daric barton made his debut at AA midland on monday --- 1-1 with a walk.
john sickels is scheduled today to give a midseason report card on the cardinals' top 20 prospects. haven't had time to read the post, but sickels knows his stuff. recommended read.
also recommended is one of two new posts at the birdwatch, which i've only just caught up with in my travels. i refer to the discussion of gen'l managers and their abilities, adjusted for payroll --- kind of technical but definitely provocative. and while i am not entirely sold on the conclusion as per jock's abilities, i think this article adds a lot of meat to any discussions thereof.
cardnilly (a fellow tdf enthusiast) foretold of yesterday's stl blowout win in his diamondbacks preview ¾ noted that card hitters had a cumulative .953 career ops against b webb coming into the game. and, reports nilly, they're even better against tonight's starter, shawn estes --- 1.004 ops.
at hardball times, studes lists the statistical leaders of the past year - 2nd half 2004 + 1st half 2005. cardinals are all over the leaderboards --- hr: pujols #4, edmonds #8 (adam dunn is #6); batting avg: pujols #2 (behind only ichiro; placido polanco places 6th on the list); obp: pujols #3, edmonds #5. on the pitching side, chris carpenter is #6 in era, #10 in strikeouts/9, and #5 in wins. and #9 on the wins list? tonight's stl starter, jeff suppan, who is 17-11 since midpoint last season. not bad for a fifth starter.