Hello 2009!

some great news on this new year’s eve:

– mr. grit, the scrappy aaron miles is gone, forever. well, for the next two seasons at least. he is now a cub…of all things. they gave him a two year deal worth 4.9 million dollars. really? he had a career year last season and we get it, he is versatile. two years? for that much money? you go cubbies! he is best suited to be a reserve and nothing else. defensively, he is below average at ss and mediocre at 2nd base. some say, “why are you picking on the man, he hit .317 last season?” well my friends, I don’t like guys that just put up a good ba. low obp, walk totals and complete lack of power are nothing to be desired…at least not by me. he is a singles hitter pure and simple. anyways, congrats to miles for getting that contract. I guess the cubs are determined to put a member of the ’06 cardinals w.s. team on theirs (edmonds obviously didn’t work out too well last year as a good luck charm to get them to the world series).

-fuentes is off the board…phew! he inked a deal with the angels. two years, 17.5 million dollars with an option for a third year worth 9 million dollars. isn’t that close to the cards reported 17 million dollar offer for two years? I guess fuentes wasn’t bluffing when he said he wanted to play for the halos. still, I like this move. he probably would have been marginally better than perez as a closer, but would have been payed a lot more than the league minimum so no thank you. if tlr wants competition for perez, we got motte and kinney.

-after acquiring miles, the cubbies went ahead and traded derosa to the indians. he will now be their starting third baseman. they got three pitchers in return, all minor leaguers. this seems like a setup to try to get peavy. they got fontenot to play 2nd and miles to back him up and to back up theriot at ss.

wow, this is sounding like a baby bears blog right? still more cubs news. old friend jason marquis might get flipped for a righty reliever named luis vizcaino of the rockies. I guess they want to free up a rotation spot for peavy or another starter possibly (who is better than marquis) and also free up some salary (bipolar betty is owed about 10 million for 2009 while vizcaino is owed 3.5 million).

well, happy new year and let’s hope we see some moves by the cards over the next couple of weeks.

2008’s Top 5 Stories

today is the day for the final UCB project of the year, the top five stories of 2008. so, let’s get to it.

1. lack of movement…any movement. I’m talking about the trade deadline in july and now, during the current offseason. the silence is deafening. you can hear a pin drop in mo’s office. what the hell? the best he could do was trading anthony reyes for a double A righty reliever. well, that reliever is gone because the giants took him as their rule 5 draft pick. now, all we have to show for this offseason is the greene trade, which is a decent trade I think and the miller signing. this team still needs a starter or two and mo is gotta trade from the plethora of outfielders so as to help this team and not have a logjam in the outfield.

2. ludwick’s emergence. the cardinals have finally found proper protection for albert, as long as ryan can stay healthy. I think this guy is the real deal, he just has to stay healthy. what makes him even more important to this club’s success is that he is the only legitimate right handed power bat in the outfield. joey bombs might emerge to be that kind of bat, but it’s still too soon to tell.

3. MVP! yes, we all know pujols probably should win the mvp almost every season because of the player that he is and the numbers that he puts up. sadly, the writers don’t think that way. so, it was nice to see him finally pick up another one, but we all know that he should have like 5 mvp awards already. picking up the clemente award was nice for albert too…congrats prince albert!

4. lohse’s performance. he was unexpectedly good for a while. although he came back to earth the last couple of months of the season, he was phenomenal the first half or so of the season. he was basically a steal because he had a career year. let’s just cross our fingers and hope that after he was awarded that extension, he pitches the same way over the span of the contract. sure, he is going to regress, but I’m hoping it won’t be that drastic of a decline.

5. the bullpen collapse. I think I kinda saw it coming because of the starting pitching only going 5 innings every night for a while, but the collapse that I envisioned was a lot less catastrophic. wow, was it a collapse…it reminded me of the terrible nightmare that was the 2003 bullpen with pedro borbon jr. and estaban yan, among others. not very good memories to say the least.

those are my top 5….check C70 at the bat for his top 5 and links to other blogs that are participating in this project.

