This one fell into my lap, and who am I to not to jump at the chance to get everyone’s feelings…

The Monday (10.26) night Radio Show was just the start, and the UCB crew takes a lot of pride in our work. With that being said, how much of a circus is it going to be with Big Mac in the fold for the 2010 campaign?

Don’t hold back now — honesty scores bonus points!

Dan (C70) — Honestly? I think it still depends.

If McGwire will come out, answer questions, and really make an attempt to handle the issue, I think it’ll die out along the way. Probably some story in the local paper each time the Cardinals hit a new town, but that’s about it.

If not, though, it’ll be pretty nuts. People will continue to be digging, trying to find info, asking him about it. That’s why I’m not 100% sure Mac is going to make it to spring training. If he’s not ready to talk, he’s going to have a lot of misery coming his way.

Jay (Inside Pulse) — The misery won’t only be for McGwire; imagine Tony’s post game new conference for the first month. Some media members would be willing to ask about it until Tony loses it, possibly even after that point. We’d hear the question posed to a different player each day until the All Star break.

My gut tells me the first thing we’ll hear from Mac is “I’m not here to talk about the past…” We’ll then be in for a long season.

Pip (Fungoes) — Although TLR and the Cardinals deserve every bit of distraction that McGwire brings, the distraction may not be as intense as it should be because of the dynamics of the establishment media. While some intrepid reporters may press the issue, many will not, simply because they require ongoing access and patronage of people like La Russa and the players, many of whom will likely stand in lockstep solidarity with McGwire. Furthermore, other than the desire to get a scoop, many of those covering the game are usually not motivated by a cause, per se; they are, after all, in large part the ones who created the monster and perpetuate the problem through a kind of moral populism.

On the other hand, even if the media crush is less-than-warranted, given the relative haste of the decision — according to TLR, McGwire agreed less than a week after first being asked — it would not be surprising if McGwire isn’t the opening-day hitting coach, as Daniel noted. Questions as to the history of his own success as a player are certainly on the table now that he has been hired in an official capacity to instruct players on hitting, and surely some will ask difficult questions, even if obliquely, that may make McGwire question whether it is all worth it.

First among the questions that people should pose are follow-ups to McGwire’s proclamations during his congressional committee appearance. Here’s a starter list:

- You stated that “I will use whatever influence and popularity I have to discourage young athletes from taking any drug that is not recommended by a doctor.” What have you done in the last four years to make good on that pledge?

- You stated that “I am directing my foundation to concentrate its efforts to educate children regarding the dangers of performance enhancing drugs.” What has your foundation done in the last four years to make good on that pledge?

- You stated that “I am also offering to be a spokesman for Major League Baseball and the Players Association to convince young athletes to avoid dangerous drugs of all sorts.” What have you done, and why haven’t you been more visible?

- Now that you have a job in major-league baseball as a coach, is it fair to ask you to go on the record about whether you used steroids as a player? If not, why not?

- Did you use steroids and/or other PEDs as a player? If so, which and when?

To be clear, this isn’t about whether McGwire used PEDs. It’s about hypocrisy, integrity and respect for fans, issuing from individuals, a team and a major sports organization and corporation. Either the team and La Russa are oblivious to the schism that McGwire represents, in which case they are truly out of touch, or they are banking on fans not caring that much, in which case they hold fans with the same kind of contempt displayed by players such as Rick Ankiel when they offer condescending explanations about their own PED use. In any case, they have clearly decided that this hire is worth it. It’ll be up to those who care about integrity to press them on it.

In response to Pip, Michael (Whiteyball) — Will it be a circus? Yes, in the beginning. Obviously a lot depends on McGwire’s response to the media questioning. If he gets it over with (A-Rod, Petite, Giambi, Ankiel), this will be a minor footnote by midseason. If he doesn’t, it MAY be a circus, but after awhile it will probably die down too (it will just take longer). Remember though, he is not chasing records and is not a player out in front of the fans anymore. He will be more visible, but more along the lines of Dave Duncan (who rarely gives interviews) and not Tony LaRussa or Albert Pujols.

I have to respectfully disagree with Pip on several of his comments (which is rare).

I don’t think McGwire needs a full confession of everything he did to get past this. An apology, a vague reference of what he did (ala Giambi) and some show of humility would be enough to end the constant media speculation and put it behind him with a majority of the people. His employer (the Cardinals and MLB), coworkers (Cardinals) are what are important, and they seem to respect him and have moved past it. The fans are overwhelmingly supportive with over 80% in favor of the move (out of 6,000) in a recent pd poll (and he hasn’t even apologized), but fan (or even media) support doesn’t matter as much for a coach.

Don Hooten has stated that McGwire has given a lot of money through his foundation to the Taylor Hooton Foundation and fulfilled that promise to Congress. While he looked foolish on capitol hill and took the most heat, he now looks like the only player who didn’t lie (but didn’t incriminate himself in a court of law). What he probably did is still bad. It’s obvious that he has done something wrong and that taints his accomplishments as a player, but we are talking about a different job.

Pip’s right in a lot of ways. It is fair to question why he hasn’t used his influence or popularity to discourage young people not to use steroids. On the surface it doesn’t look like he’s done enough. Are the questions the critics are asking fair? Yes, and the answers would be very interesting and enlightening. Let’s put this in perspective though. I don’t need to know if my co-worker did cocaine 10 years ago, and if my employer is fine with it, it’s a non-issue. Would it be nice if my colleague went to schools and talked about the dangers of cocaine? Yes. Do I believe this solely defines him as a person or a contributor to my company? No.

Some people need full disclosure to get past this, but they are in the minority. While the PED issue should be taken into consideration, I think it is a bit much to infer that how he and the sports world handle it defines their integrity. The steroid issue is just a portion of who McGwire is as a person (and the league as a whole) and he can still be a contributor to the organization after making a mistake. Good and talented people do bad things, and they shouldn’t be shunned for life for it. Admitting his demons in public would be nice (especially since he pledged to help fight the issue), but it is not necessary to do this job.

Back at ya Michael, Pip (Fungoes) — Although I already responded, since this is a roundtable discussion, would a rejoinder be out of order? If so, disregard everything that follows!

