Sedgwick's?

We were originally planning on setting up a deal for the Cardinals opener at Segwick's. The game is at 2 pm CST. A further look at the schedules shows that both teams are broadcasting on local stations, which would keep the game off of any type of baseball package through cable or satellite. Usually the Cardinals are on ESPN on Opening Day, but that is not the case this year. Unless anyone knows differently, those of us in Chicago will have to "watch" the games on Gamecast or through mlb.com. If you know that there is a way to see the game, please let us know and we will try to put something together. Thanks.

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GraffaniNO

Well, there goes my grand plan for the Cardinals acquiring Tony Graffanino to solve the second base/two-spot in the order problem. The Royals acquired Mr. Graffanino via waivers from Red Sox. I'm not sure why they would want to do this considering they have his exact clone in Mark Grudzielanek. The AP Report said they are picking him up to use him in a utility role. I would think that the Royals would want to bring up a young player that shows promise and use him in a utility role to groom him and let him get used to Major League pitching and talent.
So, my plead to Walt to acquire Graffanino has fallen on deaf ears. You know what they say, though; there are three certainties in life: death, taxes (unless you are Barry Bonds, of course), and the Royals will always beat the Cardinals (and almost anyone else for that matter) on the waiver wire. That's just the way life is, like it or not.
So, where do the Cardinals go now? I still think a trade is necessary. I don't really like this team the way it is. There have been rumors about David Dellucci (yawn). One thing you can rely on is that Walt always has something up his sleeve, and rumors that show up on ESPN and the Post-Dispatch usually don't come true. Walt likes to fly way under the radar. I still think something is going to happen involving a trade, but I have no idea what it might be at this point.
Just one more thing today: Braden Looper earned the loss today by giving up two runs in the eighth inning (1 earned). He has been horrible this spring. He is supposed to be the main set-up man to Isringhausen. Generally what I like to see in relievers is a high strikeout rate and low WHIP. In the last three years, he has had aWHIP of 1.38, 1.22, and 1.47 respectively. That seems really high for an effective reliever. Be afraid of this guy, be very afraid.

Alright, it's Time Already...

Oh, the rumors are everywhere...Apparently, on the Buck Martinez morning show on XM Radio this morning, Buck went over the Left Field situation for the Cardinals. He said that Duncan deserves a shot to start in LF after an impressive Spring. Then, after his morning buzz wore off, he said that the Cardinals have been dangling Marquis infront of the Nationals for Alfonso Soriano. He said he expected some big news from the Cardinals before they break camp.
Now, I wouldn't trust Buck Martinez to tie my shoes. I think the guy managed horribly during the WBC and I'm not sure how good he is at procuring information from GMs around the league. I would guess that he's not the insider that Peter Gammons or someone like Steve Phillips would be (this, in no way, is an endorsement of either).
I don't think Walt would make this move. It's too big of a move at this point in the season. Walt is known to make deals before camp breaks, but they are little deals involving not that much money.
Also, I don't see LF being the real problem here. So Taguchi will fill in nicely for Bigbie while he is recovering. He has for the past few years and I can't think of a reason why he wouldn't be able to do so again. The real problem is Second Base. The news has come out that Encarnacion will be probably be batting second. I know, I almost puked when I saw this too, but Tony likes pop out of the 2-spot. My confidence in Encarnacion keeps wavering. He is moving from Florida, a notorious pitcher's park, and I think his offensive production might jump a little. That said, I still don't think that he is right for the two slot in the batting order.
So, what now? I still think that Tony Graffanino is the guy we need to pick-up. Don't get me wrong-I would love Soriano to play 2B for the Cardinals. I think Jose Oquendo could do wonders for his defense. And, if he starts acting up, his Dominican friend Albert would crush him with forearms that are bigger than Soriano's torso. I just don't see Walt making a huge deal like this, involving the kind of money here, before camps break. Graffanino would be more of a Walt-type move at this point and I think he would fill in as a second baseman and two-man in the order perfectly. Just to let you know my feelings on a Soriano-for-Marquis trade known: If I saw that trade scroll across the ticker on ESPN, I would drop whatever I was doing, put on a suit (I don't know why I would put a suit on, but roll with me here), go to my favorite bar in Chicago and just start buying rounds for everyone that was in the place. I am talking shots, Jager-bombs, whatever. I would love Soriano in the order, and he has the pop that Tony so desires in the second spot in the order. Defense my ass. A 30-30 guy, maybe even a 40-40 guy in this lineup would be a dream. Defense talks, 40-40 walks.
Although I have trashed Buck Martinez earlier in this post, I do think that he is right in saying that there should be some news involving a trade or pick-up before camp breaks. Walt will take care of us. He's too good not to. I'm not too sure about this team unless something gets done. I want someone that can play second base, bat second, and let Juan Encarnacion bat sixth, where he belongs. Look for Graffanino to be Cardinal by March 30-31. That's the move Walt can and will make.

Spring Training Thoughts...

