My comments are strictly predicated on the 2008 season. I’m not saying the minor leaguers are no good. I’m saying they’re not ready to help in 2008. Izzy had seven blown saves by early May. That’s nearly three months before the trade deadline. They tried Franklin,but he just doesn’t have the repertoire to close. He had a career year last year, they weren’t going to get more out of him. They tried McClellen, but he was inconsistent, especially with the location of his slider. That’s to be expected with a rookie. He reminds me of a young Haren. Hopefully they hold on to him and he develops like Haren. They tried Perez. He has a plus fastball, but no second pitch of major league caliber as yet. The slider was inconsistent both in it’s break and especially in location. The one hit out in that epic loss in Pittsburgh was high and flat. Villone gives them what he can. Flores takes up a roster spot strictly because they gave him a two year deal they’re unwilling to eat (and they can’t get anyone else to take him). Springer has been their best reliever, but he’s 39 and is strictly situational. It was clear they needed help from outside the organization.
I didn’t expect them to get a star player. I was looking for an Ohman or Mahay or Rhodes to try to at least eliminate some of the chaos leading to the ninth. There have been quite a few games in which they’ve given up runs in the 6th, 7th, and 8th leading to a loss in the 9th. I don’t know where to go to get the stat, but many of the blown saves they’ve been charged with have come in earlier innings.
I always thought a part of the build from within philosophy was to use your surplus talent to get what you needed in the present. Yadi is signed long-term. Does anyone see Anderson replacing him? Wouldn’t a package that included Anderson get one of the above? And if the rumor were true that the Rockies wanted him for Fuentes, wouldn’t that have helped this year? Is a backup catcher for 2009-2011 more important than a playoff run in 2008?
As far as Luhnow goes, my play on his name was a “my bad” cheap shot. But the basic question is valid. When do we get a read on his ability? Is there a certain percentage of drafted players who reach the majors that is “average?” I’m just afraid that he is so powerful in the organization and so protective of his draftees that he vetoes any trades involving prospects.

I just wanted to know who you thought the team could have signed to play SS or 2B in the offseason last year, because there weren’t any good players out there. That’s why we ended up with Izturis—he’s a vastly superior defensive player to Eckstein, even with all his problems with the bat. He’s been part of the reason, along with a healthy third baseman in Glaus (a present surprise) and a good defensive player in Schumaker, that the Cardinals are ranked near the top of all the team defensive metrics this season. It’s also why our pitching staff has shown improvement.

If you’re going to excoriate the club for not spending money, at least go back and look at the free agents that were available last offseason. It’s easy to just say, “Hey, lets go get someone!”, but in practice you can’t just throw money at the problem because you end up with worse issues, like signing Mark Mulder to a 2 year contract for $13 million when he hasn’t pitched effectively in 6 months. That contract cost the Cardinals $13 million over the last two years and they got absolutely nothing in return.

I think Mo has done a great job spending money so far and since the club has a bunch of money coming off the books for 2009, when there is a decent free agent class. He hasn’t signed any damaging long term deals, but was able to lock up Wainwright and Molina for the better part of their prime with club and player friendly contracts.

There are plenty of links to research information on the front page of this board, including Cot’s Contracts and baseball-reference, which are great tools to use when trying to answer the questions you posed. I’m sorry if you took this the wrong way, but your post just looks emotional when you don’t address the needs that you describe with players that we could have picked up. There are tons of people on this board that post emotionally instead of looking at what all the options were at the time. Blanket statements like “Spend some money!” or “Trade for someone!” don’t solve the problems at hand.