The Official St. Louis Cardinals Thread - Page 45

CardsFan · 10-10-2009, 05:21 PM

Fukcing great! We're making Vincente Padilla and Rafael Furcal look like world beaters! Christ, this is pissing me off. TLR teams rarely ever lack execution like this. Highly disappointing. Even Pujols isn't "studding" up like he normally would. :-(

Grind4Mine · 10-10-2009, 05:28 PM

yep, off to the gym I guess

sliksilver · 10-10-2009, 05:33 PM

1,2,3 for the 3-4-5 is a good start....for the defense.
we need runs

The Prime Nip · 10-10-2009, 05:54 PM

Guess we should've started John Smoltz...

At least Rasmus is showing that he's going to be a big time player.

The Prime Nip · 10-10-2009, 06:32 PM

We are the St. Louis Cubs.

Can't do anything but laugh at this point.

USAviator · 10-10-2009, 06:54 PM

eh good season guys...being in the playoffs is a lot better than not...

go rockies?

either way congratulations on a division title from someone who hates but respects the cards..04 and 05 nlcs were the best series ever

The Prime Nip · 10-10-2009, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by USAviator

eh good season guys...being in the playoffs is a lot better than not...

go rockies?

either way congratulations on a division title from someone who hates but respects the cards..04 and 05 nlcs were the best series ever

Rockies are a fun team and Spilborghs is an alpha name, so I'll be rooting for them.

ChicagoCubz · 10-10-2009, 08:07 PM

wynner64 · 10-10-2009, 08:13 PM

And the offseason begins......

Now.

weakguy · 10-10-2009, 10:14 PM

lol

how does that feel fellas?

JIGSAW · 10-10-2009, 10:16 PM

this thread should be locked until spring

Grind4Mine · 10-10-2009, 10:23 PM

yea u can all suck my dick, jigsaw, have fun watching matt Holliday tear it up in the regular season and piss all over himself when it counts in the post season for the next 8 years. Tax money well spent at least right New Yorkers??? Oh thats right you live in ****ing vegas lol

Grind4Mine · 10-10-2009, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weakguy

lol

how does that feel fellas?

feels like we got completely out everythinged,but you know what, we were still playing ball while the cubs were playing golf outta ten

Grind4Mine · 10-10-2009, 10:37 PM

and in the end, still gotta throw it up

ChicagoCubz · 10-10-2009, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grind4Mine

feels like we got completely out everythinged,but you know what, we were still playing ball while the cubs were playing golf outta ten

lol, you mean like you guys were the last two years?

Excuses excuses.

weakguy · 10-10-2009, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grind4Mine

and in the end, still gotta throw it up

fixed

Grind4Mine · 10-10-2009, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weakguy

fixed

nope, wrong again

weakguy · 10-10-2009, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grind4Mine

nope, wrong again

got it.

wynner64 · 10-11-2009, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weakguy

lol

how does that feel fellas?

Pretty bad. Thankfully I have nostalgia that doesn't reach back to a time before 2 World Wars happened.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jigsaw

this thread should be locked until spring

Should is the key word. It won't though. Feel free to pop in on the offseason discussion.

The_Albatross · 10-11-2009, 05:20 AM

what happened to the offensive juggernaut with the best 1,2 starting pitcher combo in the game?

The Prime Nip · 10-11-2009, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Albatross

what happened to the offensive juggernaut with the best 1,2 starting pitcher combo in the game?

They turned into the Chicago Cubs for one postseason. Don't worry. They'll be back next season. Can't say the same for the Cubbies though.

ChicagoCubz · 10-11-2009, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wynner64

Pretty bad. Thankfully I have nostalgia that doesn't reach back to a time before 2 World Wars happened.

Should is the key word. It won't though. Feel free to pop in on the offseason discussion.

Ah yes, 2006.

The year the Cardinals won the WS.

The year wynner64 became a Cardinals fan.

Grind4Mine · 10-11-2009, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChicagoCubz

Ah yes, 2006.

The year the Cardinals won the WS.

The year wynner64 became a Cardinals fan.

got any leftover zoloft??