First, don’t read what I’m not writing. I never call for full disclosure, per se. If McGwire can somehow address the concerns I listed, the “gory” details are not necessary. As a demonstration of his sincerity and humility, however, McGwire isn’t in a position to consider much out of bounds; he forfeited the right to pick and choose what questions he’ll be asked. Also, I (nor anyone whom I know who shares my opinion) never claimed that McGwire needed to address the issue in order to be able to do his job, that talented people don’t do bad things, that he can’t contribute after making a mistake, that a mistake defines him or that he should be shunned for life. These are straw men.

Michael is right insofar as my sentiment is probably in the minority. But his characterization of my position as, essentially, needing a pro formal apology/confession to be satisfied or, more crassly, to shut up and move on (my words, not his) is inaccurate. Such a stance of humility is indeed a welcome and necessary part of what needs to happen, but only insofar as it is the means to a greater end of baseball taking the problem — which they’ve given so much lip service to — seriously and not continuing to take fans for willing dupes (which, if the P-D poll representatively shows, they are).

Finally, Michael’s analogy of his hypothetical co-worker who did cocaine but whose employer is fine with it is in-apt. The difference — and if you miss this, you miss my main point — is that the employer has not made great public demonstrations of concern and regret along with promises to rid the workplace of cocaine use.

Game on Pip, Michael (Whiteyball) — Great topic for debate!

I think Pip and I are more alike in our analysis than I first thought, but we still have differing issues…

I now see that you (Pip) were looking for the hard questions to be asked, not necessarily for them to be answered. We are in agreement on this. I do take slight umbrage to the straw man comment though. Many critics do not feel Mark McGwire deserves the chance to be the Cardinals hitting coach due to the PED issue or that he MUST open up about his mistake in order for him to take the job. That may not be what you were inferring (and I apologize if you felt I was diverting attention from your arguments), but I think my comments are apt to the discussion (I wasn’t just debating your comments!).

I do need clarification on some of what I misunderstood, though. You stated that “It’s about hypocrisy, integrity and respect for fans, issuing from individuals, a team and a major sports organization and corporation.” Since you stated that the issue “was not about PED’s” in your previous statement, I assume you mean (by “it”) the issue of Mark McGwire as coach. Again, if the “it” does not mean PED’s I assume that you are talking about him not coming forward with more information (what other issue is about hypocrisy, integrity and respect for fans… etc?).

Further quote: “In any case, they have clearly decided that this hire is worth it. It’ll be up to those who care about integrity to press them on it.” I assumed from this that you meant the hire wasn’t worth it due to PED’s or his non-statements, but you could mean that we need to be critical of any hire and not blindly follow their statements. With this I agree, but what about the “integrity” comment? Why do you have to care about morale character to press the Cardinals on if the hire is worth it, unless we are talking about PED’s or McGwire’s non statements?

Finally, I think you are diverting my analogy a bit on the workplace. Our debate is if Mark McGwire should be the hitting coach. The reasons against (so far) have been about his past drug use, the media circus this would provide and his experience. Experience is open to debate and I already discussed the fact that I thought the media circus would die down by midseason.

If the employer is “the league”, haven’t they already “made great public demonstrations of concern and regret along with promises to rid the workplace” of PED’s? Furthermore, my analogy wasn’t about how the employer reacts to the person with past cocaine abuse, but the opportunities the individual is allowed. (Two separate issues).

If you aren’t hiring McGwire due to his past PED use, then you are in essence ignoring all of his other traits for one mistake (again, an apt analogy to the discussion, maybe not to your views). This has nothing to do with the employer showing remorse for turning a blind eye or educating the company on the evils of cocaine. How does the employer’s public demonstration of concern factor into Mark McGwire as hitting coach? Does the league have to demonstrate FURTHER concern about PED’s in order to hire Mark McGwire? I agree that the league was just as culpable as the users, but isn’t that a different topic?

P.S. You are right, I don’t want you to “shut up and move on”. Someone needs to ask the tough (but fair) questions, and I believe you are doing this. We just disagree on the details. Pip responded back with “Ha, yes, indeed! What’s your deadline again, Josh? Michael and I could do a http://bloggingheads.tv/ discussion on this!”

[Ed. Note -- Pip, you can continue debating as long as you want in the comments!]

Mike (Stan Musial’s Stance) — The interesting thing about this is most hitting coaches are anonymous. I can’t think of a single one who conducts press interviews or interacts with the media at any kind of a consistent or visible level. Most hitting coaches work in the shadows and rarely step into the media limelight.

Obviously this doesn’t apply to McGwire, because of who he is, what he did in baseball, and what’s been alleged since. The opinions expressed in this thread are correct, in that the buzz and fury around him will continue to build until he addresses the steroid questions.

The thing that bothers me about all this is there’s only one way the buzz and fury will go away – and that’s if McGwire admits, either obliquely or directly, he used PEDs during his career. Most media commentators, especially those who work for the Post-Dispatch, believe he used. What if he actually didn’t? Call me naive or delusional if you want to, that’s fine; a certain amount of circumstantial evidence indicates he used. But what if he didn’t, forcefully and emotionally makes his case to convince us all he didn’t, and never wavers from that position all of 2010? In that case, the buzz/fury never goes away, because those who believe he used will stop at nothing to prove he did (jilted lover syndrome).

To get beyond the PED questions, he’d better be a helluva hitting coach. I see the media circus becoming a Cat 5 hurricane before spring training and not diminishing/weakening the whole season long.

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Categories: Albert Pujols, Dave Duncan, Mark McGwire, Rick Ankiel, Tony LaRussa, United Cardinal Bloggers

Join Josh and I tonight for another UCB Radio broadcast over at Blog Talk Radio, 9:30pm Central Time.

Tonight we’ll be chatting with Cardinals pitcher P.J. Walters.

Call in at 929.646.1758, listen live at BTR, or download the podcast at iTunes later!

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Categories: PHE Ramblings

Join us for another Special Edition of the UCB Radio podcast with Josh Squatrito, Batavia Muckdogs Reliever of the Year and St. Louis Cardinals Rookie Reliever of the Year, tonight at 5 pm CST!

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Categories: Batavia Muckdogs, Josh Squatrito, UCB Radio

St. Louis Cardinals team president Bill DeWitt III will be the special guest on a Monday evening edition of the UCB Radio Hour podcast tonight.

