My Idea For 2009

by Ibeatanorexia06 on Sep 30, 2008 1:47 PM EDT Comment 21 comments

With the Kyle Lohse signing I feel that is a good start to the offseason. Its a contract that really isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I have a few Ideas that may bring us a winner in 2009.

Here is how I would like the line-up to look come opening day.

C-Molina

1b-Albert

2b-Lopez or Ellis. I like Lopez and I think he responded well in St. Louis, after all, how many second basemen have re-energized their careers in St. Louis? Ellis would be a good option as well.

SS- Edgar Renteria- I think at around 6 or 7 mil a year he could be a very useful bat in the lineup, and could allow tony to bat ludwick or ankiel 2nd like he wishes. I think Edgar could also be a good option in the 9th spot with Tony's lineup style.

3b- Glaus

Lf- Ludwick or Schu- Ludwick had a great year, dont trade him. If Colby makes the team, Lopez can lead off and Schu is a great 4th OF.

Cf- Ankiel or Rasmus- If Colby makes the team, that would really answer line-up questions and make our team much better overall. Ank is a great CF too.

Rf- Ank or Ludwick

Bench

IF- Miles- Great back up player if the price is right

IF- Freese- Corner player, opens a spot for Wallace at AAA, good backup for Albert and Troy

OF- Dunc- Unfortunately he will be back.

OF- Mather/Schu/Barton-- depends on Rasmus. I like Barton's speed

C- Larue- did a good job this year, accepts the role.

Rotation

You cant count on Carp to come back, they did that this year and it ended up coming back to bite them. Heres how I see the rotation shaping out

1- Waino

2- Lohse

3- Welle

4-Pinero

5- Boggs/Todd/ Mortenson/ Thompson- I dont like the idea of Kmac to the rotation, I think he is valuable in the pen.

Bullpen

Kinney

Franklin- shares time in the 8th with kinney

Kmac

TJ- if healthy

Motte

Perez- Battles with Motte for closer

Lefty reliever- would prefer Fuentes but wont happen, Ohman may be a good solution.

* Izzy- if he will take a low base high incentive contract, may be able to bounce back for one more year.

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Comments

Big no on Izzy

I agree with what you are saying about how he COULD be good with a cheap contract, but I forsee TLR putting him right back into the fire as the closer even if he is ineffective. I don’t want to see the TESS ever again.

I also think KMac should at least get a shot at being in the rotation. Sure he is good in the bullpen, but so was Wainwright. I’m not saying he will be anywhere near as good, but he may be a 3-4 type starter. I am of the belief that the best pitchers should be starters, and I think KMac has deserves a chance.

Piñata - something children beat relentlessly with bats. Piñeiro - .858 OPS against. Some call it irony; I call it destiny.

by thegodfather on Sep 30, 2008 2:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed on Izzy

it would be best for the him, the team, and the fans if he continued his career elsewhere. I love Izzy, but the time has come for him to no longer don the BOB

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Sep 30, 2008 6:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

we won't have the time next year to see if Izzy is effective

I expect the central to be as tight as ever next season

go rays

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Oct 1, 2008 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Renteria

I think there is a good possibility he’ll be back. For some strange reason he excels in the NL and not the AL. And you also have the strong relationship between Renteria and LaRussa…who once called Renteria “beautiful”. If the price is right, I certainly wouldn’t mind the move, even though I think he may be past his peak as a player.

To me Duncan, Mather, and Freese -or-Wallace are all trade chips for the off-season.

by Matt Bug on Sep 30, 2008 2:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wallace

the Walrus can’t be traded until June of next year

The NL Central Blog.com

by dunc4life on Sep 30, 2008 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I just don't see it happening.....

I bet there are plenty of front office guys that still remember how Edgar left us the first time.

Besides, aside from a little HR power, he didn’t hit any better than Miles/AK/Lopez all year, and only marginally better than Izturis. He is 33 (at least), and IMO, is definitely on the downside of his career.

by SoonerfanTU on Sep 30, 2008 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't see it happening

and I don’t want it to happen. I want a true upgrade at SS. Renteria just has too many miles on him for my taste.

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Sep 30, 2008 6:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I am not a big fan of your plan.

Even though I think this is exactly what the roster will look like next season. This is a realistic plan, despite La Russa’s demand for an impact bat. I don’t like the signing of Renteria, because his range has become pretty bad, and one of the keys to our pitching staff being so effective this season was the strong infield defense behind them. Maybe sign Renteria to a 1 year incentive laden deal with a base of 5 mil. or so, but any more than that seems like to much.

I would much rather see Mo sign Furcal or Hudson. Both could be solid leadoff hitters, and both are very good defenders. Maybe Hudson for 3/28 or so, or Furcal for 3/34.

