***Offical 2010 STL Cardinals Baseball Thread ***

[BigRedChief]

Holliday signs. The Deal is Done. $120 Million over 7 years.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=stl

Signed or controlled for the next 2 years

Shumaker 2B
Rasmus CF
Pujols 1B
Holliday LF
Ludwick RF
Molina C
Freese 3B
Ryan SS
And 2 CY Young caliber starting pitchers
Carp and Wainwright P

We get Lohse or Garcia to step up and be a reliable 3rd starter in the playoffs we can win a World Series with this line up.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Or Hootie to come in and say that the Cubs have no weaknesses and the Cards have nothing in the farm system a year before that farm system produced:

Rasmus, Ryan, Hawksworth, Todd, Freese, Perez, Boggs, Wallace, Mortenson, and Garcia

Who turned into our starting SS who plays GG caliber defense, our starting 3B, multiple BP arms, trade bait for DeRosa and Holliday, one of the best young position players in baseball, and one of the best young pitchers in the league.

Damn thats impressive.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by frazod

The wife is PISSED. The broom is out of the closet and standing by for use tomorrow.

Doesn't look like I'm getting any tonight......

Dude

[Miles]

Garcia has been a pleasant surprise so far.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Damn. That ****ed sucked.

A seed to the 2B that turns into a DP.

Bases loaded and nobody out. Pujols, Holliday and Rasmus coming up. How much money would you bet that we would score at least one run?

[Marcellus]

Damn nice to have a good lefty on the mound again. Not since Ankiel's rookie season could we say that.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Miles

Garcia has been a pleasant surprise so far.

Pleasant surprise? He keeps this up he's on the All Star team.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Pleasant surprise? He keeps this up he's on the All Star team.

I remember being bummed out that the game I was going to in Milwaukee featured our new No. 5 pitcher. I got over that shit in a hurry. The kid was lights out that day and hasn't missed a beat since.

[DJ's left nut]

I'm not terribly fond of Garcia's mechanics (they're a little 'loud', lots of movement with his upper body that could lead to some shoulder issues in the future).

But his stuff profiles perfectly for a LHSP. Every single thing he throws moves and most of it moves in different directions.

If he can refine that changeup, he has legitimate #2 or fringe #1 potential. The changeup to righties is what makes a truly elite lefty starter. If he can get that change to tail away and drop a bit more without telegraphing it, he'll be nearly impossible to get a good swing off of. Put a running fastball with a tailing changup and righties will be in a lot of trouble. Then you look at the slider he has (decent) and the curve (very good when he's on top of it, but not consistent), and you could see how lefties would struggle, especially with that power sinker fastball.

I really love the kid's arsenal. He has 4 pitches he can throw for strikes, 3 of which are plus pitches and the 4th (the change) has the potential to be the best pitch of all of them. And when it gets down to it, if he brings nothing but the sinker to the mound with him, he can give you 6 gutty innings.

He has a very bright future if he can stay healthy. I hope those mechanics don't jump up and bite him.

[BigRedChief]

Could be get 4 pitchers on the All Star team?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Could be get 4 pitchers on the All Star team?

Nah, think of how good the SPing in the NL has been.

Halladay, Lincecum and Ubaldo have all been at least as good as anyone we have to offer. Santana's looking healthy, Haren's looked good (even w/ the Cardinal start). Nolasco's started out well. Hell, Barry Zito deserves consideration.

Do we have 4 guys that could make an AS argument? Probably, but I can't see more than 2 of them on the squad, since you know AP will be there and probably Molina as well.

I'm guessing WW and Penny make the squad. The rookie will still have to pay his dues and Carp's doing it with smoke and mirrors right now; I'm just worried he'll fall off.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Carp's doing it with smoke and mirrors right now; I'm just worried he'll fall off.

He's getting old but he ain't washed up yet....But it does look(at least right now) we may have a #2 lefty starter for 2012 if Carp falls off a cliff.

[Chief Henry]

Garcia is turning heads big time...he's got filthy stuff with 3 maybe 4 pitches that he can control and put it where Molina wants...

If Brad Penny has another one or two more outings like he's been having, the Cardinals brass needs to start talking about an extension for him.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Chief Henry

if Brad Penny has another one or two more outings like he's been having, the Cardinals brass needs to start talking about an extension for him.

Not gonna happen. Penny is going to want a big payday, its his last contract so he will test the free agent market. The Cardinals can't give him #1/#2 long term contract money with such a short sample size. Less than a year ago he was washed up and nobody wanted a thing to do with him. How do we know he won't revert back to those days?

[BigRedChief]

I think this team is the best team we have had since 2004 and may yet rival that team. And I think the 2004 team was the best team we have had since the Whiteyball era.

[DJ's left nut]

The 2004 squad would've kicked the !@#$ out of the whiteyball Cards, IMO. Those clubs were a tough out because they were gimmicky and played in a ballpark ideally suited for them. Take the best Whiteyball squad, put them in a neutral stadium and have them play 162 games and I think the 2004 Cards win 90 of them.

That team was amazing and I'll listen to any arguments that have it as the best Cardinal ballclub of all time. The '67 Cardinals have a good argument, but I can't see anyone else really putting up much of a fight.