The_Albatross · 10-11-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Prime Nip

They turned into the Chicago Cubs for one postseason. Don't worry. They'll be back next season. Can't say the same for the Cubbies though.

Cubs will easily win the division next year

The Prime Nip · 10-11-2009, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Albatross

Cubs will easily win the division next year

LOL, just like they were going to win the division easily this year too? No one picked the Cardinals to win the division this year.

Grind4Mine · 10-11-2009, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Albatross

Cubs will easily win the division next year

Now I know you have no clue about baseball. The Cubs are in disaray its obvious

wynner64 · 10-11-2009, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChicagoCubz

Ah yes, 2006.

The year the Cardinals won the WS.

The year wynner64 became a Cardinals fan.

Nope, not a bandwaggoner. I'm a Rams fan, not a Steelers, Packers, or Cowboys fan. Just like I'm a Cardinals fan. If you want to give me flack about recently adopting a new team, you can give me flack about becoming a Michigan fan.

Became a fan through my dad, which is how I'm sure you became a Cubs fan.

wynner64 · 10-11-2009, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Albatross

Cubs will easily win the division next year

Easily? No. Possibly? Yes.

Enter day 1 of Cubs vs Cards offseason jousting matches, lol.

marblehead · 10-12-2009, 12:09 PM

So I DVR Sat's Game....
My cousin got married.

I walk it all excited to watch it.

**** no. I turn the TV on and see FINAL 5-1

Cards swept
My wife said I was pretty funny in my drunken rambles

FUUUUUUUUU Cards!

E-Go · 10-12-2009, 01:04 PM

Baseball Prospectus' preseason PECOTA projection: 83-79, third place
Actual record: 91-71, first place

In about half a week, this team went from "perceived to have a good shot to win the NL" to "searching for an identity." Baseball's funny like that.

Buster Olney's take
What went wrong: The Cardinals stunned the Cubs and the rest of the NL Central and ran away with the division, but late in the season and in October, opposing teams began taking a different approach in pitching to Matt Holliday -- and Holliday's struggles impacted Albert Pujols, who did not hit a home run in the last 32 days of the Cardinals' season.

Biggest puzzler on the drawing board: The Cardinals already have significant contractual obligations with Pujols, Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse, Adam Wainwright and others. While they could re-sign Holliday, the left fielder will have to be willing to take less than what he might get on the open market to stay in St. Louis. And any contract talks with Holliday could have a major impact, moving forward, on the forthcoming talks with Pujols -- if the Cardinals pay Holliday as much as they pay Pujols, they'll set a very high market for their first baseman. The Cardinals will learn quickly whether Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan will come back to their staff.

Baseball Prospectus' take
Absent from the postseason since Tony La Russa piloted a rickety 83-win team all the way to a World Series title in 2006, the Cardinals were ticketed for third place in the NL Central by PECOTA, with a 14.7 percent chance of winning the division and an 8.6 percent chance of taking the Wild Card. Neither their lineup nor their pitching looked particularly imposing, even in the context of playing in a pitcher's park. Projected for eighth in the league in scoring, the offense appeared to have plenty of power thanks to Pujols' presence, but it nonetheless looked to be yet another stars-and-scrubs collection. Forecast for ninth in run prevention, the pitching staff had question marks, particularly at the front end, where Wainwright was the only starter whose raw forecast called for more than 100 innings with an ERA below 4.40.
Instead, the Cards won the Central by the largest margin of any NL division champion (7.5 games), turning a crowded four-team race into a laugher thanks to Cy Young-caliber seasons from Wainwright and Carpenter, another monster season by Pujols, and some timely in-season upgrades for the offense, most notably the July 24 trade which brought Holliday from Oakland. Holliday hit a searing .353/.419/.604, and the Cardinals had the league's best record (39-25) after his arrival. --Jay Jaffe, Baseball Prospectus

