The Offseason
Written by Mike on November 11, 2008 – 1:04 am -The Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series less than two weeks ago, and yet it seems like we haven’t watched baseball in months. This is the time of year that I have to suffer through the other professional sports, getting by on college football, and counting the days until pitchers and catchers report. I share this sentiment:
“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” - Rogers Hornsby
If you’re anything like me, you spend a ton of time each winter day scouring the internet for the latest baseball news, hoping your team made a splash in the free agent market, or landed a coveted player in trade. You spend a lot of time contemplating who’ll be invited to Spring Training, how the injured players are recovering, and how the roster might shape up.
Well Cardinal fans, I’ll be on top of it all winter, and will do my best to pass on all the information to you. You can count on the whole United Cardinal Bloggers gang too. We started this baseball-less time with the roundtable discussions, and there’s plenty more stuff to come, including the second installment of the Cardinal Blogger Awards, and we’re kicking off a Blog Talk Radio show later this week. It should be a lot of fun.
So what’s been going on with the team? You’ve heard the old news: Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter had surgery. Jason LaRue will be back. Mark Mulder will not. Yadier Molina finally won his first Gold Glove, while Pujols added plenty to his trophy case. And of course, the Cards aren’t getting Jake Peavy.
What’s new? Well for starters, the potential trade for Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday was a bust. Joe Strauss, of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, broke the story early Monday morning. Today, we learned that the Oakland A’s are close to a deal for the slugger.
I’ve got to say, while I was definitely excited about Holliday wearing the Birds on the Bat, I’m glad that Mozeliak didn’t pull the trigger on this one, especially if the reports on the player package were accurate. Also, Holliday’s contract status would have thrown a wrench into the club’s flexibility plan, possibly leaving some of the other roster holes unfilled.
The final eligible Cardinal filed for free agency today. Juan Encarnacion was the last, but the filing was merely a formality, as his injury will prevent him from playing next year, and likely, ever again. Matthew Leach has more. Let’s wish Juan well.
Cardinals’ third base coach Jose Oquendo is in the news. He’ll be one of several candidates to interview for the available managers job in Seattle. Chris Haft has the full story. I think Oquendo is due for a bigger gig, so if he wants it, I hope he gets the job. On the other hand, I can’t help but to think about what his absence would mean to the Cards. The Secret Weapon is a great third base coach, and an even better infield instructor. What’s your take?
That’s it for now, but check back tomorrow, when I’ll start analyzing some of the other rumored trade scenarios, as well as update you on the upcoming UCB events.
Previewing the NL Central
Written by Mike on February 6, 2008 – 7:50 pm -It’s time to take a closer look around the rest of the division. Now that we’re just about a week away from the start of Spring Training, most roster shaping has been completed, and we’ll have a pretty good idea of who we’ll be competing against in the Central.
First, let’s take a quick look at the Cubbies. They’ve added to their already potent offense with the pick up of outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, their first Japanese player in franchise history. He, along with Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, and young catcher Geovany Soto, should provide plenty of pop for the cursed club. They’ve added veteran starting pitcher Jon Lieber as well. The rotation should continue to impress in ‘08. Lieber joins staff ace Carlos Zambrano, Rich Hill, Ted Lilly, and former Cardinal, Jason Marquis. Look for the Cubs to be right there at the end. Skipper Lou Piniella, now in his second year with Chicago, will surely have his team in contention for the division title again.
Milwaukee had a very good team in ‘07. Now that the youngsters have another year under their belt, they should be able to stay focused for the entire season. Their offense will once again be led by first baseman Prince Fielder, who hit 50 home runs last season. Newcomer Mike Cameron will join Fielder, Ryan Braun, Bill Hall, and J.J. Hardy, as the run producers in the lineup. The Brewers should have a healthy Ben Sheets atop their rotation, followed by some combination of talent and durability in Yovani Gallardo, Jeff Suppan, Carlos Villanueva, and others. The Brewers also added Eric Gagne to assume the closers role. He and Derrick Turnbow could prove to be as effective as the Cards’ eighth and ninth inning duo last year. There’s no reason to think that Milwaukee won’t take the ‘08 race right down to the wire.
