbtraderumors.com again. I love that site. The talk is that rumors are floating around the opry house in Nash that Rolen and Duncan would be headed to Texas for Blalock and possibly something else. One could only hope it is pitching.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

Another great lead from mlbtraderumors.com .

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

I never would have guessed this in a million years. How does this set up the Mets to get the big time starter they need? I thought they were in on Haren/Santana/Bedard etc...It will be very interesting to say the least to see what this does to the rumor mills....

Looks like it is close to being a done deal per MLB trade rumors. Wonder if we had a shot at Garza. Probably not unless we included Rasmus. I would only give the twinkies Rasmus in a Santana deal. Wonder what this means to the Yanks/Sox trying to get Santana......................

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

I never saw this one coming. Guess maybe they aren't trading for Cabrera. Or Maybe they are so they can rival the Sox line-up. Article says they may use the extra outfielders to go after Tejada as well. Go halos. Looks like they are loading up. Wish we would do that.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7477188

Looks like all that head scratching and second guessing regarding Hearther was for naught. Toronto gave him up right away and Stl added him to the 40 man roster per Future Redbirds.

http://futureredbirds.com/2007/11/21/haerther-back-put-on-40-man/

Welcome back Hearther. All though in some ways he never really left.

Yes. I went there. What I really meant to say was that Anderson and Rasmus both seem to be talented, polite, well mannered young men with a bright future in the MLB. Not to mention they're affordable. I think they are both capable of playing right now. Anderson will learn more playing behind Yadi than whoever the hell is coaching AAA. Plus he has got to be better than any other back-up we could end up with. Rasmus is the same situation. Let him back up Jimmy and learn. Everybody including Jimmy knows the kid is his replacement. I would like to think Jimmy would take pride in training the kid. Plus I trust him to teach. My point is why shouldn't we just start these kids because almost every other team would. Screw the drama and let the kids play. I mean..."The Children are Our Future"...Would you play them or do you think they still need some more practice?

I was hoping we would sign Jose Molina for next year to back up his little brother Yadi. Unfortunately he signed with the Yanks.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/11/yankees-sign-jo.html

My question is now that he is gone who do you think the Birds will use to fill the slot. Will we be signing a free agent, trading for a back-up, or promoting one from within the organization? I think projecting Anderson is a mistake but maybe Mo is gonna go for broke and bring the kid up. Who else do we have that could handle the job better than him?

I think if Kozma could get his defense up to above average we could plug him in and let his bat develop ala Yadi. Is it at all possible he could be ready in a year? And if Arni Cruz can flash the leather how soon till we see him? Maybe at least will see them at AA together this year. I am by no means trumpeting this as the solution to this year but maybe they will shine and earn roster spots at AA this year.

Mo is all for letting the MV-3 run another year. He is actively trying to smooth over the Rolen versus Tony situation or find a trading partner.Also in the article Tony has apparently voiced his desire to have Duncan back. I would like to see this team take on the new season as is with maybe just a free agent pitcher signed, Curt Schilling, and a Rasmus promotion. Let's give our heros a chance to rebound before we throw them out with the garbage.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/938F7737F5C8520B862573890006269A ?OpenDocument

Miggy may be on the block per MLBTraderumors/Gammons...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3089536&type=blogEntry

1. What does it take to get Cabrera?
2. Would you pull the trigger if you knew what players you would have to give up?
3. What do you do with Rolen?

1. Rasmus/Reyes/Anderson
2. Yes. Only because Miggy is still young and has already voiced that he would like to play with ALbert. I think we could retain him when the time came.
3. Trade Rolen for prospects or to obtain a younger #3 or #4 starter.

I am just happy that we have a G.M. finally so we can get in on some wheeling and dealing. I wanted Antonetti just like everyone else but my second choice would have been Mo. He fits. Now for the next task at hand. Who will be Mo's new assistant G.M.? Antonetti shows how important that postion is to player development. Could it be we will see Lunhow move up and the new guy on the totem pole from S.D. slide into Lunhows role? Here we go again. Let's hope this one gets wrapped up fairly quick.

Read the link to the pressbox. Bernie says we should hear tuesday or wednesday that CA(Antonetti?) will be the new G.M. unless something goes drastically wrong.

[editor's note, by Valatan]link fixed

How come there is no chatter about Tony being back? I know it is not 100% sealed but Joe Strauss and everybody else says it is done. story here

[editor's note, by erik]erik edit-sorry long urls drive me nuts.

Looks like maybe there is something brewing with regards to the new St. Louis G.M. I will admit I am reaching when I say this but why else would a G.M. step down from a succesful club like the Angels if he didn't have a great job lined up. I always made sure I had another job before I quit the one I have. Not to mention we already have nearly half a team of Angels already. If he is going to come in and help us build a farm team like what the Angels have then Amen. Who wouldn't want that. I think most people would swap farm teams with the Angels minus Rasmus any day of the week. Anyways I hope this works out cause it smells to me like this might be the  way to go. Next we sign Larussa, trade for a 1/2 starter and then sign A-rod. Go Cards!

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/10/stoneman-to-lea.html

I just peeked at fielding stats for 1B.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/sortableStats?stat=GP&stable=defense&dir=descending&timefra me=&start=1&end=50&season=2007&league=NL&position=1B&Go=Go

It looks like it could go to Laroche, Helton or Pujols. I would really like to see Al get the award but it's real close in every category. Laroche having only 2 errors all season is pretty strong. Who do you think will win the gold glove for 1B?