Harsh Article about the Cards

by Mr Redbird on Feb 27, 2008 1:11 PM EST Comment 10 comments

I know the WWL isn't very popular in these parts, but I was perusing around their website today and found this nice little article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/baseball/flb/story?page=mlbdk2k8stlpreview

Call me overly optimistic, but I disagree with the sentiments in this article. Specifically, the section labeled "Fearless Prediction". The following lines stuck out to me:

"This could easily be the worst team in the National League. (...) This is an old team full of bad contracts and health risks that's poised to miss the playoffs by a country mile. Expect La Russa and Pujols to land with another franchise soon so that the rebuilding can commence in earnest. St. Louis fans should hunker down over a slab of ribs from C & K and start wondering if the Rams will be any good this fall."

The guy who wrote this article is Will Harris (someone I've never heard of) and the article is supposed to be a fantasy overview of the team. I don't think we'll be a playoff team or even a playoff contender by any stretch of the imagination, but I do think we'll finish better than last in the NL. Is his statement on Pujols finding another team soon based on any statements from the front office or a suggestion on how to proceed into the future? That's possibly the last thing I want to see. Anyway, I thought it was interesting, and would love to hear what the community has to say regarding it.

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Don't read too much into it...

Will Harris is apparently a college football analyst. He doesn't know what he's talking about.

In addition to the things you pointed out, he also thinks Izturis should lead off for us, believes Josh Phelps will be in the majors the whole year, and appears to think that we're fair-weather fans (see C&K comment). I wouldn't really put any stock into what he says.

by Phizzle on Feb 27, 2008 1:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

LMAO

He could work at the P-D!

"Dude, we're running out of stadium" - said on the way to our seats in Section 428.

by bukowski on Feb 27, 2008 2:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think

he just got overhyped on how we're not looking good compared to other cardinal years. Even with our downgrades, we still look better than the Marlins and Pirates, for example, and there are other teams out there I'd argue as well.

My guess about Pujols' whole opting for surgery is that he DOES want to stay here and realizes that we have a better chance of being a winning team next year and the near future, and that's why he'd want to into go surgery now, so that he can recover by the time that we are competing for the top again.

Another thing that bothers me about this article is that personally, I feel our offense is actually better than last year. Our "key losses" didn't contribute much at all on offense, and the new guys taking over have a chance to do much more damage and showed the could last year. Yes, our pitching is shitty, but it also has a lot of potential for surprise. It's not horrible enough to make us the worst team in the league by any means.

On with the (good) youth movement!

by aet15 on Feb 27, 2008 1:43 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I could

have written that article by surfing the web too.

The sidebar on AP is at least interesting.

"Dude, we're running out of stadium" - said on the way to our seats in Section 428.

by bukowski on Feb 27, 2008 2:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I thought this article came out a while ago...

I dont believe this guy normally covers baseball and it shows.

by birdsonbat on Feb 27, 2008 3:01 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

It may have

I just read it today though.

Cardinal fan in the heart of Braves country

by Mr Redbird on Feb 27, 2008 6:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

In fairness, the Pirates

probably will finish with a better record than us. They've got a better pitching staff and as long as Jason Bay and Adam LaRoche don't have two of the worst years of their career, they'll probably win more games than the Cards.

Still looking for 1985 Regular Season games on DVD/VHS

by Hardcore Legend on Feb 27, 2008 3:08 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Just another instance of

a writer feeling they have to be "funny" when writing predictions on a baseball team. I see this all the time in some of the spring baseball preview magazines for teams that don't have much of a chance to contend.

Some of these writers feel they have to make a joke at the end of their "prediction" for whatever reason.

It's nothing new, I just roll my eyes and move on.

by KYCards on Feb 27, 2008 3:09 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Not Far Off

You guys make light, but if Pujols elbow goes out, this would be the worst team in the NL. They are in the bottom 5 on paper right now. (Maybe bottom 2 or 3)

It is always possible that LaRussa and Duncan can work a few miracles or some players can have great years to make them respectable, but no team in the NL has more question marks. There is some interesting potential, but even though this guy doesn't know much, he isn't far off. (And judging by what he wrote, this was likely when we still had Rolen and Edmonds. (old with bad contracts)

How about handin' me another helpin' of those mashed taters...thank you very much!

by Elvis on Feb 28, 2008 9:55 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Look

Compared to last year, this team is much better off, in my opinion. Considering the shitty offense we got from Rolen and Edmonds last year, Glaus and whoever gets the CF job will probably be an overall upgrade. I do think Izturis will be an upgrade with the glove, and Kennedy should rebound a bit from his career worst season last year.

I love his analysis of Glaus -- his homers should dip because he's playing in Busch. That's an incomplete analysis because he forgot to factor in that he's moving from the American League to the National League and, more specifically, the AL East to the NL Central. The Yankees, Sox, Rays, and Orioles had some pretty good staffs last year -- where is that analysis at?

This guy obviously doesn't know what he's talking about. You can't judge every single hitter based on their contact rate, moron, Duncan and Ankiel are power hitters...if we wanted them to hit .330/.350/.295, contact rate would be a great stat to use. Apparently he thinks that the Cards would be better off with Pujols and a bunch of PunchNJudy hitters or something. This guy should stick to writing articles about college football, because some of his other fantasy baseball articles are nearly as bad as this one.

P.S. I hope Ankiel goes in the 25th round of my fantasy draft and Duncan goes undrafted...Please GOD make this happen lol.

"I just wish that the late Harry Caray were still around so I could hear him mispronounce 'Kosuke Fukudome' every fukun' night" -- Dennis Miller

by fourstick on Feb 28, 2008 1:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs