Did they ever say why he's asking to be traded?

I would imagine it has to do with the fact that Tony LaRussa is a miserable one who sucks the penis with an obsession with playing inferior veterans (Winn, Schumaker) over superior young talent.

He doesn't like sitting against left handed pitching. He doesn't like to be managed old school like Tony gives it to him. He's a product of the positive reinforcement era. Yelling at him doesn't motivate him.

TLR pissed him off by trying to make him play hurt.

Ludwick hit .281 in 77 games with StL, he's hitting .218 in 33 games with SD. He's been shit as Adrian Gonzalez's protection, and hes most responsible for our 10 game losing streak, IMO.

One thing I will say is teams ALWAYS over value their own prospects and players.

We will take him off your hands.;)

I'd say the starting pitching that has been regressing to the mean would be the biggest reason why you've dropped 10 straight, not a single hitter in an entire order that is only mustering about 3 runs a game over the last two weeks.

Yea, they were winning without Luddy when they weren't scoring many runs so he isn't the bad cog in the wheel.

Because he's a pussy.

Rasmus has always been a me-first prima donna. Granted, LaRussa jerks him around, but Rasmus has always had a shitty attitude and it was just a matter of time before this happened.

When it comes down to it, every party involved in this somehow managed to be in the wrong.

LaRussa needs to play the kid and let him grow through his mistakes.

At the same time, Rasmus needs to toughen the hell up. Having his daddy call on his behalf because Colby is having a tough go is bush league (yes, this happened). Demanding a trade from a first place ballclub because you got benched for showing up late to the ballpark is also soft as hell. The kid needs to realize that he doesn't shit gold bricks and that the game is bigger than him until proven otherwise.

Pujols needs to shut the **** up. Talk to the kid in private or talk to the team about the issue. Taking it to the media while openly stating that you haven't spoken to Rasmus is weak sauce. It's especially weak when LaRussa's coddling of Pujols has probably helped fuel Rasmus' discontent. When you and Yadi play by the same rules as the rest of the clubhouse, then I'll listen to you bitch. Until then, keep swinging when told and jogging down the line on ground balls, I don't need to hear you tell anyone how to be a better teammate. Afterall, just ask Scott Rolen.

All told - I don't even care. Just end the season and fire LaRussa. Maybe Pujols re-signs, maybe Rasmus settles down, maybe Chase Utley demands a trade to STL. I don't really give a shit. If the whole stupid house of cards topples, so be it - this team needs to be detonated anyway.

Ugh - another primer on trade value appears to be in order.

Trade value is nothing more than a function of 2 teams wanting 1 asset. Ideally those 2 teams would've been St. Louis and a trade partner, but it's not required.

All you need to keep a players value is to get 2 teams interested in the guy, STL or otherwise. It's how the Broncos got value for Cutler when they clearly weren't keeping him. If STL doesn't want Rasmus anymore, there are 29 other teams in baseball that will gladly kick the tires on him. The Braves would LOVE the kid and have a very deep farm system. Suddenly he has a hell of a lot more value than a pending mediocre FA (yes, that's all DeJesus is), a potential 3rd starter (yes, that's all Duffy is, oh, and there's the whole quitting on the game thing) and a fringe relief prospect.

A 31 year old pending FA with no speed and a career OBP of .360 as a premier leadoff hitter? A guy more valuable than a cost-controlled 20/20 CFer? Not to mention the fact that DeJesus certainly won't play 'every day' as misses between 20 and 30 games every season. I'm sure that will get better as he ages and gets paid. Spare me.

Would you trade Moustakas for Jon Jay, Lance Lynn and Fernando Salas? Because that's exactly what you just offered. And it's ****ing reeruned.

Quit talking out of your ass and stick to the Royals. The adults will handle this on their own, thanks.

My brother was the first one to clue me in to Colby's daddy being a meddling stage mom. THat shit cracks me up, how ****ing gay would you feel if your old man called your job to tell them how to better use your talents?