The NL Central Blog.com

by dunc4life on Sep 30, 2008 2:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Renteria and Lopez up the middle

… looks bad defensively but they are flanked by gold glovers on the corners (meaning we might be able to swallow it if the bats are a huge upgrade). Ideally, we’d want a better glove at SS with Lopez at 2B. Here is the deal though, if Carp isn’t coming back, it’s a waste of money to sign someone like Renteria on a short-term deal. You only bring in an aging vet for big bucks when you realistically think you have a shot. We have very little shot without Carp at the top of the rotation.

My suggestion would be just to stick Brendan Ryan there as a placeholder for the start of the season if Carp is not ready to go coming out of spring training. That gives you payroll flexibility to make an acquisition mid-season if Carp returns or the team looks much better than advertised. Tony will cry and moan like a child but it’s the smart play.

by jjray on Sep 30, 2008 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Brendan Ryan starting at SS

maybe not the worst idea in the world, but if they are gonna go young I would like for them to give it to Greene over Ryan. I know he has no ML experience, but his bat has to be better than Boog’s

* sarcasm might be involved in this comment

by mattyfrommo on Sep 30, 2008 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Comparing the two of them

based on their time in Springfield, I would say Greene would get the edge over Ryan. He definitely has more power, but he needs to work some on his feel for the strikezone. I still have NO doubt whatsoever that he would be a better hitter than Ryan at the ML level.

Ryan Howard: one of the most Statistically Outstanding players of all time

by RunninRedbird on Sep 30, 2008 6:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My Take

Rotation
1 Carpenter – McClellan if Carp can’t go
2 Loshe
3 Wainwright
4 Pineiro – (Garland/Lowe/Perez/Looper/McClellan)
5 Wellemeyer

Bullpen
6 (Biemel/Affeldt)
7 (Ohman/Marte)
8 Perez
9 Kinney
10 McClellan – Motte/Thompson if Mac is in the roatation
11 Franklin
12 1yr Closer TBD – (Isringhausen)

Infield
13 Pujols
14 (Hudson/Lopez)
15 (Izturis/Furcal/Cabrera/Renteria)
16 Glaus
17 Molina

Bench
18 LaRue
19 Miles
20 Ryan

Outfield
20 Schumaker
21 Ankiel
22 Ludwick

Bench
24 Mather
25 Duncan – if not healthy then Barton

by Knighttime on Sep 30, 2008 4:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'd rather see Barton and Mather

go rays

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Oct 1, 2008 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

just a little vague

i love how a good number of posters say "i have a definitive say against so&so… but the rebuttal to their definitive argument is a/b/c/d/e/f player

anyway… bring back springer, strongly look into jeremy affeldt, let lopez and miles do a platoon deal at short, trade a combo of ank & somebody else(boggs) for robby cano, let perez motte etc. duel it out for the closer role (who doesnt like a competition), and finally… put Kmac in the rotation to save up for when Yu Darvish comes on the market :)

by thenextgen on Sep 30, 2008 8:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I really think the Cards...

should make a push for Orlando Cabrera or Furcal, but if talks stall, re-sign izturis. I know he is far from anything special with the bat, but his glove is top notch. Good teams are always solid up the middle, and I think we need to have solid defense to help the pitching staff as much as possible, especially since Duncan preaches pitching to contact.

I believe in bringing Lopez back to play 2nd. A lot of people are probably negative on Lopez because of a couple of plays. One in particular being a ground ball that he held the ball too long waiting for Albert to get to the bag, and it resulted in a big inning for the Braves and cost the Cards the game. Lopez was new to the team and probably didn’t have a feel for how far Albert plays away from the bag at 1st. A play like that can turn a fan sour on a player without much of a chance to redeem himself, especially if he is new to the team.

by Jumsy on Sep 30, 2008 10:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

CABRERA!

We already had our experiment with our over-the-hill, poor-hitting, barely-average fielding, middle infielder with Izturis. Why would we want to do it all again next year with OC? I am all for Furcal at SS however, and I have always like Lopez at 2B, and we know TLR likes lopez also. We just have a log jam of average in the MI. I see no reason why Lopez shouldn’t be back.

by Viva Vina on Oct 3, 2008 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

2009 schedule

St. Louis only has one day off in the first five weeks, so we can probably expect some stretches during which we’ll be carrying thirteen pitchers.

I expect a lot of movement between AAA and MLB early on next year for guys like Mather, Barton, Duncan, Ryan, Motte, etc. to fill whatever the current need is for the series at hand.

It also seems to make it even less likely that Rasmus will make the club out of spring training unless Ankiel/Schumaker/Duncan are gone or hurt.

by adiueordie on Sep 30, 2008 11:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs