How is that respect?

Jocketty puts Brian Barden on the team, Tony plays him out of position at 2B so Miguel Cairo can start at 3B. Then Jocketty puts Brendan Ryan on the team and Tony moves Cairo to 2B, Barden to SS and Ryan to 3B. As one of my Brewers fan friends put it last September, “Why is LaRussa playing 3 infielders completely out of position?”.

Mozeliak puts Brian Barden on the roster again this year and LaRussa starts Felipe Lopez at 3B, Aaron Miles in LF, and Brian Barden is in charge of getting the sunflower seed bags between the 3rd and 4th inning.

LaRussa feels a player has to be ‘eased’ into playing at the Big League level and it wastes the teams resources. It gives a guy like Adam Kennedy more at-bats in games he has no business playing in. Kennedy was given 7 at-bats in a very important series and ended up going 1 for 7. What possible good, short term and long term is there in playing Adam Kennedy over Brendan Ryan and Brian Barden? What possible good is there in playing Aaron Miles in LF over Brian Barton, both short term and long term?

The vicious cycle you refer to is for the ignorant. How many free agent pitchers have shown they were worth their multi-year contracts in the last 4 year. Very Few. I wouldn’t complain if we never signed another free agent starter. Hitters are a little better bet, but aging hitters that are showing deteriorating skills are always overvalued. Adam Kennedy anyone??? Tell me I could have not gone to our own minor league system and totally replaced the Kennedy signing at a tenth of the cost. It is not the impact players that anyone is refering to, it is the cheap fillers that I am looking for. The guys that can hold a slot at minnimum so we can afford to pay albert whatever he is worth.

It is a whole risk/reward problem young players inherrently because of their cost offer a low risk/ high reward situation. Some free agents do this as well, Loshe was a low risk/high reward guy. The team is looking to put themselves in as many of these situations on the field as possible, we need a manager willing to let them play out.

A vicious/ignorant circle

I think the Cards have done a fine job (especially over the last couple of years) in developing and plugging in younger players that are capable (eg–Albert, Yadi, Waino). They gave Reyes at least 2 shots and he couldn’t do it—-and don’t give me the pitch to contact BS. Chris Carpenter struck out 213 batters in 2005. He has done just fine under Dave Duncan while pitching to and away from contact. The fact is that Reyes was overrated. He showed flashes—so did Todd Van Poppel.

As for mixing in younger and older players–who are we talking about? Albert was mixed in with pretty good results. Ditto for Yadi and Waino (and I believe a lot of people said Waino was improperly used out of the bullpen for that 1st year. That turned out alright…)

Case of Kyle McClellan: Properly used/Over used?
You’ll hear complaints from both sides. Some say “Tony overuses him” while others say “Tony doesn’t use enough young players”—-Typical responses from message boarders. TLR can’t win with this fan base—-and I might remind everyone that he HAS WON with this team (and a couple others.

Tony is not dumb–if he sees real talent he will play it. Most of the guys you mentioned PJ were well above replacement level. What pisses me off is if Tony is given the option of Player A at 6million a year with 10 years experience or Player B at $300K and a Rookie, producing at comparable levels, Tony will always take Player A. And Tony will be a surly bastard if you don’t go out and spend $6mil on Player A when you have Player B ready to go.

Albert Pujols made teh club out of Spring Training at 21
Rick Ankiel was in the rotation at 20
Fernando Tatis started 3B at 23
Matt Morris was in the rotation at 22
Bud Smith was in the rotation partially) at 21
Yadier Molina was up at 21 and was the starter at 22
Chris Duncan and Skip Schumaker (24 and 25 respectively when they came up) have been given many opportunities

Then there are pitchers who came up in 2006 both at 24—Reyes and Wainwright
One (Pitcher A) had an ERA 3.12 in 75 ip, one (Pitcher B) an ERA OF 5.06 IN 85 IP—-Guess which was which….

Pitcher B, alleged a man in “Tony’s doghouse”, still got another shot the following year. He went 2-14 with an ERA over 6 while Pitcher A HAD A 3.70 ERA and a 14-12 record.

Reyes (and other young players) have gotten their fair shot from TLR. Some make it (Wainwright, Pujols, Yadi) and some don’t (Reyes)