Who Do You Blame?

Another night, another late-inning come-from-ahead-loss.  A strong first inning is not a portent of things to come.  And a reliever allows a home run.  So, where do we start with the blame?

Do you, like TLR, take on the offense?  Six runs in two games isn't necessarily a recipe for success, I'll grant you.  But look at the lines for Milwaukee and St. Louis last night.  Same number of AB.  Same number of hits.  Same number of total bases.  The Cardinals even walked twice when the Brewers didn't walk.  So it's hard to lay it too much on the offense when Milwaukee can do the same and win.

I think the problem is the bullpen, but maybe not for the reason everyone is talking about.  Look, Lohse had labored through the seventh.  If there is a bullpen combo that TLR trusted, he'd have pulled Lohse after seven, used Pitcher A in the eighth and pitcher B in the ninth (perhaps with Villone in the middle to get Fielder as well).  Right now the Cardinal staff has 13 arms on it.  There should be no reason to extend starters like they did last night.

But the problem is there are very few that can be trusted in that pen.  Springer's been pretty good, but he's pitched too much recently.  McClellan, obviously, has that trust (though it backfired last night).  Villone can be trusted against lefties, but he's not a guy you can throw out there for an inning.  Thompson has been giving good innings lately.  After that, who?  Izzy and Franklin are very dangerous.  Flores hasn't been effective.  Boggs is out there, but you know they are trying to save him to start Friday.

All these arms and the game is still left in the hands of a tiring starter.

That said, Kyle Lohse pitched a heck of a game.  It's too bad he didn't get a win out of it, but it was just more of what we've come to expect from him.  I'm still not sure the Cards should sign him to an extention--this screams "career year"--but I'm glad that they picked him up in spring training.

Unfortunately, the goat has to go to Kyle McClellan.  It's tough being in a tie game where one mistake can cost you the game, but you really don't want to give up a home run in that situation.  A couple of base hits, it's possible you can work out of that.  A home run there, especially after the Brewer comeback, is just demoralizing.

So after another Cubs loss, the Cards sit in third, two games out.  Earlier in the year I'd started to write off the Brewers, but now they may be our best chance to keep the Cubs out of the playoffs.

The Cards can only split this series and that'll take a herculean effort with the pitchers for the next two days.  Tonight, Braden Looper goes against CC Sabathia.  On paper, that's not even close.  Since he's been in the AL, there's not a lot of heads-up data against most of these Cardinals, though Troy Glaus has been pretty hot against him.  Maybe he can bounce back from the 0-3 from last night.  Sabathia's been dominant since moving to the NL, though, with a 1.88 ERA after three starts.  Looper, well, you never can be sure what you are going to get with him.  The Brewers haven't had much trouble with him in his career and this year, he's 1-1 against them but has an ERA of 4.09.

The bad news wasn't contained to wins and losses last night.  First off, Chris Duncan hits the DL.  Some may find that a reason to rejoice, but Duncan had started to look better since his return from Memphis.  Plus, with him going on the DL now, the odds of him getting traded at the deadline are almost nonexistent.  He can be traded with his permission, I believe, but nobody's going to take him on while he's hurting.

Then, in Memphis's game, Colby Rasmus goes down with a potentially season-ending MCL injury.  We'll know more today, so that could be his dad's (who is the poster that put up the info) overreaction, but it doesn't sound good.  Which means that we won't get that extra offensive boost by getting Rasmus into the lineup either.

Wonder how all of this affects what Mozeliak is doing or needs to do?  Will we hear of any trades soon or will this be another quiet deadline?

Also on the Network: √ The Rumors Are Swirling [Depressed Fan] √ Filling Out The Bench [Depressed Fan] √ Shea Stadium: Wave Goodbye [Loge 13] √ Yankees Roll To Sixth Straight Victory [Green Pinstripes] √ Three Catchers! Stop the Presses! [El Lefty Malo] √ Urlacher extended, Williams signs [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Lucky #13 For Moose [Depressed Fan] √ Giants 6, Nats 3: Cavalcade of Codgers [El Lefty Malo]

Behind The Eight-Ball

The Cardinals have playing a hard nine down.  Too bad yesterday went 10 innings.