MLB Roundup

still no new cards news to report…so, I’m just trying to keep myself sane and in the same time keep up with which free agent is landing where and at the same time giving you the info if you missed it.

so, let’s see who is going where.

some familiar names have been inked to minor league deals with s.t. invites; the jays signed michael barrett and mike maroth to those kinds of deals…minor league one with an invite.

good old mike maroth; I remember those innings very vividly, but I really wish I did not. all those hits, walks and homers. every hit anybody got off of him while he was a cardinal was a rope going one way or another.

what can you say about barrett? decent catcher, good hitter and the infamous big z bustle and the slump in san diego.

florida is looking to sign turnbow…yeah, that one. he has had injury problems and only pitched 6 1/3 innings last season and has had control problems. he also seems to not have the steel spheres to close out games as we saw with milwaukee. maybe the fish want to get him and try him as the closer since they traded away Gregg to the cubbies.

one of my favorites, brad penny, is off the market. the dreaded red sox signed him. it’s a one year deal that is worth 5 million dollars. he would have been the perfect duncan project; one last project for him. he has the definition of high risk high reward. I don’t know if he is going to be any good in the junior circuit…his whole has been in the national league. usually, pitchers do worse in the american league because of obvious reasons (dh and a catcher that can actually hit).

another favorite of RBR, randy johnson, is off of the table also. this one was a little more of a long shot, but still. he signed a one year deal with the giants worth 8 million and potentially 13 million of he can get all the incentives. I think that’s a pretty good deal even though the big unit’s back is pretty much shot. he needs 5 wins to get to 300 and he will probably get’em. I don’t expect him to make more than 15-20 starts though.

old friend walt jocketty is making some noise over in cincy. he inked willy taveras to a two year deal. he’ll bat leadoff and play centerfield for the reds. I guess he’ll basically replace ryan freel, except he is not nearly the hitter that freel is, but h can sure swipe bases if he can get on base.

at this point, I’d be happy if the cardinals signed perez. no, not oliver perez, but odalis perez. yes, this guy.

finally, tomorrow the UCB has it’s final project for the year and I’ll be participating. to learn more about it, check out the head organizer and “president” of the UCB, C70.

Hibernation break

hey, how is everyone? been away for a while…finals, lab work, family matters among other things have kept me pretty busy the last two weeks. just wanted to put up a post before christmas to sum up what has happened the last week or so, which is not very much.

the cardinals signed a japanese pitcher…no, not one of those much heralded one. katsuhiko maekawa is a left handed pitcher that was signed to a minor league deal; he is 30 years old. he did not pitch last year, but in 2006, he pitched for the orix blue wave going 1-7 with a 4.37 era. so, um, sounds like triple-A filler to me, but I hope I’m wrong. maybe, just maybe, he is the 2nd LOOGy for the 2009 bullpen along with trevor miller.

more minor league signings; cards signed a couple of guys to minor league deals with invites to spring training. joe thurston is an infielder and justin knoedler a catcher. I really don’t know much about these guys, but FR and VEB do, so check them out.

fuentes’ thing is not over yet…hopefully it will be soon since his agent said he was waiting for texiera to sign and he did…with the yankees to an 8 year deal worth 180 million dollars. so, the cards a still waiting. brian has reiterated that he prefers the angels and they can have him as long as they give him a three year deal i guess. the cards are rumored to have offered him a two year deal with 16-18 million dollars. let’s hope he goes for the angels.

Mr. Pujols recieved another award. so, clemente, mvp and now the this year in baseball’s hitter of the year…no one deserves it more. AP is simply a phenomenal hitter, the best in baseball if I can say so myself.

that’s all I got, so merry christmas, happy new year and happy holidays to all!

Hot Stove Heaven!

there is so much stuff happening now that it’s making my head spin! seriously…just a week ago, things were slow as a snail with trevor miller talks all over cardinal blogs. now, since sabathia has picked a team finally, the dominoes are falling.

first up…sabathia. the yankees were pretty much bidding against themselves. no one seems to have even gotten close to their offer. its been reported that they will sign CC to a 7 year 161 million dollar deal. I’ve read about the other offers, and none of them were over 100 million. don’t get me wrong, that’s a lot of money, but its not 160 million. still, if any team can afford it, its the yankees.

now, the yankees turn their attention to burnett. reports have said they the bombers are going hard after him by giving him the 5th guaranteed to him and the offer’s worth is around 85 million I think. the braves over is around 80 million. if they get him, they might go after ben sheets too. are you kidding me? a rotation of sabathia, burnett, sheets, wang chamberlain…killer! if only they can stay healthy.

let’s talk cardinals for a bit now…a closer? really tony? wtf! you gotta be kidding me right? an offer to krod, and they tried to get putz. thank god that krod is now with the mets and so is jj putz thanks to a three team deal that sent him there.

now, tlr says that fuentes is their top priority. really? shouldn’t they try to get a decent starter? like, say this guy? yes, rays needed an left handed hitter outfielder and they got’em from the tigers. guess who else has a surplus of lefty outfielders….the cards; but I digress, what about perez and motte? I thought that’s what they drafted perez for…to be the closer of the future. what happened to the promise of giving young players a chance? thank god we only have one year of tony left (at least I hope so).

some nice news about fuentes: the angels like him. let’s hope they make him an offer he can’t refuse do we don’t have to deal with a 3 year 30ish million dollar deal that he is demanding.

more cardinals related news; the diamondbacks inked lopez to a one year deal worth 3.5 million pending a physical. yikes! that much money for a a hot bat that lasted a couple of months.

looks like kennedy will be back as the cards 2nd baseman…will he be the starter? that is still to be determined. also, the guy I’ve been advocating the cards sign to play 2nd because he might come cheap resigned with his old team, the twins. taht’s right, nick punto is off the market.

the birds don’t need another lefty right because they are going after fuentes (sigh…)? well, the reds are closing in on rhodes. its said to be a two year deal worth 4 million dollars…identical to miller’s old deal. maybe this is good for the cards in the long term. we’ll just have to see things play out over the years.

last but not least, some news from across the state. the royals are working on a deal with farnsworth. yes, that kyle farnsworth…the man with all the tools, but without a toolbox. its said to be a two year deal. they’ll use him as the setup man for their young stud closer soria.

wow…I’m wiped out, or hot stoved out. they need to save some of this stuff for the rest of the winter!

Running on the rumor mill

many, many rumors regarding the cardinals are swirling about these days. let’s go through them and see if we can cut the crap out and fantasize about some of these possibilities.

so, let’s get started!

1. rosenthal reports that the cardinals are serious about burnett. uhhh….I really don’t buy this one. I’m crazy like that, but I don’t believe this one. I’d say their interest is the same as it was three years ago; a lot, but not enough to give him the highest bid and land him that’s for sure. also, we all know he does not give a home town discount. ken also says the it’s been reported that the braves have offered him a 4 year deal worth 60 million with an option for a fifth. um, no thank you! this time, I’m going to side with the cardinals on this one. burnett is a great pitcher when he is healthy; a fireballer that can shut any team down, but the catch is he’s got to stay healthy. he is also know thirty two years old. if he was injured that often in his 20’s, what’s gonna happen to his arm in his mid 30’s? 4 years is the most I might do, with an option for a 5th (a team option). If I was Mo, I would just match the braves offer and see what happens.

2. mark bowman of mlb’s hot stove blog says that the braves are interested in ankiel, but not ludwick. perfect; the cardinals need that power hitting righthanded bat anyways. now, when it comes to a lefty outfielder, they got a couple and then some. yeah, I’d trade slick rick to the braves….for kelly johnson and a decent left handed pitcher (reliever or starter; close to major league ready). ankiel is due to make some big bucks assuming he can stay healthy and put up the power numbers because his agent is boras (and he has a cannon for an arm). so, I’d make that move, but it really depends on the lefthander they include in the package.

3. also, I’ve read various articles online (including the p.d.) talking about the cards interest in peavy. uh, that probably would involve rasmus, so no thank you. if it does not, then let’s talk shall we? start the conversation with anderson, craig and boggs/mortenson? something like that, but colby and perez I would say are definitely off of the table (they should be at least).