Join us, along with Dan of C70 at the Bat and Mike of Stan Musial’s Stance as we get the opportunity to talk Cardinals baseball and all things surrounding it with DeWitt.

Not entirely sure how much time we’ll have with Mr. DeWitt, but we’ve got plenty of topics to discuss, so join in live via Blog Talk Radio, or download the podcast from iTunes tomorrow morning!

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Categories: Bill DeWitt III, UCB Radio

Today’s post took much longer than I planned for two reasons. The first is related to the Cardinals but the second, is well, not even close. For those that know me, my love for movies is nearly on par with that of a certain St. Louis sports team. We are going to keep this rolling along, but the movie references will be staying.

Instead of writing up my review of Albert Pujols yesterday, my fiance and I took in a matinee. She is a big fan of horror movies, and there just happens to be a nice selection of choices playing. Before I say anything else, please don’t take just my opinion when deciding if you should go and watch a flick. But given the price of seeing anything on the big screen, I feel it is my duty to share important details with our loyal readers.

Paranormal Activity, with a link for anyone who has not heard of it, should be playing in your city by now. It was done in the ‘Blair Witch’ style and could have really hit the mark as an underground classic. I will say that both of us slept just fine last night and won’t be getting the DVD due to being very disappointed (think being a fan of the Rams). Whatever you may read before deciding to go, it is worth your hard-earned money to do plenty of homework about it first.

With that interruption aside, the week of Albert could not end without dishing out top honors to the best in the business. The MJ of baseball as I said Wednesday night, Pujols plays with his own brand of flash that doesn’t always rub everyone the same way. Whether it is watching his mammoth home runs or ranging farther away from the bag on defense, the St. Louis first baseman does things no one else in baseball can even think of matching. Love him or hate him, AP scores an A across the board in all categories.

Hitting– Um, numbers don’t lie and the Cardinals must do whatever possible to lock up the MVP for the remainder of his HOF career. Pujols is starting to enter the discussion of greatest right-hand hitter ever and being healthy can only help the cause. Now I see why the player and the team didn’t give away anything in September even as the numbers were declining. St. Louis wanted the advantage come playoff time, but Joe Torre was leaving nothing to chance. Albert at even 80% scares the daylights out of opposing managers and for good reason as he notched an A+ from the batters’ box. Here’s for keeping El Hombre right around 95-99 for 2010 and away from any home run contests.

Defense– All the crazy talk about moving the Gold Glove winner away from first base just go to show that even the best is not enough for some people. Pujols offered to man 3B in the spring but was politely told that others would take over for Glaus. I mean, how else do you say no to No. 5? The 2009 campaign did see a drop in some stats while another record was achieved, making it a push and an A- in my book. Albert had to carry the load offensively and probably felt the pressure to do the same in the field while looking at the likes of Joe Thurston and Khalil Greene across the diamond. He did lead the team in errors with 13, but a confident DP combo of Ryan and Schu to finish the year also netted Pujols the assists record and momentum heading into next season.

Conclusion– Much like the Blues play second fiddle to the Cards in St. Louis, trying to find a back-up to Albert was nearly impossible. In theory De Rosa could have played more at 1B until I saw that no one was given an opportunity because somebody was hogging all the time over there. Pujols started all but five games at first, and his increased base running aptitude meant that he was a weapon on all phases of the game. He scores an A for tying his career high with 16 steals but it was an injury to another player that leads me to believe in the 160 games logged in 2009.

Joe Mather couldn’t have asked for more in Spring Training. TLR had changed his number (7) and had all but awarded the starting job at third to the late bloomer. Then a 1-28 slump took the wind out of his sails, and not even a late charge in March allowed Mather to break camp with St. Louis. After struggling through April in Memphis, two surgeries followed to repair his left wrist and the season ended at AA Springfield. I still feel he can be a nice addition to the major league squad, and that will be just one of many story lines to watch down in Jupiter. Overall, Pujols gives the team an A for 2009 with thoughts to who backs up the star yet to come.

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Categories: 2009 Cardinals Player Grades, Albert Pujols, Movies, NL Awards, Offseason, PHE Ramblings

Once again the United Cardinal Bloggers are undertaking our fall Roundtable discussions via e-mail.

Josh will be moderating a discussion on a question of his own in a few days, so keep an eye out for that.

My question to the group has already made the rounds, and there were some interesting (and some predictable) answers.

PH8:  If the Cardinals hope to retain their superstar players (and their contracts), particularly extending Albert Pujols, they must achieve cost certainty in other spots on the roster.

One way the Cards have tried to achieve that certainty is through a willingness to pay a bit more to young players up front to buy out their arbitration and early free agent seasons (Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina).

If you’re John Mozeliak, who arethe next bunch of players you approach with this offer, and when?

Is this approach viable long-term as a franchise-building strategy to keep the Cards in play for big contracts despite the relatively limited payroll stance or will it be necessary eventually to constantly churn new prospects through St Louis?

And the responses…

Daniel, C70 at the Bat: Let me hit the last part of that question first.  I do think it’s a viable strategy, though that doesn’t preclude having to churn prospects through anyway.  There will come a time, as these young guys age and their contracts either expire or continue to climb into those backloaded years, that you will need fresh young cheap talent.

I think it’s really the best and only strategy that a team like St. Louis can pursue and stay regularly successful.  They can’t go out into free agency and get a franchise-type player every year, but they can get into the FA pool and pick up that last piece or that risk/reward guy that could put them over the top.

That said, right now I’m not sure that there is anyone (save Colby Rasmus) that you really start talking to.  Having Wainwright and Molina under wraps for a while gives you some time to focus on development and seeing how the youngsters pan out.

If you are two-three years from now, though, I’d expect Rasmus, Jamie Garcia and perhaps a guy like Lance Lynn or Daryl Jones to be in that discussion, but right now, I don’t think there are any.