I wasn't able to watch much of the game.  Monday night is Promise Keeper night for me and between that and doing the dinner/cleaning kids routine beforehand, I only got chances to glance at the TV in the first few innings.  What I saw looked good, though.  The Cards seemed to continually put runners on and had a nice 2-0 lead early.

Of course, all it takes is one wrong pitch, which is what happened when Pineiro faced Rickie Weeks with two on.

The offense didn't do much in the middle innings, waiting until the ninth to tie it up.  Unfortunately, Albert Pujols wasn't able to come through this time in the ninth.  His homerless streak is up to 13 games.

Again, you have to give hero props to Troy Glaus for his two for four night, plus driving in those first two runs.  It's almost ridiculous how hot he is right now and I'm afraid what'll happen to the team if he comes back to earth.

Goat is pretty obvious, though when you read the PD story, it quickly becomes questionable why Ryan Franklin was out there at all.  You'd think you might go with some fresher arms in that situation, especially since Franklin hasn't exactly been dominant even at the top of his game.

So now, to hold serve in this series, the Cards are going to have to beat either Sabathia or Sheets, neither of whom are considered "gimmies".  Sure, the Cards have had some success with Sheets in the past, but he's really been pitching well lately and he's not a player you'd want to face needing a win for a split.

Before we get there, though, old friend Jeff Suppan comes off the DL to face the Cards.  His last few pre-DL starts were pretty bad, but you figure he's rested and ready to go if nothing else.  The Cardinals have had good success against Sups, though it's a little surprising that Yadier Molina, who caught him for so long, only is one for six.

St. Louis counters with Kyle Lohse, the current staff ace and one of the few pitchers on staff that anyone has any confidence in.  Lohse has done reasonably well against the Brewers in his career, though you'd expect new second baseman Ray Durham to be in the starting lineup.  Lohse did lose to the Brewers back in April, though.

I see that Friday's start is TBD.  Hopefully LaRussa doesn't try for a bullpen game.  That's not likely to have much success this year.

And if Mozeliak is crazy enough to send Jess Todd to Texas for Eddie Guardado, there might be a storming of the front office by the fans led by the Future Redbirds crew.  I can't imagine that has any chance of happening. 

Using the Broom

Very good weekend for the Cardinals.  Let's recap:

Thursday
Hero: Troy Glaus.  Two home runs off of a very tough pitcher.
Goat: Ryan Franklin.  A two run lead in the ninth becomes one after two batters.  He was fairly lucky to wiggle out of that.
Notes: Pretty impressive to have four home runs off of Jake Peavy.  Being able to take the first game helped with the confidence this weekend, I think.

Friday
Hero: Rick Ankiel.  Three hits, including a home run and was a part of the game-winning eighth inning.
Goat: Braden Looper.  Six earned runs in three innings.  You aren't often going to win games with that kind of start against Greg Maddux.
Notes: I knew that if they could split the first two games, it'd be a good weekend.  A sweep of them only reinforced that.

Saturday
Hero: Albert Pujols.  Three for four with the bases-clearing double that got the Cards back into it.  AP hasn't gone yard in a while (since the Fourth of July) but he's definitely producing.
Goat: Yadier Molina.  An 0-4 when everyone else is hitting.  Some of the bullpen guys were candidates too, but their lapses didn't wind up hurting the team.
Notes: Another come-from-behind win. I figured this one was done early with the way Wellemeyer has been throwing and having memories of last year.  Glad that they proved me wrong.

Sunday
Hero: Troy Glaus.  Miles's slam was nice, but without Glaus in the eighth, the Cards face Hoffman and that probably doesn't happen.
Goat: Jason Isringhausen.  That may be the last time we see him in a save situation.
Notes: Nice first start of Jaime Garcia.

All in all, a good weekend for the Cardinals.  The Hard Nine mentality was in full force, getting into that San Diego bullpen and causing some damage.  I don't know what the team is going to do with Isringhausen.  It's becoming obvious you can't put him into a close game, for whatever reason.  He looked very good on the first batter and then it just started unraveling.  There's no one in the bullpen that I have complete confidence in and only McClellan gets close.  Hopefully Mozeliak is still working the phones.

