Cardinals are done in the central
- Thread starter nemsdawg
- Start date
I will say that I have not been very impressed with the new GM, Mozeliak, however the hell you spell it.
He seems to be too conservative. It's not like the Cardinals have, oh I don't know, 7-8 OF's in the majors and minors that could be used as trade bait. Not to mention that they have some decent pitching in the minors as well.
As far as the closer situation, I would give Chris Perez a shot this year to see if he can do it, and yes I know he struggled some when he was up, but he was doing middle relief work, and I think that he was kind of out of his element. I don't see how Perez blowing a lead would be any different that Izzy or Franklin blowing a lead. Plus, other than K-Rod, I don't see a lot coming up on the FA market next year, and it just got potentially thinner with Billy Wagner having an MRI on his elbow tommorrow. If Perez can't cut it, I think the next logical thing is to sign another fourth or fifth starter in the offseason, or get someone that can eat innings- like Livan Hernandez, who appears to be available, and move Todd Wellenmeyer to the closer role. Moving Wainwright to the bullpen doesn't make a lot of sense to me because he is so good as a starter. Wellenmeyer, however can throw in the mid to upper 90's- I've seen him at 97, but he consistently at 94, and facing the lineup once will allow him to let it go. He also has a good slider, and at times a decent changeup.
Beyond that, the Cardinals need another big bat to protect Pujols, perferably a middle infielder. Colby Rasmus does look like he will hit for power, but he has struggled some at AAA, and that certainly is a concern. But, as far as I'm concerned, Kennedy, Izturis, and Miles are basically worthless and have no business starting for a MLB team. They also need to purge Ron Villone, Russ Springer, and Ryan Franklin and of course Izzy. Getting rid of them, and Mulder should free up some cash where they can go get somebody decent.
He seems to be too conservative. It's not like the Cardinals have, oh I don't know, 7-8 OF's in the majors and minors that could be used as trade bait. Not to mention that they have some decent pitching in the minors as well.
As far as the closer situation, I would give Chris Perez a shot this year to see if he can do it, and yes I know he struggled some when he was up, but he was doing middle relief work, and I think that he was kind of out of his element. I don't see how Perez blowing a lead would be any different that Izzy or Franklin blowing a lead. Plus, other than K-Rod, I don't see a lot coming up on the FA market next year, and it just got potentially thinner with Billy Wagner having an MRI on his elbow tommorrow. If Perez can't cut it, I think the next logical thing is to sign another fourth or fifth starter in the offseason, or get someone that can eat innings- like Livan Hernandez, who appears to be available, and move Todd Wellenmeyer to the closer role. Moving Wainwright to the bullpen doesn't make a lot of sense to me because he is so good as a starter. Wellenmeyer, however can throw in the mid to upper 90's- I've seen him at 97, but he consistently at 94, and facing the lineup once will allow him to let it go. He also has a good slider, and at times a decent changeup.
Beyond that, the Cardinals need another big bat to protect Pujols, perferably a middle infielder. Colby Rasmus does look like he will hit for power, but he has struggled some at AAA, and that certainly is a concern. But, as far as I'm concerned, Kennedy, Izturis, and Miles are basically worthless and have no business starting for a MLB team. They also need to purge Ron Villone, Russ Springer, and Ryan Franklin and of course Izzy. Getting rid of them, and Mulder should free up some cash where they can go get somebody decent.
Todd4State said:
</p>Once major league scouts - and subsequently major league hitters - found out Perez only possesses a decent fast ball, he was nothing more than a human pitching machine. He's exactly where he needs to be - in the minors learning how to throw a slider. And Wellemeyer has no business closing in the major leagues.
Perez has a decent curve, as well. But yeah, the fastball is his only great pitch right now. He had control issues at times, too.
Russ Springer has been lights out. I know he had a rough one last night but he has been very effective and I think some of what we saw last night is because he pitched so many times this week.
Perez is NOT a closer and wont be until he gets command of his fastball and learns to throw that curve and slider better. He will get scouted out and then guys will start teeing off on him.
Izturis is a good defensive shortstop that is horrible at hitting. Miles is a decent second basemen and he is hitting well this year (.314).
Perez is NOT a closer and wont be until he gets command of his fastball and learns to throw that curve and slider better. He will get scouted out and then guys will start teeing off on him.
Izturis is a good defensive shortstop that is horrible at hitting. Miles is a decent second basemen and he is hitting well this year (.314).
By the end of August, both the Brewers and Cards will be solely focused on the Wild Card race. Right now, they just need to hope that the Phillies, Mets, and Marlins don't junk up the Wild Card and leave it as a 2 team race. Right now, the Cards are 2 games up on the Fish and 2.5 games up on the Mets. They're going to need to catch the Brewers and hope that only 1 team out of the Marlins, Mets, and Phillies gets hot down the stretch.
I'm still predicting at least a 7 or 8 game lead for the Cubs in the Central by the end of August. They'll spend most of September trying to get prepped for the playoffs.