Trey, The Cardinal Virtue: I think it’s a good question, but one without any clear answers. The reason for this it that I don’t think we have any young players right now who have proven too be consistent contributors to the team. The closest things are Rasmus and Ryan, but they were only really everyday players the last couple of months of the season. I’d say it’s questionable at best whether it would be worth it to buy-out their arbitration years at this point. This kind of goes back to the discussion on whether we should have LaRussa back. Certainly one knock against him has been that he doesn’t develop young talent well, especially when it comes to everyday players. Really, Molina and Pujols are about the only two “homemade” stars we’ve had in the last ten years when it comes to position players at least. They are great players obviously, but you’d have to say their prodigious talent likely overcame the general way the Cardinals have developed players recently. Is this an indictment of LaRussa or the farm system? It’s hard to say for sure, but right now, we just don’t have the young guys to invest in. The Phillies are good example of what we would like to have, with Utley, Werth, Rollins, Howard and Ruiz all being really good players they’ve developed. Victorino didn’t come from their system (they got him from Houston or maybe the Dodgers, can’t remember for sure), but they gave him his first chance to play everyday in the bigs. It seems that the new management wants to head in that direction, though the deals made this season contradict that somewhat. Anyway, and interesting question, but one that will hopefully have some better answers in a year or two.

PH8: Trey- What about a Ludwick or Schumaker?  Kyle McClellan?

Just throwing names out there…not necessarily opining that these guys should get new deals, but interested to see what others think.

Trey, The Cardinal Virtue: Ludwick, possibly, is worth extending.  His injury history has to be a major concern though.  Shu and McClellen, though I like them, I would vote no.  Shu, for all his qualites, is really just an average MLB player.  Good defender, hits around .300, versatile, but little speed or power.  There are a lot of other guys out there just like him.  Not a guy you are looking to lock-up.  McClellen, likewise, has been just an average middle reliever.  He’s been effective, but not the big power arm you are looking to build your bullpen around.  You can find guys with his talent level pretty readily.

Michael, Whiteyball: All of the Cardinals focus will (and should be) on Holliday, Pujols and a 4th starter.  Saying that, Ludwick and Schumaker would be great to sign long term.  They’ve proven their worth over multiple years and would more likely see their value go up if Ludwick could repeat 2008 or Schumaker gets better at second base.  It’s not a bad idea to approach those two players before arbitration.

Mike, Stan Musial’s Stance: Brendan Ryan certainly proved himself capable of holding down the SS position for a number of years, so I think he’s definitely one the organization should consider buying out arbitration years on the Wainwright model.

Rasmus had a good rookie year, although limited somewhat by injury in the second half (at least, I think that was the reason his production slipped). If the Cardinals are serious about making him the everyday CF for years going forward, he’s a good candidate too.

Ludwick’s already in his arbirtation years. My read of Cot’s baseball contracts indicates he can be a free agent in 2012. He’s also 31 and has a history of injury trouble. I’m not sure he’d be willing to forgo future earnings for a longer deal because he’s so close, and I’m not sure it’s a wise investment based on his injury history.

Assuming the team intends to keep Schumaker at second, I’d offer him a longer-term contract as well.

McClellan, and also Josh Kinney, currently project as nothing more than middle relievers – those guys can be affordably had at any time in their careers, so I don’t consider them good alternatives for a longer-term contract.

Pip, Fungoes: The answer seems a matter of risk-management and replaceability.

The young pitchers simply haven’t proved enough at the major-league level to warrant even a little extra risk on the club’s part. The one pitcher who has some experience, Kyle McClellan, has shown himself to be a $1-2 million/year middle reliever, not exactly the stuff that requires long-term commitment, given replaceability. The other young pitchers who relieved in 2009 — Mitchell Boggs and Blake Hawksworth — are possible starters. But they are a little too green to commit to, and there’s no risk in waiting another year or two with them.

As for non-pitchers, the main guys without long-term deals who figure to be around at least another year are Colby Rasmus, Brendan Ryan, Skip Schumaker and Ryan Ludwick. That’s half the regulars from a 90-win team, representing 8.4 WAR (or the equivalent of Albert Pujols). As the youngest, both in age and ML experience, Rasmus seems the likeliest candidate for a Wainwright-Molina-type deal. But even Wainwright and Molina had played two and three full seasons, respectively, before signing their nearly identical four-year, $15 million contracts. So Rasmus is probably still a year away, too.

Though the Cardinals have some players who could bubble up to the majors at second base soon (e.g., Daniel Descalso and Jarrett Hoffpauir), Schumaker turned in an above-expectations .363 OBP last year and improved with the glove. Though it’s hard to imagine he’ll get any better from where he ended the season, he projects to age somewhat gracefully. If he can put in a couple more seasons like the one Bill James projects for his 2010 campaign — .353 OBP — would deserve a buyout of his two remaining arbitration years, if not his first year of FA. He has certainly earned consideration.

Ryan is the most curious case. He had the fifth-highest WAR (3.2, for a value of $14.3 million) among NL shortstops last year, and yet his manager won’t commit to giving him the job in 2010. The club has seen firsthand over the last several years how difficult it is to find (and keep) good players at the position. Free agents in the next couple of years are either going to cost a lot (Edgar Renteria), not offer much production (Jack Wilson), or both (Orlando Cabrera). The Cardinals’ farm doesn’t offer any near-term fruit, certainly not of Ryan’s quality.
Ryan, however, is still another year from his first arbitration eligibility, despite being older than Yadier Molina, and will be 28 next opening day. If he puts together another super season, he should be at the top of the buyout list.

Ludwick is enigmatic, in that he’ll turn 31 next season and we’ve already begun to see his decline (his RC/G numbers the last four years: 5.5, 5.8, 8.2, 5.4). James doesn’t see him tapering off next year, though, and he produced (1.7 WAR/$7.6 million) double his contract in 2009 ($3.7). Buying out his final two years of arbitration (’10, ‘11) may be worth it, but the fear is that he, with a history of injuries and at his age and position, will decline more rapidly than one might expect. Also, the Cardinals have at least one corner outfielder in the system who could produce in two years. If Ludwick wanted $4.25 million in arbitration coming off a stellar 2008 season, the Cardinals probably don’t have much to lose by going to arbitration this year.

—–

I will take the easy way out and agree with everything said above.  Most of the answers were very similar.  McClellan isn’t worth it because he’s not dominant.  Ludwick is no spring chicken and has been injury-prone.  Brendan Ryan might be the most worth it of anyone right now, but still doesn’t have any guarantees of being the shortstop full-time.  Skip Schumaker continues to be perhaps a bit underrated.  Rasmus will be the one to watch if he can come on with a sophomore season that starts to fulfill some of his great potential.

