Ram23

Yeah, I agree, most likely Ozuna resigning.

Now if they were to package Liberatore in a deal for Arenado....

Haha, seriously. I'm guessing it wasn't intended as a thunder-stealing move (I certainly hope it wasn't), but if it were that's about the last thing most of their fans want to see right now. I think most of us Cardinal fans are fine with Matheny. He isn't perfect and needs to improve but it's hard to argue with the results so far. It's the vocal minority who will be up in arms over this. Then again, they were the same with LaRussa. Basically if the Cardinals don't win the WS every year they will be upset.

Oh BTW: Congrats to the Cubs. I didn't lean one way or the other to who won the WS but have a lot of relatives that are Cub fans in Iowa so I'm happy for them they got to see a winner.

This is an odd post. If you don't become a fan of a team because of geographical proximity then how do you expect teams to attract fans to the games? Then you go on to say you wish the majority of Illinois in terms of geography rooted for the Cubs. So you just contradicted yourself in one paragraph. Lastly, St. Louis is no better or no worse than other cities with Sports teams. When they win they show up, when they lose they don't. Just like anywhere else.

Remember when Daryl Kile died? Yes I do. What does that have to do with home field advantage?

Did I post something inflammatory or incorrect?

It's not as if the Cardinals have always benefited from the home field advantage. In 2004 when they won 105 games it was the wild card winner Boston who got home field advantage.

Well Allen Craig and David Freese just lead you toma World Series, it's gonna be tough for us to be luckier than you. Thanks though. It was also pretty lucky that they got that 0.08 inches of rain that "forced" the rain out and allowed Carpenter to pitch the clincher. It also helped the Rangers as well where they could pitch Holland on regular rest in game 7. It's not the Cardinals fault that Ron Washington decided to throw Harrison out there a guy, who got rocked in game 3 vs. a guy who gave up 2 hits through 8 innings in game 4.

schumaker and ryan suck when pujols banks next offseason, the cardinals are going to have half of their payroll committed to 2 players every year. that's never good. and what if carpenter goes down again? then you have about 55-60 million going to 2 guys when your payroll is usually around 90 million. i'm not necessarily saying it's a bad move, but it definitely is going to make money really tight pretty much every season and basically takes you out of the running for any premiere free agent over the next several offseasons Whether you think they suck or not isn't the point. The point is that with those two players in the lineup, the Cardinals still made the playoffs. So there is nothing to say that they can't still make the playoffs in the future with those two guys as the SS and 2b for the Cardinals.

I don't think it will put the Cardinals in too much of a bind in the later years. Wainright and Holliday are signed until 2013 or beyond. Carpenter is signed through 2012. Pujols will get his contract and be there for the next 10 years. So then they have to suplement those core players with young guys. Rasmus is under control for a while, as is Shumacher, Ryan, and Molina. The only positions of question are RF and 3b. Ludwick is a FA after this year I believe so we will see what he gets in free agency and if the Cardinals want him back. For this year they will probably sign Tejada to a one year contract, but 3b going forward is the more pressing position that they need to figure out.

Yes. Is that wrong?

You just now figured that out?

Had the Cardinals lost 1-0 today, Pineiro would have been the majors first 10 game loser, all the while having an ERA of 3.20. He's pitched pretty well this season.

The Cards dodged Zack Greinke and we get Jake Peavy twice in a week and a half. Go figure. Nick Stavinoha with a 2-run single and Todd Wellemeyer spinning zeroes. Nothing to see here, move along. You could spin it around and also say that the Royals didn't have to face Carpenter or Wainright. Ofcourse when they can't get a run in either game, it really doesn't matter who the Cardinals had to face. Greinke wouldn't have won either game.

