This could be the type comeback that fuels a big run. Cardinals only 2 games out despite going 15-24 after getting to a season high watermark of 20-11. They have now won 4 in a row which they hadn't done since May 9, the same date they went 20-11.

BUMP FOR 5TH STRAIGHT WIN!!!:clap:

GEEEZZZ 3 World Series in 7 years and 2 World Championships aint enough for ya? We cant win it every year.

So, do we pursue any trade deadline pitching?


Make a big splash or just patchwork?

yeah, they will make a trade. I hope its not for Miller/Martinez/Jackson. We need that young pitching Taveras is off the board too.

Its going to have to be Craig or Adams. But, who wants to trade those two?

Now, that leaves Wong? Who plays 2B in the future?

I say forget emptying the minors for a run. No need to mortgage the future the year after a World Championship.

Trading Craig would suck so bad I don't even want to consider it.

And young left handed first basemen who are power hitters don't grow on trees either.

I'd rather stay put.

I'd trade Zack Cox and Joe Kelly for Ryan Dempster.

Or just shop Cox around for a reliever.

Cox is a season away from getting jumped by Piscotti in the same way he's been blown past by Wong (and watched Carpenter pull away). He has absolutely no potential in this organization and will only atrophy.

Rather than have him be the next Bryan Anderson (another guy we should've traded 5 years ago when he was a plus average hitter and young developmental catcher that hit lefty), lets go ahead and get him moved before his value completely wastes away.

:D That wasn't my point though.

I think Cox is the natural person to be traded. If the price for SP is too steep, wouldn't be surprised if they go for RP instead.

I saw on the scroll last night that some team was calling up Kip Wells ROFL

WTF is with MLB and all these retreads?

There are actually quite a few decent arms that may hit the market.

Garza and Dempster being the obvious ones, but Liriano could be available and I think he'd be a great fill-in for Garcia. With his pending FA and erratic history, Cox would probably be enough to get him. The Nats are supposedly also interested, meaning that they really have no use for Lannan at all these days. Lannan could probably be had for salary relief and a C prospect like Tommy Pham.

Or go all-in on Hamels or Grienke. To be honest, both players are young enough (and our stable of arms deep enough) that I'd give Miller to get either guy.

Randy Wells got DFA'd today by the Cubs. He kinda sucks...but he throws lefthanded. Surely playing for a better team than the Cubs can help him recapture some of his form. He'll never be an ace, but we need arms and especially lefthanded ones. We could do worse than having him on hand as a #5.

Speaking of Miller. My dad told me that he was given the "no shake" rule. Meaning he can't shake his catcher off. Evidently the reason for this is because the coaching staff believes that he has struggled this season because he hasn't been utilizing his secondary pitches to his full capabilities.

I'd trade Cox for Liriano in a second. He is going nowhere here and although there is a low floor for Liriano there is a very high ceiling if he can get straightened out.

Yup.

But they also shut him down last time through the rotation to get him working on his mechanics. Additionally, his velocity has come down a MPH or 2.

He's a pitcher; they have bumps like this unless they're Strasburg. I'm not worried just yet - but I also have an irrational love of Tyrell Jenkins as a pitching prospect and think he'll be the true ace from our minor league system. If we can trade Miller for a young 'co-ace' that can hold down the fort for the next 5 years, I'd do it in a second. A guy like Lance Lynn preventing us from needing to spend $10 million on Jake Westbrook is incredibly useful here in that it allows us to really go hard after a top-shelf starter. Allen Craig does the same thing w/ his contributions over Lance Berkman as does Jay's wildly underrated performance in CF.

We should have the financial flexibility to both extend Waino and sign Hamels/Greinke (I'd prefer Greinke). With the baseball pendulum swinging back away from maulers, I think we should attack front-end starting pitching aggressively.