The season is over and let the bidding begin

[Valascus]

And the Cards lose out on yet ANOTHER free agent pitcher. There are reports coming in that the Cards are out of the running for Miguel Batista. Sources are saying that he is Seattle bound. I have also read somewhere that the Cards have interest in signing Josh Fogg. I have been looking at Fogg's career stats and they are not very impressive. The Cards seem to have taken themselves out of the bidding for Jeff Suppan as well. Starting to look like next year is going to be another year of starting pitching struggles to me. I am starting to wonder why the Cards just don't attract starting pitching. Are they just too cheap? Is it the fact that Saint Louis isn't a large market...they are close but not quite a large market...I would say upper mid range market. I just don't understand it. The club just won a WS and stands a decent chance of winning the division again and making the playoffs, but they can't attract quality starting pitching to save their lives.

[Daniel My Brother]

Hey Val,

I think the Cards are willing to pony up the cash, they're just trying to avoid getting burned by long-term contracts in the process. Everyone else spends like idiots (cubs) around the time of the Winter meetings, then they go into hibernation. Walt works year round. He signs guys during spring training, during the season and even after the trade deadline. Based on past esperience I'm willing to give the Cardinals a little time to figure this out. I think they'll be fine.

Keep the faith!

Dan

[Valascus]

"The Cardinals have asked to view Carl Pavano's expansive medical records, according to a report in yesterday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a sign that the Yankees might be able to get out from under that albatross of a contract. The Rockies previously expressed interest in the righthander, but talks broke down because they wanted the Yankees to eat most of the $22.95 million left in the final two years of his four-year, $39.95-million deal, a person familiar with the talks said."

Oh boy...they are scrappin' the bottom of the barrell if they are looking at that dude. Carl Pavano is way too big a liability. Too many injuries, too much time on the DL, a massive contract, and worst of all, he is a liar that lied to the Yanks about his injuries. Hopefully they pass on him.

[Panamoka_Bassin]

Sorry for you Cards fans if it happens, but I would love to see Pavano gone.  Some of my buddies think they should keep him, but I say its time to just cut our losses.  The Yanks have a solid rotation all of a sudden, and Pavano doesn't fit in it.  Either trade him, or release him, he's nothing but dead weight.

[Valascus]

Sorry Panamoka, but you can keep him. ;D I agree with you totally on the dead weight opinion.

So the Sox finally got their man in Daisuke Matsuzaka. Hopefully he is everything that they think he is cracked up to be. I think they overpaid for him...by a huge amount. But...if he turns out to be instumental in winning Boston the AL pennant and a WS, the I suppose it's money well spent.

Now...for a more important note. A great player has recently retired. Jeff Bagwell. In my opinion, Bags was a class act among athletes. His loyalty to his team was matched only by teammate Craig Biggio. I think Bags will be a HOF player one day...at least in my book he deserves to be.

Well...it looks like the baseball wheeling and dealing is starting to slow down now...time to start going into baseball withdrawals. Can't wait 'til the season starts and fantasy baseball starts.

[bassmasta7]

Now that we have all had our nice little holiday breaks... IT'S time for some more baseball talk. Barry Zito to the Giants, Randy Johnson to the D-Backs, we have a lot to talk about. The good news is the Cards found two more starters. The Cards signed Ryan Franklin (bla) no big deal. Kind of like signing Sidney Ponson last year. The bigger news is that the Cards signed Mark Mulder to a two year deal today. It is worth something like $13 million (5.5 first year 6.5 second) with an option for a third year. All I can say is that he better be healthy. In his two years with the cards he was good but not great and then his second year he had an era over 7. If he doesnt have a great year this year then the trade with the A's will look bad because Danny Harren is doing great over their in Oakland. The biggest deal for the Cards is that they signed Rick Ankiel. YES!! Former pitcher converted outfielder with apparent mental problems. I hope we arent paying him with actual money.

[CJ]

Okay,not to pick but,I think Walt should have just thrown away 13 million.Rick Ankiel has drug problems.Hey I am a Cards fan,I thought the Cards should have done whatever to got Suppan.I think they are going to be in trouble?

[bassmasta7]

Rick Ankiel is seriously messed up bad and that is certain. I think he holds the record for most wild pitches in a playoff game or an inning with 6 against muddy's mets. It's a shame cause that season he was an amazing rookie pitcher with so much talent then lost it in the post season and never recovered. He had arm problems but then 2 years ago he made it back to the majors as a rp. He was looking great in spring training then got frustrated with his control and gave up. I remember there were players talking about how great his curve was looking. What a shame.

On mulder i think he will be ok this year but then will get traded in his final year of his contract. He has the potential to be great but we'll see. This year's rotation could be amazing with Carp, Mulder, Wells, Reyes, and whoever wins the 5 spot in spring training. Also, it could be terrible if Mulder is the same as last year, wells doesnt improve, and reyes looks like the rookie he was towards the middle of the season last year. Carp is still solid on top though.

[Daniel My Brother]

Ankiel is just one surgery away from overcoming his problems. Unfortunately that surgery's a labotomy. I feel sorry for the guy, messed up family, messed up career, messed up life. So much potential, I was hoping he'd show up with a new team and get a fresh start.

As far as Mulder goes, the jury is still out.

[Valascus]

Boy...who thought Zito would end up with the Giants. Ha...bad move on his part...and very contradictory to his prior statements. He said that he was interested in signing with a club that had a chance to win a championship. That's so not what he did though. The Giants have ZERO chance to win the NL West. That's right folks, the big SQUADOOSH! He clearly just went where the most money was. Shows how little character he really has in my book. If it were really about the game, winning, and being a team player he would have signed elsewhere for less money. If he wanted his best shot he should have gone with the Mets. Oh well, he will learn the error he just made the hard way.

As far as the Cardinals recent signings go, I am not impressed. Mulder had better show some marked improvement, and I highly doubt he will do it this season. He can't even pitch until after the All-Star break, and it will probably take him some time to knock the rust off. Even then, we don't know that his condition is what has caused his decline. He has been in a slow state of decline since his last year with the A's. His peripheral numbers such as walks, balls to strikes ratios, and fly to ground ball ratios have all been steadily going up. Not a good sign for a pitcher who is considered a ground ball pitcher. But we will see I suppose.

As far as Franklin goes, I am not really inclined to comment on him...since I know very little about him. It does look like a signing that is kind of in the same ilk as Sidney Ponson.

I could also really care less about the Ankiel signing as well. He just has too much baggage. Hopefully he has cleaned up his act and can successfully play some outfield. If not it's gonna look like an awful bad signing.

I think the Cards biggest mistake so far is not trying to resign Jeff Suppan. That was a huge mistake. And to make matters worse, he ended up with a divisional opponent in the Brewers. I guarantee that is gonna come back and bite us in the butt. Especially since the Brewers signing Suppan not only helped bolster their starting staff, but also removed their BIGGEST nemesis in the NL. Suppan had awesome numbers against the Brewers. Now they don't have to deal with him anymore. I can see the Brew Crew making a decent run in the central. They have been quietly creeping up on everyone for the last few years. It'll definitely make things interesting.