Pujols Watch

[pdga#7648]

Starts in 5 days, but I really don't think it lasts very long. He resigns in St. Louis!  with that Championship team in place, and getting Wainwright back, pretty easy decision for him.


Brett, don't get your hopes up too much please 

[CEValkyrie]

You can't feel too good about that speech. I really think he could end up in a lot of places. A player like that can get a struggling teams fan base excited in a hurry. My hopes are not up. I have my reasons for wanting Pujols which fits right in the "Cubs Plan". If he comes here great. If not I just hope we don't have to face him in the division. If the Cards blow a huge wad on him great! It's win/win on my end.

[pdga#7648]

your right. That speech didn't sound good, but I think he is just taking in the moment, and wasn't going to talk to millions of people about it.  time will tell??

[Dan Michler]

Do you really want to lock up Pujols for 7+ years if you are anybody other than a Cardinals fan?  Maybe I've just been burned by 30+ year old free agents too many times as a Cubs fan, but I'm definitely feeling like Pujols' best years are behind him.

After August everything really came together like a perfect storm for the Cardinals.

1.  Berkman had 1 last monster year and gave the team the lift it needed to stay competitive, especially early.  He was also their best hitter in the WS.  Berkman might have another solid year left, but its highly doubtful he'll ever reproduce this season again.

2. An aging Carpenter was great when he needed to be against the Phils, was terrible against the Brewers when it was okay because the Brewers pitching was worse, and was then solid again in the WS when the Cards needed it.

3.  The Cardinals got the 102 Win Phils in the 1st round, which is only 5 games.  The Cards would have really had a tough time beating the Phils in a 7 game series.  Carpenter would have been done after Game 5 and the Phils had 2 more ace starters waiting in the wings.

4.  The Cardinals got that rainout in Game 6 of the WS.  The weather was not bad, and considerably better than the weather in Game 1.  However, the game was cancelled early in the day to avoid the potential for ong rain delays which could hurt TV ratings (still think MLB doesn't care about TV ratings Doug?)  This allowed Carpenter to start Game 7...HUGE advantage for the Cardinals.

5.  The NL won the All-Star game, giving the Cardinals home field advantage, even though the Rangers were 6 games better than the Cardinals in the regular season.  Without home-field in Game 7, do the Cardinals win it?  Who knows.

6.  I'm not saying the Cards won because of this, but the 3-2 pitch by Feldman to Yadier Molina with the bases loaded in a 3-2 game with 2 outs was HUGE. 

That was strike 3.  Unbelievably it was called ball 4 and 2 more runs came home in the inning.  That was essentially the end of the game.  If the Rangers get out of that, its still a 1 run game, they take back some momentum and the game completely changes.  And it was flat-out a TERRIBLE call.  Especially because:

A)  the previous inning Carpenter had gotten a huge called strike on a pitch 6 inches outside against Josh Hamilton with runners on.  That killed that inning, and Carpenter appeared on the ropes as he was hit hard after that (a robbed HR and a line-drive out to RF).  The lack of consistency in the strike zone clearly favored the Cardinals as the 3-2 pitch to Molina was obviously over the plate.

and   the previous pitch Molina made the umpire look bad by taking off for first on a called strike.  Why the umpire felt it necessary to give Molina the benefit of the doubt on the next pitch is beyond me.


Then when you factor in the Braves historic collapse, its hard to comprehend the odds that the 2011 Cardinals overcame win this.  For a 90 win, slightly above average team to win the WS, it takes this kind of luck to pull it off.  But, if it happened to the Cubs, it wouldn't take anything away from my enjoyment.  Congrats Cardinals!

[CEValkyrie]

You didn't even bring up the head to head matchups with the Cubs. The Cardinals should send Quade a nice check.

6-4 Quade decides to pitch to Pujols with Holliday out of the lineup. Gives up a 12th innning dong to lose a 1 run game.
6-5. Marmol blows another save. The Genius decides to pitch to the machine in the 10th with LOPEZ!! Walk off dong.
9-24. Cubs give up 2 in the bottom of the 9th to blow a 1-0 lead. Quade watches Marmol walk 3 and hit another to force in the winning run.
9-25 Quade leaves Wells into the 8th to blow a well pitched game. Another 1 run loss.

Let's move onto the Phillies. The Phillies lose 9 of their last 11 going into the Braves series to finish the year. They sweep the Braves and knock them out.

Texas
Hamilton goes into the post season with that injury. It progressively gets worse.
In game #6 The bullpen melts down like no other game in history.
Over the series they walk more batters than any other series.

[CEValkyrie]

Are Cardinal fans still calling for Tony's head?

[pdga#7648]

Tony LaRussa just announced his retirement today.  now I really don't like our chances of keeping Albert??

[pdga#7648]

unless he retired from baseball for good. if he manages someplace else, AP will follow him.

[CEValkyrie]

Pretty crazy stuff.

[Dan Michler]

unless he retired from baseball for good. if he manages someplace else, AP will follow him.

This is a ridiculous speculation Doug.  

#1 If Pujols leaves St.Louis, it'll be to get the $ he is worth, not to follow around Tony LaRussa.  There are only a handful of teams that could even throw $200M+ at Pujols.  If anything, you should be speculating that Tony wants to follow Pujols, not the other way around.
#2  LaRussa is 67 years old.  I legitimately think he doesn't want the physical grind of the 162 game schedule.  He may still work in baseball, but it won't be on the field.

