"Matt Holliday's current at-bat music is Zac Brown Band's 'Chicken Fried': Your 2010 St. Louis Cardinals

Yesterday Matt Holliday was signed for a seven-year, 20 million deal with a full no-trade clause. I'm in the "money is fine, length of contract is too long" crowd, but I'm glad they landed him. The third base and relief pitching situations are still a mess, but I'm confident that October 2010 will find the Cards in the post season again.

http://i50.tinypic.com/xppp8p.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/2d9wi8g.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/2md11ls.jpg

http://a3.twimg.com/profile_images/303937999/low_res.jpg

If he would have pulled that pose with the kitties a few years ago at the right time, I bet he would have gotten out of his DUI.

probably should put a 1 in front of that 20 million. but we're all adults here and you already used up your mod req do-over.

DANGIT

For the record, let's just say that I was rounding up his $17 million a year deal to $20 million.

In an interview with the Contra Costa Times, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa mentioned the possibility of putting McGwire on the team's active roster on Aug. 31 so he'd be eligible to play in the postseason, if the Cardinals are still in the race.

ppl going bonkers over this http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4804082

Dude hasnt seen major league pitching in forever. Im sure he'll be fucking great Tony. Go for it.

i was assuming that was a joke?!

Hopefully LaRussa was using the extreme sarcasm voice and it didn't come through in the article. McGwire would be 46 going on 47. I could maybe see it happening if the Cardinals were in the American League so he could D.H., if he wouldn't provoke a chorus of boos every time he appeared at the plate, and if the Cardinals were in last place and everyone was stoned.

one at bat would buy him a 5 year reprieve from HOF induction embarassment

Yeah, true.

Man, the influence of the HOF on aging baseball stars is pathetic. Blyleven's begs for induction until his dignity is destroyed, LaRussa colludes with McGwire to save him some embarrassment..

$20 to the first aging baseball star to say "who gives a dang about the HOF"

i'm sure someone's said that.

by "someone" i mean an certified pro ball star. not morbs or anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsELQmqZwAw

Hitler OTM

erm, about the Cubs

"who gives a dang about the HOF"

ie, Mo'Nique on the Oscars

Shocking News: McGwire admits that he used steroids

I was a bit surprised that he'd been using them since 1989, gotta admit.

yeah, I thought it was probably prior to his MLB career too...

Jimmy 'half-shirt' Edmonds proposes return to Cardinals at league minimum. Lolrussa thinks: he look intersting. John Mozeliak beating head against the wall.

LaRussa wants Cards to switch to the Senior League

Rasmus is already developing into an Edmonds caliber center fielder, defensively, and I'm not sure Edmonds would even outhit Rasmus at this stage of his career. So let the kid play, LaRussa.

Wow, I hadn't read the brief AP article about the Edmonds thing:

ST. LOUIS -- Jim Edmonds went on stage at St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa's charity event to ask for a tryout.

The 39-year-old outfielder did not play last season but never retired. La Russa said Edmonds began text-messaging him about a comeback the day before Sunday's Animal Rescue Foundation event in St. Louis and at first thought it was a joke.

La Russa says he got more texts from Edmonds during the event asking if he could come on stage, where he asked for another shot.

La Russa says he'd meet with the front office to see what money the team has to spend. The team has a need for outfield depth.

After reading that, it's seems like maybe Tony's not pulling a lolRussa, but rather trying to save Edmonds some face after the guy begged for a job onstage.

http://twitter.com/mattholliday7/statuses/8641938505

hahahahaha

http://twitter.com/mattholliday7/status/8642244043
http://twitter.com/mattholliday7/status/8651794270
http://twitter.com/mattholliday7/status/8654644759
http://twitter.com/mattholliday7/status/8654702922
http://twitter.com/mattholliday7/status/8727404542

Welcome to the Internet, duder.

http://i50.tinypic.com/x1n3v5.jpg

2009 Cardinals pitching staff, by SIERA

Name	         IP	SIERA	 ERA	 FIP	 ERA-SIERA	FIP-SIERA
Adam Wainwright	 233	3.38	 2.63	 3.20	 0.75	        -0.18
Joel Pineiro	 214	3.57	 3.49	 3.36	 0.08	        -0.20
Chris Carpenter	 192.7	3.36	 2.24	 2.86	 1.12	        -0.50
Todd Wellemeyer	 122.3	5.07	 5.89	 5.37	 -0.82	        0.29
Kyle Lohse	 117.7	4.47	 4.74	 4.60	 -0.27	        0.14
Brad Thompson	 80	4.74	 4.84	 4.70	 -0.10	        -0.04
Kyle McClellan	 66.7	4.44	 3.38	 3.98	 1.06	        -0.46
Ryan Franklin	 61	4.32	 1.92	 3.27	 2.40	        -1.06
Mitchell Boggs	 58	4.49	 4.19	 4.20	 0.30	        -0.29
Jason Motte	 56.7	3.83	 4.76	 4.86	 -0.93	        1.03
Trever Miller	 43.7	2.88	 2.06	 3.41	 0.82	        0.52
Dennys Reyes	 41	4.20	 3.29	 3.91	 0.91	        -0.30
B. Hawksworth	 40	4.69	 2.03	 3.83	 2.66	        -0.86
John Smoltz	 38	2.98	 4.26	 2.75	 -1.28	        -0.23

SIERA is the new Baseball Prospectus stat (see here and here.

