Why Can't I Quit You?

Actually, while watching the game on FSN midwest last night, they had Mo as their guest and were interviewing him. It think it was McLaughlin (sp?). At any rate, the question they asked was "we've got so many pitchers, and granted it's early, but what do you think will happen come the trade deadline? If we've got such a surplus, do you make a trade?" And Mo was pretty candid with his answer, stating that given the choice to stand pat or make a trade with a surplus of starting pitchers, he would hope that the market would be such that we (the Cards) would have the pieces to make a play or two and in return, get something that would help us improve in the areas we might be needing something, not just for this year, but the future in general.

Sure, he was choosing his words carefully, but I found it optimistic that he'd want to make a trade (or multiple trades) for talent that wouldn't just fulfill the "win now" mentality, but would help set us up for success further down the line. That and the fact that I couldn't help but think maybe he was referring to the SS position in terms of "needing something."

Wellemeyer, Looper, Clement and Lohse should be traded or released by mid-season.

Wainwright, Pineiro, Mulder, Carpenter and Reyes should battle it out for the rotation with Thompson going back to his very good long relief role.

Mulder has 4 months to show the club that it is prudent to pick up his option. Reyes has 4 months to raise his stock with either this club or any other club looking for a starting pitcher in the off-season.

is also why he needs to pitch up in the zone. His fastball hops and tails when thrown at the top of the zone, but is pretty straight otherwise.

Dunc's comments about Thompson pretty poor performance last night, as if to imply that circumstances just made it really difficult on poor Brad. He was playing w/ a handicap, so don't be so harsh about Brad's poor performance last night. Absurd! It's hard to believe anything that comes out of that man's mouth.

Personally, I read Tony's quote as applying only to the single game, i.e., that the Cards wouldn't have succeeded last night without Reyes, but not as a comment on the team's chances for the season.

That said, I agree that Tony's comments likely are geared toward ginning up a trade partner. We've got about five pitchers too many, both starters and relievers, and we can't afford to DFA all of them. I see Springer, Franklin, Reyes, Villone (or Flores), and Clement leaving the team by some means or another.

Despite Reyes' success, I don't see how he stays on the team through June, much less after Carp comes back.

I disagree wholeheartedly with your LaRussa comments. Everything I've read regarding LaRussa has been either positive for Reyes or if negative, defending something Duncan has said. Tony and Dunc don't agree on everything but he will always publicly back Duncan.

That being said, he constantly talks about "Reyes toughness getting through last season", and you could tell how proud LaRussa was of Reyes after he took him out the last inning (when the FSN cameras panned to him going over to talk to Reyes twice). He came over and looked like he was giving him effusive praise.

While Reyes may still be far into Duncan's doghouse, he left LaRussa's a long time ago. I actually think LaRussa likes him (thus he's been putting him in bigger situations). I also think the relief role might be the best thing for Reyes. At least in the short term. (It definitely helped Wainwright).

Thompson. I think we'll have a better idea tomorrow. I don't think Looper gets bumped first, unless he just stinks it up tonight.

will have to have a lot of really bad performances to get moved from the rotation. There seems to be a lot of sentiment here for that to happen but is he appreciably worse than Thompson or Wellemeyer? No and even if it should happen, it won't unless he pitches poorly for an extended period of time.

But we'll see. I agree that Looper would make a great 8th inning man. They could just as easy decided to let the rotation go through again.

As I mentioned in my comment yesterday, I think Thompson goes to the pen first, then Welle when Mulder returns, and Loop goes only when Carp comes back.

this comment:

we pretend to know what's going on in the clubhouse when we actually have no idea.

however, boiling Duncan down to this:

an old grump who, for some reason, doesn't like Reyes.

is short-sighted.
obviously, there are some issues between the two. It's likely a personality conflict or just stubbornness on both sides. who knows what the specifics are? There seems to be an eager forgiveness of Anthony's ineffective play and rush to chastise Duncan.
When it comes to distributing blame, i'd prefer to be a little more even-handed.

Get some different players?

Mandatory 'B12' shots?

Suits of robotic armour?

Maybe some sort of deal could be struck with the Castle Greyskull folks.

Honestly, that's my real concern. There are just too many automatic outs at the bottom of this lineup. So far, it hasn't been a problem, but I really do worry about just that subject.

has not, you're absolutely right. They're still a nightmare. However, I do think he's doing a much better job of incorporating his legs into his delivery, allowing him to generate more power. Will it help him long term, with that much of an Inv. W? Probably not. But for now, he's generating much more oomph on the ball, and I feel that it has everything to do with his much more aggressive, (at least to my eye) leg drive.