4. this is the worst one of all, but some say the cardinals are also pursuing a closer….(gulp)…why? I’d be ok with an insurance guy that comes cheap in case perez really blows up and can’t get “it” back; which is whatever a pitcher needs to close, but that’s about it. I don’t like this talk of putz and hoffman unless they are willing to set up for perez or pitch the seventh and let motte set up for him (if he performs in spring training).

in a recent article, I’ve read that Mo says pitching is the top
priority and I agree. he needs to add another starter because carpenter
is still a huge liability. I’d prefer a lefty; I would not mind the
cards taking a flyer on shawn estes, mark hendrickson, randy johnson!,
odalis perez(!), oliver perez(!), randy wolf(!). now, the guys with the
(!) are of special interests to me; they can possibly really make the
club better. estes and hendrickson I’d probably give minor league deals
with invites to s.t., but the others, a mlb deal is required. some
might come cheap (odalis) while others will probably be really
expensive (johnson, o. perez). a guy with a lot of potential and is a
hard throwing righty that’s had some injury problems that I’d like the
cardinals to take a look at is penny. he has really great stuff and
maybe the wizard duncan can straighten him out; the problem is he seems
to have attracted many other big market teams that will give him a
chunk of dough so I don’t know how likely that is anymore.

well, that’s it for today. hopefully, john makes a move or two before the end of the meetings.

Did that just happen? uh, Yes!

yes, it did just happen. from no moves and talking about charlie manning  and his pick up and the resigning of fumanchu larue to this…

not one, but two moves! can you dig it?

first, after a long suspenseful and drawn out wait, trevor miller is officially a cardinal. he signed a one year deal with a total potential value of 2 million dollars.

my conspiracy theory at the time was that something wrong must have happened during his physical? wouldn’t you know it, there was something wrong. his left labrum (in his left shoulder)is damaged. so the two year 4 million dollar deal was scratched and this two million one year deal was put together and agreed upon.

now, we have our LOOGy; still, the cards probably need another lefty reliever because that’s how tony like its. now, whether that lefty is strictly a LOOGy or a guy that can get right and lefthanded hitters out depends on what’s available and the price.

even bigger news, we got ourselves a shortstop! yes, the cards made a deal for Kal-el, son of Jor-el Greene from the planet Krypton. he has come to earth to save cardinal nation from horrible offensive shortstops (at least power wise). the article said that the cards gave up two relief pitchers for him, mark worrell and another one that has not been announced.

you might have heard that he was pretty bad with the bat last season (.213 avg, 10 homers, 35 rbis, 5 sb, 100 k’s, 22 bb’s, .260 obp, .339 slg % in 389 at bats). obviously, not very good.

in 2007 though, he had a big year when he hit 27 homers in that spacious national park that they call petco. now, he moves to busch, which is a more favorable hitters park compared to petco.

khalil might not be great all around player because he does strike out a lot and his obp can be low at times, but he does have potential and is at least solid if not spectacular. in the lineup, I see him as the number 6 or 7 hitter. so, as of today, the cards lineup should look something like this:

rasmus, ankiel, pujols, ludwick, glaus, greene, molina, kennedy?, pitcher…that looks about right to me. except, maybe tony would not want back to back lefties at the top of the lineup. I don’t mind it as long as ludwick stays in the cleanup spot because he should last season that he is best suited for it.

oh, last thing: greene has one year left on his deal I think that is worth 6.5 million dollars and he is 29 years old. let the news soak in and savor the taste of the culinary arts that are coming off of the hot stove!

Light flurries of activity

come on, somone make a move already. sign somebody or trade somebody for god’s sake!

nothing….crickets still chirping. the arbitration deadline came and went and the cardinals did not offer arbitration to any of their free agents. that was certainly unexpected.

I thought looper would definitely get an offer and springer would also probably get one but not izzy. Mo went the other way and did not offer anyone arbitration. springer is a type A free agent while looper and izzy are type B free agents.

I honestly don’t get this move…moving on to within the division. the astros are supposed to be close to a deal with mike hampton, pending a physical.

the brewers offered both been sheets and cc sabathia arbitration which was a smart move. sabathia will be gone and they’ll get a plenty of compensation. as for sheets, I don’t really know. it seems like he has a very good chance of returning to the brewers; teams seem to be scared off by his arm issues and his history and rightfully so. in the end, he just might be back with the beermen next season.

well, that’s it. nothing to report still. hopefully, we see some activity soon….whatever happened to trevor miller? did he just fall of the face of the earth?

LOOGY Galore

not one lefty specialist but two?

could it be….well, why yes it quite possible could.

I bet you’ve heard about the cardinals and their “negotiations” with trevor miller, the free agent lefty speicalists that was part of the rays 2008 bullpen. yes, that guy. Mo has been “dealing” with him for a while, but the deal is still not done. he even came into to saint louis for a physical I suppose.

the deal was reported to be almost completed like over a week ago. still, they are still working out the terms, or so they say.

