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Pitching, pitching, and more pitching. The need to improve their offense as well as their pitching.

Corey has always had a great work ethic and spends countless hours in the cage, even before the '05 season. People forget how hard he worked in rehabbing his knee injury as well as when he was a rookie. I've never questioned his work ethic, but it's either his inability to grasp certain things that are stunting his growth as a player or a mental block that allows him to grasp it, but forget in game situations.

It'll help if I include something, but WB is correct. They've been released.

INF Jose Cruz RHP Armando Fernandez RHP Erik Foor RHP Michael Lefort INF Uriak Marquez RHP Walt Nolen RHP Alfredo Polanco INF Aaron Smith LHP Jason Terry RHP Morrow Thomley

What about Felix Rodriguez? He'll probably even have less demand than some team looking to get Dotel on the cheap. He was brutal last year, above avg. and not great the previous two seasons, and has a history with Baker/Pole. As far as my priorities. 1)RF (Giles) 2)CF (Michaels) as far as FAs, I'd go with Cruz before Lofton 3)SS (Nomar) 4)Set-up (Howry) 5)LOOGY (Sauerbeck) 6)Bench (Sweeney and an additional IF'er who can play 1B/3B and hit RH'ed)

I love Dotel, but I'd put him behind a RF'er, CF'er, reliever, and possibly the #5 spot in the rotation.

I'd rather take my chances and save 4 mil with Rodriguez than Jones. But, it's hard not to ponder the last 2 seasons by Rodriguez. He might be below avg. for a LF'er, I think he's a 4th OF'er, but there's a luxury there with having Edmonds in CF.

Sometimes, you have to run the risk if put your eggs into one basket (Giles). If Jocketty wants to try and squeeze something out of Hidalgo, go for it, but I think the odds are equal with someone like Rodriguez.

The Cards need the USC Reyes to come in as the #5 and do well as there will be a dumb team to overspend on Morris. I think they need a dominant set-up guy, Dotel on the mend might be a sleeper possibility they might look at for the stretch run. If not, there are plenty of legit relievers out there. If I was STL, I'd look into getting younger in the OF. They could get Giles to improve on their strong offense and go with someone like Rodriguez in LF. Bring back Grudzielanek and try and win it all next year.

That's why I have the Astros in 6 for the WS, if it's game 7, it'll be Oswalt/Garland.

They got the to NLCS because the rest of the division was fairly weak. 88 wins doesn't put the Cubs even *close* to winning the division, and the wildcard shouldn't be a goal. If the Cardinals had been as good in 2003 as they have been the last two years, the Cubs would have been watching the playoffs from home that year too... I just said that the Cubs have had a little success with this coaching staff. They aren't losing because of the coaching staff. They are losing because the players are not collectively good enough to win. Go out and sign Giles, greatly improve CF, and keep the infield intact, sure up the pen and the rotation (which they can afford), they'll win again. They can win with this coaching staff, if they improve the overall talent. But, I don't think they can maximize their winning under this staff. You hit it right on the head as far as needed improvements.

How so, you willing to say that Oswalt's performance had nothing to do with his ability to pitch rather the Cards' inability to hit? Failure to score runs is a credit to the pitcher.

Look at last years WS, the only game that was determined by offense was Game 1. After that, the Red Sox pitching was the main reason they swept.

He can battle it out w/Marquis for most selfish on the team. He has other issues to worry about rather than post-season innings, he should be looking for reasons into his declining numbers. Pretty obvious where to start.

Managers love their hands in the cookie jar, none more than the one in the STL dugout.

He's more dependent on how well the pitcher is pitching, rather than the other way around.

That's the first solid contact out of 103 pitches, fair or foul. Pujols hasn't done anything vs. Oswalt tonight. Is increasing the PC part of beating a pitcher? Sure, but dominating a team for 7IP or 9IP is still domination. Just depends on how they hit Lidge. But, a secondary goal of a hitter should be to work to the hitter, behind hitting the ball hard and getting on base, which they haven't done at all.

I don't think any offense could hit Oswalt tonight. He's tearing them up with one pitch.

I agree, that's passive baseball to me. But, Everett is a poor hitter followed by Oswalt, it was the right call regardless if it worked.

Watching Oswalt dominate again, it's not b/c the Cards have a poor approach like a Cubs team or lack talent, Oswalt can't be hit. If pitching dominates the game, the FB dominates a great performance on the mound.

Where's Ole Miss? UK is the underdog by 10 1/2 to Ole Miss. I predict a pep talk from Brooks' daughter will lead UK to cover the spread, yet lose.

I think pitchers get away with a lot more "mistake" pitches than people acknowledge. I've seen plenty of smashable pitches go by. Two pitches, they both hang in the zone. On one the batter doesn't swing because he's sitting dead red. On the other he knocks it out of the park. The pitcher didn't do anything better or worse on either pitch (assuming he didn't tip on one). A lot of pitches that get too much of the plate and are critiqued by analysts are the same exact pitch that earlier got a guy out. Not all big hits come off mistakes, and not all "mistakes" turn into big hits. Doesn't that add validity to the great pitchers though? If more hittable pitches go by than most expect, wouldn't that also include even the best hitters hitting a pitcher's pitch. If Lidge throws 2 more sliders like he did with the 1st pitch, Houston is getting ready to play game 1 of the WS, instead of game 6 of the NLCS. No, because Pujols can choose not to swing at them. An AB is like a dance between the pitcher and hitter, with both playing an equal role. Nothing that one of them does has any meaning independent of what the other did. He could have chosen to not swing at the 1st pitch, but he did and missed pretty badly b/c of the quality of the pitch rather than an error by the hitter who is the best one in MLB. The hitter is always in a defensive mode, even 2-0, 3-0, he might have certain advantages but is in a mode of defense. Whether it is fear or depending on the actions of the pitcher. The more fear, the more defensive he becomes.

Does a new Indy League count? I won't be rich from it, though.

I think pitchers get away with a lot more "mistake" pitches than people acknowledge. I've seen plenty of smashable pitches go by. Two pitches, they both hang in the zone. On one the batter doesn't swing because he's sitting dead red. On the other he knocks it out of the park. The pitcher didn't do anything better or worse on either pitch (assuming he didn't tip on one). A lot of pitches that get too much of the plate and are critiqued by analysts are the same exact pitch that earlier got a guy out. Not all big hits come off mistakes, and not all "mistakes" turn into big hits. Doesn't that add validity to the great pitchers though? If more hittable pitches go by than most expect, wouldn't that also include even the best hitters hitting a pitcher's pitch. If Lidge throws 2 more sliders like he did with the 1st pitch, Houston is getting ready to play game 1 of the WS, instead of game 6 of the NLCS.

So far, I've come to conclusion that are players are torn between deciding to play in front of the "best" fans in STL in MLB or the "best" manager in MLB with Dusty Baker. Quite an epic battle we have on our hands with these two magnetic forces.