The weekend got better with a fairly successful rehab start from Chris Carpenter.  If the only thing we have to worry about as Cardinal fans is Carp's command, we're in good shape.  It's not surprising that he's a little rusty, having not been in a game situation in over a year.  A couple of more starts and he should be good to go, I'd think, barring no setbacks.  Which is something you can never be sure about, especially with Cardinal rehab pitchers.

Now the Cardinals get to take on the Brewers.  Both teams will say this is just another series.  To some degree, it is.  But the two teams only play each other twice more this season, if my examination of the schedule is correct.  I don't think it's any coincidence that the Brewers made the move for Ray Durham right before this series.  A Cardinal victory in the series would really put some doubt in the minds of the Brewers, especially with both of their aces going in the series, and it would give St. Louis some breathing room in the wild-card race as well as keeping them competitive with the Cubs.

Tonight, Joel Pineiro gets the call against Seth McClung.  The Cardinals haven't seen much of McClung, though Troy Glaus, currently the hottest hitter on the face of the earth, does have a home run against him.  At least McClung throws from the right side, so maybe the Cards can get to him.  Pineiro has faced the Brew Crew once this year, allowing two runs in 6.1 innings.  He's mainly been able to hold the Brewers down, but after his rough outing against Pittsburgh, there's little confidence there as well.

The Second Half Begins

Before we get to tonight's game, let's take a look at a few of the stories floating around about the Cards.

First off, there's the rumor that the Cardinals might part with Colby Rasmus.  Here's the relevant part of that link (took me a minute to actually find it):

Overheard at the pre-All-Star Game bash out on Randall's Island. The contending Cardinals might even consider parting with top outfield prospect Colby Rasmus, a major surprise. If so, it may put them in line to land Pittsburgh's Xavier Nady, or even Jason Bay.

OK, one, I don't believe the Cards would move Rasmus, that this is more of someone's either wishful or uninformed thinking.  Second, if they did move Rasmus, they darn well better do it for someone better than Nady and probably for someone better than Bay as well.

Speaking of rumors, apparently there was one on XM that had Rasmus, Bryan Anderson and Mitchell Boggs going to Colorado for Matt Holliday and Brian Fuentes.  I'm not fond of this one either.  With Holliday not completely proving he's not a Coors Field creation and the fact that Rasmus should be able to do what he does soon and for much cheaper, it just doesn't make sense to trade two top prospects for that package.

I really don't think Mozeliak will trade off Rasmus.  It just doesn't make any sense from the Cardinal perspective.

In fact, that was emphaised in an interview with Bill DeWitt on the Post-Dispatch site.  To quote:

P-D: Back to the club. Much speculation has sprouted about how far the organization will go to acquire help for this year's team if it remains in contention. What does that say about the availability of premium prospects such as Colby Rasmus?

BDJ: They're must-haves for any organization. I don't think you can trade potential premium prospects unless you get premium players back. I think what a lot of clubs have done historically is trade premium prospects for less-than-premium return. I don't agree with a short-term fix. A lot of quick fixes don't work. Time goes on, you're down the road, and your former prospect is out there putting up All-Star numbers for someone else.

P-D: Is there a chance that Rasmus could play his first major-league game in another uniform?

BDJ: I don't anticipate that. No.

The rest of the interview is pretty good as well.  I think DeWitt has taken a lot of unnecessary criticism over the years, so it is good to see him out in the press taking on some of the questions.

Closer to the field, it looks like the injured pitchers are getting better.  Adam Wainwright is looking to return in the next three weeks or so, it appears, and Chris Carpenter really liked how his simulated game went.  I would expect a solid return from Wainwright, maybe in time for the Cubs series August 8-10, but I still don't think we'll see Carpenter on the mound until the end of August and even then, I'm not sure how effective he will be.  But it's good to know things are getting better.

The Cards are the wild-card leader at the moment and they try to stay that way when they take on the Padres in Busch tonight.  It's a matchup of current aces, as Kyle Lohse and Jake Peavy take to the hill.  Not many of the Padres have seen a lot of Lohse, though outfielder Jody Gerut seems to have his number. The Cardinals have actually been able to put up some good numbers on Peavy, which really surprised me knowing the kind of pitcher he is.  Both Albert Pujols and Troy Glaus have two home runs against him.

Even so, I'd expect this to be a low-scoring game.  It's a good thing the Padres offense has been so weak--the Cards may not have to score much to win.

Series preview is up at the Clubhouse and the YNOT is active as well.  Ready to get it started!

Off Day Bullet Points

Not a whole lot to talk about, so let's just hit the high points.

• Really thought last night was going to be the night the National League stopped the streak.  Having that two run lead late in the game was good, though I will say that Volquez worried me when he came in.  After two outs, though, I thought he was safe.  Should have known better.
  
  
• For a while there, I thought Dan Uggla was going to be the MVP for the AL.  I mean, has anyone had a tougher half hour in ASG history?  A double play, which kept the NL from taking the lead, then back-to-back errors.  Heck, even the play he made could have been faster and a DP instead of just one out.  Then he struck out later with a runner on third.  You think maybe he was hoping for a better experience?
  
  
• I made it to the top of the 13th.  After that, I had to hit the sack and saw that Lidge got the loss in the 15th.  After that long, you can't say anyone blew it, really.  And, from the replays, it looks like they almost got another fly ball double play there as well.
  
  
• I know a lot of people are going to say Aaron Cook had a great game.  He did well getting around Uggla's errors, but he got lucky that Kinsler and Navarro were called out on tags that were either phantom or late.  Seemed like he was a Houdini--one that was escaping traps of his own making.  That strikeout of Longoria in the 11th was big, though.
  
  
• Glad to see Pujols have a good game.  2-3 is nothing to be ashamed of, though I wish Hurdle had left him in longer.  The way the game went (and the fact that Wright struck out his first two times up after taking over for AP), Hurdle might wish that as well!
  
  
• And what was up with walking Morneau in the 11th (or 12th--I forget now which!) to get to Kinsler with a man on third?  Usually power hitters have more holes in their swing, and since you only needed one out, you'd think they'd have gone after Morneau.  I thought maybe they were looking for an extra force play, but then they let Morneau steal without a throw.  You'd have thought Kinsler would be the one more likely to bloop a hit, but it worked out, so maybe there were some stats behind it I am not aware of.
  
  
• A new Cardinal site to mention.  Redbirds of a Feather has a weekly podcast summing up the week that just went by and looking ahead to the week to come.  Give it a listen when you get the time.
  
  
• I'm also trying to expand my internet knowledge and so have come up with a Facebook page.  If you are on the site, join up if you want.  I don't know exactly what I'll do with it, but it's there and that's something.
  

Tomorrow we'll take a look at the Padres series.  At least the break doesn't last an extra day like it does for some teams--I hate having no Cardinal baseball!

Mid-Season Review, UCB Style

Stick around after the jump for thoughts on last night's Home Run Derby, but right now, it's the next installment of the United Cardinal Bloggers franchise!

Last week, the UCB members started a roundtable discussion on how things had gone so far and what was coming next.  Each person tossed out a question for comment.  Today, each blog--CardinalsGM, The Cardinal Virtue, Fungoes, Redbird Ramblings and Mike on the Cards--will be posting the transcript of answers to their questions.  (Links will change from the general blog to the specific entry when they go up.)

My question was "Which player or players is/are the most likely not to be a Cardinal come August?"  It probably won't surprise you that one name dominated the discussion.

C70: I still have to think Anthony Reyes is at the top of Mozeliak's move list.  There's really not a spot for him in St. Louis going forward, at least under the current management, so why not give him a shot somewhere else?

Mike on the Cards: The trade market sure seems to be the hot topic right now, especially after the moves made by the Cubs and Brewers.  Tony wants help.  Mo wants to sit idle.  Fans want the world for nothing.  I think there might be a small move made at the deadline, involving Anthony Reyes and one or two middle tier prospects.

Redbird Ramblings: I think Reyes is the guy most likely to be traded.  He needs to go to get a change of scenery and he should be dealt for a guy that also needs a change of scenery; that's only fair.  I mean, no one is gonna take Reyes as a centerpiece to any kind of big trade; only probably as a throw in.  I also would like Mo to unload Duncan and, if they are out of the playoff picture, Lohse too because he is having a career year and will probably cost way too much come free agency.