I honestly don’t know what the deal is. its rumored to be a two year deal; I don’t dispute that and I’m betting both sides have agreed to that. what’s left to talk about…money I guess? affledt got a two year 8 million dollar deal. what do you give miller, 2 years 4 million? overpriced sure, but that’s what the market for lefty specialists look like this offseason.

maybe there is something wrong with the guy physically; meaning, the physical did not go as planned. well, then the negotiations should have just stopped right? I don’t know.

I’m a big conspiracy theorist (I know, I’ve told you this before if you’ve been reading this blog for a while), so let me give you my theory. I’ve read a couple of sources saying that cincy (old friend walt) is also interested in miller. could he be using cincy’s interest as leverage to get some more money/years out of the cardinals? this is baseball, so that is a possibility not to be ruled out.

now, the cards have made an offer to arthur rhodes. rhodes’ agent has confirmed that the cardinals have made an offer. although, no one mentions how competitive the offer is. this reminds me of the burnett mystery offers that were “competitive”…I am a cynical character. we might never know what the cardinals offered him if he signs somewhere else, but we’ll know what he signed for. then, maybe we can estimate how much lower the contract that the cards offered.

let’s be positive for a second though; Mo and the braintrust might prove me wrong for once and actually do it. they actually might land both lefties, but I highly doubt it. I’m guessing the contract with miller will eventually be agreed upon. I won’t hold my breath for rhodes though.

so, that’s my LOOGY breakdown. just in case I don’t post tomorrow, happy thanksgiving! eat a lot of turkey and watch all three football games thursday. I personally am planning to watch at least a game and a half.

Forgot about Jimmy?

…no, that is not possible. surely, you have not forgotten about jimmy edmonds.

so, I’m gonna cover my ears and assume that you have not…ignorance is bliss.

you might have heard that jimmy drama is a free agent. he was contemplating retire, but now he says he wants to play at least another year.

for the cubbies, he hit .256 with 19 homers and 49 rbis. for the season, his line was .235, 20 homers and 55 rbis with 55 walks and 82 k’s. of the 80 hits that he collected last season, 41 were extra base hits.

the man had two really horrible months to start the season. no doubt he can still hit big league pitching. on the other hand, he has obviously lost a step in the outfield, but he’s still above average defensively (at least that what I see through my jimmy bias glasses).

if any team is going to sign him, they will probably use him in a platoon role. the cubbies look a lot less likely to bring him back now since lou has declared that he wants to platoon reed johnson and fukudome in center next season. that means they are looking for a full time right/left fielder, most likely a powerhitting lefty.

you can say what you want about jimmy; he is still the greatest cardinal centerfielder of all time all around. he is also inline to be a hall of famer…at least if he ever gets to 400 homers. remember, he also has 1176 career rbis and 974 career walks. he can easily get to 1200 rbis and 1000 walks by playing another season. he also has 8 gold gloves and a world series ring on his resume.

at the moment, he has 382. so, another season should get him to 400 because all he has to do is stay healthy and he can hit 18 bombs. sometimes, that’s the hard thing about this man.

it looks like someone thinks that the phillies might be intersted in jimmy’s services. should be interesting to see where he ends up.

let’s see where jimmy ends up playing next season and what he does.
then, we can update the numbers and revise the hall of fame discussion.
until then, I wish jim a healthy 2009, a one year deal and the best of
luck with his new team (and a fair amount of at bats).

The 2nd annual cardinal blogger awards!

today is the day for the blogger awards; if you don’t know what I’m talking about, read this.

let’s got right at it…fast and furious:

1. player of the year- ryan ludwick, albert pujols or yadier molina

for this one, I feel like a I have to go with ryan ludwick. before you call me crazy, read my reasoning. first of all, the mang is who we think he is; he is mr. consistancy. I know it seems like I’ve been spoiled, but truely all of cardinal nation has by albert. we see a .330 average, 120+ rbis and 35+ home runs as set standards that albert has defined for himself over the years. he is the best hitter in the game no doubt. so, its not unexpected for him to do what he did. it was very unexpected for ryan though. I thought he would hit .270 and maybe 25 homers; that would have been icing on the cake for me. he went above and beyond that though, so he gets the nod from me.

