I was adamantly opposed to the Bonds suggests earlier in the season. Now, it seems like a great idea, especially since he’s cheap. We got Lohse for a good deal, why not continue looking for good deals in the bargain bin?

My understanding, which could be wrong, was that he was going to start. As far as facing lefties as a reliever, there’s some debate as to his effectiveness against them. Setting that aside, if they are going to have Thompson start (whose in the same class as Reyes and Parisi at this point), than why call up Garcia? Is he demonstably better than Worrell or Motte. I’d say no. McClellan has the repertoire to retire lefties so the need for an actual left handed LOOGY seems superfluous to me. Garcia being called up for 2-3 innings a week seems particularly pointless when he needs to work on his secondary pitches and pitch sequencing (which is also far from ready for the majors).

Garcia has the tools to be that but is not going that good right now. Since he is definitely in the club’s plans, bring he up, let Duncan, Mason look at him,see what they think can put him on track. If they can correct something in short fashion so he can be helpful now…fine, you don’t have to be giving up prospects to get the lefty you need. If more work is needed send him back down with more instruction, dedication..get him ready for August, September. I don’t see anything wrong with bringing up Garcia, makes sense to me.

I also think that that Reyes is not entirely out of Cardinals plans, their thinking could be that at some point this year, they know that they are going to have to go to him, but in meantime just let him stay at Memphis, gain strength by pitching only 4,5 innings every 5th day till it is sure they need him for the stretch. The Cards still might trade Reyes but they are not going to give him away. If they really wanted to get rid of Reyes, they could have gotten a fair return for him by now. I don’t think the Cards really want to trade Reyes, unless he can tip the scales in a major trade down the road sometime.

that’s awfully dramatic for a strained groin. not to mention that’s almost certainly retroactive to the last 4 days since he hasn’t been playing.

I’m with you, ubeddie. I’m surprised Garcia wasn’t called up sooner, with the left side of the pen struggling. Breaking-in young pitchers out of the pen is often very effective (Chad Billingsly, Wainwright, et al.). Keeping Garcia in the pen and available for spot starts seems like a great move for a contending ballclub. Yes, he’s coming up to start now, but I have to believe that a bullpen/spot starter role is what awaits him.

I also disagree with the argument that, because he may not give us much more than Boggs, Parisi, etc., it’s not worth giving him a shot. Garcia is a higher-ceiling talent and hasn’t been rushed through the system. I’d much rather roll him out and see what he can do than flail for a trade to match the Cubs/Brewers.

albert, since coming off the DL:

.353/.433/.529

sure, his slugging and his .962 OPS are below typical pujols territory, but… come on!

(BA and OBP over those 14 games are both higher than his career average)

may be the plan. Calling AReyes up yesterday would have put him “on the shelf” for 10 days until he was asked to start. Leaving him at Memphis allows him to get in two more starts and stretch out his arm. His two starts since coming off the DL have been very short pitch count limited outings. (2Jul – 47P-27S, 7Jul 66P-40S). Count me in the vast minority that we’ll see AReyes as the fifth starter until Wagonmaker returns.

FWIW, the Phillies sent Wednesdays winner Happ down to their AAA system to keep him sharp. They don’t need a fifth starter until the 22nd.

To me Rasmus and Garcia are two sides of the same coin - big-league talents who need more time at AAA and are probably not ready to provide the big club the kind of lift that Azruavatar is seeking. And Rasmus is almost the definition of a streaky hitter - again, not sure that he would provide the kind of consistency Az thinks the offense needs. If I had my druthers I’d keep them both at Memphis until the roster expands in Sept.

worry about the indictment later…we won’t need him after this year anyway…his knees aren’t what they used to be, but we have Skip to play late inning defense…Bonds might be just the bone to throw to TLR without giving up young players, but making a run at winning…the league is weak this year…as we have seen in 2006, if you get into the playoffs, anything can happen.