I'm still predicting at least a 7 or 8 game lead for the Cubs in the Central by the end of August. They'll spend most of September trying to get prepped for the playoffs.
Because their talent at most positions is a notch below the better teams, they have struggled when they've had to play them. Fortunately, there are enough bad teams in the NL that they have been able to hang on longer than anyone thought.
But the schedule now gets tougher, and the slide I predicted when Pujols got hurt will now begin.
They were probably smart not to make a deal in an effort to contend, because they are more than a player or two away from being a contender. They still have some serious issues in the minor leagues - especially when it comes to starting pitching. That is evidenced by the fact that their major league rotation consists of 3/5 journeymen, 1/5 reclamation project, and 1/5 rent-a-Boras client for a year. I would have seriously considered trading Lohse to a contender for some minor league pitching prospects. I would have also considered trading Ludwick. I still think he is at the tail end of a career season and that his value will never be higher. There is still time for the Cardinals to become sellers. But with the trade dead line passed, the value of their tradable parts goes down each day.
But the schedule now gets tougher, and the slide I predicted when Pujols got hurt will now begin.
They were probably smart not to make a deal in an effort to contend, because they are more than a player or two away from being a contender. They still have some serious issues in the minor leagues - especially when it comes to starting pitching. That is evidenced by the fact that their major league rotation consists of 3/5 journeymen, 1/5 reclamation project, and 1/5 rent-a-Boras client for a year. I would have seriously considered trading Lohse to a contender for some minor league pitching prospects. I would have also considered trading Ludwick. I still think he is at the tail end of a career season and that his value will never be higher. There is still time for the Cardinals to become sellers. But with the trade dead line passed, the value of their tradable parts goes down each day.
I just want to get younger. Plus, he will probably be more expensive because of his age and experience.
isn't all that bad- Clayton Mortensen is in AAA, but definately needs more time there, Mitchell Boggs, who has pitched some in the Big Leagues and will be a back of the rotation guy, and then Jess Todd at AA. Then Jamie Garcia is in the Big Leagues (for now), and Kyle McClellan looks to be promising as well. The guy that they got for Reyes- Perdomo- had some good numbers as well, but he sounds like a reliever.
Scouts say that they have brought Mortensen along to quickly and that he would be better served pitching at AA ball. He's 50/50. I happened to be listening to the last game that Boggs pitched and Mike Shannon said in the first inning "if he doesn't gain better command, he's going to get killed". Which he promptly did. And for a homer like Mike Shannon to say that, it means that guy has a LONG way to go before he pitches effectively in the major leagues. I think he's a 4A player. Good in the minors, will never do much in the majors. Todd? Who knows? Like I said, the Cardinals have some serious issues with their minor league pitching and the evidence is at the big league level. They haven't had much success at all in drafting pitching talent. And here's a hint. When a club trades for a guy like Perdomo and they start projecting him as a middle reliever the day of the deal, he ain't much.
after the Harden and Sabathia deals. I mean, going in to the trade deadline, you are either in the lead or tied for the NL Wild Card, with either the second or third best record in the NL. Does this team not deserve some help? I understand not giving up Rasmus to get Fuentes, but go get a solid middle reliever - just something- to help this ridiculous bullpen. What are you waiting for? I mean, when you have the 2nd to 3rd best NL record, is that not good enough to invest in now? Just because the two better teams are in the division, we can't try to at least get to the wild card?
And Wellenmeyer is getting better as a starter. He was pretty sharp last night. I don't like him in closer role, though. It usually takes him a couple of innings to get on track. I think the best case scenario is to bring Wainwright back as a closer and hope Carpenter gets better. A rotation of Lohse, Carp, Wellenmeyer, Piniero , and Looper with a closer that can actually, you know, "close" would be pretty effective.
And Wellenmeyer is getting better as a starter. He was pretty sharp last night. I don't like him in closer role, though. It usually takes him a couple of innings to get on track. I think the best case scenario is to bring Wainwright back as a closer and hope Carpenter gets better. A rotation of Lohse, Carp, Wellenmeyer, Piniero , and Looper with a closer that can actually, you know, "close" would be pretty effective.
why they put Mortensen in AAA. I definately think that he will be back there next year, but I guess he's doing OK since he has been rushed.
I wouldn't base a lot on Boggs based on one game, which happened to be his worst. When his control is there, he can be pretty good. He's no ace, but he will be OK for the back of the rotation in a year or so.
I wouldn't base a lot on Boggs based on one game, which happened to be his worst. When his control is there, he can be pretty good. He's no ace, but he will be OK for the back of the rotation in a year or so.
Todd4State said:
</p>I'm not basing my opinion on Boggs based on one game. He had one decent outing in Boston. In his other outings he ran every count full and had reached his pitch count by the 5th inning. He got shelled in his last two outings. If he keeps that up, his only future in the big leagues will be as a BP pitcher.
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