Theriot is a much much better comparison. Soto figured it out at age 24, which isn't uncommon for a catcher and he was the MVP of his league his last year in the minors. Schumaker was a crappy minor leaguer until the age of 27 and even then didn't have near the success that Soto did. I'm very surprised at how well Theriot is doing, but that's one guy compared to the majority of your team. I disagree. I'm not really sure what you consider crappy and success to mean in this instance. First, the reason I compared the two was because both were taken in the 2001 draft and both are in their first full season in the majors (although Schumaker played in 90 games last year). In the minors Schumaker had a .290 average and a .729 OPS. I wouldn't call those great, but I wouldn't call it crappy. Soto on the other hand had a .270 average and a .786 OPS. You can't say one player is crappy and one is a success based on those numbers. Schumaker had no power, Soto had average power. Fast forward to this year, Schumaker has a .783 OPS, and Soto has a .866 OPS. Both have seen an increase in their OPS with Soto having the bigger jump and showing more power in the majors. Schumaker is playing closer to his minor league numbers, and is actually playing worse than last year. I just don't see how you can claim Schumaker is overachieving while ignoring what Soto is doing. Both are probably playing at the level they will for the next 4 or 5 years at least. So, Soto was 3 years younger and had .57 higher OPS in the minors, but you can't say that Soto was better? And like I said, its not uncommon for catchers to find their bat a bit later, and Soto had a .652 SLG with 26 home runs at age 24 in AAA. So he had power. At age 24, Schumaker put up a .808 OPS in AA. So at a lower level, Schumaker's OPS was .268 lower than Soto's at the same age. They are not comparable players. It's quite obvious you didn't read any of what I wrote. I never was comparing them to say who the better player was. I never even said that Schumaker was the better player. I was comparing them to show that they both entered the minors at the same time, they both entered the majors at basically the same time, and they both were peforming better in the majors than they did in the minors, although Schumaker is performing closer to his minor league numbers than Soto is. So how can you say Schumaker is overachieving and Soto isn't? Ok, forget about Soto. If Schumaker is overacheiving, then what is it compared to? Can't be compared to anything he has done in the majors because last year was his first extensive stay. Can't be what he did in the minors because I've already shown that he's performing close to those numbers. So what is it compared to? I'll let you have the last word, because this debate really should be in the general discussion section.

Theriot is a much much better comparison. Soto figured it out at age 24, which isn't uncommon for a catcher and he was the MVP of his league his last year in the minors. Schumaker was a crappy minor leaguer until the age of 27 and even then didn't have near the success that Soto did. I'm very surprised at how well Theriot is doing, but that's one guy compared to the majority of your team. I disagree. I'm not really sure what you consider crappy and success to mean in this instance. First, the reason I compared the two was because both were taken in the 2001 draft and both are in their first full season in the majors (although Schumaker played in 90 games last year). In the minors Schumaker had a .290 average and a .729 OPS. I wouldn't call those great, but I wouldn't call it crappy. Soto on the other hand had a .270 average and a .786 OPS. You can't say one player is crappy and one is a success based on those numbers. Schumaker had no power, Soto had average power. Fast forward to this year, Schumaker has a .783 OPS, and Soto has a .866 OPS. Both have seen an increase in their OPS with Soto having the bigger jump and showing more power in the majors. Schumaker is playing closer to his minor league numbers, and is actually playing worse than last year. I just don't see how you can claim Schumaker is overachieving while ignoring what Soto is doing. Both are probably playing at the level they will for the next 4 or 5 years at least.

And how does this have anything to do with him going to the bullpen? It has quite a bit to do with his effectiveness and bounceback from rehab compared to Carpenter. EDIT: And yes, I'll be at the Arch Rivalry again this year. I wasn't saying that they would have the same effectiveness, only that they should follow that same recipe. It lets the pitcher compete without having to worry about a pitch count.

BTW: I notice you are from Columbia. Are you heading to St. Louis for the Mizzou-Illini game? I ordered my tickets about a month ago since I am a season ticket holder to Mizzou, but haven't heard where my seats are yet.

And how does this have anything to do with him going to the bullpen?

Right. Thats why I laughed my ass off when the other guy classified it as "great". I also agree he'd be better served in the pen this year. They have first hand experience with this situation. In 2000 Matt Morris was coming off of the exact same surgery, and he went into the bullpen. He ended up with about 30 appearances, an ERA around 3.50 and was constantly clocked at 95-97. The next two years he started and ended up with a combined 39 wins. Don't know why they wouldn't follow this same recipe, but they probably won't.

Wasn't a bad outing because he didn't get hurt. Wasn't a good outing in that I doubt he will provide much contribution to the team this year. Wasn't a bad outing because his breaking pitches looked pretty good. He had trouble spotting his fast ball. I doubt he provides much contribution from the starting role this year. Bullpen could be different though.

It wasn't a bad outing for the first time back in almost a year and a half. I think he and the team would be better served by going to the bullpen this year.

I don't see how Cubs fans can question what Schumaker is doing without questioning what Soto is doing.

One thing that would concern me is that this is Harden's 6th season and he has only once went above 130 IP. Is his arm conditioned to go more than this? He is at around 80 IP now. If he stays healthy then by the end of August he should be around the 140-150 mark. That is when you may see a decline if he isn'r conditioned to go above 130.