His arm action hasn't changed. But Baron is right...He's been a lot more physical with his lower half, which should take some (not all, some) pressure off his arm. Arm action is just one part of pitching mechanics.

may need to tread a little lightly in the batter's box today, but if that's all they've really got to talk about, it must be an awfully slow news day. It was a little cheap, but not over the top ridiculous what the hell was he doing cheap.

Let's put it this way: It wasn't Shelley Duncan cheap.

hitting someone in the ribs with a baseball to get them off the plate was chided by the community, but Pujols taking out an unsuspecting player not standing in his way with a pretty savage slide is kosher. Pete Rose-style of play is praised but Bob Gibson-style of pitching is antiquated.

I'm not trying to start a holy war, I just found it interesting the two different opinions on 'hard baseball'.

Pujols slide was unnessecary and increased the chance of injury for himself, towles and as some would say, the other hitters. The Houston broadcasters probably said it best last night, "I guess towles should just be thankful Pujols decided to slide, maybe?" It was an awkward play. Maybe Pujols felt Tejada's slide on LaRue earlier was dirty (wasn't even close to being) or something but it seemed he took out Towles with a vengeance.

Duncan (?) was giving him the down signal like there was going to be a play at the plate. I think he just went at him to make the catch hard if not impossible

Larry B: Thanks for your time Joe. Do you think Alberts slide into home was a dirty play last night? Seems to me that one of the announcers thought it was uncalled for, which to me translates to "dirty play". Your thoughts please.

Joe Strauss: There's been much buzz on-line about it but I honestly haven't discussed it with the manager or the player. Carlos Lee made a hard, clean slide into Jason LaRue in Tuesday's third inning. Contact sent LaRue onto his back. Pujols went hard into J.R. Towles five innings later. Towles appeared to wait for the ball in the baseline. Local TV showed a replay five times. No one I've spoken to (media types) considered it dirty. The catcher has to give the player something to slide at. There was no buzz in the Astros clubhouse after the game, according to those working it.

Particularly on one strike to Berkman. LaRue was set up low and away, and the pitch ended up high and outside. Berkman missed it, but if he would have caught up to it, it would have been hit a country mile. Or 300 feet down the left-field line. Either way its a HR in Minute Maid. It is important for a pitcher to hit his spots, but I guess if A.Ray can keep missing bats, then its a moot point. The problem is that we've all seen what happens when he can't do either . . . a 2-14 record, 5 runs by the second inning, blah blah blah.

Like you, I'm rooting like hell for the guy, but he scares me.

Reyes is a good talent. Its obvious he has the tools to be a great pitcher. But maybe this is the role that he can excel the most at. If he can pitch like this out of the bullpen for the rest of his career then leave him there. Put him in a position where he can succeed.

I think that its all mental with Reyes. When he has 4 days to prepare for and think about a start he over thinks it and screws it up. But in the bullpen he doesn't have time to psych himself out. Just go out there and throw some nasty stuff Anthony.

Keep him where he is. We already are going to have like 9 starters anyway.

this just show a ridiculous amount of stubbornness and immaturity on Duncan's part. How hard is it to say "Yeah, he did a good job." That's not overly praising him or anything. It's not "giving in" to him. Just acknowledge the fact that he was responsible for the win, please!

as long as LaRussa is.

And Pujols is here as long as LaRussa is, unless we lock him up longterm before Tony leaves.

Erstad was a punter. The only hurt he inflicted was on the pigskin.

Shelley was out by about 15 feet at 2nd base, as in he probably should've just slowed down and get tagged at the chest out by 15 feet, but instead he slid waaaay past the base trying to take out Iwamura spikes about thigh high. It was an outrageous play.

Duncan is the one with the problem ... or it boils down to this ... Tony is the only one that got Mo's message a couple of weeks ago: shut up the negative remarks about Anthony ... Tony is ok ... he just wants results ... he's getting them now and is talking about and using Reyes much better ... however ... Duncan is clueless ... if the end game is to trade Anthony, making public comments to the media about 'no movement on his pitches' does not help ... he needs to shut up and listen Mo ...

LaRussa and Duncan are infallible. The organization on succeeds because of them and fails by pure happenstance.

Nobody here (or at least nobody making a good argument) is saying that La Russa is stupid. Nobody is forgetting his record.