The Cardinal Virtue: Duncan and Reyes are both out of option years.  If they are going to stay on the 40 man roster next year they'll have to be on the active roster as well or clear waivers--and neither of those are probably happening.  Don't be surprised if they are packaged for a reliever of some kind.

Fungoes: Iron Cap Reyes.  If the team was more willing to let Mike Parisi, Mitchell Boggs and Mark Mulder start games than Reyes, they'll never have a need for him again.

There was a report that Pedro Gomez said that A.J. Burnett could be moved for a package including Reyes and Chris Duncan.  I don't know if that's valid or a joke (probably the latter), though I could imagine that being reasonable since Burnett is going to opt out of his deal at the end of the year.  Whatever the deal winds up being, most of us would be very surprised to see Reyes still wearing the birds on the bat after the deadline.

Now, for the HR derby..............
  Continue Reading

Time For a Breather

So, like I said yesterday, a Cardinal win and a Cub loss and they go into the break 4 1/2 games out.

The Hero is pretty obvious.  Aaron Miles hits a three-run bomb and a two-run triple, even if he did have a boneheaded fielding play in the game as well, which cost the Cards early.  I thought the Cards would tee off on Snell, since they kept fouling off his pitches, but he survived longer and did better than I expected.  The rest of the Pirates staff, well, not as much.  Good to see Glaus go yard again and Molina to keep hitting.  I'm really impressed with Yadi's .300+ average.  He's become a force at the plate as well as behind it.

The Goat would go to Joel Pineiro.  There's really nothing about that pitching line that looks good.  10 hits, six runs, three walks in less than six innings?  Yuck.  The staff is going to have to have someone step up (or have Wainwright come back strong and early) or things may start to get out of hand.

I meant to watch the Futures Game yesterday but it slipped my mind.  There's a thread on the game at the Clubhouse and a wrapup in the DFR at the new and improved Future Redbirds.

It's a breather in Cardinal Nation today, as Ryan Ludwick and Albert Pujols will be sitting on the field tonight watching the big bombs going off.  The rest of the team is home resting up and probably already thinking about Jake Peavy.

Inconceivable!

Before we deal with last night's disaster, let's be positive and talk about Friday's game.

Friday night was one of those great games to watch, the ones that make you think this team is going someplace.  Kyle Lohse threw a great game, the offense in general was rolling, and Rick Ankiel in particular was hot, with three hits and a home run.  Jaime Garcia (and, for all of those that come over from Future Redbirds, how could you not tell me I'd been spelling his name wrong all this time!) even got in and had an effective debut.  Looking for a goat in that game is tough, but Skip Schumaker would get it for going 0-5.

All that good feeling evaporated late Saturday night, making me feel like Fezzini.

Losing after being up 10-4 in the seventh?  Inconceivable!  Giving up four runs in the ninth?  Inconceivable!  Blowing a lead provided by Troy Glaus?  Inconceivable!

Yet, just as in Fezzini's case, it all happened.  Perhaps the word doesn't mean what I think it means.

Where do you go for a goat on this one?  I mean, Ryan Franklin got it all started with a two-run homer.  Kyle McClellan allowed the tying run to score (though, granted, he did his job and got the double play ball, it just didn't happen) and put the winning run on base.  Chris Perez allowed Jason Michaels' game winning home run (one I was afraid of when I saw him come up, due to his earlier grand slam against Adam Wainwright)

But, as bad as all of that was, I think you have to go to someone who has gotten the label way too often in 2008.  Jason Isringhausen started the ninth with a four run lead and even struck out the first batter he faced.  To allow three runs in that situation is inexcusable.

Inconceivable.

It's games like that which have me really concerned about this year's incarnation of the Cardinals.  I don't know that this team has the ability to consistently win, to put together a long winning streak needed to get back into the race.  Right now they are sitting at 5 1/2 games back.  Obviously well within the realm of possibility to catch the Cubs, but not nearly as likely as when they were staying 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 back.  The Cubs hopefully will cool off in the second half, especially at home, but can the Cardinals take advantage?  I don't know.