Besides 3B, the bullpen was the biggest weakness for the Cards last year, and this doesn't offer any comfort!

Sorry, that's sorted by IP, not SIERA.

http://imgur.com/3pXe6.jpg

brendan ryan o_O

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat yfitgihjhuf64dtrfnpugyrde7

GRAY HAIR????????????

http://i48.tinypic.com/v2xzi9.jpg

Ryan Franklin is a baaaad influence.

^best pic

if albert tried to take that on deck with him, would anyone stop him?

http://i50.tinypic.com/xppp8p.jpg
"I would stop him"

jeans. so wrong.

cross-eyed dog.

Pujols above is trying to add a cannon arm to his rep.

my notes from saturday's game at roger dean stadium featuring the st louis cardinals and florida marlins.

- albert pujols is a physical freak of nature.
- the only other guy who looked near him in physique was one Hanley Ramirez.
- both of 'em looked rusty in the field.
- cameron maybin looked good and a solid sleeper pick on my fantasy team!
- brad penny looked pretty good, like he can dial it up when he needs to K some mofos.
- jason motte still throws 100 mph but doesn't fool anyone. Predict giving up Chris Perez instead of Motte will burn Cardinals.
- david freese made a couple great plays that albert goofed. but you could see albert apologize after. I get the feeling pujols knows that a breakout year for freese would solidify the lineup.

Pretty sure Dave Duncan can make Penny good/great again. He has the tools, hes just too stupid to put it all together without help.

Yep, he seems like the classic Duncan restoration project. I'm with bnw on Motte, too - I don't have high hopes. I'm dreading watching the Cards' bullpen chronically fail all season.

pujols is playing? why did i think he was injured?

lets talk about that triple, double, single, that smooth home run

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI8l87uyDXM

lol

With Molina's bleak oblique and LaRue's abused wrist (just happened today during a plate collision), there's a chance Matt Fucking Pagnozzi may be the opening day catcher.

*shudder*

Why not make the best out of a shorty situation and get Bryan Anderson some big league playing time while Molina's out? My grandma is better than Matt Fucking Pagnozzi, srsly.

Out of a SHITTY situation, damn you iPhone!

SHORTY FIRE BURNING IN THE OUTFIELD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtEOFBuziUs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9_ozLBfTXc

it's almost as if they explicitly built the stadium for that in a jock jams baseball sort of way

oh hey btw donnie avery likely tore his acl in a preseason game

good luck stl

we are pretty deep at receiver, should be all right

the legend of triple A, alan craig.......................

lord almighty

alright i need to eat something

crucial bit of info for y'all - I am attending the Saturday game LIVE IN PERSON,

should be an epic losche/lannan matchup

Home    Away
41-23	27-33

The thing is, even if somehow they make it in through the wildcard, or even win the division...that's not the kind of split that a championship-deserving team puts up

think Mo needs to dump/trade Flip Lopez to keep TLR from playing him.

I have tickets for the reds series. hopefully the nats haven't buried us by then.

holy snowcone

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo...ooooooo....ooo...ooh. oh. PHEW

don't worry about the nats, at least not on Saturday. I will be yelling really really good tips at the cards the whole game, they'll win no prob

kinda embarrassed to be a nats fan right now

you may need to sing "don't stop believin" to jon jay

Nats down to their last pitcher. I'd be ok with winning this one by attrition, if that's what it takes

I'm always happy to see long exhausting games for every other team than "mine."

if a Nats player got injured right now...would they have to forfeit? do they have anyone left?

I assume that everyone who watched this game just drank themselves into a coma

I suppose this is worth a mention:

TLR and Pujols attending the Beck 'Restoring Honor' event in DC

"I made it clear when we were approached: I said, 'If it's political, I wouldn't even approach Albert with it.' I don't want to be there if it's political," La Russa told the Post-Dispatch.

one more \_O_/ move for TLR this year, I guess..

http://twitter.com/buzzbissinger

How TLR can say the Beck rally is not a political event is beyond me. What are they going to talk about--why Cards play like gutless shits? about 1 hour ago via Osfoora HD

Would be the same w/.Beck, Limburger, O'Riled all bullshit froth-mouthed entertainers. TLR should be in locked room worrying about his team.

It does change how I view LaRussa. Beck is a racist Jew-hating bastard using his hate to line his pockets. How can TLR, Pujols not see it?