If we could play Atlanta every game, we'd be undefeated! :D

I think if we could avoid playing against pitchers with .300 winning percentages and ERA's above 6.00, we'd be golden too.

Carp on the mound....and they shit the bed in the bottom of the 6th allowing 6 runs. 8-6 Braves.

you know its not your year when Carp is dealing like a Cy Young winner and then the wheels fall off in one inning.:doh!:

hey Larussa whether you admit it or not the team underperformed this year.

We need to shut down Garcia and Carp for the rest of the year. Molina and Pujols are hurting, shut them down too.

Frikking Reds fans don't deserve a winner. 12K fans for a division winner in September? You suck Red fans, We had 40K out on 3 consecutive school nights to watch a team implode. You don't deserve a winner.:shake:

Molina wouldn't be hurting if LaRussa wasn't such a stupid bastard and stubbornly played him 30 ****ing straight games. He's knees are gonna be shot in two years if he keeps up this pace.

What the ****. Westbrook just had a 4 pitch first inning.

Cards will be w/ the Royals this year, sitting at home on their duffs in October. No playoffs. Mbahahahaha.

Sorry. Flame away :)

Maybe true in fact, but us falling out of contention in September is a little bit different catagory of fandom than having zero chance as a fan to see your team contend for a title. year after year after year....

You may be right my friend, but baseball isn't about winning. It's about having a brat, a beer, and having a nice night at the park. I can leave the K w/ the Royals getting piss pounded, who cares, I'm still happy. If the Chiefs go down in flames I pull my hair out.

you guys can get 20K out to a game to see your team get spanked. The frikking Reds get 12K out for a first place team. The loyal Royals fans deserve a winner, at least one year every once in a while.

Wait!

They're still playing baseball?

Who knew?

Some teams are. Most are just getting spanked hard and just want the season to end.

Spoken like someone who rationalizes the fact that he's never rooted for a winning baseball team.

This weekend is "Out at the Ballpark." Wow...

Cardinals indicate they will treat gay Kiss Cam request like any other

BY DEB PETERSON [email protected] > 314-340-8276 | Posted: Friday, September 17, 2010 4:11 pm


KISS CAM REDUX: A spokesman for the Cardinals said today that there have been a half dozen same-sex kisses featured on the Kiss Cam so far this season and that the team has no idea whether the couples were gay.

The spokesman's comments were made in regard to a question about whether the Kiss Cam would focus on a gay group at Saturday's game. Harrison Roberts, a manager at Just John, a gay bar on Manchester Street in the Grove, has requested that he and his partner be featured smooching on the Kiss Cam.

They will be among some 200 gays and lesbians who will be at Busch Stadium as part of Pride St. Louis's "OUT at the Ballpark" event.

The Cards' spokesman said the team generally does not take requests for people to be featured on the Kiss Cam and that they would follow that procedure with regard to Roberts's request.

The spokesman stopped short of saying the camera operators would not focus on the group's section, but he did say the "OUT at the Ballpark" crowd was only one of 40 groups that will be hosted at Busch Stadium on Saturday.

He also said e-mail and phone calls on the issue were running in both directions. "No matter what we do tomorrow, we can't win," he added.

The request came about after a Kiss Cam moment at the Rams game on Sunday. The roaming camera caught two men in Arizona Cardinals jerseys standing next to each other. As the camer lingered, the men tried to shoo it away to laughter and jeers from the crowd.

Roberts said some customers came in to the bar on Monday and told him they had been offended that the camera operator would choose to embarrass Arizona fans by portraying them as a gay couple.

He said the customers complained that they felt demeaned and mocked by the incident. Roberts made the point that gay couples support sports teams and spend lots of money at games and would like to be treated the same way as heterosexual couples when they attend sporting events.

The Cards spokesman said this was the first time the team had fielded such an issue.

"We have never had anyone make a request so they can use the Kiss Cam to make a social statement," he noted.


http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/c...27992bc8b.html

Gay Kiss cams and an imploding team is a beautiful thing to see from my least favorite baseball team.

Nice work by the Cardinals - get themselves all but eliminated by losing to the shittiest teams in the league, and THEN they decide to start winning.

one who sucks the peniss. 4321

Spoken like a Kansas football fan.

Not surprising. Beat the chit out of the good teams in the league and get the chit beat out of us by the bad teams. Thats been our MO all year.

Where is Dr. Kervokian when you need him?

This clubhouse is completely ****ed. Colby Rasmus wipes his ass with the wrong side of quilted Northern and gets benched for ten days, meanwhile, Tyler Greene spends the entire year in Memphis because of this asshole:

PITTSBURGH -- St. Louis Cardinals third-base coach Jose Oquendo has known fellow Puerto Rican Felipe Lopez for years and managed him in the World Baseball Classic. As much as anybody, Oquendo tried to make Lopez, released Tuesday, a more accomplished and aware player, especially in the field.


Oquendo said the finality of Lopez, who first came to the Cardinals in the second half of the 2008 season and then returned this spring, being sent on his way after showing up late to the ball park Monday in Florida was "disappointing."


"He had all the opportunities ... for his future," Oquendo said. "He wasted it.
"We talked during the season. We did everything we could to keep him in the game. But he went his own way. There's only so much you can handle."


Oquendo, echoing general manager John Mozeliak's statements of the day before, said Lopez's being dilatory "is not good for the younger guys. And it would have been tough to find some playing time for him. So, it was important to break it off.
"I wish him the best. He's a good kid. He's got a good heart. He just has to get his head straight, that's all."


Albert Pujols, like many players, was unaware of the particulars of Lopez's release.
"I didn't know what happened," Pujols said. "And it's not my business. He's a great teammate. But whatever happened, happened. That's the way it goes."

My uncle is good friends with a Cardinals minor league coach for over 30 years. The scuttlebutt everyone is hearing down in the minors about Pujols contract is $250 million over 9 years plus a job(to be determined) with the Cardinals when his playing days are over. And in addition a $1,000,000 yearly donation to the Pujols foundation as long as Pujols is associated with the Cardinals organization.

Overlooked in this shittastic collapse, where we probably would have taken the division with 90 wins, is that Pujols submitted another masterful campaign

With 6 games to go:

1st in HR
1st in RBI
1st in Runs
2nd in OPS
2nd in OBP
2nd in Slugging
2nd in Walks
4th in Average
5th in Hits

I've just tried to put them out of my mind. Thank God our football teams are a combined 7-0.

I haven't watched a game in over two weeks, but Pujols won't be around forever. I think I cherish him the same way I do one of my dogs.

I'm afraid he's all we'll have after he resigns, because they won't be able to afford a decent supporting cast around him. Remember how the Royals used to be George Brett and the 24 dwarfs? Substitute the name Albert Pujols and I think that's what's in store for us. :(

Well, Holliday is locked up, Rasmus is controlled for the next several seasons, Wainwright is locked up for a number of years, as is Garcia. Craig has a lot of promise, and Greene, Descalso, and Ryan can fill out the middle infield semi-adequately.

Really, this team needs another SP a 3B and a new manager. IF they get those, they can compete with anyone.

Don't underestimate how much LaRussa rat****ed this season.

1B: Pujols
2B: Descalso/Greene
SS: Ryan/Greene
3B ??/Freese
LF: Holliday
CF: Rasmus
RF: Craig
4th OF: Jay
C: Molina

SP: Wainwright
SP: Garcia
SP: Carpenter (Two years left)
SP: Hole
SP: Walters/Ottavino/Lynn/Boggs


We need to do something to get a power bat at 3rd. If we got a guy like 2008 Troy Glaus there, this offense would be good enough

We need to DFA Miles, Schumaker, Feliz, Suppan, and Lohse.

I want that **** gone as much as anybody, but if he leaves Duncan probably goes as well. At this point, though, it has to be done. It's obvious he's lost control and the respect of the team. I wish they'd dumped him before he drove Rolen away.

