St. Louis Cardinals

[smokymountainrain]

Cards got a lot worse today, trading away Rasmus for 2 1/2 months of Edwin Jackson, two average bullpen arms (that probably don't get re-signed), and Corey Patterson.

Horribly short-sighted.

wow. just. wow. Seriously, WTF are they thinking?

[BoylenOver]

Awful trade. Another in the long list of players with whom LaRussa couldn't coexist. Colby was a knucklehead, but he was a pretty damned talented knucklehead. Edwin Jackson? I assume they move McClellan back to the pen now.

Yeah, Jackson takes his spot in the rotation and McClellan fills the role Bautista has provided.

[bag]

Yeah, that doesn't seem to be a very good trade. They do need some bullpen help, and it seems like they got it, but the price was way too high. Honestly, I think it's time for Tony to go.

[BoylenOver]

Is this real life? Cards down 10.5 in the wild card standings on August 28th, now only a game behind the Braves.

St Louis goes to Houston; the Braves host the Phils. Unreal.

[HBCoug]

LaRussa micromanaging like there's no tomorrow. This has all the makings of a LaDumbass special. Furcal, Freese, and Berkman all subbed out before the end of the 8th inning. Craig, Laird, Descalso, and Punto off the bench in a game likely to go extras. I'd put even odds that we blow this game because we run out of people and Skip ends up pitching in extras.

[cougjunkie]

LaRussa micromanaging like there's no tomorrow. This has all the makings of a LaDumbass special. Furcal, Freese, and Berkman all subbed out before the end of the 8th inning. Craig, Laird, Descalso, and Punto off the bench in a game likely to go extras. I'd put even odds that we blow this game because we run out of people and Skip ends up pitching in extras.

You win!

(not the Cards, your prediction)

[HBCoug]

You win!

(not the Cards, your prediction)

In the interest of full disclosure, I have been watching a rerun for the past 15 years. Aside from LaRussa's antics, Descalso and Jay need to get those runners home from 3rd with less than two outs in a game like this. If you can't sweep by far the worst team in baseball that traded away nearly all of its assets at the deadline, you don't deserve a playoff berth.

[BoylenOver]

Allen Craig is my homeboy.

It's come down to the final day! Go Cardinals, and go Phillies!

[CJF]

Allen Craig is my homeboy.

It's come down to the final day! Go Cardinals, and go Phillies!

F you and the Cardinals.

[HBCoug]

Cardinals offense blowing up in the top half of the 1st with a 5 spot. Braves also lead early, 3-1.

[BoylenOver]

Carp was dominating tonight.

10.5 games back a month ago. Amazing.

thanks Phillies, now it's time to beat you!

[BoylenOver]

2 years, $26 mil for Beltran.

He's not the same player, not even close, but man, I still remember him clobbering us in 3 consecutive NLCS. Hopefully he can help fill the gap vacated by Pujols.

Also, it's been a very Cardinals Christmas in the BO household. Books, DVD's, shirts, hats. I'll never take one of my teams winning the title for granted.

[BYUMizzou]

2 years, $26 mil for Beltran.

He's not the same player, not even close, but man, I still remember him clobbering us in 3 consecutive NLCS. Hopefully he can help fill the gap vacated by Pujols.

So far based on how he's doing in spring training, he's not the answer. I generally don't watch much spring training ball. The games are all day games and rarely televised, so it's hard to say how the team looks from the eyeball test. Based on the box scores, though, Beltran is struggling and sitting right on the Mendoza line at the plate. Hopefully he turns it around before April.

Personally I was looking forward to Alan Craig being a full time player in 2012, but I guess his knee surgery and the uncertainty as to when he'd come back was one of the reasons we signed Beltran. Once Craig is back and healthy, I'd rather see Beltran coming off the bench or getting only spot starts in left and right for Holiday or Craig. I don't think he he's capable of playing center. I'd almost rather see Skip come out of the infield and play Center than have Beltran and his aging knees try to come in and give John Jay a rest.

[BoylenOver]

So far based on how he's doing in spring training, he's not the answer. I generally don't watch much spring training ball. The games are all day games and rarely televised, so it's hard to say how the team looks from the eyeball test. Based on the box scores, though, Beltran is struggling and sitting right on the Mendoza line at the plate. Hopefully he turns it around before April.

Spring training box scores mean as much as spring football box scores.

I'll probably give him until mid-May before I make up my mind on his Cardinals stay.

Craig is definitely the better long-term answer, but if Beltran can give us something during his 2-year contract, the depth is nice.

[BYUMizzou]

Spring training box scores mean as much as spring football box scores.

To an extent. There are so many minor leaguers getting playing time that it's sometimes hard to tell how a team or players will do once they cut rosters back for the regular season. Generally though you can tell something from average based stats but not total based stats. Things like batting average, slugging percentage, and on base percentage from spring training probably have a decent correlation to how players will perform in the early parts of the year. The one thing that makes them suspect is the fact that you're facing a lot of AA and AAA pitching.

Things like HR totals, RBI's, etc., tend to depend more on number of plate appearances than how well you're swinging the bat.

Pujols struggled in spring training last year and people tried to write it off as just spring training. That carried through to the first few months of the regular season. I'm more likely to look at a career .280-.300 hitter who is hitting .250 or .260 in spring and not get worried. Beltran at .200 this spring does worry me though. At this point I'm not expecting anything more than an average warm body in right for defense and limited plate production until Craig gets back. I so hope he surprises me. The NL Central will be a tight race again this year, and we need all the production we can without Albert.