Seven games of prospect fun!
On to the DFR!
Memphis 8, Round Rock 9
- Sugar Shane Robinson went 1-for-5 with a 2B and RBI.
- Tyler Greene went 3-for-5 with a 2B, 2 H and 2 RBI. Ryan Theriot is 1 for his last 30.
- Matt Carpenter went 2-for-5.
- Bryan Anderson went 1-for-5 with a HR and RBI and is next in line in the catching MASH unit.
- Pete Kozma was 1-for-4 with a 3B.
- Adron Chambers went 2-for-2 with 2 RBI.
- Brandon Dickson threw 5.0 IP with 6 H, 4 ER and 2 BB. He struckout 5.
- Pete Parise (1 K) and Ron Mahay pitched scoreless innings each.
- Chuck Fick got 2 outs but gave up 2 H and 2 UER.
- Victor Marte blew the save, allowing 2 UER in 1.1 IP on 1 H, 1 BB and 2 K.
- Jess Todd took the loss over 1.2 IP with 2 H, 1 ER and 1 BB to go along with 2 K.
Springfield 12, Arkansas 6
- James Rapoport went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI.
- Ryan Jackson went 2-for-4.
- Zach Zack Cox went 2-for-3 with a HR and 2 RBI.
- Jermaine Curtis went 1-for-4 with a HR and RBI.
- Charles Chris Swauger went 2-for-5 with 2 RBI.
- Audry Perez went 1-for-2 with a 2B.
- Daryl Jones was 2-for-4 with a 2B and 4 RBI.
- Nick Additon threw 3.1 IP with 7 H, 4 ER and 3 BB as well as 3 K.
- Scott Schneider picked up the win with 2.2 IP throwing 2 K.
- Francisco Samuel threw 1.0 IP with 1 H, 1 UER and 1 K.
- Jorge Rondon struckout 1 over 1.0 IP.
- Samuel Freeman gave up a H, ER and BB in 1 IP. He struckout 2.
Batavia 4, Staten Island 3
- Garrett Wittels and David Medina went 1-for-3.
- Romulo Ruiz went 1-for-3 with a 2B and 2 RBI.
- Virgil Hill and Roberto Reyes went 2-for-4.
- Kevin Moscatel went 1-for-3 with a 2B and RBI.
- Patrick Daugherty threw 4.0 IP with 4 H, 2 ER and 2 BB, striking out 5.
- Corey Baker struckout 3 in 3 IP.
- Travis Miller gave up an ER and 2 BB while only getting 2 outs. He also gave up a H.
- Danny Miranda threw 1.1 IP with 1 BB and 1 K.
Riverbandits 3, Peoria 1
- Michael Swinson was 1-for-3 with a 2B.
- Nicholas Longmire went 1-for-3.
- Colin Walsh and Oscar Taveras went 1-for-4.
- Jon Rodriguez went 1-for-4 with a HR and 2 RBI.
- Ronny Gil went 1-for-3.
- Seth Blair scattered 8 H over 5.0 IP with 1 ER, 4 BB and 3 K.
- Cale Johnson threw 2.0 IP with 3 H and 1 K.
- Justin Edwards picked up the win with 2 IP, 1 H and 1 K.
Johnson City 6, Bristol 11
- Steven Ramos went 1-for-3 with a 2B.
- Tyler Rahmatulla went 2-for-5 with a 2B, 3B and RBI.
- Kolby Byrd went 3-for-5 with a RBI.
- Gary Apelian went 1-for-5 with a 2B and RBI.
- Roberto De La Cruz went 2-for-5 with a HR and 2 RBI.
- David Washington went 3-for-5 with a 3B.
- Neal Pritchard went 1-for-5 with a HR and 2 RBI.
- Ronard Castillo went 1-for-4 with a 3B.
- Benjamin Freeman was roughed up over 4.1 IP. He gave up 6 H and 3 BB for 7 ER. He struckout 3.
- Nicholas Gillung threw 1.2 IP with 1 H and 2 BB.
- Dyllon Nuernberg went 2.1 IP with 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB and 2 K.
- Michael Santana recorded 2 outs but not until he gave up 3 ER on 3 H and 2 BB. He struckout 1.
