I saw him as a Chris Carpenter-esque career renaissance. I didn’t, however, see him becoming one of the most dominant pitchers in the game.

See? If we had just not traded for Mulder and then traded Rolen for Lee, our rotation would be:

Carpenter
Lee

Wainwright

Isn’t that a powerful 1-4?

There was, of course, no reason for the Rays to trade him to us…but I still get sad when I think of VEB’s trade-for-Ben-Zobrist campaign and then look at his 2009 line.

We also have a great record of wanting to sign players that ended up being terrible!

Give any fanbase a medium like VEB and they will name ALL of the buy low guys over any give offseason… and they’ll also ask for a bunch of overpriced under performers…

The front office can’t sign all the buy low the players we ask for unless they’re allowed an 80 man roster instead of a 40 man roster

Re-issue ! Re-package ! Re-package !
Re-evaluate the songs
Double-pack with a photograph
Extra Track (and a tacky badge)

. . .

Best of ! Most of !
Satiate the need
Slip them into different sleeves !
Buy both, and feel deceived

Also, big moves on the roster front: hoffpauir picked off waivers, thurston and scherer outrighted (call off the bear, gdm!), and brad thompson released.

short rest for pitchers is not a good idea… I think the Phils will have Pettitte’s number (are there really 4 t’s in that guy’s name?). 4-3 Phillies.

RB, you temper your depressive overcast with just enough rays of hope to keep it really interesting, I enjoy your style of writing very much. then again, it’s come to be expected around here, keep up the great work!

I’m listening to some Nels Cline Singers – Giant Pin right now, along with a bunch of other stuff (The Ballad of Devin Hoff is really really good). I really like his instrumental side and the goofy name of his instrumental band, he can really make a guitar sing.

I’m still on my sign a starter (Sheets?), Valverde, and Cameron thought process. good luck to us in finding the next Zobrist!

…that I didn’t read the toaster post the first time. Must have been a week I was busy with other stuff and wasn’t keeping up with my VEB reading.

And I love the idea of using “Chris Duncan” as a verb that means to hump something bizarre.

I’m pretty sure he’s never pitched on 3 days rest but it’s the last game of the season and I, personally, don’t know if I would be able to trust Hamels in that game. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Hamels pitched either. I can’t find anywhere that says if they’ve officially announced a pitcher for Game 7 yet, so sorry if they said for sure it would be Hamels and I just can’t find it.
And congratulations on two years Red Baron!

the rss feeds hit my greader much faster

your humility is only surpassed by our punctuality…
and spelling

The whole post is definitely worth a read, especially if you need to butch up on how the 40-man roster works.

Players who must be placed on the 40-man roster to avoid being eligible for the Rule 5 draft are those who are three or four years removed from signing their first pro contract. The date depends on if the player can out of college, out of high school or were undrafted free agents.

Some of the noteworthy players who the Cardinals must consider for the 40-man roster are:

Bryan Anderson, the Class AAA catcher, lefthanded-hitter and .300 batter.

Allen Craig, the organization’s newly-crowned Player of the Year.

Mark Hamilton, a first baseman who is learning the outfield in hopes of improving his stock and adding a position to what’s been a consistently productive power bat.

Jon Jay, the high-average outfielder who did well in 2008’s major-league spring training.

Daryl Jones, the 2008 Player of the Year, who is out in Arizona and is a highly regarded prospect.

Francisco Samuel, power-armed reliever who has one of the fastest fastballs in system.

Trey Hearne, control pitcher who had success in Class AA.

Mark McCormick, power-armed riddle who has had difficulty staying healthy, staying consistent.

Tyler Norrick, a lefty who moved to the bullpen and had 78 Ks in 59 ip for Class AA.

This is my roundabout way of asking who would make your 40-man roster if your were known on the interwebs as “Mo” and had “General Manager” on your St. Louis Cardinals, LLC business cards.

Like, you hope he mysteriously drops in from the helicopter in the 2nd inning of Game 7, with the bases loaded and proceeds to pitch 15 scoreless innings?

like I’ve said before he’s going to be overlooked because of a weak bat last year but he still hit .270 with a shattered testicle.

You have improved in one area of your writing, Shameless Self Promotion. And isn’t that the most important part really?
Punctuality and brevity………………..yeah well, that still needs some work.

I have to admit Life Lenses was one of my favourite posts by anyone on VEB. Of course the writers at El Vivi Birdos may be better but, alas, I have yet to find that site so this stuff will have to do. I thought I’d throw up a few of my favourites from RB’s past, in no particular order starting with

A Few of My Favourite Things- 2008— Joe Strauss, I mean come on, really Joe Strauss.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Mozeliak… — That Dr. Theodore E. “Red” Baron is a mighty fair educator.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Mozeliak, Part Deux—Dr. Reginald Ecthelion Dante “Red” Barontonoviel on the other hand is a long winded buffoon.

One More Day —For two reasons, one you start off with the line Quick post this morning; a bit short on time. and then proceed write a 400,000 word essay and second reason is it contains my favourite installment of Great Moments in Redbird Future History, (You need to bring that one back Red) PeyoteOs are GGGGRRRREAT.

Ken Funck at BP wrote an interesting article about postseason rotations with one of our new favorite players (and, just for JD, possible future closer) John Smoltz giving something of an endorsement (originally from a Verducci article).

The article is about tandem starters (or, as I like to say, piggybacking* the starters) such that you have two starters per game, and they pitch on three days’ rest.

