The Best Defense

is one of the great albums of all time. Damn you, RB!

On the offense, I fear there’s going to be a big difference between how we handle RHPs and how we handle southpaws. Greene in the 4 spot is a bad omen. Mather in the minors is a bad omen. I hope I’m wrong — that the distinct difference between the 2 games isn’t really a harbinger of things to come.

As for the haikus
They’re great to read, keep it up
True Cards fans approve

nor Duncan, frankly (assuming that Dunc is gone because he’s been traded for something valuable, like a middle infield prospect or pitching). But if we’re moving only one, I vote for Ank. Three reasons: 1) Dunc is still in the inexpensive part of his career while Ank is about to get expensive; 2) Ank has a special place in TLR’s heart that, I fear, will prevent Tony from ever seeing him or using him in a rational way, e.g., putting him into RF already and giving CF permanently to Raz; and 3) I think Ank is always a heartbeat away from a season-ending injury. (To be fair, I have no illusions about Dunc’s ability to stay healthy either.)

is worth more to other teams and would garner a larger return. Of course, if Duncan keeps mashing, he might be worth almost as much, especially to an AL team.

Hmm…

I’d move Ankiel. I like both guys, but Ankiel brings home the most and Duncan is still cheap.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but Ankiel is a FA after this season and Duncan isn’t, correct? Even if Duncan isn’t the power hitter he was from June 2006 to June 2007, he gets on base more often than Ankiel. He’s probably a more valuable player than Ankiel is, even though I love Rick (I almost said I love Dick right there, but that would have come out the wrong way).

i’d then sign rick to a contract for life, however much money he wants…i mean seriously, he used to be a pitcher and now he’s a hitter…why would we not want him on our team

i keed i keed….trade ank…sorry tony

Now, I freely admit that other parts of the order may be a little more shaky. We’re all a little unsure as to what Freese is going to give us…

I was incredibly pleased with David Freese’s pinch-hit AB last night where he drew a walk. In his first ever AB, Freese took a called strike, a ball, then fouled off an low and inside pitch, laid off a ball down, and then weakly grounded a changeup to SS. In his second AB, he swung at the first three pitches he saw in his first AB, took a ball, then popped out to RF, a poorly struck ball by a defensive swing that scored a run only by the grace of God giving Joe Thurston wheels. Last night, he just looked much calmer and more locked in, laying off bad pitches and drawing a base-on-balls.

FanGraphs doesn’t have his AAA numbers. What type of a walk rate did he have last season?

Mainly for monetary reasons. Ankiel is one of my all-time favorite Cardinals, but in a business sense, it is better to trade him. For one, I think he has more value on the trade market. And two, I don’t think there’s any chance in hell that we sign him in the offseason. (e.g. Boras likes to make money)

But I think Duncan would do better away from his daddy than Ankiel would away from his (figurative). I mean— we broke him, we bought him.

(My metaphors are brutal today. I can’t think of anything else.)

I agree that La Russa and fan sentiment make this a tough move, but I can’t get over all the question marks with Rick. His arm is only slightly less frightening in the outfield than it was on the mound. We know it has a great throw in it, but there is also the distinct possibility of disaster. My stomach churns in a unique way every time he come up firing… in hindsight it certainly makes watching the game more dramatic, but it isn’t good for the team. I haven’t been so impressed with his glove that I’m willing to ignore the mis-throws. Overall I think he’s something of a wild card as a defender. Sometimes great, sometimes bad, ultimately average. He’s hacktastic at the plate and while the numbers are certainly intriguing, I’ve never gotten to the point where I’m glad to see him come up with 2 outs and runners on. And of course there’s the injury risk. Throw in the fact that Duncan is cheaper and we have a fair supply of + defending outfielders and I have to vote for moving Ankiel.

I swear I got Schlaflys at games last year. I think the bar right behind homeplate and the Casino Queen PP bar sold them.

I have the same reaction to Duncan. It pains me to watch him, but I can put up with him due to his plate discipline and power.

To be honest about your question, I’d probably look at opportunities to move both of them. You have Jon Jay, Joe Mather, Brian Barton, and even Skip Schumaker available to step in and play outfield. If a team was offering something worthwhile in return, I would move both of them.

Assuming we aren’t going to be able to afford him next year.

And idealy, Duncan doesn’t start, at least not full time, in the OF next year. Rasmus and Ludwick do, and somebody else, with Duncan getting 4th OF starts, being the power bat off the bench, and backing up 1B.

