Christmas Day 2015

Good morning, all.

I don't have a whole lot for you today; the baseball world is in its holiday holding pattern, and so any further mistakes and missteps will have to wait for just a bit. I also have no anecdotes to share, no wistful consideration of the real world in lieu of news from the green pastures of the mind. I suppose I could cook up something grand and sad if I really set my mind to it, but I don't particularly feel like doing that this morning. So I have no florid, overly-long holiday post of any sort today, somewhat to my chagrin.

What I do have is my usual holiday-morning glass of bourbon sitting beside me as I write this; a friend of mine was nice enough to track down a bottle of Blanton's for me this Christmas, dumped and bottled in September of this year, and so I decided to crack it open and toast the yule in style. It is, as always, wonderful.

It's been a strange and, in many ways, disappointing offseason for our team this year; the sort of offseason we haven't really seen in a very, very long time. Even the year Pujols left for the coast didn't feel dark the way this one has; watching Albert move on for a contract paying him through age 42 was not exactly a tragic moment, in spite of certain corners of the fandom questioning however would the Redbirds survive without him. This year, though, doesn't feel like a slight letdown or even a soft reboot of the direction. This one feels like a failure, in a way we have not been accustomed to in the John Mozeliak era.

But there are still games to be played, and at this, roughly the midpoint of the offseason, with the World Series close to two months in the rearview mirror and Pitchers and Catchers Report Day being still close to two months away, we should perhaps take stock of the moment, and realise how fortunate we've been not to have too many of these real Hindenburg-level offseasons. And while I stand by my consternation and anger toward the front office and ownership for failing to do what needed to be done this offseason, their work in the past would seem to demand a longer leash than most before we begin to sound the horns for the end.

So happy Christmas, VEB. I hope everyone has a lovely holiday, if indeed you celebrate it. This is the one and only thread today, for missives hopeful and doubtful, on-topic and off, baseball-related and Other.

Take care of yourselves this Christmas. Be safe, be healthy, be happy. And I'll see you all again soon.