Today I was reading someones reply on Cards Talk or Bernies Box to what to do now that the Mang is down for a few weeks.

The poster suggested moving Glaus to 1B and bringing up Barden and keeping Duncan in AAA to find his missing stroke. I said to myself that won't work because Freese  should come up before Barden since he is playing 3B and Barden is playing SS.

Then it clicked. Barden  is at SS. I'm not sure how he is fielding wise but his bat is looking decent. He is hitting .301 with a balance split between Lefties and Righties. He seems to be talking walks and has an OBP 20 points shy of .400. Also for a SS he has some gap power with the ability to put one over the fence once in a while.

My question is if he continues to hit and field does he all the sudden have more value now that he is a SS with some pop instead of a light hitting all glove 3B?

If so do we give him a look soon or deal him to another team?

The Birds don't seem to be getting any traction out of the revolving door that is our cleanup spot in the batting order.

I thought for sure Ankiel would solidify that spot and he may still but I have another idea.

No, not Ludwick. (wouldn't jive with the stupid trade proposal thingy anyways)

How about cashing in some chips for a young dynamic player that can hit for power and play stellar defense who also got signed up for a reasonable contract?

If they would(they being Florida) could Mo justify trading Rasmus, Anderson, Kozma, & Reyes/Garcia to Florida for Hanley Rameriz ?

If not what would be a fair trade keeping in mind you have to persuade Florida to say yes to trading the face of thier franchise.

Okay. So maybe the Barton at 2B thing is a little far fetched. It's still spring and I have yet another proposal to fix the kink we have in this team at 2B.

No disrespect to Kennedy but maybe we can spin him to Colorado or DFA him in hopes someone else will take a shot on him.

To replace him why don't we get Brian Roberts from the O's.

We have plenty of talented OF's that can play defense.

Let Duncan go somewhere he can be more of an asset and play everyday wether it be LF, 1B or DH.
Send him along with Reyes. If they need one or two more minor leaguers just do it as long as they are not asking for prime prospects. Maybe include Hoffpauir since we won't need him if we get Roberts.

Duncan, Reyes, Hoffpauir, B level pitching prospect = Brian Roberts.

Is it worth it?

Just wanted to post an outside the box thought about filling a weak link with a young talented hitter athletic enough to make spectacular plays at 2B. I'm not talking about Hoff, Ryan, or anyone else that might come to mind.

I think the man for the Job is....

Barton.

His noodle arm is a non-issue at second base. He has the athleticism to cover 2B. He is young enough to learn a new position. His bat will play above average at 2B. You put all that together and you have a perrenial All-Star.

Please Mo if your reading this see what you can do about Tony giving the kid a shot at 2B. I know Oquendo can shape Barton into an everyday 2B given the chance.

  I finally came to terms with Miggy being a Detroit Tiger. It took me a while because the moment the Fish put him on the block I was hooked with daydreams of him and Albert punishing the national league with a barrage of line drives and homeruns. I thought it was fated to be due to all the trouble that Rolen was having with Tony.

  Trade Rolen, clear salary, and trade Rasmus. I believed this would lead to long summer days of Miggy and Pujols competitively cranking out homers. Between the two there would really be no set 3 or 4 hitter. They would compete where whoever is hitting for the higher average that day bats third and the other fourth.

  I was outraged as some of you know that management saw fit to not pursue this trade. I was of the mind that Rasmus be damned man you get Cabrera at all costs. I mean how many chances do you get to acquire a hall of fame caliber 3rd baseman? I guess at least two but by all rights Cabrera to me is the holy grail of third basemen.

  What changed is that it just clicked for me a moment ago.... Rasmus. The kid is "phenomical"(tm). I caught myself day dreaming about how many long summer days we will get to watch him own CF.

  How many times will we watch him swipe a bag? How many homeruns will he launch while wearing the cardinal red? How many times will we see him make an incredible catch and then debate wether or not Jimmy Baseball could have made that same play?

