I haven't mentioned much about the Cardinals lately and now that the players have reported to spring training, I think it's time that I examined them a bit.
1. Chris Carpenter has looked good so far this spring, but due to his history (surgery before he actually played for us, the nerve thing at the end of 2004, Tommy John surgery in 2007, and now the shoulder injury in 2008 relating to the Tommy John surgery) I don't think I'm going to be convinced that he can go a full season without getting hurt. Even if he's fine in 2009, makes 33 starts while pitching 200+ innings, I think I'll still be skeptical heading into 2010. He's one of the best pitchers in the majors when he's on the field, but he's extremely unreliable.
2. Is anyone else irritated with Joel Pineiro for being angry that he was left off of the Puerto Rico roster for the World Baseball Classic? The guy is going to make $7.5 million for the Cardinals this year and he's worried about pitching in an exhibition tournament which derailed the careers of Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia in 2006, among others. Sure, the fact that the Cards' third base coach Jose Oquendo is managing the PR team might have hurt his feelings, but he was still offered a chance to pitch in long relief. That role is just as important if not more important in the WBC because of mandatory pitch counts that force starters out after I believe 60 pitches. That means that he could come on in a tie game in the fifth inning and be counted on for two or three innings. Even if that isn't the role he's used to since he's primarily been a starter in his MLB career, the three man rotation that Oquendo chose is comprised of much better talent than Pineiro. Javier Vazquez (now of the Braves, formerly of the White Sox) has been a decent three or four starter for years, Ian Snell of the Pirates would have a much better record if he played for any decent club, and Jonathan Sanchez could be looked at as the Giants' ace of the future if they didn't already have Tim Lincecum on their roster. If the Cards could deal Pineiro for any of those three guys, I'd be ecstatic. So the fact that he was passed over for them makes total sense. Did you hear about Brian Barton being angry that he didn't get to start at first base and bat third for the Cards last year? No, because Albert Pujols is significantly better. Pineiro needs to shut his mouth and focus on not blowing countless leads in 2009 like he did in 2008.
3. Chris Duncan has looked really good in spring training based on reports from the St. Louis Post Dispatch. If he gets his power stroke back, he has to be on the Cards' opening day roster. This is just one more reason why it's incredibly important that Skip Schumaker can make the transfer to second base. The givens in the St. Louis outfield are Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick. It's time for Colby Rasmus to be in the bigs if he has a decent spring. Then, you would still have Duncan and Joe Mather, which takes the team up to five already, without Shoe. That's quite a crowd and I'd have to think that Mather is the odd man out if Schumaker doesn't work out in the middle infield.
The Blues were terrible last night. After a strong two-game homestand in which they beat the Blackhawks and the Rangers, both of which are playoff teams if the season ends today, they came out flat against the Blue Jackets. Sure, they got hosed on the quick penalty call against Barret Jackman before giving up a power play goal, but that's no excuse. They should've stepped it up, got a quick kill, and taken the momentum from there. Other than B.J. Crombeen's fight, the Blues didn't give any effort in the first two periods.They didn't give up in the third and managed to trim the Columbus lead to one, but by then it was too late. They need to adopt Tony La Russa's philosophy and play the whole game. In baseball it would be a hard nine, in hockey it would be a hard 60, which would tear up any girl in addition to an opposing hockey team. They have a chance to use last night's bad game as motivation tonight when they go back to Nashville, we're they blew a 3-2 lead with three seconds remaining last week before losing in a shootout. That should give them all the motivation in the world, especially if they don't want their club to be sellers at the trade deadline in two weeks.
On another note, the Blues will be opening next season with a home-and-home series against the Red Wings in Sweden. I like the idea of the Blues getting some exposure overseas, but I really don't like losing a home game against Detroit. From the organization's position, that's a sell-out home game that they're losing. As a fan, that's a one third of the biggest rivalry games for the season that are just gone. They might be on VS. or NHL Network, but probably not when most fans can see them. The other series will be Blackhawks and Panthers. These teams rarely see each other, so at least the fans don't lose out on a big ticket game. I think inner-conference non-rivalry games will be the best way to go in the future, but NHL commissioner Gary Bettman rarely does things that make sense.