One way or another, I do feel that this method of achieving cost-certainty will become a necessity for the Cardinals, if it hasn’t already.  All it takes is one breakout season from a guy like Rasmus to put his arbitration numbers through the roof and add another eight-figure salary to the bottom line.

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Categories: Adam Wainwright, Albert Pujols, Blake Hawksworth, Brendan Ryan, Cardinal Blogs, Colby Rasmus, Daniel Descalso, Daryl Jones, Jaime Garcia, Jarrett Hoffpauir, John Mozeliak, Josh Kinney, Kyle McClellan, Lance Lynn, Matt Holliday, Mitchell Boggs, Ryan Ludwick, Skip Schumaker, United Cardinal Bloggers, Yadier Molina

As Josh mentioned yesterday, we are embarking upon a month-long (or so) series of report cards for the 2009 Cardinals, and he kicked it off with his grades at the catcher position yesterday.

Now it’s my turn.

Yadier Molina

Yadi has long been well regarded in big league circles as an outstanding defensive catcher, one of the best. His 2009 campaign did nothing to tarnish that image.

Molina did, however, continue to improve at the plate – posting a career high .749 OPS.  Not ground-rattling by any stretch, but at a premium position with premium defense, Molina is clearly a plus player for the Cardinals.

Using the outstanding catcher defense metrics/research from Driveline Mechanics, Molina ranks as the fifth best defensive catcher in MLB for 2009 at 6.6 runs above replacement, or approximately between 0.6 and 0.7 WAR to the Cardinals just from his defense.

Ranking fifth best in batting WAR among catchers as well, Molina is the only catcher to rank in the top five of both categories, and is joined by Joe Mauer as the only catchers to rank in the top ten of both offense and defense WAR (italicized numbers represent a top-five in the respective category):

Obviously, we’re only talking about one prevailing factor here, Wins Above Replacement, but it’s a pretty convincing one.  Yadi was a top four catcher in MLB in 2009.

Grade: A

Jason LaRue

Jason LaRue saw his catching time decrease by about 160 innings from 2008 to 2009, but he still provided the Cardinals with exactly what they were expecting from him while backing up the starter: very little defensive drop-off.

LaRue threw out one-third of would be base-stealers (5 CS of 15 attempts) during his  26 starts behind the plate (and some mop-up time) and allowed only one passed ball all season.

In fact, LaRue ranked 30th among MLB catchers in the same defensive runs metrics from Driveline Mechanics linked to above.

His bat appears to be fading (what was left of it) with age, as average was up, but walks and slugging were down.

Overall, as Molina’s time increases, LaRue can only do what is asked of him, and he did that admirably.

Grade: B+

Matt Pagnozzi

A 27 year-old rookie, Matt Pagnozzi made his way to the big club in September when rosters expanded and didn’t embarrass himself.

(What else can you say about a guy who plays five games in garbage time?)

Projections for next season are for another time, but I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if Lil’ Pags found his way onto the big league club full-time as the backup catcher next season.

See explanation of LaRue’s 2009 role above for reasoning.

Grade: Incomplete

David Freese

I would’ve rather seen the MLB catching debut of Jason Motte instead of Freese, but I don’t call the shots around Busch III.

Grade: Just get healthy enough to play third base, David

—–

Overall Grade:  A

The Cardinal catchers ranked highly in defensive performance, something clearly a focus of the Tony LaRussa years in St. Louis.  Molina’s bat continues to improve, and he’s only 27 years old.  The Cardinals have Yadi locked up to a very team-friendly contract, and amazingly he still appears to have room to improve.

One last tidbit, as a point of interest of yours truly: Cardinal catchers (and pitchers, arguably) only allowed 44 stolen bases on the season, lowest in the majors.  The catchers threw out 28 would-be base-stealers for a CS rate of 39%.  That means there was a total of 72 attempts against the Redbird catchers, or 22 attempts fewer (!) than the next team (Houston, 94).  MLB average attempts were 127.

The Cards’ catchers are really good.

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Categories: 2009 Cardinals Player Grades, David Freese, Jason LaRue, Jason Motte, Matt Pagnozzi, Yadier Molina

Josh and I were scheduled for a half-hour UCB Radio show tonight.

So naturally, with some help from Daniel over at C70 at the Bat, we managed to turn it into an hour plus.

Topics focused on, well, Albert Pujols’ arthroscopic debridement, a contract extension for Mang, and a few other choice conspiracy theories (done in pure blogger style).

Check us out, as always, on Blog Talk Radio, or by clicking on the big tunes icon up at the right to download the podcast version from iTunes.

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Categories: Albert Pujols, UCB Radio, United Cardinal Bloggers

Let’s take a look at the Week 6 results.

Cards def. DT58, 80-34
Pujols def. Sunday, 81-77
Dave def. Vice Squad, 104-91
HorseShoes def. Eighth, 110-104
Cellmate def. Sarge, 103-96
Boom Boom Pow def. Shiancoes, 106-78
79ers def. Mutts, 154-64

What a mess for the hometown team.  Curse you Tom Brady and Randy Moss!

The division leaders are strengthening their grip on each division.

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Categories: PH8 Fantasy Football

Fancy that, one year ago Cardinal fans (or at least, yours truly) were concerning themselves about a contract extension for Albert Pujols.

We raised the question about when to approach Pujols and with how much during the 2008 UCB Off-season Roundtable.

Many of the responses were similar to “give him whatever he wants.” Now that the discussions are actually taking place (depending on who you ask), what will the outcome be? Must the Cardinals spend a bunch on another big bat before Albert is willing to commit?

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Categories: Albert Pujols, United Cardinal Bloggers

How fitting is it that nearly all candidates to take home the top pitcher of the year award have the Molina boys to thank in some way. CC has Jose and last year’s winner, Tim Linecum, plays catch with Bengie. While it is easy to put Carp and Wainer on a pedestal, enough isn’t said about the man behind the plate, and Yadier has only to look down the first base line to see the other Cardinal player with as much job security.

With no clear up and comer in the system, St. Louis is set for years at catcher and that is where the look back at 2009 begins. Most forget how young (27) he still is, and that makes the scrutiny Molina faces all the more head-scratching (looking at you Al). His offense will always take a back seat to what has to be considered the best defensive skills in the game, but Yadi shouldn’t be hitting above seventh anyway.