Palm Beach 6, Lakeland 5 Game 1
- Starlin Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with 2 RBI.
- Greg Garcia went 2-for-3 with a 3B, HR and 1 RBI.
- Kyle Conley went 1-for-4 with a 2B.
- Niko Vasquez and Luis De La Cruz (RBI) went 2-for-3.
- Ted Obregon went 1-for-3 with a 3B.
- Tyler Lyons threw 5.0 IP with 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB and 4 K.
- Justin Wright pitched 1.2 IP with 1 BB and 3 K.
- Keith Butler picked up the save by getting 1 strikeout.
Palm Beach 3, Lakeland 1 Game 2
- Greg Garcia went 2-for-4 with a 2B.
- Robert Stock went 2-for-3 with a 2B.
- Adam Melker was 2-for-3.
- Kevin Siegrist threw 4.0 IP with 4 H, 3 BB and 3 K.
- Daniel Calhoun went 1.0 IP with 1 H, 1 ER and 1 K.
- Jesse Simpson picked up the win threw 1.0 IP with 2 H.
- Jordan Swagerty logged the save giving up 2 H and a K in 1 IP.
Entries (RSS)
Theriot 1 hit in his las 30 at-bats was a gritty hit. It counted for about 15 hits in the eyes of Tony. Tyler Greene is not gritty.
Unfortunately Greene also apparently lost the game by making 3 errors at 2b leading to 4 unearned runs. I also really would like to see Greene get a full blown shot, but he needs to not choke on it if he gets that chance.
Doesn’t matter.
The point is to pick at LaRussa for persceived slights.
I mean who cares that Greene has options, can’t field and can’t hit ML pitching.
“I mean who cares that Greene has options, can’t field and can’t hit ML pitching.”
So the difference between he and Theriot is that Greene has options?
I hate Tony larussa.
Again I want to see Greene get the opportunity that has been discussed, but, in fairness, TLR was not at the Memphis game last night pressuring Greene.
Yes it is. The cards draft 20 rounds of players. They are all HOF players. Its LaRussa that keeps them from reaching that level. He Hates successfull young players. Just ask David Freese, Skip Shumaker, Albert Pujols, Yadi Molina, Wainright, Jon Jay, Salas, Sanchez, Motte, Boggs and Garcia.
wait did you call Skip successful…ha!
By all accounts Skip has had a productive major league career. No, not an All-Star but not every guy is.
7 season .290 average. .349 OBP.
Call me a baseball fan, but I consider that line to be pretty good.
Are you related to TLR or something? Why can’t you admit he blew it with Rasmus and he’s currently making a mistake leaving Theriot in there. Would it be that hard to admit that?
Wait. What does this have to do with what we were discussing? None of what you mentioned has anything to do with Tyler Greene.
The reason Tyler Greene isn’t here is Danial Descalso. Tyler Greene was outplayed pure and simple. That is the truth. People want to playe the “youth” card, but Descalso is also young so again its a dumb point. IF point out this obvious fact makes me “related to LaRussa” then I would rather be related…hopefully as a son in law :).
Keeping Descalso in the majors instead of Greene is nothing to get upset about. If it was Greene over Descalso, then I would be upset with LaRussa. If Punto latest issue is serious, forcing to not play while Greene sits, I will be upset.
I agree with the theriot point. I have been an advocate of a leadoff platoon with skip since they picked him up.
I don’t think LaRussa blew it with Rasmus. I think their are 3 people to blaim, LaRussa, Rasmus and his dad. While I can see LaRussa’s fault, I think its funny you actually beleive Rasmus is innocent in all of this.
Without getting into the differences, the Rasmus and the Theriot issues are completely different matters. The next three seasons of Colby will tell the tale. I hope he does well but if he doesn’t change how he reacts to circumstances around him, we may be happy with the pitching upgrade for this season, the future of Scrabble, the draft choices that they may get for Jackson and Dotel (I would be happy if the got another two pitchers/players of the caliber of Swaggerty and Blair in the supplemental round) and 3 secondline prospects from Toronto’s deep system to attempt to develop.
