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Cardinals news and notes: Shortstops and brackets

A look at VEB from March 15.

By John J. Fleming
Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

March 15 was the date of the presidential primaries in Missouri and Illinois, so I bet an awful lot of you were overwhelmed with news of those yesterday. In case you missed the baseball news of the day, here's what VEB had to offer.

Shortstops

  • It's been a little over a week since Jhonny Peralta's injury became public information, but new rumors and new information come to light every day. And yesterday, Joe Schwarz begged of you (yes, you specifically) to have realistic expectations about whomever plays shortstop for the Cardinals this season. It's easy to get caught up in a whirlwind of possibilities with unknown quantities, since we don't know we are wrong yet, but this just means not to get irate if the Cardinals shortstop isn't immediately Carlos Correa (he will probably be better than Carlos Correa, just to be clear).
  • Ben Markham does not believe the Cardinals should pay a high price for a shortstop.
  • And neither do I. Specifically, I do not believe the Cardinals should pay a high price for Nick Ahmed.

VEB projection results

  • The 2016 St. Louis Cardinals VEB Community Projections results for Matt Carpenter are in, and the community is optimistic about Carpenter's 2015 power surge. Although the community is relatively bullish on Carp's batting average and on-base, it is his home run power where he truly exceeds the pack, as the overall community projection tabs Carpenter for 24 home runs; the second-most optimistic projection is 16, by both ZiPS and Steamer. Also, shoutout to the community member who predicted Carp for 70 home runs and 50 stolen bases. We do not know that you are wrong, and neither would even be the record so this is perfectly possible.

The Waino bracket challenge

  • As lil scooter summarized in yesterday's Hunt and Peck, Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright is facilitating a March Madness bracket contest in which donations to aid with the Flint, MI water crisis are encouraged. I remain eternally impressed by Wainwright's ability to galvanize people into entertaining forms of charity. Oh, and speaking of lil scooter and brackets...

She got a tough matchup, but there is plenty of time left to vote for one of our own in her first round matchup for this highly official and important tournament.

Have a great Wednesday.

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