TLR defends his backstop more than anyone I can remember, and that tends to get old at times (say, yet another double play). But one thing is for certain in my opinion. There is nobody else in the Major Leagues I would rather have for the next five years catching my pitching staff. He calls a marvelous game and knows exactly when to shake things up with each individual hurler. The extra dynamic brought to the table with possibly the best arm ever makes every it an adventure for any and all base runners.

But where does Molina and the rest of the crew grade out for the past campaign? I am taking the first crack at nailing the mark, and Nick gets his shot tomorrow. We want your opinion as well by posting your views below or sending us an essay if so desired. I have my handy new e-mail to try out and all comments are welcome at josh@pitchershiteighth.com.

Yadier Molina — I wrestled with how to break down his overall score but think I found just the right mix. His defense gets a solid A. I am leaving a sliver of room for it to get a + in the next year or two. As much as his batting is improved, a B+ is as high as I could dish out on offense due to the lack of speed on the base paths. Whether or not the manager was authorizing the jogging, I do hope that is something that disappears sooner rather than later. Overall I give #4 an A- with a nod to the front office for the team friendly contract.

Jason LaRue — As back-up catchers go, it is hard to not want him back except for the cost angle. Molina played seemingly everyday no matter what amount of pain he was in, so LaRue was left with little work. The former first round draft pick appeared in ten fewer Cardinal games than his first season with 60 less at-bats. With that in mind, his .240 average was the highest since 2005 and garners a B- for not hurting the NL Central champs. Always known for his work calling a game, I do remember ‘cowboy’ settling down a young bullpen on more than one occasion and that gets him a B+ with a solid B grade overall.

St. Louis may have lost points when Bryan Anderson wasn’t healthy enough to get his shot in September, but it was fun to hear the radio call of David Freese giving his all in extra innings. By far this is the one position that no one worries about when looking at the Cardinals, and they score a B+ for the year. Make sure to join Nick and I tonight for UCB Radio at 9:30 CST and have your grade sheet ready for inspection.

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Categories: 2009 Cardinals Player Grades, Al Hrabosky, Bryan Anderson, David Freese, Jason LaRue, NL Awards, Offseason, UCB Radio, Yadier Molina

File this one under “can’t make this stuff up.”

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Categories: Fun

Much like in high school, I prefer to take the high road when it comes to October rumors in baseball. PH8 scribes shared a laugh last night when I sent this article and of course it has a Chicago byline, so that should tell you everything you need right there. But the fact that DG had to have a counseling session over the topic of trading Pujols also proves that the P-D can attract A LOT of interesting opinions.

Starting tomorrow our own look back at the 2009 campaign will kick off with some position grades. That will lead into a snap shot of the 2010 Cardinals and hopefully some free agent news before too long. As much as I think David Freese will play a role in St. Louis, he is the calm before the storm. Maybe the front office is trying some misdirection with Mark DeRosa in hopes of keeping the price reasonable, but it appears everything else will wait for Matt Holliday’s decision.

It is very hard for me to believe that an initial offer hasn’t been presented to Boras and Co. The UCB joined in on the discussion with this month’s project and Matt’s Millions was the first question out of the blocks. I confess my opinion has softened a bit, but my main hope is that unfinished business keeps him wearing the Birds on the Bat. Holliday still provides the best option to protect Albert Pujols and should be given a hard look as long as the finances are reasonable (6 yrs, 90 million was my optimistic guess).

As much as I enjoy talking Cardinal baseball, my opinion of the intelligent fans took a nosedive after seeing this. Or maybe they will have the last laugh, and Shelby Miller is going to post it on his locker for motivation. Whatever the case I can’t wait to see how the next two months unfold, and you are all welcome to share in the fun.

2 comments | Permalink | Share on Twitter | © Pitchers Hit Eighth, 2008-2009

Categories: Albert Pujols, David Freese, Mark DeRosa, Matt Holliday, PHE Ramblings, Shelby Miller

First, Derek Zumsteg of USS Mariner, a great blog devoted to following (shocking I know) the Seattle Mariners, has developed a “2nd Guesser” app for the iPhone.

Those of you who watch the Cardinals (or any other team for that matter), or need help making decisions while managing your Little League team, etc – check out this app.

—–

The sales pitch is already starting with Scott Boras for Matt Holliday’s services.

Holliday is on par with Mark Teixeira?  Maybe, but if the Yankees aren’t around to pay Teix money to Holliday, is it a valid comparison?

Time will tell…

—–

…speaking of which, the UCB Off-season Roundtable is getting into swing.  The first question happens to deal with Mr. Holliday.

Check in at the United Cardinal Bloggers website tomorrow for a full rundown of the roundtable exchange.

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Categories: Agents, Matt Holliday, United Cardinal Bloggers

[Ed. note - As a charter member of the St. Louis Cardinals chapter of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) (along with fellow UCB members C70 at the Bat, Fungoes, and Stan Musial's Stance), PH8 been afforded the honor of carrying an official vote for a couple of the BBA's 2009 MLB Awards.  You can find more information about the project at the BBA site.]

We’re back today with another vote in the 2009 BBA Awards.  This time around we carry one of the official Rookie of the Year votes for the St. Louis Cardinals chapter of the BBA.

Many Cardinal fans (this one included) would have expected the eventual starting center fielder for the hometown club to be in the mix, but a chilly second half for Colby Rasmus ended any early momentum he may have carried toward winning some smooth Rookie of the Year hardware in 2009.

Not all of the National League’s rookies  cooled off down the stretch, in fact, some were tougher than ever.  With that as a prelude, here is our ballot for the 2009 National League Rookie of the Year:

3.  Tommy Hanson, Atlanta Braves

Hanson, the young Atlanta fire baller called up in June to bolster a pitching staff desperately in need of innings, surrendered seven runs in his first big league start.  It took six more starts before he would surrender another seven.  Hanson went on to finish 11-4 in 127.2 innings pitched with a rate of 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings.  Hanson contributed heavily to a late Atlanta surge in September and October, his performance belying his age and experience.  Despite spending April and May in the minors and only getting in 21 MLB starts, Hanson finished with 2.6 WAR, good for eighth best of any batter or pitcher on the Braves.