I was thinking last night about an outfield of Duncan, Rasmus, Ludwick for some years to come. And I am higher on Duncan than some I guess. He appears to be back at the plate, and to me, though he looks odd at times, he actually does fine in left field. There just isn’t a place for Mr. Ankiel. Trade him for something, whether we can afford him or not, we just don’t need to afford him.

As for the haikus, do what you want, it’s your personality. Seriously, who could possibly be bothered by creative outflow? Also, that kind of thought hopefully detracts some lesser intelect from the board.

haikus
Schlafly beer
Aaron’s interviews at RFT
Alex Eisenberg on Motte (the Hoople)
trading (sob) Ankiel

Duke is a lefty. Doubt TLR will put Schumaker up there. Maybe Rasmus. Righties on the team right now:

Ryan
Molina
Pujols
Ludwick
Greene
Freese
Barden
LaRue

Sigh. I think we’re going to see BR lead off again tonight.

It’s true Boras likes to get the best for his clients, but sometimes his players tell him to butt out because they want to be someplace in particular. (see Loshe, Kyle). I could see Ank maybe giving an un-Boras-like larger discount to stay with the Cards.

However, with that said, I still think that between Ank and Dunc, we trade Ank for the following reasons:
1) Dunc seems to get on base more often (personal observation… I tried to back it up at fangraphs, but his OBP was historically only a couple points higher in any given year).
2) We’ve still got Dunc on the cheap, whereas with Ank, it’s still alot more even with a discount.
3) We’ve got a cheap replacement player already on the bench who’s played CF for the bulk of his career.
3a) Said cheap replacement player might actually get to play CF.
4) Ank would bring more in a trade.
5) And most importantly – being in a new town/market it would allow Ank to not have to worry about the whole name change thing – he could be Dick right from the start!

it will depend on his numbers… if he doesn’t do that well, no one is really going to give us much for him. I’d trade Duncan since he’s not an outfielder and he is being played in the outfield here

"I’m not concerned about Skip Schumaker," Pujols said, "because we have one of the best coaches working with him. I can call him the best because I’ve seen guys that come through this organization with bad hands and leave here with Gold Glove hands. That’s what Jose Oquendo does for this ballclub."

Do you think berto is talking about himself and his defensive wanderings all over the diamond – obviously, among others?

ankiel is better
duncan cannot catch the ball
crabman for the win

baby dunc home run
papa was a rolling stone
why ankiel center field

VEB screwed up?
Why no FanPosts? WTF?
Or is it just me?

But he is cheaper and cost controlled for a longer time than Ank.

Pujols dominates
Cardinal haikus are great
Pennant celebrate

Blasphemy! I hope Ankiel retires a Cardinal.

Put aside his “Cardinal lore” and he’s still more valuable than Duncan. They both have power, you can’t expect either to hit for high average, both will strike out a lot, and both have struggled with injuries.

However, Ankiel gives you defense, speed, and arm strength over Duncan. I still say it’s a conflict of interests for Duncan to be on this team with his father coaching, but that’s a topic for another day.

Our outfield is staked! Trade Duncan.

Please trade Dick Ankiel
If it’s between him or Dunc
Rasmus is a star

We have Duncan under control to at least 2011 and Ankiel is gone after this year. Last year Ankiel didn’t even qualify as a Type B FA under Elias but it is not unthinkable he could finish as a Type A. Ludwick finished as a Type A with one great season.

So a trade of Ankiel would have to be worth more than a supplement pick and possibly a first round pick also. He has also much more value as a CFer than a corner OFer. It is a lot safer to offer arbitration to a CFer than a corner OFer due to scarcity.

I still have a strong feeling that Ankiel will be a Yankee next season. So would Ankiel for Phil Hughes seems to make a lot of sense. Cause we seem to be missing someone in our minor league system that has high enough upside to be a #2 or #1 starter.

If Ankiel is on a massive power ride which I expect due to a contract year the only way I would trade him would be for someone with high upside as a starter and no one else.

When I saw this ad, my initial thought was that it had to be fake. Surely they couldn’t be so totally oblivious to the more…um…prurient interpretations? But apparently it’s real.

need to get rip roaring drunk and listen to Exile on vinyl. I swear you’ll get it.

Under My Thumb? You Can’t Always Get What You Want?

C’mon, RB, these are classics!