2. pitcher of the year- kyle lohse, braden looper or adam wainwright.

I’ll take braden looper for pitcher of the year. must be the magicman dave duncan at work here. it’s gotta be him. lohse was good, but he has always had the potential and he kinda tailed off at the end there. adam was on the dl for a couple of months so I can’t really give it to him. looper blew me away; I still think he is at best and this is if everything goes his way (pitch selection, location, defense, hitter, etc.), he is a #3 starter. the rest of the time, which is almost always, he is a #4 or 5 starter. that’s just who he is. still, he was phenomenal down the stretch and especially the last three months of the season.

3. game of the year- july 5th vs. chicago, aug. 22th vs. atlanta, aug. 27th vs. milwaukee or sept. 9th vs. chicago.

my pick os september 9th versus the cubs. the cards had a 9th inning win at home against the cubbies. they beat the cubs, 4 to 3. chris perez got the win and sir albert homered (three run shot). this game was the best hands down.

4. surprise player of the year- lohse, ludwick or schumaker.

skippy gets it here. he was simply awefully good against right handed pitching. he plays pretty good defense. he was the “sparkplug” to the 2008 offense in my opinion. now, he is a valuable player, but tradable none the less because he can be replaced with an much better player; Raz is the guy I’m talking about.

5. disappointing player of the year- duncan, franklin or isringhausen.

izzy was very dissapointing and so was duncan. I was going to go with dunca originally, but I’ll submit a write in. I’ll go with tyler johnson. they really needed him this season, but he was not available. I read articles early in spring training about duncan saying that he was really dissapointed in tyler because he did not show up in shape, especially arm wise. a couple of weeks later, look what happened. he had “stiffness”. at that point, they shut him down for a couple of weeks. I pretty much called and and said that he was going to be out of the rest of the season. he was and I’m not even sure about his status for next season.

6. cardinal rookie of the year- mather, mcclellan or perez.

I really like mather, but he did not get enough at bats for me to annoint him rookie of the year. I think perez had high expectations on his shoulders to begin with. that’s why I pick kyle mcclellan. I mean, I’ve never heard of the kid before spring training and he had never pitched above double A. so, I thought he would have been gone in a couple of weeks. he hung in there, and wouldn’t you know it, he made the opening day roster. then, he was really good for like 6 months but his arm seemed to really give out the last three months of the season; I hope that he’ll be healthy and ready to go for next season because he can be a really important part of that ‘pen.

7. new player of the year- glaus, izturis or lohse.

glaus…I don’t really have a good reason for this one. my gut told me he was not going to do much…good thing my gut was wrong. he is a keeper; at least for another year or two before the walrus comes up to the bigs.

8. most anticipated cardinal- anderson, rasmus or todd.

the easiest one on the ballot so far…Raz of course.

9. best individual blog-
how about Fungoes? I would vote for myself, but that would be a copout and egocentric…that would also be a lie. so, fungoes it is; great blog with reasoning, logic and a lot of stats that blow your mind.

10. best team blog…no need for a discussion or reasoning or choices because this one os very obvious or it should be. VIVA EL BIRDOS!

11. best professional blog.

Bird land. derrick is a great writer, very thorough and thought provoking. no offense to bernie because he is great too, but goold’s blog is just better in my opinion.

12. best UCB project- I’ll go with the october roundtables. they were great; we got to give out our own opinions and read what other people think. what’s greater than the freedom of speech when it comes to blogs? nothing!

13. most optomistic blog…not mine.
uh, I’ll go with cardinals GM on this one. I just think tom is very optimistic when it comes to the cardinals and their chances.

14. funniest blog- no doubt, its cardinals diaspora. hooks is hilarious…

15. best blog post/series of the year- Biggest Plays of 2008 by Pip at Fungoes.

16. rookie blog of the year- 4thebirds.
            

Albert regains his crown

yes sir…they finally made the right decision!

you know, I had my argument planned out if howard had one it how the award was worthless because it was solely based on home runs and rbis. well, I don’t have to resort to that now, but I’ll  compare a couple of guys’ stats to howards’ and pujols’ stats.

so, I personally thought if albert did not win it (which he did), utley would be more deserving than howard.

