of course I don’t like the idea of Carp pitching at all for the rest of the season. I would rather his arm get rested until spring. He is way too valuable in both terms of ability and cost to this team in the future. Why take the chance? Perez should be the man at the back for the rest of the season. Yet another reason I do not think LaRussa is the manager he used to be.

i’m thinking that Tony’s having some fun with the media. even he said that Carp would likely not be available more than once per series, and maybe not even that often. i think he’s, once again, trying to protect Perez by keeping the “Closer” title off of him. i think he’s also trying to fire Perez up and motivate him to “win” the job, rather than just handing it to him by default because of the failures of others. he did the same thing with Waino in ‘06 until he was literally left with no other option but to officially declare Waino the closer. TLR’s public statements regarding Perez have been universally positive, so i don’t think there’s another Reyes-type situation here.

i think he’s also trying to show Carp some respect. Carp has to feel horribly about this season, and this way TLR gives him a role of honor and respect on the team without really altering the dynamics of the club. and let’s be honest: does anyone on this board want Carp coming out of the pen in the 6th inning of some meaningless game? it was sad enough seeing Izzy reduced to that.

personally, i’d rather Carp was just shut down for the year, but he obviously wants to play if he can. i’d also rather TLR stopped trying to protect or spur emotions by manipulating the press. but that’s his style and he isn’t gonna change. in any event, i don’t think this reflects terribly on Perez or his future with the team.

but I’m at a bit of a loss for words here. Of course the quote doesn’t exactly say he’d be giving Carp the job specifically (and the headline is slightly misleading) but it does pretty much say that he’d prefer to use Carp.

I advocated for Carp in the pen all year, but by no means did I want him closing. I really don’t see the benefit in doing this.

But, as we’ve all known about LaRussa, we’ll have to wait and see. I think he might be panicking a little with the cubs series coming up. He doesn’t want to see any games blown when there is still a chance they could make the playoffs.

so Carp gets the middle game and CP gets the other two. Had to report something on an off day. Could be worse, TLR could be suggesting Jiminez instead.

Bottom line, the bullpen can’t blow any more games in 08. Starters are going seven and eight innings only to lose because the offense can’t score late and the bullpen can’t protect a one run lead.

Does anyone really think Perez is going to care if a Cy Young winner gets some saves? Isn’t this what a lot of people were clamoring for a couple weeks ago? It’s not like he’s being supplanted by Brad Thompson or Ryan Franklin. Heck, he’s not really being supplanted at all.

On a list of things to disagree with TLR about, this might be last.

1) Carp’s injuries, and
2) TLR, Duncan, et al. trying to pull of some crazy shit (i.e. – move Looper, then Welley into the rotation after being relievers, etc.)

does anyone else think that the Cards may be auditioning Carpenter as the next closer for the St. Louis Cardinals? I mean, this is a guy who, when pacing himself over the course of 5-9 innings per game has put up Cy Young statistics while with the team. Just think what he could do if he could just concentrate on throwing one inning of “fireman” work, instead.

I do not know how this will affect his durability. Maybe for Carpenter, throwing more often for shorter periods of time will be better for his arm. He has been a great starter (at times in his career) because he has great stuff. Maybe his arm cannot take the 32 starts at 6-8 innings a pop. Maybe he’d be a great reliever because of his great stuff and his mental makeup…and something dealing with how his body heals…

If so, I’d say that the back of the bullpen will shape up nicely with Carp, Perez, Motte, and Franklin (being used to close games in that order).

That creates another problem, though…what does the rotation look like for next year? Do you almost certainly have to go for two innings eaters (Lowe, Garland?) instead of a Lowe and a Burnett? Do you offer both Looper and Lohse arbitration?

I leave it up to you guys to discuss.

“Looking forward to eating gyro.”

in favor of Carp closing when he first came back, but since the “hiccup” with the shoulder I am a little nervous about it. The tiebreaker for me is that Al Hrabosky thinks it is a bad idea, so it must be the right thing to do.