The Houston Astros have just as tough a lineup as anybody. J.R. Towles should take the reigns at catcher after hitting .375 in 40 at-bats last year. Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman, Miguel Tejada, Hunter Pence, and Ty Wiggington should have no trouble driving in runs in Playskool (I mean Minute Maid) Park. Besides their new-look left side of the infield, two other everyday players have joined the Astros. Both Kazuo Matsui and Michael Bourn are capable of batting leadoff. Houston’s pitching, however, doesn’t look so great. Other than ace Roy Oswalt, the rotation appears to be a short list of mediocrity. If we as Cards fans have learned anything from last season, it’s that you’ll only go as far as your starting pitching will take you. While the Astros will certainly score a lot of runs in ‘08, they’re likely to allow a lot too. I’d guess they’ll finish well behind Chicago and Milwaukee.
It’s tough to gauge what to expect from Cincinnati. The Reds have some talented ball players. Most are carryovers from last season when they couldn’t put it all together. They’ll again be led by the bats of Adam Dunn, Brandon Phillips, and Hall of Fame bound Ken Griffey Jr. The starting rotation, which includes Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, and Homer Bailey, doesn’t look too bad either. With manager Dusty Baker now calling the shots, maybe Cincinnati can make it an interesting race.
Then, there’s Pittsburgh. They haven’t had a winning season in 15 years, and did virtually nothing to improve their club this offseason. They hope outfielder Jason Bay can have a bounce back year. Despite the good arms of Tom Gorzelanny and Ian Snell, the Pirates are projected to finish in the cellar once again in 2008. But, you never know. That’s why they play the games.
Where do the Cardinals fit? That’s a question that’s impossible to answer. Last season, the Cards had a never-ending list of injuries, including a career ending one to Juan Encarnacion. Combine that with the death of pitcher Josh Hancock, the arrest of their manager in Spring Training, and the substance abuse that kept Scott Spiezio off the field, and the Redbirds should have finished last. They didn’t. The NL Central was a three horse race all the way to September. No manager gets more from his players than Tony La Russa. So any team with him at the helm has a shot.A Few Notes
Written by Mike on October 13, 2007 – 7:22 pm -First, the Cardinals’ search for a general manager continues as Chairman Bill Dewitt, and President Mark Lamping met with another candidate yesterday at Roger Dean Stadium, in Jupiter, Fla. The interview was with Rick Hahn, the Chicago White Sox assistant general manager. Dewitt has also spoken to Arizona Diamondbacks assistant GM Peter Woodfork, and Cleveland Indians assistant Chris Antonetti. Dewitt hopes to have a decision before the World Series begins on Oct. 24. Personally, I’d just assume they give the job to Mozeliak.
Also, former general manager, Walt Jocketty, has apparently been contacted by the Cincinnati Reds. They’d like Jocketty to assume either CEO or president.
Next, the return of Juan Encarnacion doesn’t appear to be anytime soon, if ever. Since the injury to his left eye, on August 31, he has regained only 20/400 vision. I feel bad for Juan. He hasn’t been one of the fans’ favorites these last two seasons. Maybe his style of play wasn’t what the Cardinal faithful were used to, but he consistently put up numbers very similar to his career averages, with no surprises, and did it for a reasonable price. I’ve always been a fan of Encarnacion’s, and felt comfortable when he was in the game. Now he may never play in a ballgame again.
Well, the mid-season trades by the Cardinals that involved “players to be named later”, have all been fulfilled. Right-handed pitcher, and former number one draft pick, Chris Lambert, was selected by Detroit as the PTBNL in the Mike Maroth deal. That one was a bust, although I was ecstatic after his first performance against the Mets. The Russel Branyan trade involved only cash considerations (thank goodness), and outfielder Sean Danielson was selected by Boston as the player in the Joel Pineiro deal.
Speaking of Pineiro, the club hopes to sign him to a multi-year deal before he files for free agency. Pineiro insists that he only wants to start, and won’t go to a team as a relief pitcher. I hope they’ll sign him for two years, but nothing more, and while I’m playing GM, let’s not extend it to more than $4 million a year.
The one year contract extension for pitcher Russ Springer is for $3.5 million.
And finally, Cardinals pitcher Braden Looper has undergone surgery on his non-throwing shoulder, and expects to be fully recovered by spring.
Read more about these stories, and more, from Joe Strauss, here.
