The Bell Tolls for thee -- 2010 St. Louis Cardinals

First, a disclaimer: I haven’t done a Fanpost before so I hope this is up to the level of discourse to be expected. If not, my apologies.

The current Baseball Prospectus playoff odds puts the chances at 40% for our favorite nine.  While I am not totally writing off the chance for the Cardinals to advance to the post season and they certainly would be a dangerous foe as 2006 proved, I certainly would not bet on it. This team, while boasting superstar talents having superstar-caliber years, has been torpedoed by having sub par production from most of the infield positions and a black hole of suck at the back end of the starting rotation beginning when Brad Penny fell to injury early in the year. The result of all this has been maddening, frustrating and inconsistent baseball club that I can barely tolerate watching even after plunking down my subscription fee for mlb.tv this year.

With that set up out of the way, here is what I am hoping to see in the final month of the season and the off season that I hope will lead to a brighter 2011 in no particular order:

1) Banish Kyle Lohse to bullpen immediately -- Undoubtedly he is still in some ways recovering from his surgery but as of now he offers nothing except a near-guaranteed loss every time he pitches. He can’t get batters out, he can’t go deep into games to save the bullpen, and makes $10 million a year through 2012. Minimize the damage by limiting him to mop up duty only. If Jeff Suppan is capable out at least keeping the team in games for 5 to 6 innings, he represents a better alternative than does Kyle. The other thing the front office needs to do regarding Kyle's 2011 role is to not pencil him in the rotation.  He's not going anywhere and he's not going to help the club in the rotation. The bullpen is his future unless they can come to terms with a buy out (unlikely).

2) DFA Mike McDougal -- He is now sporting an ERA over  8. He has been released by several clubs including the one that served a beat down to him yesterday.  There are much better bullpen options for the club in future. Why he is seeing time over better pitchers like Salas is infuriating. 

3) Let the kids play -- Memphis is fighting to repeat their PCL championship run of a year ago so while I would like to see Daniel Descalso, Tyler Greene, and Eduardo Sanchez get promoted immediately, I realize that this won’t happen for a few weeks.  Still after witnessing Skip Schumaker’s disappointing year, I think it is important for the club to see what Descalso can do.  While Descalso’s major league equivalency (MLE) is nothing to get excited about (.250/.301/.361) right now, it still would be worth seeing what he can do against major league pitching and his defense should  be an improvement over Skip’s.

4) For once and for all, see if  P. J. Walters has a future as a major league pitcher -- this is somewhat related to #3 . P.J. has racked up very good numbers in AAA but been hit hard in his time with the big club. If the club is out the running for the final few weeks, giving a few starts to P.J. can benefit the club more than throwing out the Suppans or Lohses of the world.  At best, he could fill the number five role. At worst, the team finds out it is time to part with P. J. and pursue another starting pitcher for 2011.

5) Start grooming Ryan Franklin’s replacement in the closer role. Tony LaRussa would probably never go for this, but giving Jason Motte (when he returns from the DL) and Francisco Salas the bulk of the majority of closing opportunities needs to happen. Ryan Franklin is returning to pitching like the Ryan Franklin most of expected us expected to see when he was placed in the closer’s role.  Unfortunately, without this happening, I foresee in 2011 another Jason Isringhausen-type situation where TLR is stubbornly trotting out a closer who clearly doesn’t have it anymore to the detriment of the ballclub.  

6) Send Matt Carpenter and Zach Cox to the Arizona Fall League at third base and second base respectively. Matt Carpenter is having an outstanding year in Springfield. With David Freese having a uncertain future after reconstructive surgery on his ankle after battling injuries the past two years, the organization would well served in finding out if Matt Carpenter could be a capable replacement. Cox was just signed and is getting his feet wet  by hitting in the GCL. If  he can play a passable, Dan Uggla-type of defense at second while bringing the bat that made him the most dominant hitter in the SEC this past year then the Cardinals could have something special. I don’t see him as a candidate to help the team next year at all, but a good showing in the AFL will speed up his timetable.

7) Sign Albert Pujols to a long-term extension -- enough said. Well, let me add just a little more. If possible, because the dollars per year will be so large, see if he is agreeable to a five year deal with additional option years that vest based on meeting performance numbers.  This is certainly the most important contract in the next decade of the organization and so it must be done carefully.  Not having the contract matter resolved before the start of the season will lead to questions hovering over the team the entire year which I think will be a negative for the club. Before doing this, Mr DeWitt needs to..

8) Have a frank sit down discussion with John Mozeliak about he performance as the team’s GM and how he gives out long-term deals.  Quite frankly, I give Mo, at best, a grade of  C-. Giving a four-year deal to Kyle Lohse for $10 million per year AND a no-trade clause to a number five starting pitcher was just idiocy and unfortunately it is playing out even worse than most of us expected.  A team like the Cardinals cannot afford to give out these contracts and expect to contend for championships. The team also does not have the budget to eat contracts like this.  Maybe Mo should have the keys taken away from him when meets with Scott Boras because he ends up getting the short end of the deal by far.  Matt Holliday has played well to this point this year but there are six LONG years to go on his contract. If he is playing as well in years five through seven of this contract I will be amazed. Additionally, giving extensions to players when it wasn’t required (see Franklin, Ryan or Schumaker, Skip) is exactly what his predecessor did after the 2006 season with Mark Mulder and Jim Edmonds to disastrous results. These should be recent reminders of mistakes not to make and Mo has not learned from them.  

These are my thoughts, what are yours?