of jason and jimmy

marquis has apparently stopped trying, and la russa has finally had it w him; might even be that marquis, and not reyes or weaver, will be the odd man out when mulder returns. we can hope; the team looks ill whenever marquis pitches. both reyes and weaver will make starts before jason's next scheduled turn (on sunday vs pittsburgh) and thus will have the opportunity to impress. since the all-star break:

the way sosa has pitched, he may even have forced his way into the discussion -- but wait, won't he have to re-condition his arm for the rotation, same as wainwright? he hasn't started in two months, has made nearly 20 relief appearances since then. . . . . that'd be amusing, wouldn't it, if the cards carried two DFA pitchers in the rotation, while their two strong rookie pitchers man the bullpen and the triple A rotation? if it means we've seen the last of marquis, that would almost be worth it.

a writer at the Hardball Times, apparently unaware that reyes is fighting for a roster spot, thinks anthony can be a postseason factor:

edmonds is feeling sorry for himself? i'll grant that it makes no sense for him to be platooning with so taguchi -- if they face a tough lefty in the playoffs, does gooch get the start? i didn't think so --- in which case, edmonds ought to face some lhp down the stretch . . . . that part of the plaint, i'll sign on to. the part about his 2007 option (but they promised!!!), i'm not weeping tears of sympathy over. if edmonds wants to finish out his career in st louis (and what fan would be opposed to that?), he can play like he's worth that $10m option the rest of the season; if he doesn't raise his game and the option's not picked up, he can take the $3m buyout and re-sign here for $4m, or waive the buyout and sign a 2-year extension for something reasonable -- $14 million, say.

i kinda don't think his statements have increased the likelihood that the owners will grant him extra credit for loyalty . . . .

lotta frustration afoot in the clubhouse. read joe strauss' "bird droppings" article from last weekend if you haven't yet; it explains an awful lot about this team's up-n-downness. the good news is, it's august -- per david pinto, the cardinals since 1999 have posted the nat'l league's best august record, playing .592 ball overall. that doesn't include last night's game, which drops the cards to 3-5 for the month. the astros rate second on pinto's list; true to form, they're off to a 5-2 start for the month and remain within striking distance, 7 games back (3.5 back in the wild card). houston's pitching is rounding into stretch-run form; they're 2d in the league in post-all-star era (colorado is 1st), and 3 of the 5 current members of their rotation have era's of 3.69 or better. even pettitte is pitching well lately --- 3.30 era over his last 8 starts (50 innings). houston still can't hit worth a damn . . . . the cardinals play them 6 more times and -- youneverknow -- could yet face them in the postseason.