2012- Off Season

This years offseason is just year two of the changes going on in St. Louis. The team said goodbye to one of the fan favorites (Jacque Lee). He will be forever missed and hard to replace, but management felt like the time was now to let him go and sign with a contender. For one last attempt to get that second ring.

This year, there are a lot of questions as we head into the spring. A number of positions are up for grabs. Look for a position by position breakdown in future editions.

Cards Deck Gets Shuffled...Get Win #1

The manager of the Cardinals went to an unorthodox line-up last night and seemed to keep every one on their toes.  Some players were mumbling to themselves after looking at the line up card prior to the evening game versus Colorado.  One player, was quoted as saying " I think he [bulls7210] has finally fell off his rocker". 

The biggest adjustment came with second baseman, Carlos Trajano.  He was replaced at the top of the line up with Dallas Parrish.  Trajano was then inserted in the four hole.  "Never really considered Carlos to be a clean-up hitter". Said Trajano, referring to himself after going 2 for 3, with a double and a homerun in the 2-1 victory.  "It feels good".

Todd Maxwell, went eight innings scattering three hits and a walk and striking out four to earn the victory.

Opening Day at the Ballpark

The Cardinals opened up the season on a sour note on Sunday.  Considering their lackluster performance, the team might have thought it was a spring training game.  Yannick Woodson was not his usual self, giving up seven runs on 2 2/3 innings.

The opening frame started out with a lazy fly ball, but things got interesting after that.

After a walk to the two hole batter and a Phil Murphy fly out to center field, Andrew

Richard put a charge into one that left the field over the right field fence. Woodson fell

behind even further in the 2nd inning when the first two batters got on with a double and single.

That allowed Louis Leary, to push across another run by hitting into a fielders choice.

The Final score was 19-3, Anaheim. This was the worst open game loss for the Cardinals in their storied history.

One can only wonder what the rest of the season is going to be like if they can't correct this kind of performance.

Cardinals Get Their Man

Cardinals front office this week went shopping for an International Free Agent (IFA).  Who they found was a young fire-baller from the Dominican Republic.  Julian Ortiz has the ability to develop into a good long relief pitcher or at least a situational guy out of the bullpen.  If Ortiz can fully develop, and there is some question about his dedication, he should have three ML pitches and an equal ability to get batters out from either side. He does have a lack of focus at times, which leads to his giving up the long ball, but with his stuff, he is just wild enough to be effective.  Can't wait for this kid to make his debut.

Projected Line Up- Spring Training Addition

This year, spring training is an exciting place. There are new players mixing with some fan favorites from years past. This is a season of change, an opportunity for management to turn the ship and go down a different path. Best place to see the change, is right here in the starting lineup. We will try and project the starting line up for the 2011 Cardinals. While there are some positions that are still up for grabs coming out of spring training, we believe the following to be an accurate projection.

1. Carlos Trajano CF
   
2. Dallas Parrish 2B
   
3. Jacque Lee C
   
4. Ricardo Lopez 1B
   
5. Anthony Mayne RF
   
6. David Hyun 3B
   
7. Chris Thomas SS
   
8. Pitchers Spot
9. Francis Nelson LF
   

Projected Rotation:

• Yannick Woodson SP
  
• Max Herrera SP
  
• Andy Belitz SP
  
• Rich Ryan SP
  
• Todd Maxwell SP
  
• Mitch Casanova SU
  
• Quilvio Lima SU
  
• Abdul Foster CL

Continuing with the "season of change" theme, next we look at the additions and subtractions of the past off season.

Additions: Carlos Trajano, Russ Taylor, David Hyun and Jimmie Guzman.

Subtractions: Jonathan Campbell, Howie Lincoln, Donald Perez, Miguel Prieto, Roland Silva, Hideo Takada and Bruce Wells

2011- The Season of Change

Team officials will look back at this year and will hopefully say that this was the season that turned the fortunes of the franchise around.  While this years team won't be feared much on the field, maybe the moves off the field will be more frightening.  There are rumors this off season that the team will be shopping some of it's veteran players in an attempt to bring in new and younger talent.  Some of the names being mentioned are Shawn Knott, Donald Perez, Max Hererra, Tony Melo and Yannick Woodson.  

Some people within the Cardinals club house feel that this is happening too soon.  That the players feel that they might be one or two players short of making the playoffs, being in a weak division.  This reporter feels that now is the time to clean out the cupboard and bring in new players and start the rebuild process now.  

I guess for now we will just have to sit and wait.  One good thing, the Cardinals have a terrific group of fans and they expect a quality product on the field, but if they have to endure another 100+ loss season, it might be time to look for another GM.

Season 9 is over.....Finally.

The end of the season is finally here.  It was a year of hope and high expectations, but turned into a big nightmare.  

It started good, going 10-3 over the first thirteen games.  Then the injuries started to show there ugly head.  For the second season in a row, the teams number one starter went down to a significant injury.  Not having enough arms in the starting rotation was the down fall of the team this year.  

Jaque Lee had another good year at the plate, but was a down year compared to past seasons.

The off season will be one of trying to get back to the postseason after missing it the last three seasons. Some areas of focus will be getting another starter and improve the defense up the middle.