It's natural and healthy in any situation where one person is in charge to question the decisions of that authority figure. Are we as fans ever going to know every facet of the sport that La Russa allows to influence his decisions? No. But, there are also times when a manager makes a move that doesn't make sense on any obvious level. When the manager doesn't come forth to explain that decision, how is it unfair for fans to speculate on whether the decision is sound or not.

I don't think we're making personal attacks against La Russa. We're all just wishing he would do what we fans feel is best for the team, realizing the whole time that we don't know everything.

Re: "Who would you replace either with?" I'd take Manny Acta over La Russa right now. Tony's been great for us, but I feel Acta's managing focus is more along the lines of what this team needs right now.

go elsewhere. People are entitled to question the decisions made. Yes they both have great credentials. No that doesn't mean there aren't questionable decisions.

The haughty condescension in that comment was really unnecessary.

One of the biggest flaws in human logic.

I don't think anyone says that TLR is the worst manager (I'm looking at you Dusty) but what we are saying is that he is less than optimal.

I'm sorry but no amount of genious can explain Aaron Miles or Jimenez. Now there are pages of differences of opinion...and some of them have no correct answer...but don't think for a minute that TLR makes the correct choice every time. He doesn't (nor does he always make the wrong choice everytime...that's just plain dumb)

I thought brad Thompson threw four or five fast balls that had to be around 90 and had very good movement on them. Why doesn't spot use them more...Attention Dave Duncan

1.) Quicker paced game
2.) Longer outings for the starting pitcher
3.) Lower pitching counts.

Which two are the bad two?

the link didnt work.

Can someone let me know how to make little links so they arent 4 million characters long?

Thanks

is here

i think protection in front is actually more important. if the #1 or #2 hitters get one then the chances that they walk pujols decline i would think. even with glaus in a slump you still don't want to put a man in scoring position let alone 2. glaus will come around and if you are the opposing manager you don't want him to start coming around after you have loaded the bases.

if this is a joke....okay got it...if not and you are Really asking this question...take it from me?...you are in for a long afternoon.....

I think this should be the running joke for the season.

Thanks for bringing it up again, but someone brings it up almost daily. There is also a fanpost about it too.

You just made my day.

Duncan is not a polished PR savvy guy. He speaks his mind. I'd trade one quote like his that shows an honest opinion -- even if it's an opinion I disagree with -- for a hundred press releases that have been through the PR wringer so many times that only nice, generic, positive things come out.

And we don't know what else he said, other than that characterization and the one sentence that got quoted out of what might have been a 5 minute press conference. I think it's a bit unfair to criticize him to the extent he is being criticized here when we don't even really know exactly what the poor guy said.

" Torre smiles as he recalls the times after he joined the Cards in '69 that Gibson would be involved in a taut pitcher's duel and, while the Cardinals were hitting (or trying to), Gibson would rage at them in the dugout, yelling "I'm sick of you a--holes" and storm away, into the clubhouse. "

I would've loved to see ARey do that during his 1 hitter against the White Sox

This is news to me! Get on it, Mo!

what is the status on Rodriguez becoming a Rule V guy? He's been in the minors since 2003.

Thou shall not make trades with Angels. Evil empire according to some members on this board.

Others may add other commandments at their discretion (be nice and be real)

I am not disagreeing that there might be some evidence that Dunc might have hindered AR's development. I think they both want the same result (sucessful pitching) but perhaps with different philosophies. It's not an either or thing, is it? Maybe I am not necessarily asking this question to you, as much as to some who think that they both can't survive together. I don't think AR doing well will make Dunc look bad at all.

I am with you in terms of Dunc's track record - he is well respected coach. I just hope they both stay and do well.

It's why I think the first couple months of the season might be my favorite part. You never know what kind of wierd stuff you'll see.

Be in against the right hander?

Miles at SS?

<blurg>

That was the sound of me throwing up in my mouth a little. Although after his spectacular web gem behind 2nd the other day, I guess I should cut him some slack. However, he is clearly NOT a SS...

Other than that, the lineup looks fine to me. Let's hope Skip can get on base today.

with a "surreal play" called "Waiting for Boog"? If one wishes to give Iz2ris a day off, one must play Miles at short... at least, until Brendan "Boog" Ryan returns from the DL.

Barton will get his shots against LHP; I tend to agree with TLR's apparent decision not to have an outfield with both Barton and Duncan in it...

Miles at short. Craptastic.

truer words were never spoken.

you got to be freaking kidding me.

heal quickly Boog.

Best answer yet.

and she's long passed.

It just happened and Goold just posted it.

He thought it might be in retaliation for an incident in Monday's game, though I can't recall the particulars. Anyone remember?