[Frazod]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Fraz,

Here is an email I sent to my best friend ( a huge Cards fan in his own right) Regarding our chances

Since El Duque went down, I don't necessarily disagree with you, but here's why:

The Cardinals own the NL West, they have a better record against the West than any other division in baseball.

The Dodgers and Padres aren't built for the postseason and don't have any true "big bats". If you need Nomar or Drew to get a big hit for you, you're ****ed.

However...

New York matches up well against us. They have good team speed and good power throughout their lineup. They have a good closer. If we play the Mets, we will most likely lose because their bullpen is better than ours.

Edmonds is done, absolutely done.
Belliard is a very average bat.

Molina has been terrible at the plate this year.

Our bullpen is still a nightmare.

If Wainwright pulls a Papelbon and Looper pitches well, we have a chance to win the NL, but only if we also get 6 innings from all our starters and Johnson, Thompson, or Kinney nut up. One or two of those guys has to pitch over their head.

That's a lot to ask, and this is a highly flawed team. At no point should Marquis take the mound during the playoffs. He's horrendous. His fastball is way down in velocity and he clearly never got over the shellacking in Chicago.

5:33 PM

Hmm... fairly insightful.