Howard: 610 abs, 153 hits, 48 hrs, 146 rbis, 81 bbs, 199 Ks, .339 obp, .543 slg, .251 avg
Utley:    607 abs, 177 hits, 33 hrs, 104 rbis, 64 bbs, 104 Ks, .380 obp, .535 slg, .298 avg

come on people! you can see from those stats that the only stats in which howard is superior is rbis, homers and only slightly in slugging percentage (caused by the homers). besides, to do this, ryan when on an absolute tear at the end of the season; especially the last month. so, I’d give the mvp award to chase before ryan any day of the week. you can see that he has about the same amount of at bats and more walks and a higher obp plus more hits.

I guy that came to mind when I thought of howard was adam dunn. he seems to be a very similar type of player. so, I looked at his stats, and to me he also looked like he had better overall stats than howard. here they are:

Dunn: 507 abs, 122 hits, 40 hrs, 100 rbis, 122 bbs, 164 Ks, .395 obp, .500 slg, .236 avg

look at those stats…less hits, but about 40 less strike outs and about 40 more walks. I’d rather give it to dunn than howard.

now, don’t get me wrong, I like ryan howard he is a great player, but not worth an mvp award this season. so, that’s that…our man got it and he deserved it. congrats albert!

Friday quick hits and hot stove talk

wow, a lot of stuff has gone down the last week. let’s try to get all the news and notes I’ve missed to point out because of the lack of posting. here we go!

1. congratulations to albert pujols and ryan ludwick for winning the silver slugger awards at their respecive positions. this was expected for albert I think, but a long shot for ludwick. he had a hill of a year, but I thought they were going to award on reputation to someone that had a decent year. so, congrats big thud!
2. more congrats to tim lincecum for winning the nl cy young…much deserved here. the only real challenger was sabathia but it was partially not justified. if his whole season was taken into account, the man was terrible the first month or so of the season. I should know, he was on my fantasy team. on the other hand, lincecum has been stellar all year long…cc was phenomenal for the brewers the 2nd half of the season…just as good as lincecum if not better. in the end, they awarded it to the right pitcher.
3. it looks like holliday is going to oakland and the masterpiece of that deal is houston street on oakland’s side. I don’t think street is going to be in the rockies uniform for too long…as long as he does not wear the birds on the bat, I’m fine with that…Perez is our man!
4. it looks like manny is not a lock to return to the dodgers because they pulled back the offer…don’t know what that means, but they are still talking.
5. the peavy sweeksptakes are still going on and the cards are presumably out of it. the braves who were said to be in the lead for getting peavy have ended their pursuit of him…a glitch in the deal; I still think he will end up their.
6. now, to the yankees. they traded betemit and a couple of prospects to the pale hose for nick swisher…now they got a solid centerfielder. now, it’s been said that the yanks have offered a mind boggling contract to sabathia that I don’t see him refusing: 6 years and 140 million dollars. you gotta take that if your CC right? of course you do! I’ve also read that the yanks have some offers ready for burnett and derek lowe. I got one thing to say and it’s “watch out red sox, here come the yanks!”…it would be pretty awesome if the yanks sign all three starters and destroy the sox next season. so, in the end, the rays and yankees make the playoffs and the red sox do not…phenomenal!

Last but not least…the cards are not a number so let’s talk some cardinal hot stove league!

it seems that the cardinals are interested in bringing back lopez. I guess it’s because his back woke up once he got here and he is not that bad of a defender for a 2nd baseman. the problem is that he wants a multiyear deal. note to lopez…you don’t bite the hand that feeds you, right? I guess lopez does not believe in that. if he/his agent continue to be stubborn, he most definitely won’t be back.

let’s stay in the middle infield. kennedy still wants to be traded…let’s see what mo is going to get for this guy…a double A reliever maybe?

they still need a shortstop. the list of free agent shortstops looks like this via MLB trade rumors:
Willie Bloomquist (31)
Orlando Cabrera (34) – Type A
Alex Cintron (30)
Alex Cora (33)
Craig Counsell (38)
David Eckstein (34)
Adam Everett (32)
Rafael Furcal (31)
Nomar Garciaparra (35)
Chris Gomez (38)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (33)
Cesar Izturis (29)
Felipe Lopez (29)
Tomohiro Nioka (33)
Nick Punto (31)
Edgar Renteria (33) – Type A
Luis Rivas (29)
Juan Uribe (30) – Type B
Ramon Vazquez (32)

the names that interest me, and possibly the cards I’ve marked. I would not mind seeing edgar man short, but on a one year deal only. he can still hit in the national league pretty good…it seems that when he gets into the AL, he does horribly and he is terrific in the nl.

