Cardinals news and notes: The deadline, rotation, and prospects

Yesterday, USA Today released a list of the 30 most likable teams in Major League Baseball and guess what, your very own St. Louis Cardinals cracked the list!

But John, there are only 30 teams in Major League Baseball. That means every team made the list.

Wait, really?

Yeah, you didn’t know that there were thirty teams in...don’t you write for a baseball blog?

Well, yes, but I...shut up, Mr. Italics! Okay, anyway, the Cardinals ranked looks at the top of the list/the middle of the list/the “somehow we missed ranking this team” section dead last. The Cardinals, evidently, are the 30th most likable team in MLB.

Now, I don’t take these types of lists too seriously. It appears as though it is the opinion of one person, whose name I am electing not to use here because, seriously folks, don’t use this list as an excuse to lambaste the writer of a list that holds no actual weight. Also, the middle 20% of teams are simply categorized as “indifferent section”, which tells me how I should feel about the list. But I like dumb internet baseball content (this is what they call a “meta-joke”) so I had to see the rationale. But first, I checked a few other teams.

Look, I can buy that. Advanced stats can get a bit tedious, and when a team loads up on three-true-outcome type players that just swing for the fences every time or strike out trying, it can get a bit dull.

Not...sure I follow there. If you want to say Oakland is more likable because they did it first, or because Josh Reddick somehow turned his nearly three decades old and enormous hit walkup song into a popular fan meme, that’s fine, but specifically because of the sabermetric angle? I’m not sure I follow here.

Remember that time Felix Hernandez pitched a perfect game for the Mariners? That was a while ago, right? That was the month after the Mariners traded Ichiro Suzuki.

Whatever, let’s see the Cardinals’ rationale.

Well, no. Not in the macro sense, at least. Like, it doesn’t matter where you rank the Cardinals on your list. Though I guess if you want us to understand the list, it might help. So I’m not sure what USA Today is going for here. However, I wish I did.

I’m sure the reasons are silly, and I don’t mean that as an insult: the reasons for picking any team would hopefully be silly. This list is an inherently silly exercise; I’m sure the writer of the list would admit this. Is it because of the hacking thing? One would think by extension, the Astros would rank higher. Is it because the writer is a fan of the NL Central as a whole (he ranks the rest of the division 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 9th)? Who knows? We will never know.

What we DO know, however, is that the trusty writers of Viva El Birdos (and also I) published some stuff on Friday. Here’s what you may have missed.

The 2015 Blue Jays as examples

I compared the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays, initially disappointments who turned a significant corner or three during the final third of the season, to this year’s Cardinals. While the Blue Jays made big-ticket moves, I make the argument that their short-term move for David Price did not actually help them.

The rotation

Craig Edwards questioned the wisdom of the Cardinals starting Jaime Garcia on short rest today. For the reasons Craig listed, I also disagree with the decision to start Garcia, though in the mildest defense of Mike Matheny, he is being put in a difficult spot. Rain delays are bad and we should yell at the clouds about them (and in our defense, if you’re going to yell at the clouds about something, rain isn’t the least logical pick).

Aledmys Diaz and Jose Fernandez

Lil Scooter is a noted fan of both the Cardinals’ nice-smelling shortstop and the Marlins’ ace, and when worlds collided on Thursday night, she reacted by gushing over the fun fact that the duo were on the same Little League team. They...were probably a good team.

The latest in prospects

Ebo fielded the prospect report. Of particular interest is the Springfield Cardinals game recap, which includes a Brandon Moss rehab assignment and yet another excellent start from Luke Weaver, who I am convinced would be the best pitcher named Weaver in Major League Baseball today, and there is currently one making $20 million.

Cardinals 11, Marlins 6

Craig was right, we did destroy the Marlins! Well, kind of. We won 11-6, and the game was recapped by mister_manager.

Okay, that game was fun. More fun to ensue tonight when Jaime Garcia hopefully survives with his left arm (and his right arm too, I guess) attached to his torso.