Smoltz suggests that such a strategy is perfect against the Yankees since their lineup is so deep, and Funck has written before about hitters’ increased ability to hit the same pitchers each time through the order. Essentially, he concludes, the patient teams do hit better each time through, “though, ironically, the Yankees and Phillies are not prime examples.”

On the other hand, I was thinking that the Phillies are actually a prime example of the sort of team that should USE a SOMA strategy. They essentially have like 6 or 7 starting pitchers, so why not use them?

I’d arrange them like this:
Game 1: Lee/Myers
Game 2: Pedro/Happ
Game 3: Hamels/Blanton
Game 4: Lee/Myers
Game 5: Pedro/Happ
Game 6: Hamels/Blanton
Game 7: Lee/Myers

I’d let Lee go a little deeper into games, but keep him under 100 pitches until Game 7, and obviously if a guy is struggling you bridge the gaps with the rest of the pitchers (mostly Park, Madson, anyone who can get a lefty out, and realistically Lidge).

Thoughts?

*Note: I’m not sure if I thought of this name. It’s possible, if not likely, that I read it somewhere.

A year older with adulthood starring me squarely in the face makes it mean even more. When I reflect on a vivid childhood memory I can take myself right back to that point in time. I can feel the the wonderment; the exuberance; the fear and it all seems so real. And then I realize how much has happened since, most of it corrupting those innocent feelings in some way. It’s so strange that as a kid you always want to be older and then at some point you’d give anything for a do over at it all. Perhaps it’s just a phase of being in one’s late teens/early 20s. But then there’s this bit from Knocked Up:

Pete: I wish I liked anything as much as my kids like bubbles.
Ben Stone: That’s sad.
Pete: Totally sad. Their smiling faces just point out your inability to enjoy anything.

Basically Judd Apatow saying it only gets worse.

Anyway, rereading that post got my mind racing on such matters and I felt I needed to write it down.

Now RB I expect something even more gut-wrenchingly nostalgic this Christmas Eve. Don’t feel too much pressure.

new default icon (meaning, anyone without a user icon) being a red star with black background? it makes it look like Astros fans post here.

6 years/ 96 million

http://www.stltoday.com/discussions/sports/joe-strauss-live/LD110309932/all

Interesting, I don’t put much emphasis on this, as it seems more like a feeler offer than anything, probably to gauge the length of a deal that he would want.

Or did someone forget to tell me something?

Lame.

Goold posted an article on changes the Cards made rotating pitching coaches among the minors. The big one from a “name” point of view is Dennis Martinez moving from Palm Beach to Springfield.

He’s not going to be able to get by with 84 against this lineup.

100% concentrated awesomeness

I turned my TV on again just to check and see if Fox was working yet. It starts this Direct TV setup thing. It then proceeds to fill everything out by itself and then directs me to the new channel Fox is on, all by itself. My TV is going to take over the world.
Really I think we just changed something about our satellite provider so it had to go through all of that but it was weird.

I’d love to see a game 7

with an 85 mph FB?

He doesn’t have it. Pull him.

if you’re not going to use him? He got Rodriguez… still, it’s an elimination game.

Please go oppo and hit a really, really cheap flyball homerun

pk released, thurston and sherer outrighted and the hoff claimed by the jays?

and holliday offered 6/96?

Too bad neither Tim nor Joe know what it means.

so he could pitch the 4th… which was absolutely vital considering that the entire staff is at the ready in the pen.

last game for Matsui.

Good night.

it was a good season. shitty post season

At least I won’t have to see anymore celebrity Yankees fans for a while. Blech. I really like Kurt Russell, too.

What a depressing way to end the 2009 baseball year.

I’m sure we’ll see the Steinbrenners cry like this was something they spent worked hard to do.

Oh well…it’s hot stove time!!!

It sounds like a Very-Best-Of or Greatest-Hits type compilation. I usually hate hits compilation CDs; they completely ignore the context of original albums. However, reading good past articles again is quite different from listening to those crappy greatest hits CDs. I’ve enjoyed this compilation, thanks.

“Not with a Bang, but a Wimper” is just crushing. The post brought tears to my eyes. I’ve been following the Cards since 2000; if you guys allow me to say this, it was my team, too.

“God Bless Us, Every One” is another gem. Back then, I printed it and brought it to my English class!! (remember I’m Korean?) We, me and my English teacher, read it together and talked about the way western people celebrate Christmas. He liked your writing, too.

I think you have a real knack of blending your personal experience with baseball insight. Keep the great work, RB!

time to seek some solace in the works of blogger-philosopher red baron. By the way, rb, that christmas entry is one of my favorite posts ever on this site

Where is our resident Yankee fan anyway? Havent seen or heard from gdm for a couple of days. Is he on a self imposed ban for a few days? Did Dan make it back and give him the soft boot? I hope that the bacon lung hasn’t overcome him to the point that he cant make it down the stairs into the basement.

I just love all these announcers and Yankee players acting like 2000 was such a LOOOOOOOOOONG time ago. Oh it was such a Long drought. Oh the humanity!! Oh my God generations have gone by since the last Yankee championship….You really have to feel sorry for them…it’s been a LONG 9 years.

But the Wave has gotten worst.

I think the Cards could have done the three man rotation thing if they would have had the Yanks sched, but, alas, they did not win 103 games and get to pick their playoff format.

The also did use just three starters, so the jokes on me.