It's the shirt

by vinniefromjersey on Nov 1, 2006 10:43 AM EST

Just before the final weekend of the regular season the VEB red shirt I ordered came in the mail. I began wearing it during all Cards games, and subsequently the Cards won their division, the NLDS, the NLCS, and the World Series. Scientific proof the shirt has magical powers. Needless to say I refused to wash it during this win streak, but I plan to give it a refreshing bath and put it away for next season.

On another note, I would like some opinions on this proposed deal: Anthony Reyes and Chris Duncan to Tampa Bay for Carl Crawford. I believe Crawford is Lou Brock waiting to happen and would solve a multitude of offensive and defensive shortcomings. Wouldn't it be nice to have a left fielder who is plus defender?

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Too much

I don't think we can afford to give up both Duncan and Reyes. I wouldn't mind parting ways with Duncan (It would sting a little, he's gonna be great) but Reyes will be a #2 starter soon and a great pitcher for years to come.

The future of our pitching staff is in Reyes and Wainwright. I would love to find a way to acquire Crawford though, he's great.

"And that's a winner. A World Series winner for the Cardinals."

by Bird Watcher on Nov 1, 2006 11:03 AM EST reply actions

re: Crawford

I don't think you give up Reyes for Crawford by any means but a package revolving around Duncan could work as the Rays are looking for cheap players (throw in some of the promising AA arms or Narvie).

I have some issues with Crawford though. He doesn't walk alot and his OBP is largely driven by his contact and hit skills. I'm not really a fan of players with sub-.330 career OBPs usually. He did increase his walkrate after a dropoff last year but it was still only around 6%.

He is a plus defender but out of LF I want offense. If we wanted to acquire him and play him in CF, I'd be okay with that but we have Rasmus coming up in a few years (hopefully) so I'd rather just retain Jimmy for a couple more years.

Also, his HRs have increased every year but 18 HRs in 600 ABs isn't that amazing. (Dunc had 22 this year in 280 ABs) He does hit a lot of triples and his share of doubles and his SLG is good but an .800 OPS last year doesn't blow me out of the water. I think he's mildly overrated for his speed but 58 SB is very good.

I guess I'm saying I think he's a very good player but I'm not convinced he's a perenial allstar or anything like that. If he moved to CF permenantly, that would improve my disposition towards him greatly.

Acquire Jason Schmidt!

by azruavatar on Nov 1, 2006 12:34 PM EST reply actions

His comparison players are interesting too

Damon, Beltran, Lankford - all interesting
Erstad - cringe

None of the comparison scores are very high for whatver reason so I don't think they are indicative of the player that Crawford will be but they are interesting.

Acquire Jason Schmidt!

by azruavatar on Nov 1, 2006 12:37 PM EST up reply actions

Carl

Crawford would be a good addition for the simple fact that he can play a great CF in the future when Edmonds leaves/ or hurts himself again.

I hate to say it but Duncan's Defense is brutal. People say give him an offseason to practice... but get real. If you are 24 years old and a major league player, it would be nice to catch 10/10 fly balls, not 8/10.

by DuncanDipper on Nov 2, 2006 12:19 AM EST up reply actions

I Agree

Carl Crawford would be a tremendous addition to the outfield, left or center. His skills are still very raw and I'm a sucker for speed. The only problem with that is while he would easily be a threat to steal, he'd would draw Albert a lot of walks (provided you bat him leadoff or 2nd, where he belongs TB). Giving up Reyes might be too much, but I would seriously explore alternatives..

by Brian Fantana on Nov 1, 2006 10:05 PM EST reply actions