Yesterday on the SB Nation regionals, in honor of Festivus, we aired our grievances with the past year in local sports. And while I trended toward the big topics on SB Nation St. Louis, I think the major grievance on Viva El Birdos has been a considerably lower-impact story than Albert Pujols's stultifying contract negotiations.
That's right: Festivus should reasonably have been our last chance to whine about the Grit of the Magi trade that sent Ryan Theriot to St. Louis and the subsequent self-defeating shuffling of the infield. But since I didn't post about it yesterday I'll do it here, in the spot normally allotted for brief Christmas Eve musings.
Ryan Theriot! I have no quarrel with you, good sir.
Skip Schumaker! I don't like that you're so boring now, after being so interesting in 2009. You didn't trade the novelty of being an outfielder playing second base for the first time for defensive competence at second base, like I'd hoped you might. Also, you didn't hit very well at all.
In 2011 you should hit. I can't emphasize this enough. Try hitting .300—that's a number people like.
Brendan Ryan! You shouldn't have pissed off whomever you pissed off. Also, you should've hit, too, while we're at it; following that Mark McGwire advice might not have been the best idea, weirdly enough. You could maybe have said "get the uniform dirty" a little more frequently. You should have—you should have—
Get out of here! Can't you see we don't want you anymore!? Why I can't you go back where you came from!! Leave us alone!!
... Goodbye, my friend.
Tony La Russa! You have to figure out how to balance the needs of your system with the personnel the Cardinals have available! Sometimes the Cardinals do a solid job of this, but this past December was an example of what happens when that gets out of balance.
The Cardinals aren't a good enough team for that to keep happening, even with marginal moves like Theriot and Ryan. But more honestly, I just don't like that the Cardinals are more boring when you get your way! That sucks! Find a way to enjoy more exciting players.
After Christmas and New Years it's time to transition into an entirely new set of things to be pissed off about regarding the St. Louis Cardinals. The infield grumbling will move into the present tense; the Cardinals will probably make a weird decision about a relief pitcher; the Albert Pujols negotiations will be as inscrutable as ever.
So we've got to clear the old grievances away. Now's the last chance to be sad about the Boog trade until, come the first televised game of Spring Training, we see the first ground ball of 2011 where Boog would've.