I really enjoyed last offseason when there was that Cardinal's all-time playoff team tournament. It was a lot of fun.

I know that it was a lot of work, and I don't know if I'm suggesting this in the right place, but I had an interesting idea for another similar tournament.

What if each of the SB Nation blogs put together an all-time All-Star roster, using the best players that each team has ever had in their best years. Then there could be a tournament between all of the different teams, eventually crowning the best organization in baseball history!

Would this be even a feasible idea? Has this been done before (I'm sure something like this has been at least considered at one point or another on some forum)?

Admittedly, there would be some issues, expansion teams being one of them (Cards get 100+ years of players to choose from, D'backs get ~15), although setting a definite timeframe (i.e. 1990 onward, initial expansion onward, etc.) could help even things out, at the expense of not being able to use guys like the Babe.

Anyway, feel free to discuss or shoot my idea down, whichever is more appropriate.

List courtesy mlbtraderumors.com, stats from fangraphs.com (with some rough calculations by yours truly) (current as of 9/15/08) Special Note: These are Three Year totals and averages.

It seems to be a general consensus that the Cardinals need a left-handed reliever this offseason. I thought I'd list what was available.

If Marte's option is declined, he would certainly be the best "impact" option for next year (although we lose draft picks and he would cost lots of money/years). He would probably be cheaper than Fuentes, because Fuentes is a "closer."

Out of the type B guys, I kind of like Beimel. Seems to be a Duncan-esque pitcher.

And, if Ohman does continue to stay out of the type B range, he does seem to be the best option, though. Solid strikeouts, kind of young. He'll probably cost some money, but we do have some to play with this year.

What does everyone think? Was this post helpful? I was thinking of doing something similar with the MI and SP holes (though it would have to include trade options as well, which would get confusing).

Using the Lineup Analysis tool found at the below link, I put in the Cardinals actual production from each spot in the lineup, and then switched the 8th and 9th hitters to see if there was a significant difference:

http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/LineupAnalysis.py?Player0=Leadoff+Hitter&OBA0=+0.348&Slug0=+0.396&Player1=Number+2+Guy&OBA1=+0.355&Slug1=+0.477&Player2=AP&OBA2=+0.441&Slug2=+0.611&Player3=Cleanup+Hitter&OBA3=+0.345&Slug3=+0.502&Player4=5&OBA4=+0.368&Slug4=+0.475&Player5=6&OBA5=+0.345&Slug5=+0.385&Player6=7&OBA6=+0.354&Slug6=+0.400&Player7=Pitcher&OBA7=+0.247&Slug7=+0.292&Player8=Our+worst+hitter&OBA8=+0.322&Slug8=+0.323&Model=0

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/aggregate?sort=OPS&split=109&group=8&season=2008&seasonType=2&statType=batting&type=reg

The results showed that the Cards should have scored 5.249 runs/game with the lineups they put out there, and would have scored 5.156 runs/game with the pitcher hitting 9th. That works out to about 15 runs over the season, or 1.5 wins! I guess this proves Tony right?

Anyway, the other interesting thing I noticed was that our 7th hitter has significantly outperformed out 6th hitter (.354 OBP/.400 SLG vs. .345/.385). Also, all of the best possible lineups include our #3 hitter (Albert) hitting leadoff, with the best one scoring 5.335 runs/game.

Feel free to discuss! Go Cards! Play on until we're mathematically eliminated!

Admittedly, this idea has little to or nothing to do with the Cardinal's current situation. And there is absolutely no way the Cardinals would pursue this option, especially not with Albert at first. However, it is an intriguing idea nonetheless...

Let's assume a hypothetical team which features a below average offensive first baseman (say Todd Helton this year) and also a couple of starters (hypothetically Micah Owings and Dontrelle Willis) who are mediocre on the pitching side but outstanding on the hitting side while also being of different handedness.

My idea is this: the team would run 4 ordinary starters for the first 4 spots, but in the 5th spot they would run a tandem of Owings and Willis. One would pitch, the other would play 1st. Whenever a righty came up to bat, Owings would pitch to him, and whenever a lefty came up, Willis would pitch to him. Switch hitters could be put on their weaker side or flip-flopped to confuse them.

Has this idea been suggested at other places? Is it a good idea? I'd like to see what the community thinks.