As we are only a week away from the White Sox and Indians opening the 2006 season, I wanted to go over what has happened this spring and voice some concerns and look at some points of optimism.
First, I am scared as all hell about this season. I don't like the situations in Left Field (even before the Bigbie injury), Second Base, and espescially the Bullpen. Juan Encarnacion isn't exactly a beacon of hope either.
Left Field
I'm not even sure who Larry Bigbie is. I heard nothing about him in any Spring Training reports and he was curiously absent from most box scores. There were no quotes from Tony giving him a vote of confidence or even the mundane "he's putting in his work" or "his at-bats are coming along nicely" statements so often heard from the Cards' skipper. That was a real point of concern for me, and I thought that So Taguchi might get the nod over Bigbie even before this stress fracture reared its ugly head. I have heard good things about Bigbie from other major leaguers. Apparently, he has loads of talent. We'll just have to wait and see. I imagine So will start the season in LF and I can't say that I am really disappointed by that. He will hit for contact and is good defensively in the outfield. I imagine he will also bat second in the lineup considering Tony has stated that he wants Edmonds more towards the middle of the order. Which brings me to my next concern...
Second Base
Junior Spivey is hitting .149 with an amazing 17 K's in 47 ABs this spring. There is no way, even if Spivey's defense is spectacular enough to win the second base job, that he will be batting second with that kind of K-rate and low average. Tony likes the second slot to hit-and-run and move runners in other ways. Someone with that kind of strikeout record isn't going to cut the cheese. So will have to bat second barring some other kind of LaRussa mind game.
I read on mlbtraderumors.com that Tony Graffanino has been placed on waivers by the Red Sox. Good Lord, Walt, get this guy!!! He is a good contact hitter, can hit for average, and is pretty good defensively. This is exactly the kind of move Walt has made in the past during the spring - a cheap pick-up that could really improve the team (Tony Womack in 2004). Junior Spivey isn't getting the job done. Graffanino would be the perfect move here.
Bullpen
I look at the Spring Training box scores and see wonderful numbers through six innings, and then in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings, I always see a lot of crooked numbers. I mean, some really big numbers. Braden Looper, sorry to say, is not going to be great. I just don't see it. He was horrible for the Mets last year and I don't see any reason why he is going to turn it around now. This is my biggest concern. I think we will be closer to the 2003 bullpen rather than the 2004-5 bullpens that were among the league leaders in bullpen ERA.
Juan Encarnacion
I watched the WBC...a friend of mine got tickets for the semi-finals and finals in San Diego so I wanted to attempt to learn the players on different teams. I watched the Dominicans a lot and Juan Encarnacion looked pathetic at the plate while also showing signs of possibly being a right field version of Lonnie Smith. They didn't call him skates for nothing. I know, it's only spring, but Juan looked lost. Hopefully, he pulls over and asks for directions on the way to Opening Day.
By the way, San Diego is great. Petco Park is beautiful. The WBC was fun to see. There is a place called Moondoggie's in the Mission Beach area where, on Sunday, people just sit around and drink all day. I was one of those people and loved every minute I spent at that bar. If you are in the area, check it out. Especially on Sunday afternoons.

Although there are some BIG concerns, Carpenter has looked great, Eckstein keeps trucking and Ponson has been surprising. I watched a game on ESPN against the Yanks and he did well, and he threw really well yesterday too. I think this signing will look good at the end of the year.
I can't say I'm really confident going in to 2006. There are so many questions. There is one shining light, though. The Cardinals play in the NL Central. And there is not one team in this division that doesn't have a ton of questions to answer.

Opening Weekend

I just wanted to update everybody with what we are working on for opening weekend at Wrigley and beyond.

First off we have been a little overwhelmed by the response we have gotten so far. With more than 1000 unique visitors in our first couple of weeks the site seems to be off to an amazing start. Given that we have had to re-evaluate what is possible with the site and thus the delay.

The three of us are heading up to Wrigley on Saturday to try and negotiate a bar package. We are going to try Red Ivy and Moe's in Wrigley. Both are relatively new bars and may be more willing to hold an event during Cubs-Cards weekends. If both of those fail we will probably revert to good ole Sedgwicks. We are shooting for Saturday night since the night game on Sunday should give us all ample time to recover.

If anyone has any ideas or contacts with bars in Wrigley please post a comment to this message.

More This Day in Baseball History

March 10, 2005

Singling off Brad Thompson in a Cardinal intersquad game, former pitching prospect Rick Ankiel goes 1-for-2 in his debut as a position player. Historic wildness and injuries ended the 25-year old once very promising career on the mound.

We're all excited to see Ankiel back in the bigs. I think a previous comment from one of our visitors said it best, "It will be awesome when Ankiel puts on the horned rims and sprints out to right field while the PA at the new Busch plays "Wild Thing."

Carp over Pujols?

Buster Olney wrote today in his blog on ESPN about players that are indispensible to their teams. In writing about the Cardinals he suggested that Carpenter was indispensible over Albert Pujols. ESPN must be working Mr. Olney pretty hard because he isn't thinking right.
Just for the record, in 2005:
Chris Carpenter: 33G, 2.83 ERA, 21-5, 240+ IP
Albert Pujols: 161 G, 129R, 41HR, 117 RBI, .330 AVG, .430 OBP
Without Pujols, the Cardinals lineup last year would not have had any players with 100 RBI, a .300 AVG, 100 runs, more than 30 HR or an OBP over .400. Additionally, those that would take Pujols' spot would get pitched around in dangerous situations like Albert does now. Albert makes everybody in the lineup better more than anyone this side of Barry Bonds. And, with 161 games played last year, he makes the lineup and thus, the team better almost every single game. The Cardinals would not have had one of the best offenses in the National League without Albert Pujols.
If Carpenter went down, it seems that the Cardinals actually have some depth in the rotation that could fill in. Admittedly, Sidney Ponson, Adam Wainright, and Anthony Reyes, don't look like they would put up Carpenter's 2004 numbers - not even close. But, they could be serviceable holding a lead with Pujols in the lineup.
Buster Olney's suggestion that ANYONE is more valuable to the 2006 Cardinals than Albert Pujols is an absolute joke. The offense would not be anywhere near as good on a daily basis and Carpenter would have to have his 2005 stats to win 15 games let alone 21.