Perhaps it is good that this is happening now, before Mozeliak gets pressured into doing something rash at the deadline.  I'm sure that Jayson Stark will be coming out with one of his crazy number columns soon, saying something like no team out more than 5 games after the 90 game mark has won their division in 20 years or something like that.

And it could be that is just negative thinking.  A Cards win today and a Cubs loss and they are sitting just 4 1/2 out at the All-Star Break, even if the break is a little later this year.  Maybe it's reading too much into an admittedly atypical game, both from the offense side and the pitching side.  I guess we'll have to just wait and see.

In other news, the Cards have put Garcia into the rotation, penciling him in for next Sunday.  Hopefully that will give the team a little boost to start off the second half.

Today the Cardinals try to bounce back, win the series, and finish the first half on a high note.  If they'd gone into the break on last night's game, having to think about it for four days or so, it might have been more of a problem.  Redemption is usually just a day away in baseball.

The matchup is Joel Pineiro against Ian Snell.  Wow, the Cards have seen Snell a lot this season, haven't they?  This will be the fourth time he's gone against the Redbirds, with an 0-1 personal record but a 2-1 team record to show for it.  The Cardinals have been able to get to him early at times, but not been able to put him away.  He has a 9.64 ERA against St. Louis this year and here's what the hitters have done against him in his career.  As always, Pujols is looking forward to it.

Pineiro has faced the Pirates twice, the first time giving up a run in seven and getting the win, the second allowing four in five in a Cardinal loss.  At least the first one was in PNC Park, site of today's matchup.  For the most part, the Pirates haven't done much damage against him, but I'd keep an eye out on Jason Bay.  He's on a roll, especially after yesterday, and he's got good numbers against Pineiro.  If he's auditioning, he's definitely making an impression.

BTW, CardsClubhouse folks.  There is supposed to be some downtime at the site today.  If it happens at the game, feel free to use this as a game thread/discussion platform.

It Came From The Backyard

In the old days, before the draft, Ryan Howard probably would have wound up in the Cardinal organization.  Local guy, good talent, the bird dog would have gotten the scout and he'd have signed a deal with the Redbirds.

Nowadays, of course, it doesn't work that way, but Howard apparently thinks it should have.  He holds some sort of grudge against the Cardinals, at least.  With two more home runs yesterday, he has 11 against his old hometown team.  With his low batting average and propensity for striking out, pitchers are tempted to pitch to him.  From now on, though, it may be wise to consider walking him.

As noted in the PD game story, July has been a terrible month for the Cardinals.  They are averaging 2.7 runs a game and sporting a 3-6 record that could have easily been worse.  (It's sad that the Cardinals have scored 25 runs in nine games when the Phillies earlier in the year just needed one game to get to 20 against the Redbird staff.)

The UCB roundtable is going on via e-mail and one of the questions is what is the biggest need, the bullpen or the offense.  I said the bullpen when I made my answers, but with these kind of numbers, I very well may have been wrong.  You have to figure that things will turn around somewhat--Glaus will get hot again, Ludwick will make some adjustments--so maybe that offense is there hidden.  But it may need a boost from an outside source.

Anyway, let's lay out the labels.  Hero would probably go to Albert Pujols, who was 2 for 4.  If anyone had been on in front of him, maybe he could have done some damage.  Which leads us to our Goat, Adam Kennedy.  0-4 in the leadoff spot is not what the team needed.

So the Cards fall into third, a half-game behind Milwaukee and 4.5 behind the Cubs.  It'll take a good series against the Pirates to get second back, I believe.

The series starts with Kyle Lohse going against Zach Duke.  Lohse has done pretty well against the Pirate hitters, which may be a very good thing if the offense doesn't start clicking.  Keeping the score down would be a very good thing.  Duke has quietly started to pitch pretty well.  The Cardinals hung a loss on him May 30, but after that he had a 3.13 ERA in June and continued to drop his ERA until his last outing against the Brewers.  St. Louis has had success against him, especially Pujols.

