*** Official St Louis Cardinals to the 2006 World Series Thread ***

[crockpot]

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He has roughly 1400 hits in his first 11.5 years.

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i'll drop this argument because it's pointless, but august 1996-july 2006 is 10 years, not 11.5. either way, i admit rolen's hall chances are up in the air over any number of factors, so we'll wait and see.

[RunDownHouse]

I don't know who Keith Law is, but reading that snippet makes me think he's just another ESPN idiot.

[MyTurn2Raise]

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I don't know who Keith Law is, but reading that snippet makes me think he just got a lobotomy

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FYP

[MyTurn2Raise]

the more I think about this article, the more I realize this guy is a douche who has no idea about the Cards


He is so tied up in Pujols/Rolen/Edmonds that perhaps he didn't realize the Encarnacion guy he blasts is very comparable to, if not better than, Edmonds in terms of production at the plate.

To ridicule Eckstein and his moderately sized contract is just amazing. He must've gotten his facts wrong there somehow.

The Duncan/Taguchi/J-Rod position is not that bad. Sure, it would be nice to have more homers from that spot (Duncan provides that but also the strikeouts to go with), but they all hit for decent average and have been serviceable. Are they great? No. But they are not so bad.

The holes in the line-up have been Molina, who is turning it around after a horrible start, and Miles, who LaRussa insists on playing over Luna (the one thing Law did get right).

As Schwartzy pointed out, Mulder had two different first halves. Look at May 22nd and before. His ERA was 3.74 through that time and he had a good winning record. It was his last 5 starts or so, when his arm was nothing, that it fell apart. If he comes back solid, he should have a 'fresh' arm for the rest of the season. Carpenter and Mulder would be a solid 1-2 punch.

Jason Marquis is mister inconsistent his whole career. I am just hoping he is hot come September and October.

Suppan has always battled well for the Cards come playoff time.

Reyes shows promise.

Jeff Weaver might benefit from the change of scenery, and pitching coaches.

Are things rosy?
No

But they are not a mess

[djj6835]

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I don't know who Keith Law is, but reading that snippet makes me think he's just another ESPN idiot

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Seriously, did this guy do any sort of research before writing this article. Especially his comments regarding John Rodriguez. Apparently Edmonds and his .800 OPS makes him one of only three decent hitters in the lineup and Rodriguez's .814 OPS is "so bad". The fact that he doesn't even acknowledge Eckstein's contributions is laughable and to not even mention Encarnacion while referring to Edmonds as one of their few offensive anchors is a joke.

[PTjvs]

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He has roughly 1400 hits in his first 11.5 years.

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i'll drop this argument because it's pointless, but august 1996-july 2006 is 10 years, not 11.5. either way, i admit rolen's hall chances are up in the air over any number of factors, so we'll wait and see.

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You are correct of course. My bad.

jvs

[PTjvs]

You can certainly argue that the Cards are a mess. Their current record would have put them 7 games back last year, and the starting pitching is atrocious. You point out that Mulder has been good at stretches this year, and that if his arm returns to form that you will have 2 (3 with Reyes) good SPs. Take the other side of the arguement however; if Mulder continues to struggle mightily, as he has lately, your rotation is pretty much in shambles.

However, there isn't a team in the NL outside of NYM that I wouldn't argue to be medicore at best, ahd the NYM Met starting pitching probably isn't going to dominate anyone is a postseason series either, so even the Mets can be had. The key is to be less of a mess than your competitors.

jvs

[Schwartzy61]

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You can certainly argue that the Cards are a mess. Their current record would have put them 7 games back last year, and the starting pitching is atrocious.

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Yeah 7 games back of themselves, 6 ahead of Chicago for the division lead and 1/2 a game away from the best record in the NL. Your quote just shows how much better last year's team had performed to this point, and considering this team isn't that much different than the current one, shows some hope for this team even if they don't eventually capitalize on the opportunity.

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You point out that Mulder has been good at stretches this year, and that if his arm returns to form that you will have 2 (3 with Reyes) good SPs. Take the other side of the arguement however; if Mulder continues to struggle mightily, as he has lately, your rotation is pretty much in shambles.

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Well assuming Mulder's trouble was health and he comes back from the DL healthy then he's fine. If of course he doesn't get healthy then he won't exactly be in the rotation. And hopefully the Cardinals second most valuable pitcher to this point gets point in his spot. While the SP is a pretty big mess at this point, considering 3 of the starters performed well below career averages, it wouldn't be surprising to see them turn it around a little. So while its bleek, there is a little ray of sunshine. It's not like the team is loaded with guys that just can't pitch, it's just right now they seem to have forgotten how to...hopefully a couple of them "remember" in time...

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However, there isn't a team in the NL outside of NYM that I wouldn't argue to be medicore at best, ahd the NYM Met starting pitching probably isn't going to dominate anyone is a postseason series either, so even the Mets can be had. The key is to be less of a mess than your competitors.

jvs

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Exactly, there is no reason to think this team won't be in the NLCS given the state of the NL. As for the WS? Eh...even if the Cardinals had the talent/were good enough I'm sure LaRussa would find a way to screw it up...

[RunDownHouse]

Nice intro, Weaver!

Most worrying to me is that he's already had several 8+ pitch at-bats.

[Schwartzy61]

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Nice intro, Weaver!

Most worrying to me is that he's already had several 8+ pitch at-bats.

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Yeah the 6 hits, 2 BB, and 5 ERs in 3 IP are nothing to worry about...