Countdown to TLR on Sunday saying "they promised me it wouldn't get political, but once it did, what was I supposed to do, leave? That would have been impolite."

it must be really conflicting for much of "fire LaGenius!" crowd because I always figured that the venn diagram of LaRussa haters and tea party dipshits was heavily overlapping.

Albert and Holliday playing tonight.

I AM LEGEND (AAA) is leading off :P

I mean jesus fucking christ, you shit away the season in three series against the pirates, nats, and stros.

I've been so frustrated I can't even listen to the games anymore. It was that damned, glorious first month of the season that did this to me (and to lots of others, I think). They were fucking unstoppable at the beginning of the season, it felt like 2004 again.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/09/potential-trade-destinations-for-colby-rasmus.html

that list is so empty -- everyone wld want CR

loool, newspaper guy has been the best part of the cardinals game tonight

http://i54.tinypic.com/dz749u.jpg

strike zone is beyond belief tonight

home plate ump would throw you out of the internet if he caught you saying that

Here are some quotes from the four-time All-Star first baseman nicknamed "Jack the Ripper":

I'm really tired of watching the effort, that's for sure. I'm not seeing a lack of (effort) I'm seeing a pathetic effort. These Cards fans deserve much better. That's just awful. They won't admit it, that they're quitters. If you can't put a better effort out there on the field, take 'em all out, back up the truck, ship 'em all out and get somebody in here that wants to play baseball. We've got one team here (San Diego) going for the title and we've got our team going for the toilet. They've got poopy in their pants.

next season:

"They've got poopy in their pants." -- Your 2011 St. Louis Cardinals

Srsly, someone should just go ahead and start it! I've emotionally detached from this season anyway.

La Russa's cerebral, academic approach to the game doesn't always yield the right answers, but you're always left with the idea that he's asking the right questions.

Colby's dad trollin' again:

La Russa is apparently driving home that philosophy this winter with the help of an offseason program designed by Cardinals hitting coach Mark McGwire. It calls for Rasmus to slim down, to stay off the weights, and to work on his quick-twitch leg muscles.

Brian Walton of The Cardinal Nation Blog gathered a couple of revealing comments on the program Thursday from Tony Rasmus, father of Colby and highly successful high school baseball coach in Alabama:

“Colby has been working on spraying the ball around the field this offseason via the Big Mac approach. Hasn’t been lifting since the plan is to be a slap hitter so there is no need for the added muscle. The goal I hear is to hit .300 and hit more ground balls and line drives the other way.”

It doesn't take a rocket science to dissect this mess. Rasmus' father took to a Cardinals-centric interested message board this week with news that manager Tony La Russa was trying to turn his son into more of a Skip Schumaker-type hitter. Schumaker, of course, is one of the least productive regulars in all of baseball.

colby's dad otm

what do we think about theriot and berkman acquisitions? The decisions to use Theriot to replace Ryan instead of Schumaker is a bit mindboggling. So sick of watching Skip play. Berkman could be ok if doesn't go down to injury in late May.

I am kind of stunned they are doing nothing about 2nd base. it's embarrassing. line-up is still super thin. foresee a lot of bases empty albert at-bats.

on the plus side: starting pitching 1-4 is really strong.

larussa used to on the sorta cutting edge as far as using computers in the dugout and stuff like that, so it's kinda surprising/sad that his take on Skip seems to be "he hit .300 a couple years so he is really good"

?

his christian athlete stats are very high though

well i hope the lord favors the cardinals over the rest of the league next year

http://25yearsofbaseball.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/217_albert_pujols-214x300.jpg

Corny joke: How is cards outfield like Michael Jackson? All white with one glove.

(Sadly Rasmus is the "glove" and a minus defender.)

ha!

we are minus 1,000 batting stances and any defense up the middle

Infielder Brendan Ryan traded from @STLCardinals to @Mariners for RHP Maikel Cleto http://is.gd/iD926

did we ever discuss this obscenely stupid TLR slobjob by sheehan

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/joe_sheehan/06/24/baker.larussa/index.html

La Russa's cerebral, academic approach to the game doesn't always yield the right answers, but you're always left with the idea that he's asking the right questions.
La Russa's cerebral, academic approach to the game doesn't always yield the right answers, but you're always left with the idea that he's asking the right questions.
La Russa's cerebral, academic approach to the game doesn't always yield the right answers, but you're always left with the idea that he's asking the right questions.
La Russa's cerebral, academic approach to the game doesn't always yield the right answers, but you're always left with the idea that he's asking the right questions.

I thought that lines like that were the exception, overall I thought it was a good article. Dusty ended up doing a good job with the pitchers, but in June you couldn't really blame someone for thinking that he wouldn't.

if the reds lose (they're down 3-1 in the 9th right now) and the cards win (they're up 5-3 in the 6th), there will be a 4-way tie for first between stl/chi/cin/mil. not sure why i'm so excited by this possibility 18 games into the season but hey

PARITY ACHIEVED

Kyle Lohse. . .

. . . is pitching like fucking God! WTF?

I'm not sure why I revived this 2010 thread, whoops!