Again I really do wish Colby well, but he needs to stop with the excuses. After going 0-5 with two K’s, he said, “With all the stuff going on, my mind was all over the place. I couldn’t relax and settle down, my mind was everywhere.” Just saying stuff like that reinforces the opinion of some that he is a baby/excuse maker. He is out of St. Louis and away from the evil TLR and needs to perform in a way that shows that TLR was the problem and not his immaturity and the interference of his dad.
Last comment, if I understand the way things work, it was not TLR telling him how to bat but his hitting coach McGwire. Thus he should be pitting his dad versus the hitting coach. TLR became a convenient excuse for lack of success, because TLR speaks out as is the responsibilty of the manager and the batting coach is understandably mute.
Regardless of whether the foil was TLR or McGwire, if my dad were a small time lawyer, and I came out of law school and got a job as a junior hot shot associate lawyer with a major league law firm, and was put under the wings of a senior partner and his right hand senior associate, and was told by the senior partner and his right hand how they wanted me to handle a case, but I elected to do it how my dad the small time lawyer told me, and the result that I won less than 20% (.200) of my cases for the last two months, I would not be sent to another major league law firm in Toronto, Tampa or Chicago. I would be out on my butt, looking for a job with some small time firm in Alabama, maybe my dad’s firm. And that is no matter how big a hot shot I was coming out of law school.
One of Carpenter’s hits was a HR. Chambers had two SB (15 total). Unfortunately he also was caught stealing for the 9th time. Interestingly the played him in CF with Robinson in RF.
Cox with a .987 OPS in 101 AB’s since the TL All Star game.
+1 on Cox. I still hate his contract but the guy has a track record of adjusting after being pushed up the ladder. Next year it will be Memphis.
Agree. Being on the roster handcuffs them. I am not a fan of draft picks making the roster.
And forget next year. In Sept he will be in St. Louis.
I doubt Cox gets a Sept callup in 2011 unless he is promoted to Memphis immediately and puts up strong #’s there before the season ends. Tony is well known for not giving Sept callups merely to expose prospects to the majors. He only calls up those who are expected to contribute. With no resume above AA, Cox is unlikely to get a callup. MCarp is ahead of Cox @ 3B in the organizational depth charts for now IMHO.
I agree with that. however, with Freese still getting rest, Descalso playing lots of short and Punto not beaing able to throw, he might not have a choice.
Forgot about little carp though.
Agree with this. Historically, doesn’t seem like they’ve brought up too many in September that they weren’t going to actually use for a stretch run or in the post season.
I’ve also heard that across all of the major leagues, in recent years, there are monetary considerations mitigating against the old traditional “September call up” model of years past. Something about added cost of paying things like major league level per diem to a large group of minor leaguers, etc. Those with more knowledge could correct me on this.
He might be old for the league, but it is interesting to see Roberto De La Cruz off to a good start and showing power. .952 ops, 8 hr in 108 abs. Not a lot of walks and still striking out around 23-24 % of the time. But due to his rawness when he was signed, it is at least promising.
Also looks like he has a ways to go with his fielding, based on his 12 errors, which I understand are not reliable at all as a way to measure, especially in the minor leagues.
De La Cruz is only 19, that’s not really old for the Appy League. Rasmus, for instance, turned 19 while he was playing in that league.
He is not old for the league. There are only 3 players on his team older than he is and the Cards are traditionally younger than most teams in the league.
Excellent. Thanks.
My post should read 3 players “younger” than De La Cruz
Two of Tyler Greene’s hits were home runs.
Tyler is such an enigma. You want to be pumped about 2 bombs, a double and a walk yet he boots a ball and throws two more away in the last three innings contributing to the loss. Was anyone there? Were the errors horrific? Was it raining? Or does he simply have a lack of focus?
Jose Offerman?
It probably won’t be with this team, but a OF move might make sense.
Tyler Rahmatulla … anybody seen this kid play? Nice looking stat line for a 2B but he’s 21 @ Johnson City so I hope they challenge him next season.
Speaking of 21 y.o. players, Greg Garcia is still just 21 at PB and tearing it up recently.
Here are some observations from the Memphis game last night…
Decent crowd.
Dickson lived on the edge all night, lucky he got out when he did.
Ball was carrying out last night pretty good
The ground was so hard at anything that hit close to the fence was a ground rule double.
A high strike zone was in play for sure
Robinson is quick, Chambers and Luna are fast
Thought the ump took the 4th inning off. Not sure what the heck he was watching
The field is very dark, horrible lights for a AAA field. Both teams had trouble finding balls in the outfield.
Carpenter plays heads up baseball
Not sure what the ump had against Stavi and Luna, they got hosed on more than their fair share of strike calls.
Craig hit two frozen ropes to third that were outs. Good third baseman
In the 8th, Greene’s error was Kozma worried more about the runner bearing down on him than catching the ball.
Fick got absolutely no help. Not sure why Maloney pulled him, he was pitching well.
Greene’s simply mashed the ball in the 9th
Error in the 9th, all Greene.
Marte NEVER looks at a runner on base, Anderson had no chance to throw anyone out. I could have stole a few bags.
Marte threw everything hard. They knew it and just waited on strikes to hit.
Did I mention how DARK the field was?
Thanks for the report. They are always helpful and appreciated.
Mozeliak just said they are bringing up Tyler Greene, per Tim Mckernan on Twitter (paraphrasing an interview he was having w/ Mozeliak on 1380am).
Well I guess, with the giant vortex of suck that has been s.s. position this summer in St Louis, if we’re really in this “win now” mode (as was used as a pretext for the big trade this week), then you REALLY should do SOMETHING about short. The only supposed value Theriot had was the offense he was supposed to bring to the position. He is now in the middle of a (dare I say it??) slump of Rasmusian proportions. Judging from his last few seasons, he may have fallen off the proverbial middle infielder’s cliff of age related decline.
It’s either commit to Descalso there as a major part of a platoon, or give up something moderate for someone like Furcal. (And I really hold my breath when it comes time for Mozeliak to trade with another team).
Punto’s arm probably won’t hold up well for the rest of the season to play on the left side much. We either limp along with Theriot there in a divisional race, trust it to Descalso, look outside the organization and give up lesser prospects (Mozeliak would probably overpay), or try a little more T. Greene in the salad. (Sorry for the weak-ass pun.)
(Some of Brendan Ryan’s nervous ticks and clubhouse antics don’t look so bad right about now, do they??? And I never was that big of a Ryan fan, either.. But at least he made our pitcher’s lives easier.) That thumping sound you’ve heard this summer has been poor ol’ George Kissell rolling over in his grave, reacting to the way the Cardinals have played defense this season. Hell, at this point, bring on Ryan Jackson.
Punto to DL?
BJ Rains tweet, said they have not yet determined who goes on DL. http://twitter.com/#!/BJRains/status/96954111945228289
With the way the injury bug has gone this season, it seems like the Cardinals could have had 2 or 3 candidates for the DL per week. Take your pick.
Did you see the way Freese was limping after he tried to leg it to first base on the grounder he hit up the middle last night???
Then of course, as you suggest, Punto could be a candidate, too. If you can’t use Punto at multiple positions on the infield because of his arm, you greatly reduce his roster usefulness. He was supposed to have been the fire insurance policy for Theriot’s short comings there.
Here’s hoping the Berkman situation isn’t any worse than it’s being presented.
Pujols and Holliday aren’t enough firepower on their own. We need at least one of Freese or Berkman also in the lineup so I share your concern about Freese. That dude just can’t stay healthy. I sure hope A. Craig returns soon. His bat in right field would sure help alleviate the loss of Berkman.
I’ll throw this out there, if nothing else, just to get it off my mind. I love baseball, love the Cardinals, love following prospects, but I’ve been feeling so blah about the organization the last few years. I think LaRussa is a great manager and you can’t say he hasn’t been at the helm for one of the best eras in Cardinals baseball history but I think we’d all agree that in this age of baseball scouting, international FA, the draft, player development, etc should be the organizations TOP priority. They’re a mid-market team and if they want to truly be competitive year after year, they’re going to have to get better in these areas, much much better.
The thing is, TLR can’t operate like that. He’s not the manager to take young talent and help them blossom. Was Rasmus a headcase, maybe, but let’s be honest, you think anyone in LaRussa’s circle went out of their way to help that kid? I would love to think that Greene could come up and blossom into this 20/20 SS, I mean, it’s taken him a while to adjust to every level, maybe he could break through with a little patience. But who are we kidding, Tony is never going to suffer through this kid’s growing pains. Never has, never will. You’re either going to come up and play well a la Pujols, Molina, Garcia, Jay or you’re gone, either to AAA or to another organization.
I really appreciate what TLR and staff have done for organization but it’s time for a fresh start. They need to start making the priority player development. They need to spend mony on the draft and international FA and they need to STOP trading every young player who doesn’t fit TLR’s GAMER mold or who can’t come up and immediately get with the program. This week has finally beaten me down. It’s amost pointless to follow the minors anymore because most of these guys will be crushed under foot or used in awful trades to get utility players and sinkerball pitchers because those are the only guys that apparently have value to Tony and Co. in the short term.
….climbing off soapbox.
ouch – you make a bunch of good points
He is not a manager that can take young talent and help blossom?
Molina, Garcia, McClellan, Pujols, Skip, Freese, Descalso, Jay, Salas, Sanchez, Boggs, Motte….
From the looks of the actual facts, he seems to be the perficet mid market team.
LaRussa’s Circle? I don’t know. Do you think RAsmus won in he friends on the big league team when he demanded to be playing in the majors at 21? Sorry, if you can’t get along with people its not the people’s fault. Besides, LaRussa helped move edmonds to make room for him.
I will have to wait and see Rasmus actually accomplish something in the next year before I make the judgment about LaRussa.
In his first game of LaRussa free, Rasmus went 0-5 with 2ks and a missplay in center.
I missed that Rasmus demand, can you fill me in? Link?
He’s refering to asking to be traded last year at the end of the year in the Chicago series. There was flooding in Chicago and the team bus wasn’t working. Players had the responsibility to get to the park in time. Colby and Lopez didn’t get there in time. Lopez was a late scratch to the game. TLR threatened to demote Rasmus to Memphis after the game. It was the heat of the moment arguement and as far as was reported wasn’t formal. This was after the team was collapsing last year. TLR went public with the trade demand the next day for no apparent reason. Pujols jumped on the situation before even knowing the context and later backtracked.
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/13888565/rift-around-rasmus-rumors-could-rip-apart-cards
This is from September of last year. Notice LaRussa is quoted as giving his blessing to Tony Rasmus’s lessons.
Andrew, what does this have to do with a demand he be playing in the majors 3 years ago? They are 2 totally separate issues.
I don’t know about the 09 trade demand. I’m assuming it had to do with how he percieved he was treated by Ankiel and many of the vets back then. Remember Colby was platooning with Ankiel who was hanging on to his position by a string. Ankiel was one of the most popular guys in the clubhouse and TLR was a huge fan. I don’t konw that story.
Its been a long time. I think it was after the year he hurt his knee. He came back, had a really good grapefruit league, then complained about not making the team.
I won’t hold my breath waiting for that link. There was speculation he didn’t do well in Memphis that year because he thought he should have made the team. I think even Tony Rasmus speculated as much. That is far different from demanding to be in the majors. I have often thought there were things in my career I deserved that I didn’t get but that doesn’t mean I demanded them. Please find even the writings of a respected journalist that said Colby made a demand let alone a quote by him. I’ll bet you can’t even find one saying he thought he should be there let alone a demand.
Quotes from 3 years ago? Not sure how to look for it.
Yet not a single writer brought that up amongst the latest Rasmus/TLR controversy? I guess they dont know how to find old quotes either.
Actually they did. May 2008. They just didn’t mention much detail.
Your list actually makes my point, that’s why I listed some of those exact players. You did list a player that exactly makes my point so I’m glad you mentioned him. A couple years ago the Cardinals had some needs and Mark DeRosa was available. He was a seemingly good fit for the Cardinals. The Indians wanted RH Bullpen prospects and when it came down to it the Cardinals were willing to give up Chris Perez in order to keep Jason Motte. Now, you can argue the baseball merits there, but you won’t find too many people that thought Motte had anywhere close to Perez’s potential. As good a FB, secondary pitch not even close, control concerns but improving. The truth is, Perez wasn’t a TLR/Duncan guy. They knew he was talented but he wasn’t a fit so he wasn’t a Cardinal and two years later we’re dying for a closer.
That’s my point, you can’t continue to give away talented players because they don’t fit a dated dogma.
All I did was list success. I am just choosing not to pretend they don’t count because they were success.
Why do you think it was up to the cardinals? Are you saying the Indians would have taken Motte? From what i remember, the cards allowd them to choose between the 2. Since its all specualtion anyway, hardly any evidence that the cards wanted to keep motte.
The knock on perez was that he wasn’t a hard worker (going back pre draft) and reported out of shape. Valid concens for pitchers. Not sure why having concerns is a bad thing.
Sometimes teams trade to win now. IT has nothing to do with LaRussa liek people are making this out to be. The Giants traded Zach Wheeler. I guess the staff hates wheeler since they traded him. Would you really consider that an accurate statment? Trades are 2 way streets. You have to give up talent to get talent.
Not if you’re trading with us! Ha Ha
And that’s the thing for me, I guess. I don’t fawn all over LaRussa, but don’t hate him either.. It’s just that the people who run the organization don’t always seem to be on the same page.
The club has done well for many years now, but has also made some really head-scratching maneuvers/ trades the last few years. And sub-standard personnel situations with the club are allowed to continue on chronically.
It seems like the dysfunction has continued from year to year for a long while now, from among field management, upper management, and player development. The organization comes to cross-purposes too often and seems to put a patch on a leak somewhere only to create one or two somewhere else.
Players are labeled as “Luhnow’s boys” or whatever and it poisons the working environment from the get-go. Mo is put in some awkward trading positions and the results seem underwhelming.
Wasn’t the “Luhnow’s boys” crack at the time when TLR et al were upset when Dewitt let Jocketty go when he couldn’t work with Luhnow. TLR et al were Walt’s boys and ripped anything and everything that concerned the farm system under Luhnow. That continued through last season with the written memorialization of a certain writer (JS Live), although it has been interesting to note the credit that everyone, including TLR, Dunc and even JS have given the farm system this season.
If that is true and those types of comments continued under Mo’s watch it lessens my opinion of him as a GM tremendously. He was hired on the basis of his ability to bring the organization together. I have heard him and DeWitt both say as much. Allowing that type of atmosphere to continue shows poor leadership on his part.
That’s kind of what I’ve been saying the whole time. Mo has no power in this organization. DeWitt will listen to him on some things but if it comes into direct contridition with TLR he wins out always. I doubt the field staff has much respect for Mo anyway seeing as he was the one that replaced there guy Jocketty.
That’s what I think, carioca. I’m sort of beyond the whole demonizing or deification of TLR, for what THAT’S worth. Actually I never got into it to begin with.
I sometimes think the role of a MLB manager is somewhat overblown anyway, relative to field management’s actual input in other professional sports. (Don’t get me started on that.)
I don’t think Joe Torre was a bad manger for the Cardinals, nor do I think Dal Maxvill was necessarily a bad GM, based on results. I happen to think both guys were around during the years when the Busch family wanted to concern itself more with beer brewing than running a ball club. And there’s nothing wrong with that, of course. It was THEIR ball club and THEIR brewery (at the time).
I think Tony LaRussa came along at a time that was optimal for his success in St Louis. I think the renewal and success of the franchise, dating from the middle 90s to the present has almost as much to do with a renewal in the interest/stewardship of the owners as it does about all the good things TLR has done while he’s been here.
And this is not to downplay or denigrate LaRussa and what he’s done. He’s a good manager. But I don’t think he’d have fared any better than Torre did under similar ownership.
I remember a story about Whitey Herzog in the late 80s (when it became clear the ball club was no longer committed to winning.) They (Maxvill) gave him a washed-up Bob Horner to play first base after the club had refused to bid on retaining the services of Jack Clark. Horner was awful at the plate. One day he dropped a routine pop-up on the infield and Herzog was heard to mutter, somewhat later, “What am I supposed to do with this sh-t??”
Point is: I’ll stand in the rest stop on I-80 and watch Tony’s SUV glide silently into the sunset as it heads west past the outlet mall exit toward the BAY. And I’ll doff my cap and bid him adieu and will remember that he was a good manager for many years.
But I’ll also remember that it ‘s necessary to have an organization from the GM, through the filed management, and on to the player development dept., committed to winning and all on the same page. We haven’t had that for a while here in St Louis.
I refuse to judge a team by headscratching moves and manuevers and dysfunction with underperforming players. The cards are actually well respected around baseball, which is funny becasue so many cardinal fans complain about how terrible they are.
Judge a team by the product on the field. They win, they are doing good. They loose, they are doing bad.
To say the cards do head scratching moves, then not recognize when those moves pay off is hardly fair.
how many people ripped the Berkman signing this year. Heck, people called for Mo’s job. Funny how quite that criticism has gotten. But yet, they still want to criticize Mo for doing the right things?
He doesn’t always do the right things and thats the point. The only time I’ve called for his job is now because he clearly isn’t the one running the show. That’s partially his fault for not standing up to TLR when needed. Partially TLR for thinking that he’s the GM and partially DeWitts fault for not letting TLR know he’s the manager and not the GM.
Fact is as long as TLR is around he will be the one running the organization.
If that dynamic works (TLR running the show and Mo as a puppet) why would you fire Mo (on that basis)?
Both would need to go. DeWitt won’t fire TLR but I figure that this year or next LaRussa is gone also. Mo would have to go just because he was complicit in the situation. No need to keep Mo on once TLR is gone need fresh blood all around.
Because winning divisions is a good sign of a bad job.
It’s a sign we had great players on the team when he started his time in STL. Mo took over in 08 correct? Other than Holliday our core was already in the franchise or on the team at that point. I wouldn’t be so quick to award us the Division this year. The last 2 years the team has had a disturbing trend of starting very well and collapsing down the stretch. 09 may have just been a case of coasting to a big lead and then shutting it down down th stretch. I don’t know.
When it’s a weak division and you have star talent like Pujols, Holliday, Carpenter, Molina, and Wainwright…yes, it is. Especially when you’re responsible for only one of those guys. As a general manager, Mo is responsible for supplying an effective supporting for the Cardinals core. He has failed in doing so, which is why, in three seasons under Mo, the Cardinals have only one division title (incidentally, the only season they won more than 90 games–91).
That’s mediocre.
They will probably end up winning the division. Mo just locked up garcia. Signed berkman who is might challange for the MVP/
But fire him not based on performance, but because of how you perceive the team?
Partially TLR’s fault for having a winning team. Partially Dewitts fault for having a winning team. Partially Mo’s fault for having a winning team?
The cards loose wainright in the spring, are challanging for a division title and you think the GM is dooing a terrible job and deserves to be fired? Unreal.
I don’t think he’s doing a terrible job he’s doing an ok job. He’s had great successes and had a few failures. I want him gone with TLR when he leaves because he’s been the GM during a time of a fractured organization that isn’t on the same page. And really the Cardinals have been relatively successful since 09 mainly because of the fact we have the best player in baseball and play in a weak division. I get pe ople who want TLR to stay in STL but why would Mo stay after TLR has retired?
Maybe Duncan thought Motte was better than Perez. I will take my chances with Duncan’s call on this. He was obviously wrong. Everyone wants to blame TLR. Only one of the greatest modern day managers. I love to read all of you back seat drivers criticizing these moves 2 years after the fact. I am very happy with the last 15 years watching Cardinals baseball. Other then Boston and NYY there is not been much better. Reading some of these posts are like reading political blogs. Can we please talk Cardinal Minor League baseball here?
It’s obvious you have a stance and you’re not really trying to see my point. I’m not saying TLR hates young players, that he would trade every young player for rookies, etc. That’s where we’re at a disconnect right now. They let talented players leave the organization because they don’t get with TLR’s program. If you want to believe that all of the players (both young and established) that where shipped out of St Louis because they had beef with Tony and Co. were completely warrented and made complete sense on a purely baseball level then there’s really not much I can say because you have already made up your mind.