In other news, the Cardinals put Rasmus on the DL.  It doesn't seem to be a torn groin, but they are going to do an MRI on it.  That doesn't really sound good.  Hopefully it's something that a couple of weeks of rest will take care of, because I want Mozeliak to have that option of Rasmus coming up when he's talking trade for the rest of the month.  Putting Rasmus in the lineup could be the spark the offense needs.

Brian Burwell writes a good column on the end of Mark Mulder's career.   It really is a sad thing when someone can't do what they love anymore.

That's probably it for the weekend for me.  I'll be back on Monday to catch up.

End of the Line

That's the last time we'll see Mark Mulder in a Cardinals uniform.  It's probably the last time we'll see him on a baseball field at all.

I don't say that with any malice or glee.  I really was hoping that Mulder's new arm slot would be the key to getting him, not to his Oakland level, but at least to a serviceable starter.  Instead, he faces three batters, walking two and leaving the mound again in pain.

If that was the end of the line for Mulder, it's too bad St. Louis never got to see the really good version.  (If Billy Beane knew about Mulder's health issues--and I wouldn't put it past him--I'm not sure how he sleeps at night.)  The only really positive memory I have of Mulder is that epic 10-inning shutout against Roger Clemens.  Other than that, there's not much.

Of course, there will be more revisiting of the most rehashed trade in Cardinal history.  I'm still firmly convinced that if Dan Haren had been a lefty, the trade never would have been made.  It was all about getting an lefthander into the rotation.  And, at the time, the trade was reviled because of the inclusion of catcher Daric Barton.  That's not the problem.  Barton had to move to first (which means he couldn't play in St. Louis anyway) and isn't just lighting it up yet, three and a half seasons after the deal.  It's the fact that Haren developed into so much more than the Cardinals (and the fans) ever thought he would that has made the deal so lopsided.

The hero from last night's game probably has to be Brad Thompson.  I really liked Troy Glaus's AB that tied the game, but Thompson coming in with two on and one out in the first and getting out of it, then pitching effectively from there really stands out.  I've got trouble giving out the Goat, though.  I can't give it to Mulder--just can't tag a guy like that after possibly his career ended.  Kyle McClellan gave up the go-ahead home run to Howard, but he pitched well the inning before that and it was Ryan Howard.  I guess I'd probably give it to Chris Perez, because the Feliz home run made it just that much less likely the Cards were going to rally off of Brad Lidge.

One last comment on the game.  Does anyone else think it was cheap that they gave Skip Schumaker just a double on that ball that "stuck" under the wall?  Victorino looked like he was going to get it, then realized he could just keep it there and get an advantage.  I think there should have had to be an attempt at the ball before he could throw up his hands.  That was pretty lame in my book, though must be part of the ground rules at Citizens Bank.

The team is already moving on the Mulder front, likely disabling him and bringing up Jamie Garcia, which will please Erik at Future Redbirds immensely. Garcia will work out of the pen at least until the break.  If nothing else changes, I'd expect him to move into Mulder's slot after the All-Star Game.

Changes, though, are what Tony LaRussa wants to see.  This will be the first real test of the Mozeliak/LaRussa dynamic.  Up until now, it's pretty much been "hey, this is great, more than we thought, but let's wait and see."  Now, Mo's still there but LaRussa's competitive nature has taken hold and he wants to see something.  This is where Jocketty would go out and make some move that, in recent years, was little more than combing the waiver wire.  Will Mozeliak do that?  Will he start looking for a bigger trade?  Will he take Tony's dogs hostage until he quiets down?

Couple of vets going this afternoon.  Braden Looper looks to keep the bullpen off the field when he takes the mound, but the Phillies may have other ideas.  Pat Burrell has two homers off of him and probably will be excited to take his cuts today.  On the other side, Jamie Moyer is one of those you'd expect the Cardinals to struggle with, a soft-tossing lefty.  Really, though, for a guy that's been around as long as he has, the Cards (save Glaus and Kennedy, guys that saw him in the AL) haven't gotten a lot of ABs against him.  Glaus does have five home runs off of Moyer, so maybe he'll break out the big bat today.

The UCB is working on their next project.  If you weren't e-mailed and want to join it, let me know.  It should be a good discussion.