Here's the thing:

As good as Duncan is, I think that he's only able to fix his reclamation projects in the short term.

It's not like Carpenter and Wainwright didn't profile as aces as prospects. Hell, Carpenter is like a pitching coach anyway.

Okay, its not too early to talk 2011. My initial thoughts......

Larussa is coming back
Pujols signs a new deal


Cheap or good value FA's

Brad Hawpe - Should be a bargain after a down year. Could give us a.285/25/90 type of year

Brandon Inge - 3rd base protection. Either Freese or Inge could produce. Double our chances at production on the cheap.

Resign Westbrook with a reasonable contract. He's a sinkerball pitcher. Looks to fit in the locker room. But, not a $11 million a year contract but a 5th starter contract.


Need a good leadoff hitter who plays 2B.
Another starter
Lefty relief help. Big sweat is done

Ludwick is the biggest bitch in the entire town of San Diego. I hate the ****ing Cardinals for passing that piece of shit on to us. I blame him for us not making the playoffs.

We would take him back, gladly.

We'll trade him even up for LaRussa. We'll even through in Skip Schumacher and Kyle LOhSE.

Ha ha, Cardinals don't make the playoffs. Welcome to my world.

Suppan's gone. I read somewhere they were interested in bringing Feliz back. Even though Miles is LaRussa's favorite player ever, he didn't do an awful job. He was mediocre.

Miles was horrendous, he was buoyed by a ricockulous BABIP.

I like where your head is at, BRC, but I don't know if I want to stunt Craig's growth by tossing in Hawpe. He's far more talented than Jay and he has legitimate power. I'm telling him that the RF job is his to lose.

Re-signing Westbrook to a modest deal is fine. Lohse absolutely must go, as should Miles, Schumaker, Stavinoha, McDougal, and yes, probably Little Sweat. I have no desire to sign .240 hitting Brandon Inge in his age 34 year.

Dunno if anyone caught this so from Miklasz's twitter:
So I guess that is the "plan."

Craig is already a 20-25 HR guy if you give him 500 ABs.

That said, Mo is absolutely right that we need 15-20 HR production from 2nd and 3rd base and at least passable defense. This year, those two positions, along with short, have hit at a replacement level, and 2nd and 3rd have fielded below that level.

I like the idea of going after Jose Lopez at 2b/3b.

If Freese is healthy, Lopez plays 2b. If Freese is hurt, Lopez plays 3b and Descalso plays 2b. Lopez is an solid defensive 2b and while his OBP sucks, he has some sock in his bat and doesn't K too much. He'd be a very nice fit for the 6 hole.

Skip is a 5th OFer. For the love of all things sacred, get that man off 2b. He simply can't play it. God love him for giving it his best, but LaRussa set him up to fail now its time to put him back where he belongs.

I'd also like to see Craig in RF. Jay's an adequate 4th OFer but not much more. His defense doesn't profile to CF and his offense doesn't profile to a corner OF position. He's a taylor-made 4th OFers (so we'll probably convert him to SS soon). Craig's hit too much at the minor league level to not be a solid ML hitter. He has improved significantly over the last couple of months and I think he'll be a legitimate .830-.850 OPS guy if given the opportunity. He's going to K more than I thought he would, but he'll produce far more than his salary level and we desperately need that right now.

Or there's the nuclear option:

Talk to the Angels about a Pujols for Weaver/Morales/Kendrick type deal. They probably laugh at you and hang up, but that trade turns the Cardinals into the NL favorites, IMO.

I never thought I'd say it, but if (a) we trade him to an AL team, and (b) rape the shit out of them in the process, I could live with moving Albert.

Sadly, I don't think we can keep him on the roster and remain competitive.

Goddamn MLB for not having a salary cap. 4321

Here's the entire piece, which appeared in the PD yesterday:

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colum...285956713.html

Another interesting thought is Jacoby Elsbury.