uribe is an intriguing option also; he kind of reminds me of what hector luna was supposed to be…I don’t think he would be that back either.

the pipe dream would be furcal. the man can do everything except hit for power. he would be the perfect lead off hitter and he can steal and he switch hits and plays good defense. what’s not to like? he will demand too many years and too much money though.

the dark horse that I could really see the cards sign is nick punto. he is a versatile guy…he can play 3rd, 2nd or ss; I’m not sure of his range, but he has played plenty at the shortstop for minnesota over the years. he kind of reminds me of mark derosa of this offseason, but with less power. I’d bet on this guy to be in a cardinals uniform before spring training if I was a betting man.

whose playing 2nd? well, if its not lopez, why not ryan I ask? the organization does not see him as a full time player, but I think he should be given a shot. how about hoffpauir? give him a shot too; that is, if you don’t go out and sign/trade for a 2nd baseman.

oh, oh, oh….I got it! the perfect 2nd baseman that could be a long term solution and would be the perfect  lead off man…he won’t be cheap, but won’t break the bank either…he’s got pop…he switch hits…he plays great defense…that’s right boys and girls, its olrando hudson! he is 31 years old, so a 3 to 4 year deal would be reasonable I think. go get’em mo!

oh, make sure to check back here next friday for the UCB annual blogger awards; the ballot is currently posted on cardinal70’s blog. that’s all I’ve got on this friday night, have a great weekend!

Holliday “gift” is no more…

so, the post dispatch is reporting that the trade that would have involved a swap of ludwick and holliday is dead. at least for now.

I’m guessing MO balked at the quantity he has to give for holliday; he probably did not get as part of the deal time for extension negotiations because the infamous scott boras is holliday’s agent and most likely he wants matt to test the free agent waters next off season (and rightfully so).

so, that was a smart move by mo; he would have given up to many players and too many cheap controlled productive years of three players of various abilities for one year of a very good player with drastic home and away splits. again, kudos to mo.

now, can mo focus on the man that asked to be traded; that’s right, adam kennedy. do your magic john.

Golden mitts, catchers and left fielders

special weekend post today…haven’t posted in a while and there seems to be a lot of stuff going on lately.

first off, congrats to yadi for winning his first gold glove….this one, as we all know, is way overdue. molina, had his worst season defensively in the bigs last season. I’m not saying he is bad, but he was not what he had been behind the plate in previous years. this gold glove is deserved, but I think he earned it because of his bat not necessarily for his glove.

for example….remember russell martin last season winning the golden mitt. yes, you do and why did he win? because he was solid defensively? yes, but molina was a lot better. this season, same thing, but it was actually deserved for previous seasons. now, we wait for AP’s mvp…he better get it this season.

speaking of catchers; the cards brought back larue to be their back up catcher for another season. one year deal for 950 k. I guess they don’t think anderson is ready yet; he’ll probably be gone by the beginning of next season.

to the trade talk. bernie, derrick and el diablo weigh in on the rumors of a trade between the cards and the rockies; ludwick for holliday. the premise is: the cards get holliday and the rockies get ludwick, schumaker and boggs.

I don’t know if I would make this move. on the plus side, it does not involve giving up rasmus, perez, motte, anderson, etc. schumaker is good, but definitely replacable. boggs is a decent starting pitching prospect but also replacable.

the problem is holliday only has a year left on his deal. his agent is scott boras…
he is due 13.5 million next season and boras would likely demand 6 years for this guy at a rate of 20ish million a year, probably. is it worth it? not if you don’t work out an extension that works for you (i.e. get him for less than 16 million a year, because that’s what albert is getting….sorry,but he can’t get paid more than albert. if he does, what’s albert going to demand when his contract is over…it would set a precident and we would be going down a slippery slope; at the end of it, we might lose albert. I’m not down with that!).

besides, the cards still control ludwick for three more seasons (until he becomes an unrestricted free agent). I say, no dice (most likely….depending on the scenario and if it changes or not).

let’s hear what you gotta say: