the pujols / bill brasky trope gains more luster this morning: check out the post-dispatch story about the battery of tests a couple of wash u scientists applied to el alberto to gauge his hand-eye coordination, etc. quoting: "Pujols left everyone in the dust. . . . . No one else performs at that level. Literally no one. The test makers don't even list a score that high."
other test results of interest: any of you who were hoping that tom glavine's left hand might crystallize and fall off, no such luck:
The source said Glavine could be pitching sometime next week.
nothing new on the craig counsell front this morning; the arizona republic says only that counsell is bracing himself for a backup role behind stephen drew. i can't see him coming to st louis; counsell is the dbacks' version of david eckstein, and they're not just going to give him away --- particularly to a team they may face in october. he's a free agent after the season, so the cards can't give up a prospect of any quality to acquire him; if arizona had any interest in jason marquis, i'd readily contemplate that exchange --- but i've been trying to trade marquis since last june, and he's still here and probably not going anywhere.
the cardinals filled their 7-man allotment to the arizona fall league with a bunch of double A players: four pitchers -- mike parisi, stu pomeranz, eric haberer, and dennis dove -- plus outfielders nick stavinoha and amaury marti, and shortstop brendan ryan. they'll be playing for the peoria saguaros. the AFL generally draws top prospects, but organizations sometimes use the slots to get extra playing time for a guy who is struggling with a particular skill, learning a new position, etc etc. last year the cards sent three of their top 10 (lambert, hanson, and haerther), plus some nondescript pitching prospects, one of whom -- andy cavazos -- has had a breakthrough season in 2006.
some of these players simply need to make up for lost playing time: pomeranz missed a month with an injury, ryan missed the 1st four months of the season (after spending much of spring training with the big-league club), and cuban-defector marti didn't pick up a bat until late june after a layoff of who knows how long. the most interesting guy on the list is dennis dove, a 3d-rounder in 2003 who struggled along as a starter pitcher for three years but is thriving this season as a reliever. he turns 25 years old next week and has already thrown 250+ minor-league innings; might be one of those guys who sneaks up on ev'ybody. haberer, also a 3d-rounder (2004), has made a surprisingly quick adjustment to double a; he's 3-1 there in 8 starts with a 4.21 era, which is pretty good for the texas league. haberer is left-handed and gets groundballs -- g/f ratio well above two at both high-a and double-a this year. i'd expect him to see a little action vs major-league hitters next march.
i keep deferring the promised treatise on comment-thread decorum; what a dreadful subject. but i'll probably get around to it later today.