The Sox are going to have to deal him and probably deal him cheap. I wonder if you couldn't sell them on a Shelby Miller for Papelbon and Elsbury deal. Craig might draw some interest from them if necessary, but they've devalued Paps and Elsbury so far that I think Miller could get both of them, especially if you sell it as a salary dump to allow them to keep Carl Crawford from going to the Yankees.

Hell, go ahead and go through with the Pujols trade and send Molina to the D-Rays for one of their myriad of pitching prospects or Ben Zobrist.

Just blow this MFer up. Build around Wainwright, Rasmus and Holliday. Yes, I'm aware I just dumped our latin players, but it's because the latin contingent mailed in this season and I'm just tired of it.

DJLN's Stupid Playstation Creation:

C - Steven Hill/Brian Anderson
1b - Kendry Morales
2b - Howie Kendrick
SS- Brendan Ryan/Zobrist
3b - Freese/J. Lopez/Zobrist
OF - Holliday
OF - Rasmus
OF - Elsbury

SP - Wainwright
SP - Weaver
SP - Carpenter
SP - Garcia
SP - Lohse (cause nobody's gonna take this POS off our hands with that contract).

MR -- Franklin, Motte, McClellan, Boggs, Salas, Miller
Closer -- Papelbon

Lineup:

Elsbury
Kendrick
Holliday
Morales
Rasmus
Freese
Hill
Ryan
P

Manager: Any mother****er that isn't Tony LaRussa. Gimme Freddi Gonzalez, a guy that got fired for daring to bench his superstar shortstop for jogging after a ball he literally kicked into right field.

That's a pennant winner, isn't it?

It would never come together and it seems too easy (so I'm probably overvaluing Miller and Pujols), but it works in my Playstation world so I like it.

We don't blow chit up until 2012. No need to start over next season. We have a good core next year to build around.

Trade Pujols and Molina? Bad idea. Really bad idea and as much as DJ wants it to not happen, Pujols will be resigned.

Fuc# trading Miller. The man is going to win a Cy Young and be a #1 pitcher. You don't trade that for anything, nothing, nada. You can never get your return for a #1 pitcher.

You will never get equal value for Albert Pujols. The thought of dealing him should be anathema.

I don't know why we'd want to go after Papelbon. He seems to be on the decline rather severely. His fastball has gotten worse every year that he's been in the majors, and he no longer has a reliable secondary pitch.

Jacoby Ellsbury is really a 3 WAR guy. Career 750 OPS er. Do you want that guy clogging up a COF spot?

Would I like a guy that's still under team control for 3 seasons who is capable of putting up a .370 OBP and 70 stolen bases leading off and playing stellar RF for us? Sure, why the hell not?

This team needs speed and it needs it badly. It also needs at least 1 effort guy and Ellsbury is certainly that.

Ellsbury's a perfect fit for the lineup and would do a lot of things for our offense. I like OPS as a stat, but it grossly undervalues OBP and the value of the stolen base.

Papelbon's a closer question, but I don't think he's done. I think he truly wants out of Boston and I think the strain of the Massholes has finally done him in. I think he'd flourish with a move to the NL and a chance to get the hell out of the cesspool.

The thought of paying $30 million a season for a declining slugger while ownership holds the line at a $95 million payroll is a hell of a lot more painful than the thought of watching Cardinals games without a slugger that can't be bothered to run out ground balls.

Yeah, I mean why get a start now when you can wait a year too long and do what we did in 2007. That worked out well.

And my proposed team is better than anything we can put together in 2011 with the parts we presently have in place, at least not without expanding payroll by $20 million and ol' Dollar Bill has let us know that won't be happening. It's not blowing anything up, it's restructuring and re-loading.

This team is rotting from the inside and I don't know how that could've been made more obvious than this season.

Miller's a 20 year old with a solid (though unspectacular) season in Low-A under his belt. There's no such thing as a reliable A-ball pitcher. They simply don't exist until AA (and even then, injuries are so common among starters that they shouldn't be considered until they're throwing meaningful pitches at the big-league level). If you can deal Miller for a cost-controlled part that immediately improves your ballclub, you do it.

DJ,

The Cardinals havr already saif they will increase payroll if they sign Pujols. Payroll will not stay at $100 million.

Blowing up a team with a core of Pujols, Holliday, Molina, Rasmus, Carp, Waino and Garcia would be very stupid.

Moving Pujols and Molina is the very definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Yes, if you are looking at it from a purely business perspective it would be nice to have Pujols sign a 4-5 year deal, but that's not gonna happen. The surplus value he would give you for the first 4-5 years of that deal will far outweigh the deficit you'll have at the ass end of that contract.

I like the idea of going after Jose Lopez or even a Ty Wigginton as an extra bat, but all things being equal, this team is not in bad shape.

We need a 3B a 2B a #5 and a Loogy. The #5 pitcher can easily be filled from within. We should have all the reserve/utility roles taken care of with young, cost controlled players.

Hell, it remains to be seen if the Tigers will pick up Jhonny Peralta's option. He's another guy we could look at to play third.

Is there a good hitting lead off type 2B to be had out there?

Nope. This is one of the worst FA classes of all time.

FWIW, I understand where DJ is coming from, I just think doing it is presumptuous.

If we want to go the reclamation project route instead of re-signing Westbrook, Chris Young might be worth a look. He's the guy whose skull Pujols broke.

I'd vote for Chris Young.

Peralta and Wigginton are the expensive options for Middle infield help, the low risk-high reward one could be Inge, who is coming off a bad year. Lets look at the LOOGYs:

Fuentes(I don't see him going back to the Twins since Rauch is a good option to be a setup man for cheap and Nathan will be back)

Feliciano

Seay

Rhodes

Affeldt

J.C. Romero

Thornton.

Also, I don't know how anyone feels about Vazquez, but he's proven that he can pitch in the NL but not the AL. If we don't sign Westbrook, he might be a cheaper alternative.

Stan the Man looked good today.

Albert sure looked happy out there watching the crowd and the way Stan the Man was greeted by the fans 47 years after he played the game. To be revered 47 years later.......If I was one of the best of all time, that would be important to me.

Pujols re-signs, sorry DJ.

Cardinals Arizona Fall League update

Mesa Solar Sox 11, Surprise Rafters 6
RHP Jordan Swagerty (L, 0-1) 1 2/3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (31 pitches - 21 strikes)
RHP Blake King 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
CF Adron Chambers 1-for-5, 1 K
1B Tony Cruz 1-for-3, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, sacrifice fly, fielding error
3B Zach Cox 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
DH Peter Kozma 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 K

I wonder if LaRussa's coming back....

Mets came a calling......

Tony TV will not play well in the big apple. He'd be a fool to work there.

Cardinals Caribbean update

Liga Venezuela Beisbol Profesional
Tigres de Aragua 9, Caribes de Anzoategui 2
SS Jose Garcia 3-for-4, 1 RBI, 2 R

Cardinals Arizona Fall League update

From Friday

Mesa Solar Sox 8, Surprise Rafters 7
1B Tony Cruz 0-for-5, 2 K
SS Peter Kozma 1-for-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 GIDP, 1 fielding error

hey, Ivory we don't usually use this thread for off season updates other than "big" news. Daily stats from the fall/winter leagues isn't usually posted here.

All I want to hear is that LaRussa won't be returning.

This would be an example of "big news".:rolleyes:

Cardinals Caribbean update

From Friday

Liga Mexicana del Pacífico
Tomateros de Culiacan 7, Mayos de Navojoa 6
DH Amaury Cazana Marti 1-for-5, 2 K

Liga Venezuela Beisbol Profesional
Leones del Caracas 11, Tigres de Aragua 0
SS Jose Garcia 0-for-3, 1 throwing error

Then don't read them.

Zack Cox's development is a big deal to a lot of Cardinals fans.