Key stats: 62 starts, 425.2 innings, 2.45 ERA, .650 SNWP
That's what the Cardinals got from Carpenter and Wainwright, and after the pair combined for just 23 starts last year, it was their performances which were the main reason the Cardinals outdid their PECOTA projection by eight games. After pitching just 21.1 innings in 2007-2008 due to various elbow miseries, Carpenter rebounded to go 17-4 while posting the league's top ERA (2.24) and SNWP (.673), with microscopic walk and homer rates (1.8 per nine and 0.3 per nine, the latter tops in the league) further underscoring the fact that he was back in Cy Young form. Wainwright, who missed two and a half months with a finger tendon injury in 2008, emerged as an ace thanks to improved command his curveball, which enabled him to smother righties (.217/.255/.290). He led the league with 19 wins and 233 innings while ranking fourth with a 2.63 ERA and 212 strikeouts.
As strong as those seasons were, it's worth pointing out that both pitchers may have been helped by pitcher-friendly Busch Stadium III and a weaker than average slate of opposing hitters. Wainwright put up a 2.05 ERA at home, 3.39 on the road; Carpenter faced hitters who were an average of 18 points of OPS worse than the league average, the 15th easiest in the league among NL qualifiers. --Jay Jaffe, Baseball Prospectus

Rumor Central
Trades: One player is 33, coming off hip surgery and made $32 million in 2009. The other is 29 (more or less), in great health and made $16 million in 2009. Yes -- it's A-Rod and Albert. The "problem" for the Cardinals is that the club has an option on King Albert for 2011, but you better believe they won't go into that season clueless as to whether they can retain him. A club confident it can sign Pujols for close to A-Rod money (perhaps $24-30 million per season) might offer a monster package. The Cards may be favored to retain if odds were posted today, but at 25-30 percent of total team payroll? A-Rod's deal might seem utterly ludicrous to most, but in 2011, it'll make up less than 15% of the Yanks' payroll.
Buzz: Yeah, yeah. La Russa's future is unclear. But if Duncan leaves, what does that do to the St. Louis staff, a reclamation project All-Star team? For instance, if Duncan bolts, why would free agent Joel Piniero stay? In fact, you could guess that Duncan's landing place night become a favorite to land one of his pupils. Need some good news? Well, John Smoltz wants to come back!

Who 2 Watch 4:
Allen Craig, LF (age: 25)
One of the more disturbing aspects of the Cardinals' egg-laying performance in the NLDS is the implications for the team's future, as St. Louis mortgaged quite a bit of it for this year -- trading away five good-to-very-good prospects at the upper levels for Holliday and Mark DeRosa. All five have a chance to contribute at the big league level as early as this coming year, but none of them will be doing it for St. Louis. If Holliday chooses to ply his trade elsewhere, the Cardinals might end up giving Allen Craig the first shot at filling the left field role. An eighth-round pick in 2006, Craig has received little fanfare, but he's performed at every level, including a .322/.374/.547 line for Triple-A Memphis in 2009 that included a remarkable second-half, during which he hit .405 with 18 home runs in 195 at-bats. -- Kevin Goldstein, Baseball Prospectus
Draft recap
Signed: 44 of 50 Spent: Just over $4 million
Hits: Shelby Miller, RHP (No. 19 overall): Miller could have just as easily been the No. 3 or 4 overall pick and ranked as Keith Law's No. 5 draft prospect. He possesses a mid-90s fastball and potentially plus curve ball with a ceiling as the next great pitching ace to come out of the state of Texas.
Miss: Robert Stock, C (No. 67 overall): If the Cardinals are betting on Stock as a pitcher, they probably could have done better with LHPs Jake Eliopoulos or Steven Matz. RHP Alex Wilson was still available, too.-- Jason A. Churchill

The bottom line
With Holliday, DeRosa, Troy Glaus and Rick Ankiel all free agents, the team will need to find a heavy hitter or two this winter to keep the lineup from feeling like "Albert and the Seven Dwarves" again. As the Cardinals fill their holes, they'll especially need to emphasize plate discipline -- given that Pujols and mid-season acquisition Julio Lugo were the only regulars to walk at least once for every 10 plate appearances. Furthermore, La Russa and Dave Duncan's possible departure might present real problems for this franchise, given the skill both have shown at squeezing the most out of rosters -- and particularly rotations -- assembled amid the limitations of a mid-market payroll.--Jay Jaffe, Baseball Prospectus