at long last, the hot stove

especially in recent years. odds are we’ll have the typical cardinals offseason, waiting until january and february to get everyone else’s scrubs. that’s one of the things i don’t like about mo… he doesn’t get deals done when they’re necessary. i would love to see westy back and us get a run at some middle infielders, but my gut tells me that none of it will happen.

montages

or, young catcher leaps at bearded guy many times.

Harry Caray statue base broken.

Also:

This is the one part of the statue I dislike. It looks like the six people that Harry wrongly sent to hell — and hell lies somewhere between the press box and Harry’s pants.

That is all.

I AM DISENCHANTED WITH THIS STATE

but they play in the background… and although I know what scene it is
when the TV says “All right, strip!”
I automatically check that it’s the movie I think it is.

up in herr

But I don’t see this team improving much over the offseason. Our best bet is for existing pieces to play above their offensive averages (Craig, Jay, Ryan, Molina) and for Carpenter & Garcia to repeat their 2010 performances in 2011, which is unlikely. Is Lohse going to really pitch any better and/or stay healthy? Is Freese going to stay healthy?

On the plus side, I don’t think the team can be much more inconsistent then they were in 2010, so either we go down hard or we win the division

The Marlins are looking for relief pitching, so throw them one of either Boggs or K-Mac; Reifer, Sanchez, or Mulligan; Cruz, Anderson, or Hill; and maybe Kelly. Give them Jones too if they want him (jk).
Uggla is a realistic MI upgrade (offensively) that the Cards actually have the pieces to deal for (without having to give up Miller… hopefully). You let him walk after next season and take the draft picks, as he’ll probably stay a Type A FA.

So let me just start by saying I want Rasmus to stay but…

Marlins look like they may have an opening in CF(although I don’t know their depth chart)

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/11/padres-marlins-discussing-cameron-maybin.html

We get Ugla and something else good they get Rasmus?

Then I cry… :(

or the Nats might change their mind
that way we can pick him up in July after they release him and will only have to deal with him half a season instead of the entire time

so let’s start talking up Aaron Miles!!!
- he’s got major grit
- he’s very handsome when you close your eyes and think of Brad Pitt
- he can surprise any infielder with a targeted bloop single that drops right behind him but shallow enough that the outfielder behind him can’t get it
- he might get your leadoff runner thrown out but he will get himself on first so even steven
- i’ve seen him hit a double once
- he’s a clubhouse … um.. presence
- he can sometimes make good plays at second if he has a good SS and a good 1B and a hitter with molinaesque running skills
- he can quickly disguise himself as a garden gnome so the hitter thinks there’s no one playing there and will hit right at him
- he’s a proven veteran ™
- he’ll play 1B, 2B, 3B, SS or pitch if needed
- he’s a born closer
- he’s got an awesome AVG and even more awesome ERA

so dear Nats, sigh Aaron Miles!!!
(i hope TLR is not reading this or we might sign him instead)

I’ve spoken to Brendan 100 times and he is one kid who actually loves the cardinals and loves and respects TLR. [..] [H]e really wants to be in St. Louis, no matter what anyones says to him or how much they may tell him he is not a big leaguer, he still wants to be a Cardinal. [..] loves and respects TLR. Its definitely a one sided love affair it seems. He’s learning a life lesson the hard way, sometimes no matter how hard you try to please somebody, they always see you as second rate.

So the younger guys spend all their waking moments on the field worrying about not making mistakes and that only makes them make more. Colby has gotten worse these last two years. He was the most instinctive player I have ever had play for me in high school. [..] Now he looks lost most of the time. Brendan has looked the same, Greene as well. Jay started having his fill there at the end. Case in point, Colby was made to play much more shallow this past year by TLR and his defense slipped according to all accounts. 2009 Colby played where he thought he should have played. [..] Tony coming out and saying one day that he positioned Jay too shallow….not once did he say that about Colby. :) Yet he positioned the OF.

If Tony doesn’t like you then Albert doesn’t like you so then you have more to put up with than you can imagine.

Colby actually just found a new home in the St. Louis area, complete with a basement big enough for a full batting cage. He just put money down and has, I believe, had someone sign a contract to purchase his old home. Colby has actually scheduled some hitting sessions with Mark McGwire for this month as he knows he needs to be the hitter that Mark and TLR want him to be.

He actually wants to be in St. Louis and actually is excited to get after it this year in hopes that the team can win enough games so that TLR can retire a year earlier than he presently had planned. :) Trying to help TLR reach the Hall of Fame a year sooner than some would expect.

I actually believe Colby is in Illinois right now on a hunting trip with Mark McGwire. [..] I believe Pheasants are on the menu this weekend.

[I coach] a team, here in God’s country, Alabama. I am dead set on not doing any hitting work this year with anyone north of Auburn Alabama. That is a promise. Mark knows how to hit, hopefully he knows how to coach hitting.

[..] If TLr found out that I was going to be giving hitting lessons anywhere in St. Louis he may have the power cut off, or even may have the house bulldozed.

There is no doubt there is not much togetherness involved in this group. There is the pitchers led by Carp, There is the duo of Albert and Yadi, and then there is the rest of the group. All under the umbrella of leadership of TLR.

I heard this at the end last year when someone was asked why there was no fight left in the team. The response was that they were too tired from fighting among themselves.

i can’t tell if he’s making up shit or not or it’s a mixture of both. i think the man likes to hear himself speak, but he does make some valid points. regardless, he needs to stop talking on behalf of his son

Looking at the Mets job, it would appear. I would hate to see Oquendo leave, but the man has earned a shot at managing somewhere, methinks.

P-D Article

11-13, 3.39 ERA last year. about to sign a 1 year, $12M deal with dodgers.

mind explaining how you made this again?

They take the run environment into account when creating a park factor right? Is there any more science to this than just adding up the aggregate runs and home runs?

In the 1990’s the Rockies had an OF that outside of Larry Walker was made up of lumbering, aging power hitters playing behind a sub-par defensive infield, and with a pitching staff that was made up of rushed prospects, expansion draft leftovers, and FA signings that massively underperformed.

How much of fact that the home lineup is made up of Adam Dunn’s get taken into account on park factors?

it has a little bit of new stuff in it

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/article_f4340e12-78ca-5a08-8744-22c627598ebc.html

As part of his winter blueprint, Mozeliak insists the club will more readily examine alternatives to Gold Glove contender Brendan Ryan at shortstop than second baseman Skip Schumaker or center fielder Colby Rasmus. Mozeliak called Rasmus “almost impossible to replace” given his production, potential and relatively low salary while admitting to strong support for Schumaker from manager Tony La Russa and his coaching staff.

Mozeliak holds out hope that the club can retain free-agent pitcher Jake Westbrook but allows that the club may reshape its search for an innings eater should the issue linger much longer.
“I suspect this is not going to be something that can leak into December,” Mozeliak said.

Mozeliak has worked to improve a sometimes jagged relationship between player and manager that in July led Rasmus to request a trade during a heated exchange with La Russa. Mozeliak does not deny an issue existed but insists edges have been smoothed.
“We’ve all talked through it,” Mozeliak said. “I really don’t see it as a big issue anymore.”
Mozeliak added: “I don’t think someone with his service time (two years) can pick and choose where he wants to be. That’s the nature of this business. If somebody didn’t want him here — the manager, for example — we’d have to do something about it. But Tony realizes he’s a talented player and can help us win some games.”

then I realized that there were so many extant comments in previous threads, it just felt like a lot.

Sunday thread.

I’m just as addicted as anybody.