Big Win in Philly

The Cardinals showed last night that the road doesn't intimidate them this year.  They've struggled away from Busch the last couple of years, but this year they can beat people anywhere.  In fact, they have the best road record in the National League, one of only two NL teams (Philadelphia is the other) with a winning record on the road.

You can't say enough about the job Joel Pineiro did last night.  He had a tough draw, going up against Cole Hamels in a launching pad, but he kept the powerful Phils off the board.  The Cards really needed a win after the weekend and all the trading activity in the division and he provided.

Tough to give anyone a Goat tag when they go up against someone like Hamels, but Troy Glaus gets it not only for his 0-4 but his double play he hit into in the ninth against Lidge.  An insurance run there would have made me feel a lot better about Ryan Franklin facing Utley, Howard and Burrell in the ninth, though it turns out it wasn't necessary.

The Cubs called the Brewers' raise in the pitching department, getting Rich Harden to add to their stable.  We all know the caveats on Harden, but if he is healthy, that gives the Cubs the 1-2 punch they've been lacking.  I've always thought that Zambrano was basically the only pitcher on that staff and they were getting by with the rest of them.  Adding Harden makes me a lot more concerned about their postseason life--they may have enough to go deeper in October, if they get there.

So what do the Cardinals do now?  Both of the top competitors have added aces.  I know Mozeliak is going to say things like "no need to do anything," "nothing on the burners", "the calvery will be like a trade," but is that really true?  I know that Wainwright will be back sometime in August, which does give a boost, but that's just getting the team back to health.  If Carpenter does make it back this year, he's not going to be able to provide significant innings, so as nice as it'll be to see him on the mound, will he really be the difference maker if he's going two times a week out of the pen?

I'd like to see the Cards make a run at Erik Bedard, if they can get him at a reasonable price.  These last couple of trades may make that unlikely, since both the Brewers and the Cubs gave up some good talent and, more notably, a good number of bodies, but the flip side of that is that two of the teams most likely to be in any Bedard derby are now out.  I'm not sure any AL team will be that excited to get him after his Seattle showing, which may mean the Cards just need to compete with Philadelphia, the Mets, or teams like that to get him if Seattle puts him on the market (and they'd probably be crazy not to.)

If a package that didn't really damage the farm system (i.e., no Colby Rasmus, Jamie Garcia, Jess Todd) was put together, I'd be in favor of it.  A couple of days ago Larry at VEB mentioned moving Mitchell Boggs or Clayton Mortenson would not be a bad thing if they could get value.  If Anthony Reyes or Chris Duncan had value, I'd suggest some sort of modification on the Santana deal I proposed last winter, but that's wishful thinking.  If the price is dropped because of the reduction of teams, I'd think the Cardinals might be able to be in contention for someone like Bedard.  If it hasn't, though, then they should go ahead and pass.  Anything that happens this year is gravy, since this team is really designed for 2009 and beyond.

Of course, tonight's game might go a long way toward showing whether any kind of deal is really necessary.  Mark Mulder takes the mound against rookie J.A. Happ.  If Mulder can be somewhat effective, it might lead to hope that he can be a part of a second half surge.  I don't expect he'll get past the fifth, just because he's not thrown that much lately, but if he could give five innings and just a couple of runs, there'd be a lot more optimism in Cardinal Nation.  Whether that'll happen or not is a different story.

And, before I forget, it's XM Radio ad time!  XM will be all over the All-Star stuff.  Shows will be hosted from New York, the Futures Game (featuring four Cardinals, don't forget!) will be on XM 175 on Sunday, then the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game itself will be on XM 176 on their respective days.  If you want to stay up on what's going on with the All-Stars, tune in to your XM!

Speaking of the All-Stars, I see where AP is saying he'll do the Home Run Derby if asked.  Last time it didn't affect his swing (I think he hit more homers after the break!) so I'm all for that.  I love seeing Cardinals do anything during the All-Star festivities.  Seeing all the different jerseys (well, that's only in the game now, so they can make more money on All-Star sales) on the same field is really neat.

Just keep an eye on Philadelphia tonight.  A big part of the rest of the season could be riding on it.