2.  Randy Wells, Chicago Cubs

Wells started his season better than Cubs fans could’ve hoped, with a miniscule 1.86 ERA through six starts.  The problem?  Either his offense wasn’t scoring, they weren’t scoring early enough, or the bullpen blew up once he left – or a combination of any or all of the above.  Through those six starts, Wells sat 0-2.  Fortunately for Wells, he eventually got some run support, and fortunately for the Cubs, Wells continued to pitch well.  Ending the season with a 12-10 record and a still very good 3.05 ERA.  Wells’ season could’ve finished much better on the win-loss ledger were it not for the Cubs’ late-summer collapse.  He was 7-4 through June and certainly pitched much better  in August through October than his 5-6 record indicates.  Just another reason why wins and losses are a poor measure of performance by a pitcher, right Pip?  Perhaps the biggest key to Wells’ emergence on the RoY scene?  Increased use of his slider, which was 19.7 runs above average.

1.  Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates

McCutchen came up in early June following (or perhaps was the impetus for) the trade of Nyjer Morgan to the Washington Nationals.  To put that in perspective, Morgan wound up the season with 4.8 wins above replacement.  Most of Morgan’s value was in defensive runs where he led the NL running away with 27.4 runs above average.  Morgan appeared finally on the precipice of the breakout type of season Pirates fans had been hoping for when he was shipped to the Nats.  Insert McCutchen.  Cutch’s bat went to work immediately, with two hits in his first big league game (he also scored three runs, walked once, and stole a base).  He flashed both the power and speed Pittsburgh was hoping for, with 26 doubles, 9 triples, and 12 home runs in almost 500 at-bats.  Batting lead-off for the Pirates, the homers aren’t nearly as important to the club as the doubles and triples, the .365 OBP, and 22 stolen bases in only 27 attempts.  McCutchen showed great plate patience with only 83 strikeouts versus 54 walks and is poised to become one of the National League’s elite lead-off hitters.

Also in the running:  Garrett Jones, Pittsburgh Pirates; Chris Coghlan, Florida Marlins; J.A. Happ, Philadelphia Phillies.

Agree?  Disagree?  Join the discussion in the comments below, I’m anxious to hear what you think (good or bad) about my choices.

Thanks for reading.

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Categories: BBA Awards, Baseball Bloggers Alliance, Colby Rasmus, NL Awards, National League

There was an excellent letter to the editor at STLToday.com yesterday that I felt obliged to share with you, not only because I think it’s a fitting tribute to this past season’s Cardinal team – despite the unsavory finish – but also because it sums up a lot of the sentimentality I feel toward the Cardinals as well.

I struggled to find one snippet I could quote here that would sum up the whole thing, so instead I’m going to pull out tinier bits and then you’ll just have to go read the whole thing yourself via the link above.

As a kid I remember my mom and dad putting everything on hold to watch playoff games.

…

This town did not just “happen” to be a great baseball town, it’s made of generations and generations of families putting life on hold to watch the Cardinals.

Yep, and actually, as I think I’ve mentioned here before – I still have the 1982 World Series program on my bookshelf.  A gift from my father that I will always cherish (even if he didn’t take me to the game).  You can bet I gave him my extra ticket in 2004 though, and I have the program from that one too.  And save the rhetoric about the “best fans in baseball” because I’m not barking up that tree here.  “Best fans” or not, it’s hard to argue that St. Louis is a great baseball town.

What we can be proud of (and Mr. Dewitt can be thankful for) is the legacy of love for the Cardinals that we have once again fostered. Because of my behavior over the last week my children will put their lives on hold for October baseball when they have families of their own. And although we do not get to watch ‘Albert Pujols do everything’ this post season, I can be proud that this great American past time has once again made a deeper notch into the hearts and minds of the next generation.

As someone preparing to welcome a new member into Cardinal Nation in the coming months, this really hits home.  It’s how I grew to love the Cardinals, it’s how my folks grew to love the Cardinals – hell, it’s how my wife grew to love the Cardinals, if by default.

Every Cardinal fan on the planet was hoping for, almost expected, a trip to the World Series this year.  That didn’t happen.  Yeah, I’m (we’re) bummed.  But gosh were they fun to watch in August.  And in April.  And every other dang month of the season.  I’ll live and die with every Pujols at-bat and ninth inning pitch again next season, with a new fan in my lap.  I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to it.

When do pitchers and catchers report?

< / sappy > 

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Categories: PHE Ramblings

Now that we’re into week 5 of the NFL season and baseball is *ahem* a spectator sport at this point, here is an update on the Pitchers Hit Eighth Fantasy Football League to date:

You’ll note we wound up with fourteen teams and were forced into a large division format.  To date, and we’re still early, no one is pulling away or falling back.  A couple of strong 4-1 starts are in good position right now.

This league came together via Twitter, and as such, you can follow all of the team owners and their various comments regarding their teams via their accounts below:

Boom Boom Pow Boom Boom Pow: @jhadleyconrad
Bros Before Shiancoes: @jeffgab
Any Given Sunday: @MyFantasyLand
Lick That Pujols: @LickThatPujols
Pitchers Hit Eighth: @PitchersHit8th
Team DT58: @hitman6498
Cleveland HorseShoes: @btaylor1978
Plaxico’s Cellmate: @Skitzzo
Team Sarge: @sarge16
Aprfool 79ers: @aprfool79
Chicago Cards: @myersli
dmbfan81 Dave: @dmbfan81
Saint Peters Mutts: @psg723
Dade County Vice Squad: @hldomingue

We’ll continue to post updates here as the season moves along and keep you all abreast of who’s beating whom.

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Categories: PH8 Fantasy Football

[Ed. note - As a charter member of the St. Louis Cardinals chapter of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) (along with fellow UCB members C70 at the Bat, Fungoes, and Stan Musial's Stance), PH8 been afforded the honor of carrying an official vote for a couple of the BBA's 2009 MLB Awards.  You can find more information about the project at the BBA site.]

As is the case with subjective voting for subjective awards such as these, it is inevitable that those doing the voting have their own opinion of what the criteria for winning said award should be and place different values on different attributes or performances, good or bad, in their evaluation.

This will be no different.

