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vaball

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Everything posted by vaball

  1. vaball
    None whatsoever. God Spivey sucks.
  2. vaball
    Let's hope that's indicative of what his first few starts in the regular season will be. Or not.
  3. vaball
    Reyes will get his shot. We might as well ride Ponson as far as we can. Let Reyes work on pitch selection and location in AAA. Maybe we trade Ponson before the deadline for another outfield bat and bring Reyes up for the stretch run. This really doesn't seem like a big deal to me. The Cardinals have gotten big dividends from reclamation projects before, maybe Duncan can work his magic on Ponson too. Turning mediocre vets' careers around is what he seems to do well. While I'm sure he's large enough to piggy back most of the team, I'm not sure he's got the endurance to go very far. The Verdict: Vaball left the door wide open for that one. :) As if the door wasn't always open for a Ponson fat joke.
  4. vaball
    Reyes will get his shot. We might as well ride Ponson as far as we can. Let Reyes work on pitch selection and location in AAA. Maybe we trade Ponson before the deadline for another outfield bat and bring Reyes up for the stretch run. This really doesn't seem like a big deal to me. The Cardinals have gotten big dividends from reclamation projects before, maybe Duncan can work his magic on Ponson too. Turning mediocre vets' careers around is what he seems to do well.
  5. vaball
    You don't know how bad those 2 sentences looks for the anti-TLR argument. Seriously. There's a reason we have a AAA team. The major league club is about winning the world series, not letting marginal prospects develop. How many stud prospects have the Cardinals even had during TLR's tenure? Morris, Pujols, Molina, Ankiel, they all got their shot at the major league level. Wainwright has just made the bulllpen. I have no doubt that Reyes will get his shot before the season is over. So what if marginal talent like Gall and Duncan don't make the team out of spring training?
  6. vaball
    Is Tavy actually trying to punch him in that shot or is that before the punch when Gathwright was sliding into home?
  7. vaball
    Seriously, just looking at him makes me angry. Why couldn't we just give Reggie 2/10?? I mean, Spivey has a career .359 OBP, way better than Juan's .319. Why don't we hit Spivey 2nd and put Juan 6th where he belongs? If he's healhy Spivey can do "damage" and probably get on base more too. How did the Royals do the best in the LF sweapstakes this offseason? I'm actually surprised. Reggie and Grudz were both good pickups for them. They're still only going to win like 60 games though.
  8. vaball
    "J.T. Tavy likes to party" The Morning Grind. Who's with me?
  9. vaball
    Seriously, just looking at him makes me angry. Why couldn't we just give Reggie 2/10?? I mean, Spivey has a career .359 OBP, way better than Juan's .319. Why don't we hit Spivey 2nd and put Juan 6th where he belongs? If he's healhy Spivey can do "damage" and probably get on base more too.
  10. vaball
    I've already decided to make Encarnacion my whipping boy for any and all problems the team has this season. After watching him be useless for the Dominican in the WBC I'm expecting to see a lot of Eckstein getting on base only to have Encarnacion strike out, ground out, basically waste an out before Pujols has a chance to drive them in. My only hope is that hitting in front of Albert gives him a steady diet of fastballs because pitchers don't want to walk him, but even that is far fetched because he doesn't have that much discipline.
  11. vaball
    I went with Pettite. I think he's going to have a really good year.
  12. vaball
    I think it's just going to be a really nice stadium that's a great place in which to watch a game. It'll be about the game on the field and not a freakin' carnival atmosphere like a lot of other new places.
  13. vaball
    If ifs and buts were candy and nuts. If ARod was still at SS it wouldn't be a contest. I don't get what age and contract have to do with who is the better player. The only things that matter are what position they play, how they play it, and how productive they are (with emphasis on the last one). Well then I would still take Pujols based on sheer productivity. The age/contract thing has to do with people imagining who they would rather build a team around.