Personally, I believe there have been several really good players that would still be apart of this organization if TLR and Co. just “liked” them i.e., if they just fit the mold. If you don’t think that’s the case, then ok, but this organization has a history of letting valuable players for other reasons that simply trying to strengthen the current club. I truly believe that,
While I will give you the first four (Molina, Garcia, McClellan, Pujols) I would probably either take exception or say that the jury is still out on the rest of your list. Skip has blossomed to a 320 OBP for the past two years with no power or speed. Freese and Sanchez have been injured to much to really blossom (not TLR fault). Jay has only been good for short periods so far. The jury is still out on whether Jay or Salas will blossom into consistent regulars. Motte has been good but probably not as good as we hoped and Boggs has yo-yo up and down for the last few years.
I agree with the fact that TLR has a certain Gamer mold to the players he likes, but if you look at the list of the players he has run out of town Drew, Rolen, Perez, Ryan. I guess the jury would still be out on Perez and Ryan but Drew and Rolen were definitely disappointments (players that never lived up to the potential it looked like they had). Perez and Ryan certainly seem to be headed in the same direction. So I would have to admit even though I think TLR can be and arrogant SOB that he has been right in the past and that I have to grudgingly accept his judgement in most cases.
I do wish however that with players like Rasmus and Greene that he would be able to apply some velvet glove rather relying only on his iron fist. Even though I am forced to admit (grudgingly) that for the most part his iron fisted approach has led to sustained success as the major league level.
When it comes to Tyler Greene, he simply needs to be given a real shot. Many will say he has and failed every time however he has proven that if he gets consistent AB’s he will succeed. This is evident again now with what he is doing at AAA. TLR hasn’t done this yet and may not ever, that is my only beef with him and the younger players. Look at how pathetic Theriot has been this year defensively and lately the offensive slump is worse than anything Colby ever went through but hey Theriot is a gritty vet and gets the benefit of something like the right to fail epically regularly. Which all vets seem to have the right to with Tony.
Craig was being banished for not having success as a pinch hitter but when Mac tells TLR that he needs consistent AB’s he will be an asset to the team then walla look who is getting the at bats and starting to succeed. Tyler needs steady playing time to prove whether he is AAAA fodder and organizational depth or actually a MLB contributor. Somewhere around 3 out of 4 days on the field for 3 to 4 weeks and evaluate from there.
No doubt Theriot sucks but is Greene any better? Tyler Greene is 2 for his last 24 with the Cardinals himself and is in a 27-for-149 .181 skid dating back to last year with 45 K’s!
Sorry JDod I didn’t mean for that to be a reply to your post.
We’re about to do the experiment. T-Greene gets the call to replace Punto, according to mlb.com.
I wish Zuke would go stalk the anti-homers on some other site. It’s LOSE, not LOOSE, genius.
LaRussa will never give high Luhnow draft picks or Dominican signings a chance to start on his team. Rasmus, T. Greene, Bryan Anderson, C. Perez, Wallace, etc. Those guys get too much hype. Sanchez is Luhnow’s first Dominican signing to reach the bigs, Duncan does his magic and voila, he’s got a torn rotator cuff that Duncan says is Sanchez’ fault for not conditioning his shoulder properly. Okay, sure. Shelby, Cox, C-Mart, and Taveras: I can almost guarantee something will be found to be wrong with these guys if LaRuncan is still around.
Your list of young players that LaRussa has coddled looks like a bunch of guys who were not drafted by Luhnow. It’s a lot different treatment for the Luhnow guys. Coincidence? Molina (not Luhnow), Garcia (refused to bring him up in Sept 2009, then brought in Rich Hill in 2010 to keep him down), McClellan (not Luhnow), Pujols (not Luhnow), Skip (not Luhnow), Freese (not Luhnow), Descalso (still behind Theriot, Punto & Skip), Craig (TLR wanted to sign Berkman rather than give Craig the starting RF position), Jay (will be interesting to see if he gets more starts in CF than Patterson & Skip), Salas (somehow didn’t make the roster out of spring training ahead of Augenstein), Sanchez (career threatened after one month with Duncan), Boggs (sent him down earlier this year instead of Batista or Franklin and has never defined his role), & Motte (not Luhnow).
And before you annoint Berkman the MVP, you might want to wait and see how many games he misses with the rotator cuff.
Since you want to pick on people for their typing, it’s ANOINT, not ANNOINT, genius. Annoy is spelled with two “n’s”. You post caused me to look it up.
Err…”Your”. See, even real men of genius can make typing mistakes.
Glad I was able to help you learn something.