[pdga#7648]

Tony stated he will never manage again, so that's good news.
Not really Dan. Tony and AP have a special relationship not too many players have with their managers.
I think Jose Oquendo should get the job, if Ozzie Smith doesn't.

Buster Olney ESPN, says the Cards have an 8 yr 225MIL offer for AP. He has to take that 28.1 MIL per year.

[Dan Michler]

Tony stated he will never manage again, so that's good news.
Not really Dan. Tony and AP have a special relationship not too many players have with their managers.
I think Jose Oquendo should get the job, if Ozzie Smith doesn't.

Buster Olney ESPN, says the Cards have an 8 yr 225MIL offer for AP. He has to take that 28.1 MIL per year.

Thanks for letting me know about their special bond Doug.  Thats great.  I bet it was really really special.

If Buster is accurate with those numbers, there is zero doubt Albert is coming back to St.Louis.  Thats a huge deal that makes him more money annually than Arod.  I highly doubt anybody will make a significantly better offer than that, especially when Albert just came off his worst season at age 31.

[CEValkyrie]

I agree, if those #'s Buster reported are correct there is no way he's leaving. I just don't buy it though. If he was offered that before the season he would have signed. The #'s that were reported didn't have him paid in the top 5 at his position. Is this day #3? 2 more and he hits free agency.

[pdga#7648]

the offer at the beginning of the year was 9 yrs for 190MIL. 21 MIL a year wasnt enough( what a joke )  by Busters #'s they took 1 year off but threw alot more money his way with this offer. I still think he tests the market, just to see who will pay what, but after this run they just had, with that entire team coming back plus Wainwright, and knowing a 10' tall statue of him is being built outside his bar in downtown St. Louis, he comes back. but yes, this is day #3

[Dan Michler]

the offer at the beginning of the year was 9 yrs for 190MIL. 21 MIL a year wasnt enough( what a joke )

Here's what annoys the rest of the country about Cardinals fans.  You fall ass backwards into 2 titles in 6 years, with 2 of the worst regular season teams to ever win the WS, then when one of the 10 best hitters of all-time wants to be paid like one of the 10 best hitters in 2011, you get pissed and think he's being greedy and disloyal.  Please.

[pdga#7648]

just because Arod was paid 26.2 mil a year did not mean he was worth it! Texas was paying for that even when he was a Yankee!  You have even said AP's best years are behind him. so who on earth is worth 26MIL a year at 37 38 or 39 years of age? Nobody is. Now if he wants 30 mil over 3 years? fine, sign here please!  if he wants 10 years, I'll bet no team pays him over 27 MIL a year at 10 years!

That's why the Cards are in contention year after year, because they don't overpay anybody, for any reason. Best in baseball or not?!  We underpaid him or 10 years, and got his best 10 years out of him. They won 9 titles before he got here, and will win plenty more without him if he decides to move on.  If he does, I really hope he goes to the Cubs. then we can say it's been 110 years without a title, and you had the best player in baseball!   

[pdga#7648]

Back in April, yea I was upset he didn't sign. But if he chooses to move on, I will be okay with it now. After seeing the way people played this year, the Cards will battle for that division again next year without him.

There is already talk of Matt Kemp, and Jose Reyes as position players(both free agents) and CJ Wilson as another lefty pitcher.
Even if only 1 of the position players is signed(Kemp)
1B- Berkman
2B- Schumaker
SS- Furcal
3B- Freese
LF- Holliday
CF- Kemp
RF- Craig
C- Molina

that team will compete in the NL Central. Especially with Wainwright, Carpenter, Garcia as the big 3 in the starting rotation!
Now of course, I don't want the best to ever play the game to leave the best baseball city, but if he does he does. I never thought he was that greedy, but we are about to find out if he is loyal like he says he is? We did get his best years, but to see him a Cardinal for life is the way it should be. He has said money isn't the main thing, winning Championships is! We'll see about that, considering St. Louis just gave him his 2nd ring. He didn't give it to St. Louis!  without Berkman and Freese, that title would be in Texas!
If he leaves, that 20 million a year will be used between 2-3 players. Pitching is where they need help. Lohse and Westbrook can move on as well! But there is now more money to give him, with LaRussa and Duncan gone.
Time will tell. It's just a great feeling knowing all you Cubs fans will be tuning into Cardinal Nation over the next couple weeks, to see the outcome! 

[Dan Michler]

Yes I'm sure the Cardinals will be getting Matt Kemp when he's a free agent in 2013.  And yes, the Cardinals never overpay for anybody (forget about that time they traded Dan Haren to the A's for Mark Mulder and then resigned Mulder for 2 more years).

[pdga#7648]

oh yes, so many winning season will make fans forget about Mulder!  like I did.  ESPN said Kemp was a FA at seasons end???  OK, I'm still sure there is a FA out there with respectable #'s that would fit in fine in the Cardinal uniform. Don't even need good #'s(Berkman)  playing for that franchise will bring out the players best(Berkman)

[Dan Michler]

ESPN probably reported on Kemp's contract negotiations with the Dodgers as they look to lock him up long-term.

I love how you pick the guy who is a frontrunner for the 2011 NL MVP to replace Pujols.  Really thinking outside the box there.  You'd make a heck of a GM!