  14. vaball
    You can when he's being compared to Arod. Pujols had an .008 advantage in OPS. ARod was the best defensive SS in the game, now is one of the better defensive 3B in the game. The difference between their defense is much greater than the difference in their offense. I think you're skewing things slightly by taking only last year's numbers. If you look at their careers, Pujols is easily the better offensive player. Pujols: .332/.416/.621 ARod: .307/.385/.577 ARod had an above average season last year and Pujols just had his ho-hum average season and still beat ARod by 8 OPS points. I'll take Pujols offensively. Pujols isn't such a great defensive liability that we should overlook age and the offensive gap between the two players. Yes, and if you look at their career postseason numbers you see a similar disparity: Pujols: .336/.428/.620 ARod: .305/.393/.534 And for all of ARod's vaunted running advantages, Pujols did hit more doubles and triples than him last season, had more runs scored, and a higher stolen base percentage. Also worth noting are Pujols' advantages in BB/SO ratio and #P/PA. Factor in age and contract status and it seems like a no-brainer to me. If Pujols played 3rd, like he did coming up, instead of 1st, this would be no contest.
  15. vaball
    He should be a baserunning instructor. God he was good at that...
  16. vaball
    On a team that expects to contend for the WS it's hard to give a rookie his turn sometimes, even if he's ready, when there are "proven" guys around like Ponson. I think they're also afraid of another Ankiel debacle. That being said, I think if Reyes is the best in ST they should move Ponson to the pen and let Anthony start.
  17. vaball
    This thread has to win the award for most "fixed" replies by a single poster. How about Ponson and Reyes do great in ST and we trade Ponson to Pittsburgh for Jason Bay straight up? Now that's a scenario I can get behind.
  18. vaball
    Yeah, Catman, I don't get the whole Pujols can't play D assertions. Anyone who reads the stats, scouting reports, or just watches him play the position can tell that, while no D. Lee, he is a very good defensive 1B and that he is improving. NL Central: Cards 97 wins Astros 90 wins Cubs 88 wins Brewers Reds Pirates
  19. vaball
    Because Alan Benes and Matt Morris were just too dominant for us to resign. They both play for the Yankees now. We just need some arms to fill in around Rick and Bud. As long as you still have Darryl Kile as your #3 you should be alright Maybe that explains the strange success of our staff. The ghost of Darryl Kile is on their side.
  20. vaball
    Wolf Stansson has good taste in women.
  21. vaball
    So the most profitable MLB team last season was the Devil Rays, tied with the Indians.... The Devil Rays are gonna be the next Clippers.
  22. vaball
    '98: 135 games '99: 133 games '00: 103 games '01: 126 games '02: 140 games '03: 130 games '04: 135 games '05: 93 games 8 seasons averages out to 124 games per season. That means he misses, on average, roughly 38 games a year. That's nearly 24% of the season. How is missing almost a fourth of your games considered "durable?" And as already pointed out... he's 38. He was known as an injury-prone player coming into St. Louis. Call the injuries "fluke" if you want, but I don't think he's the lock you're expecting him to be. I haven't followed Sanders career all that closely. But, wouldn't a lot of those missing games be days off for a platoon situation? Just asking, cuz I really have no idea. I can't speak for all those years, but I know that in his time with the Cardinals TLR liked to rest him, like he did with Walker, for at least one game per series.
  23. vaball
    Encarnacion is nine years younger. While age isn't everything, Reggie will not continue to produce at a high level.... If he does, I'd venture to say that injuries will hamer himm to the point where it diminishes his production (like Larry Walker -- good numbers, but limited at-bats). And exactly what level do you expect Encarnacion to produce at? I'd rather have a less productive Juan Encarnacion in there for 130 games as opposed to spending any money on Sanders at all. I don't necessarily like the Encarnacion signing (I don't like it at all), but I'd prefer him to Sanders at comparable money, simply because of the durability factor. Neither >>>>>>>>>>> Encarnacion > Sanders (taking into account salary, age, etc) I just don't get this. Sanders played 135 games in 2004. He played 93 last season because he got crashed into. He's not injury prone. Crashing into people doesn't impugn his durability. He's getting paid the same yearly salary as Encarnacion, but with one less year on his contract.
  24. vaball
    Encarnacion is nine years younger. While age isn't everything, Reggie will not continue to produce at a high level.... If he does, I'd venture to say that injuries will hamer himm to the point where it diminishes his production (like Larry Walker -- good numbers, but limited at-bats). Reggie was having a 30/30 season last year before he broke his leg in a freak collision. When he came back he put up awesome numbers, and then absolutely killed in the NLDS before, again, taking a freak fall and hurting himself. Half a Reggie is as good as a full Encarnacion. At 2/10 he would have definitely been worth it.
  25. vaball
    And Sanders signs with the Royals for 2/10. And we gave Encarnacion 3/15!!?? What. The. Hell.
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