indifferent

Wow, Vance, summer breaks treat you well I see! Going to the Sept. series at Wrigley also!

I'll be there Fri. and Sun. Looking forward to some intense baseball!

Where Morris? I assume a bleh? Why are Molina and Eckstein blehs?

:shock: :shock: Wow, lets hope he pitches against the Cubs at Wrigley then. A 1:20 start could be just what we need to rough him up. :lol: Not going to happen this weekend, Bleed, but I'd be hoping for the same if I were you. I wonder if Tony put any thought into that when he did his little rotation shuffle for this series. Although Sunday's now a night game, unless he was pitching Fri. night, Sat. and Sun. were originally scheduled as day games. I guess that's reading a little too much into it. Did you guys face Mulder last year when you played the A's?

I'd have to agree with Gus (humbly mind you).

I don't see what's absurd about any of those choices. I'd say it depends on the needs of the team, lefty, team defense, etc.

I like the fact that Tony's throwing him in the two spot tonight. Although he's not really a prospect, better to see what he can contribute and make a move if he's not cutting it. Glad he's not going to languish on the bench.

I'd like to see Nunez get more playing time and it makes sense for him to spell Rolen at 3rd with Mabry and Taguchi being the primary outfield backups.

Molina will be eligible to come off the DL for the weekend series vs. the Cubs. We've been going with Mahoney and Diaz since before the All Star break. Sanders really hurts, we needed an OF before his injury. He was doing well for us this year.

Marquis just hit Oswalt on the left hand. They're looking at his hand now.

Have to agree there, Catman. What UK's eyes are telling him is also what the stats are telling him, let alone the lack of home wins.

woo, the first snoty post directed toward me. I just got goosebumps :wink: :lol: Anyway, I just thought the part about DLee and AP's homerun production might be interesting in this debate. I think the whole park factor thing is overrated, for the most part. You looked at home runs, but a better overall indicator is that Lee has a 1.189 OPS at home and a 1.183 OPS on the road. Those are for all intents and purposes, identical. I also think the popular perception of Sammy Sosa was that he benefitted from Wrigley, though his overall and HR totals were just about dead even in his prime years. You already see that Aramis does not benefit much from Wrigley. And IIRC, several of the Marlins coaches said that Pro Player killed Derrek, and predicted 40+ HR from him outside of there. This makes sense since Lee's power is from alley to alley, and that is no man's land in Miami. In parks like that, only dead pull hitters will put up big numbers, and Derrek is not a dead pull hitter. The whole notion that Wrigley is a hitters paradise is really not accurate at all. It favors the hitters slightly, but not nearly as much as some think. The reason for this, IMO, is that it is a park of extremes. I say that because while eveyone knows about the days the wind is howling out and homers are easy to come by, more often the wind is blowing stright in, and in about a third of the games (rough estimation based on watching for 20 years), you may as well be trying to hit a ball out of the Grand Canyon. Some hitters have benefitted from the cozy alleys, but the 355 down the lines are no easy pokes. The bottom line is that while Wrigley will give you a lot of homers, it will take away a lot of them, also. Any players that do benefit are probably hitters with marginal power who plays there enough to mold his game to the field. Players who are great hitters with genuine power generally rise above the limitations or enhancements that a given field gives them Now there are players who benefit from their home parks greatly. Take Morgan Ensberg, for example. While Morgan oocasionally gets XBH to other fields, he is an extreme pull hitter. This is a huge advantage in MMP. Over the past three years, Ensberg's OPS has been nearly 300 points lower on the road. This year has been better, but there is still a 150+ point differential. His power numbers are also better than Pujols this year, but his you can attribute to park factors, unlike Lee. Here's another indicator. I looked at the number of parks played in this year, and how each player fared OPS-wise overall. Since a 1.000 OPS is the mark of excellence, so to speak, I wanted to see how many parks Lee, Pujols and Ensberg managed to reach that number in, and which ones. Pujols has played in 14 parks this year, and topped 1.000 in eight of them. He fared the best in Turner, Coors, Miller and Citizens Bank. Lee has played in 13 parks this year, and topped 1.000 in 10 of them. He has performed the best in Pro Player, Busch, Great American, Miller, BOB and Dodger Stadium. Ensberg has played in 13 parks this year, and topped 1.000 in 3 of them. He has fared well at MMP, Coors and Great American. Also, 17 of his 24 HR have been hit between those three hitters parks, and nowhere else has he hit more than 1. This is based on only this year, but the three year splits bear out around the same level of consistancy for Lee and Pujols. and inconsistancy for Ensberg. Statistically speaking Lee is actually the most consistant of the three, independent of park, though not the most productive. Ensberg I used to illustrate a player who has their stats inflated by ballpark. Lee does not fall into this category at all. In fact, if you rate his performance by park over the past three years, Wrigley sits right in the middle of the 23 parks he has played in over that time The same can be said of Pujols and Busch, right in the middle, 11th of 20. So from a relative performance standpoint, Pujols is no more consistant than Lee, and Lee is no more dependent on his home park than Albert. It gives me goose bumps when people flex their baseball muscles! Nice post.

My fear is twofold: 1. Because we have no real glaring holes, I wonder how steep of a price Jocketty would pay for strengthening an area like the bullpen or a 4th outfielder, especially relative to other teams who have a single identified need. 2. I agree with many assessments here on our prospects. Outside of Reyes/Wainwright, it's pretty thin. Perhaps Lambert? No real position prospects to speak of. Thanks for everyone who took the time to analyze the Cards. Insightful stuff.

I think this is more about Cubs fans' psyches than anything. If one admits that the Cards have comparable starting pitching, then the whole argument of our pitching trumps yours, your pitchers have ridiculous run support, is out the window. The pitching selection was made; I don't think anyone even quarreled with the actual selection of deserving candidates. The order of the starting pitching was questioned. Carp didn't put this team in a hole. If you don't like the pitching of those chosen by LaRussa afterwards, that's a Tony beef.

What the heck is Pujols doing out of the game with Lee hurting and no backup 1st baseman? BTW, all the Buck haters have to love his last comment, "Hi, I'm your pitching coach tonight and you've walked the last two guys and you're 2-0 on this guy".

Looks like Carp is the only NL pitcher to not give up a run yet. We haven't seen Clemens and Willis yet, but pathetic showing by Oswalt and Hernandez, and Smoltz broke the dam.

I missed who the AL closers are? Rivera? K-Rod?... Oh yeah, I remember Baez, what a joke. If I was Francona I wouldn't play him.

I think they need to be more consistent in their selection criteria. Last year, Clemens beat out Randy Johnson even though Johnson's numbers were better at the AS break because he was penalized for his low win total playing for AZ. Now people are clamoring for him to start this year, even though his wins aren't as high playing for a lesser Astros team (which I wouldn't disagree with).

While I respect your taste in music, I don't see why Carpenter is more likely to get tagged than any of the other starters. Of the three pitchers, he has pitched better than the other two over the last month. What's wrong with going with the hottest hand? Besides, if all starters are only going to pitch one inning as Tony has laid out, it really doesn't matter. Take heart in the fact that Isringhausen won't pitch. I like Isringhausen, but I'd prefer Cordero and Wagner get the innings.

From STL Today on pitching order and Lee/Pujols: Duncan, the NL pitching coach, said Carpenter, like the other pitchers, would work just one inning and that closer Jason Isringhausen, who has 25 saves in 27 opportunities, may not be used at all. La Russa said Isringhausen, who had a tough ninth inning in San Francisco on Sunday, had some stiffness, and Duncan said Isringhausen really hadn't expressed strong interest in pitching anyway. "We've used him an awful lot," Duncan said. With that in mind, Duncan said Houston fireballer Brad Lidge probably would be the closer. Following Carpenter in order, Duncan said, will be Atlanta's John Smoltz, Houston's Roy Oswalt and Roger Clemens, Washington's Livan Hernandez and Florida's Dontrelle Willis. The last three innings then probably would go to relievers Chad Cordero of Washington, Billy Wagner of Philadelphia and Lidge. San Diego starter Jake Peavy, a manager's selection to the team, would be held back for extra innings, and Colorado lefthander Brian Fuentes, also chosen by La Russa because the Rockies had to have a player, probably will be a one-batter pitcher or not pitch at all. La Russa was taken aback a bit at the All-Star press conference Monday when former California Angels owner Jackie Autry, the honorary American League president, toasted the World Series champion Boston Red Sox, whose Terry Francona, is the American League manager. Autry said, "I think everyone in the United States was rooting for the underdog, the Boston Red Sox, so it was really fun and exciting for all of us." "That falls in that clueless category," La Russa muttered later. "When she said 'everybody in the nation,' I should have said, 'Well, there's another nation.'" But he merely smiled. La Russa, who introduced the pitcher batting eighth in the second half of the season in 1998, is expected to waive his team's designated hitter privileges halfway through tonight's game to protect Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee, who hurt his left shoulder last week. "I would think the trainers and the Cubs would want three at-bats tops for Derrek," La Russa said. La Russa has only one other first baseman on his club in Pujols, who will be serving as the designated hitter at the start of the game. He said Pujols probably will move from the DH slot to first base later in the game, meaning that the pitcher, in theory, would have to bat in the DH spot in this American League-style game at Comerica Park. But La Russa has plenty of pinch hitters available to hit the one or two times the pitcher would have to bat - including the likes of Carlos Lee of Milwaukee, Luis Gonzalez of Arizona and Jason Bay of Pittsburgh, all reserve outfielders. He admitted, however, "Another first baseman would have been a good add (to his team)."

Oh, that's right, wait until the Cubs concoct their absolute full proof WS team. Unfortunately I don't see that happening any time soon.

So you're saying the Cardinals could maintain a winning record without Pujols? I'd agree with you.

There's one axiom that goes that a GM gets one manager to fire. Dusty is Jim's first manager. The key pivot point here may be how Dusty uses the kids. Yes, their futures are tied together, but if Jim at some points feels he must fire Dusty (that time inevitably comes for all GMs), he'll be allowed to do it and stay on. The Cubs value Hendry's overall contributions since he came on board 10 years ago. Okay, that being said (and if you have time), do you personally beleive dusty is on his way out? Also, I saw it posted somewhere today that the cubs were no longer looking for a "fix" at the trading deadline, but rather a couple of young guys for the future. Is this true? Is the organization really giving up on this year? ( I think giving up is a bad idea, considering we still have 14 games to play with St. Louis) 14 games with the best team in the league might be the reason people are packing it in. I hope this isn't the case though. Not trolling here and my intention is not to derail a good thread with Mr. Miles, but that's the point. If the Cubs are going to buyers at the deadline, they should do so because they plan on beating the teams they're supposed to beat, not because they entertain thoughts of sweeping the Cards or even taking 3/4 of the games. When is the last time that happened between the Cards and the Cubs?

I think he does it to irk Cubs fans. Honestly, who cares how he does it as long as the play is made?

I'd have to say that's a little odd considering we haven't tinkered with our rotation order all year. I guess he's paying respect to the rivalry and the fact that we have 14 games remaining with the Cubs.