When one thinks Manager of the Year, it is easy for the mind to drift straight to winning, and who is doing the most of it.  After all, just because the Yankees have the highest payroll in baseball, that doesn’t mean they win the AL East every season, right?  Someone still has to point the way, to shepherd the team to success.  Why shouldn’t Joe Girardi run away with the award?

The Hardball Times did a study in their 2008 Baseball Annual on manager wins and losses added and found the range to be only +2.29 to -1.88 over 162 games managed (minimum games managed, 1000).  Not really that breathtaking, eh?  (By the way, that’s a fascinating study the THT did, I recommend reading through it.)

So how then, can we judge who did the best job of managing?

My way, quaint as it may seem, is to form my opinion on which teams played better than expected.  Which manager theoretically got more out of less?  Again, realizing that this is an imperfect method, we assume that the manager might have anything to do with a player or two having a career season – but nonetheless, who are we to say that the players didn’t overperform because they were put into good situations by their manager?

Alas, the debate could rage on, but without further ado, my ballot:

2009 National League Manager of the Year

3.  Tony LaRussa, St. Louis Cardinals

Before everyone starts screaming “homer vote,” let me explain.  Number one, I didn’t vote him in at number one, so stop complaining!  Second, the Cardinals sat in first place by one-and-a-half-games over the Chicago Cubs on July 24th, the day that the Matt Holliday trade was made.  For that Cardinal team to be in that position with the lineup they entered the season with, and the injuries sustained to Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse, Ryan Ludwick, etc. was a small miracle in this fan’s book.  Sure, the Cubs helped out a bit by being, well, Cub-like.  Tony really did a number with this team to put them in position to run away with the division once Holliday arrived.  Put the post-season aside for just a second.  This was another masterful job by TLR.

2.  Bud Black, San Diego Padres

Not much was expected of the Padres this season by any of the preseason prognosticators.  In fact, our initial NL West predictions left the Padres completely off of the ballot (sorry Pads fans, no disrespect intended).  Black ran out a bevy of pretty good young kids around Adrian Gonzalez and just let ‘em play.  The result was a twelve game improvement over last season’s win total, a plus-eight versus their Pythagorean expected wins this season, and finished very strong at 18-11 in September and October (including 8-3 versus the two playoff teams from their division).  With the once-messy ownership situation now resolved in San Diego, hopes are high for a return to the top of the division.  Black may be just the guy to lead them there.

1.  Jim Tracy, Colorado Rockies

Not a bad result for a guy who wasn’t managing the team until 46 games into the season, eh?  Tracy took over for Clint Hurdle with the Rockies a miserable 18-28 and guided them to a 74-42 rest of the season for a 92-70 finish that was good enough to win the NL Wild Card.  The 74-42, or .639 winning percentage, to finish the season would’ve been good for the best record in baseball, had they played that well to start the season as well.  Needless to say, this is one of those situations where it’s hard to ignore the one major difference between their start and their finish.  Sure, the Rockies were probably playing well below their capability under Hurdle, and that can happen to any team under any manager (right, Cards fans?) – but Tracy ultimately deserves a large amount of credit for where this team wound up after being left for dead two months into the season.

So there you have it, the Pitchers Hit Eighth ballot for 2009 NL Manager of the Year.  Please be sure to check out all of the other ballots being cast from other BBA members over at http://www.baseballbloggersalliance.com.

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Categories: BBA Awards, Cardinal Blogs, Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse, Matt Holliday, NL Awards, National League, Ryan Ludwick, Tony LaRussa

Cards at Dodgers again – let’s root the Birds on to victory tonight!

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Categories: Live Blog, NL Division Series

In the handful of hours since the Cardinals lost Game One of the NLDS to the Dodgers, the realization has set in that the Dodgers didn’t play much (if any) better than the hometown club.

Sure, they had more timely hits – both with the bat and by the ball – than the Cards, but there is a reason the game ran so long, a new NLDS record for game duration.

Both sides stranded runner after runner.  The Cardinals were 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position.  Not to be outdone, the Dodgers were 2-for-15.

Where the Dodgers came out ahead was that they didn’t have to depend on hitting with RISP.  The home run by Matt Kemp came with Rafael Furcal on first base.  Furcal later knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly.  Russell Martin was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Okay, so the Dodger bullpen performed better than the Cardinal bullpen, that much is clear.  But the rest of the game was an absolute struggle for both teams, even moreso for those of us watching less-than-stellar baseball on a tremendously bad broadcast of it (get your act together TBS).

Admittedly, the one nice addition to the TBS broadcast was the use of their PitchTrax feature in the right sidebar of the high definition feed.

This tool offered insight into what may have been one of the most important at-bats of the game for the Cardinals.  (Little did we know it would be a harbinger of things to come.)

With the bases loaded and no one out in the first inning, following an intentional walk to Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday came to the plate with an opportunity to blow the game wide open before ace Chris Carpenter even got to the mound.

This was the dream scenario for Cardinal fans, right?  For Tony LaRussa, John Mozeliak, and Bill DeWitt?  This is why Matt Holliday is a Cardinal.

Holliday quickly worked Dodger pitcher Randy Wolf to a 2-0 count, as Wolf was seemingly struggling with his control.

Wolf then got a called strike on the outside corner from home plate umpire Dana DeMuth.  Then another.  Then one more for the strikeout.  They were great pitches.  Holliday’s bat never moved.

How can you not offer at a single pitch in that at-bat?  Once Wolf got the first two called strikes, whether you agree with the calls or not (and Holliday clearly didn’t), how can you watch the third one sail in even closer to the plate?

Yes, it was closer, as the PitchFX data shows:

Holliday was ultimately right about the locations of the pitches.  But until balls and strikes are called by the PitchFX cameras instead of the fallible human umpires, taking pitches that close, in an at-bat with such high leverage, is inexcusable in my book.  Swing the bat.

Maybe Holliday thought he had earned those calls because of his star status in the league?  Would those have been strikes for Pujols and his notoriously good eye?

I’m not one typically prone to exaggeration, but I have a sneaking suspicion that was a huge at-bat/turning point in this series, and it happened in the top of the first inning.  Yikes.

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Categories: Albert Pujols, Bill DeWitt, Chris Carpenter, John Mozeliak, Matt Holliday, NL Division Series, Tony LaRussa, Umpires