Never in my life did I EVER think that I’d want Barry Bonds on my team, but I’m all for it. He’s cheap, and we wouldn’t have to trade anyone…meaning, we could still trade for a reliever or something. Can you imagine being able to use him as a pinch hitter?!

he doesnt get to wear 25 if he comes to play. some other number, not 25.

I wrote this on the fanpost and decided to repeat it here.
We should try to sign Bonds to a minor league deal. That would give us a couple weeks to evaluate whether or not he is still capable of hitting and getting on base well, and it would give the team a chance to gauge the public response to him as a cardinal. We could give him a 3-4 week window where we either have to put him on the active roster or release him (like weaver with the brewers). We know he doesn’t always play the full 9, so Skip could always be a late replacement, and Skip would still get to start 1 out of every 3 games since bonds doesn’t play every day (Plus, he would be a nice DH if we make the World Series…).

/end pitch to be his agent

I am not exactly a proponent of getting Holliday, but if the team does, they could probably swap one of our other OFs/prospects for a decent MIF. Maybe, maybe not, I am just saying that acquiring MH does not preclude the Cards from acquiring a MIF also.

They had to kick the tires on their investments, as well as try and meet the need of the ballclub – namely, putting the best players on the field to win.

Mulder was pitching 92mph and had 100+ wins in his major league career. He’d gone through rehab, he’d done everything he could – and he maintained an excellent attitude through a process that may have crushed a lesser man. Look – I’m not a Mulder apologist, and I think that signing him to an extension was a joke. But hey – they had to see what was there.

As far as Edmonds, that wasn’t a potential career ender, and the options weren’t there. Izzy was put on the shelf – after he admitted being hurt, and trying to play through pain. He came back, and physically has been able to perform (we think).

Rolen is another one – a competitor and a team player. He was hurt, he tried to play with it, and he came back – albeit a lesser player, but still a solid 3B.

You also left out Molina. He could have played after his concussion this season, but they held him out because the risk was too great.

I do not think we have a bad approach to players coming back from injuries – at millions of dollars a year, we need to get these assets in the field as soon as possible. Remember, to us – it’s a game. To management, it’s a business.

I do have a problem with how we diagnose injuries. It seems as though we do not do the due diligence prior to surgery/rehab or when the injury occurs. And I’ve been saying that for a long time. If a million dollar asset is broken, you figure out what is wrong with it correctly the first time – and then fix it correctly, the first time. We don’t do that as a general rule.

get in the way of him fielding anything not hit into his glove. He’s an atrocious defender.

Wonderbrad is serviceable. Another bat keeps him in the game and gives us a better chance to win.

He’s not great – but he fills the need.

your definition of “going for it,” and if you have to go for it every year, why do you put in the qualifier “for a reasonable price”? You’ve put your finger right on the dilemma. Sometimes the price can be so unreasonable that not going for it is the only response. I think you’re trying to make this dilemma sound simpler than it really is.

as is under contract through 2010. I doubt they’d be willing to give him up (even at 15 mil per season) for anything outside of the entire Red Sox minor league system.

Keith Law of ESPN was on Jeff Gordon’s radio show earlier this afternoon. Law said that the Blue Jays might be tempted to trade Burnett, but for the Cardinals to be able to pry him away, Toronto wold probably require no less than Jaime Garcia dn Chris Perez. Burnett has an option for 2009 in which he can opt out of the contract and become a free agent after this season. If the Blue Jays would be willing to deal Roy Halliday for Chris Perez and Garcia, I’d be tempted . But I wouldn’t deal those two young pitchers for the potential rental of the underachieving Burnett.

He wouldn’t be bogus at short!

Considering that he was older than Morris, and more reliant upon that curveball. December 2nd would have been his 40th birthday. Sad to think that the guy should be moving on with his life now.

in for Kile because of age.

He struck out the first batter he faced, injured himself on the strike 3 pitch.

I do have trouble believing that anyone would pick him up off of waivers, though.