  All the sudden I had my closure. But still there is a small part of me that smiled when I heard that Detroit failed to sign Miggy to a long term contract. That gives me just a sliver of hope that he could maybe clear free agency and then sign with the Birds. That would be truly sweet.

mlbtraderumors.com has reported the pirates are interested in Brad Thompson. Apparently Duncan for Wilson was discussed. How pissed off would everyone be if that had happened. Anyways some combo of Thompson and whatever is suppose to net us Morris & Wilson. I say if there is anything worth getting from the Pirates it's Ian Snell. Supposedly they talked about dealing him to the Mariners. I know it will take more than Thompson but how about throwing in Duncan and some AA talent for Snell and Bay. Hell we could throw in Schumacher and Mather. We have all kinds of spare parts for cheap which Pitt will need while they rebuild. Pitt wanted Adam Jones how about a poor mans Adam Jones by the name of Barton. Duncan, Barton, Boggs, Reyes, Thompson, Ryan etc... for Morris, Snell, Bay, Wilson. I would make that trade on Nintendo all day long. Thoughts?

I know there is a thread about Rasmus possibly being dealt for Bedard but I wanted to discuss the similarities between that potential deal and the one Boston made for Beckett by sending phenom SS prospect Hanley Ramirez to Florida so here it goes...

Bedard is a year older than Beckett. They show a very similar pattern if you look at the year to year numbers. Beckett came into his own with a better team around him in Boston than he ever would have had the chance of playing for in Florida. Beckett cost the Sox a highly regarded prospect. Ramirez was 21 coming out of AA ball. Sound familiar? It will sting intially but Bedard has more value in the post season. Beckett showed that this year. Not to mention Tejada could be our Mike Lowell. A throw in. Rasmus plus an assortment of lesser prospects for Bedard & Tejada is starting to grow on me. Keep Rolen and the infield looks pretty solid if Adam Kennedy can rebound. I would like to see a full year of  Duncan and Ankiel in the outfield with Edmonds starting and training a younger replacement with potential. I would argue that the acquistion of Barton makes Rasmus expendable and Barton can be that younger replacement with potential. Knowing that Baltimore already drafted a phenom catching prospect by the name of Matt Wieters who else do you think we would need to send over in a package with Rasmus to bring back Bedard and Tejada?

Mo should have been in the thick of it with this deal. That was our needs to a tee.

   I am fully aware at this moment in time that we will suck eggs for the next few years. I am outraged. The "right players" were out there to trade for and spend money and we didn't acquire them.

  Dewitt lies and MO is full of sh*t. I guess Izturis was the right guy to waste money on and to pretend we want to compete. We are a garbage can team or at least that is the philosphy and I for one am tired of this nonsense. Call me impatient or just call me out but Mo had his chance and blew it big time.

  Maybe we can be competitive by 2011. Might as well deal Pujols as much as I love to watch him play. I mean by the time we have the talent to compete again he will be done with us.

  I think the best thing to do now is to keep what we have and tell Rolen to shut up and play baseball. We should sign Eck back too and just wait for a better time.

[Update: azruavatar] I'm going to shut down these comments to prevent an all out flame war. They may be reopened later but for now, let's keep it civil and germane to Cardinal baseball. [/update]

Check out this post over at...you guessed it mlbtraderumors.com. In a nutshell they say Reyes is generating a lot of interest and that Duncan/Edmonds/Ankiel are all movable. Don't know how true that is but it looks like Mo is open to shaking things up. Maybe we can pull off a trade for Miggy afterall. Once the dominoes start to fall this could get real interesting. I love the Winter Meetings.

I know you all want him so why do we say we can't get him? Miguel Cabrera is the right handed hitter we need. Also he plays third base. Convenient considering Rolen is being run out of here on rails. Deservedly so considering his attitude towards Tony. But apparently Mo the Muddy is going after Cabrera. I'm all for it and you know this. If Rasmus must be dealt then there is no other player I would want back other than Miggy. Santana cost money and prospects. We would have a one two punch that would rival Bostons' Big Pappi and Manny. We all saw what they did in the playoffs. If they were not in that line-up Boston would have flopped. I don't care how hard Ellsbury played or how scrappy and selfless Pedroia was or how money Lowell appeared to be without the meat of that line-up they would have sucked. Players Like Manny, Pappi, El Hombre, & Cabrera elvevate the play of others. Get Miggy now. He is a once in a lifetime chance. Ankiel can handle Cf and if not him then Schumie. We can work on pitching over the course of the year.