afternoon update

by lboros on Mar 6, 2006 3:17 PM EST in St. Louis Cardinals News

as of this writing the cardinals are losing 6-4 to the orioles, bottom 5th. marquis started and held them scoreless for two innings; i don't know whether he was still out there for the third, when the o's posted 4. braden looper was set to follow marquis and appears to have yielded a couple of runs. brian daubach and chris duncan have whacked homers.

i don't think it's meaningless that la russa used brad voyles to close out the cards' 6-3 win yesterday. of course, it's not that meaningful either -- voyles isn't on the 40-man and is a long shot to make the team -- but his appearance in that role make me wonder whether the brass were just trying him on for size in late-inning situations. he retired the side in order and has now strung together 3.2 shutout innings in his two spring training appearances. keep an eye on how and when tony/dave use this guy; couple more solid outings and he might pitch his way onto the bubble for an at-large berth in the bullpen .

nice to see wainwright pitch well too. of a sudden the management is talking him up; also not insignificant, imho. i still think they'd prefer to open the season with ponson as the #5, but i think any role for wainwright (even last man in the 'pen) is better than a trip back to memphis. they gotta find out sooner, not later, whether or not this guy can help them in 2007 and beyond.

baseball prospectus' new minor-league expert, kevin goldstein, was asked during a recent chat session whether cory haerther's improved power numbers in 2005 represented a real improvement in ability. his reply:

Significantly real. Haerther is pretty easily the best hitter at the upper levels in the Cards' system in my mind, but his prospect ranking isn't very high becuase of his defense. As a left fielder, being a good hitter isn't enough, you have to be a great hitter, and I'm not sure Haerther is that.

but i'm not sure that the cardinals need haerther to be great. they just need him to be cheap (which he certainly will be) and adequate, holding down a position and freeing up funds to be applied elsewhere.

cards tacked one on in the top of the 6th, now trail 6-5, still batting.

elsewhere on SB Nation, Halos Heaven has it from inside sources that the marlins aren't kidding around about trading miguel cabrera:

If you think The Red Sox want the Moon for Manny Ramirez, you should hear the list of players the Marlins want in a trade for Miguel Cabrera - but they called twice after being told no, not to change their offer, just to underscore thir seriousness in wanting to trade MC. Word around the Cactus League is that the Cubs are going all out to land him.

don't know how seriously to take that last sentence; suffice to say that cabrera would close the cubs' hole in left field . . . .

mlbtraderumors thinks the reds may trade wily mo pena before the season begins . . . .

through 6 full innings, it's still 6-5 orioles. now stop thinking about spring training and get back to work.

Update [2006-3-6 17:8:45 by lboros]: orioles win, 12-8; here's the box score. marquis and looper got roughed up; junior spivey (the only varsity player in the lineup) went 0-4 and is hitless this spring. travis hanson started for the third consecutive day; john gall also got a start (his 4th of the spring) and went 1 for 4.

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Cabrera to the Cubs?

Does anyone think that the Cubs could put together enough of a package to land Cabrera? You can't blame the Fish for asking for the moon, although you can blame them for being stupid enough to trade him at all.

You'd think that Matt Murton would be one of the first guys offered in just about any trade. He is just not a favorite of Dusty's for whatever reason. But who else? Felix Pie? Rich Hill? Decent prospects all, but hardly enough I would think.

by svengali on Mar 6, 2006 3:51 PM EST reply actions

I don't know who Falkenborg is.....

But he's the only one in that box score that didn't get hammered.

by Archaeopteryx on Mar 6, 2006 5:44 PM EST reply actions

Cabrera

I don't know, Cabrera's only proven himself since 2003. He might still have to fight it out with Grissom in a left-field platoon.

Ah, Dusty jokes. So easy, yet so fun.

But I think you'd have to be the Angels or the Diamondbacks to give a good enough package to the Marlins for a cheap and EXTREMELY talented hitter. The Cubs don't have that.

"You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time." - Jim Bouton

by WillieMcGeeModelingCompany on Mar 6, 2006 6:58 PM EST reply actions

They were dangling Prior for Tejada,

And if I'm the Cubs--or most other teams, for that matter--I'd rather have Cabrera than Tejada, going forward.

by DanUpBaby on Mar 6, 2006 7:45 PM EST reply actions

Angels...Diamondbacks

I doubt the angels are willing to part with their prospects for Cabrera. They haven't shown any propensity to give them up for Manny and while Cabrera and Manny are relatively similiar to each other offensively I don't see why the Angels would now be willing to cough up the youngsters. They seem pretty set on holding their prospects.

The diamondbacks might but I imagine that the Marlins are looking for some young pitching and I can't think of any top level pitching prospects from the Diamondbacks off the top of my head (although that doesn't mean their aren't just that I don't recall them).

How old does Rich Hill have to get before we stop calling him a top level prospect? He's already 25 and as much as they talk him up if he's so good why are they still tossing innings at Rusch and Williams?

I guess I just think that the Marlins would be after pitching prospects. What about the Twins? Lord knows they need the offense and they have two MLB ready pitching prospects. I don't know what they have in the way of position players but I could seem them going for Cabrera esp. given that he is cheap enough for their small market.

by azruavatar on Mar 6, 2006 8:10 PM EST reply actions

THey do it because....

... he's not as good as Rusch and Williams. Yet, at least.

His curveball is huge. Huge. BUt he couldn't consistently get it in for strikes when I watch him.

Cub fans don't like Rusch. I dunno why. He seems like a pretty valuable 5th starter/swing guy to me who can log as many innings as you throw at him. Of course, I also think he's of the "Barret doesn't bring out the best in him" mold.

by sdrone on Mar 6, 2006 11:01 PM EST up reply actions

Rusch

kinda reminds me of Supp in the fact that he doesn't really have amazing stuff. He's a soft tossing lefty (the type that seems to confuse that crap out of cardinal pitchers) with good control. When he's on he's on but I think the difference is that STL brought the best in Supp. Chicago has tossed Rusch around from starter to bullpen and he never has really seemed to settle in. Thats just my "feel" for him though. I haven't really examined his stats or anything but that's always the impression he leaves me with.

by azruavatar on Mar 7, 2006 1:50 AM EST up reply actions

Kirk Rueter retires

The 35-year-old Rueter said he attempted to join the St. Louis Cardinals, his favorite team as a boy, because he lives close to St. Louis. When that didn't materialize, he decided to focus on his wife, Karla, and daughters, Hope and Halle.

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

by SirVLCIV on Mar 6, 2006 9:00 PM EST reply actions