Preliminary reports from La Russa say that Ankiel will be given the chance to win the CF job. If the Cardinals go out and find a decent hitting corner outfielder then that would only cement it further.

Ankiel definitely an everyday guy next year...either CF or RF. Are there any worthwhile corner OF available on the FA market at all?

Luis Gonzalez
Geoff Jenkins
Shawn Green
Trot Nixon

as for CF's
Mike Cameron (after suspension)
Darin Erstad
Kenny Lofton
Corey Patterson

so, not really then?

Jenkins and Green can still provide 20-30 homeruns to a lineup

Dont waste money on those bums. Considering the owners seem to be against spending money, I say they save it up and go after pitching next offseason.

did you forget to change accounts again?

Nah, everyone knows its me anyways.

Jenkins maybe, but there's no way Green hits 20 on any team next year. He's done. Besides getting one of these guys would just be Juan Encarnacion all over again. Let the kids play, for better or worse. If anything maybe give Corey Patterson a shot at least he still has age on his side.

age, and a piss poor plate discipline

Jenkins is now a Phillie btw

The Cardinals signed Matt Clement to a 1 year contract worth $1.5 million + incentives with an option for 2009 yesterday.

if can recapture some of the magic he had when he was with the Cubs then this could turn out to be a good signing

The Cardinals re-signed infielder Aaron Miles to a 1 year contract worth $1.4 million.

The Cardinals general manager said on the radio that Matt Clement was throwing between 85-88 mph during a throwing session in an instructional league. Clement was early in his throwing program when he had this throwing session. He should be close to throwing 88-91 like he was before his injury.

I'll happily eat these words, but Matt fuckin Clement. Come on.

ugh.

yeah. at least its only one year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3193566

I like this deal.

best deal they could really get.

Had to be done. Rolen was pissy and slipping.

I'm not convinced. They traded one gimp for another gimp.

yeah, but this gimp doesn't hate the manager yet.

And that makes all the difference.

Plus, with Eck, Edmonds, and Rolen now gone, the team can take on a new identity.

still a big mistake

We'll see, but I dont think so.

I don't know. 1 year at 4.5 Million is a pretty cheap deal for Eckstein's service.

Give it time.

agreed

Whats the lineup gonna look like?

You'll have Ankiel, Pujols, Glaus, and Duncan (probably) in the heart. But who else? Izturis will be down in the line-up, probably. Who will be the 2B? Who will win the third outfield spot? So many questions. What will the rotation look like? Are they trying to sign any pitching?

Do they have a plan? Im worried.

Someone hold me.

my guess for opening day lineup?

Izturis (this makes me hurt)
Ankiel
Pujols
Glaus
Duncan
Molina
Ludwick (at least on opening day, this spot will rotate)
Pitcher spot
Kennedy (dear lord help us all).

I fully agree with Izturis. Although the man is a gold glove candidate he couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. I have a hard time with who's going to play where in the OF. If it were me it'd be Duncan in LF, Ankiel in CF, and Ludwick in RF. I'm sure that Skip Schumaker will fill in as needed in the same way that So Taguchi did. I'm not sure that Kennedy will be starting at 2B especially since they held onto Aaron Miles. Overall the season is not looking good for the Cardinals especially since the NL Central is improving by leaps and bounds. The only smart move the Cardinals made this off-season is locking up Yadier Molina for another 4 years. He is arguably the best defensive catcher in the NL and possibly in all of baseball. It was a move that the Cardinals needed to make.

agreed about Molina, great resigning.

meh, this looks more and more like the '98 marlins every day.

Time to dig in for the long haul...

cept we got Pujols still!

my thinking exactly

although I don't expect much from the team this season

something between 80-85 wins would be my guesstimate.

I'd be happy to see them win 80-85

You must be a cubs fan.


If they dont make the playoffs, Im not happy. Thats the way it should be.

me either, but to expect the Cardinals to make the playoffs is almost reckless

Chicago, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati are all better teams

as much as I hate to say it...it's true

I'll never admit that.

Milwaukee is really the only team with more talent than St. Louis. Chicago and Cincy have about the same amount of talent.

With that said I liked this offseason more than last offseason when they did nothing. But it's still not enough. I put the over/under in total wins for the Cards at 53.

All three team got better in the off season while St. Louis lost their All Star SS in David Eckstein (you will realize how much he will be missed), their over-the-hill but still viable CF in Jim Edmonds, and lost one of their biggest bench contributors in So Taguchi. The only way the Cardinals are going to make a play for the NL Central title is if Adam Wainwright keeps himself in check, and if Chris Carpenter comes back from his injury. Other than that it doesn't look good.

Eckstein's on the downside of his career also. So Taguchi is a decent bench guy, but that's about it. They are better off going with Duncan, Ankiel and a young guy in the OF. And they still have Pujols, I think the trade with Rolen and Glaus is a wash. Both are about the same at this point.

The record will come down to pitching, which I agree isn't very good.

I've got a thousand dollars on the over.

You're probably right I'm just overreacting because I'm a true fan that is harder on my team then I should be. But we'll be about 20 games under .500 by the end of the year.

So you see a 71-91 season. That is a definite possiblity.

As a preseason guess, I'm going to go with 84-77. Somewhere in that neighborhood.

Taguchi had gotten pretty bad defensively last season, which didn't get mentioned enough. If he can't play defense, he wasn't worth it.

Anyway, this team is a bit too reliant on "if everything goes right w/ guy XXXXXX (insert Clement, Pineiro, Reyes, Ankiel, Carpenter, Mulder, Rasmus, etc)" and not enough known quantities (Pujols, Molina, Wainwright...somewhat, Izzy) to expect them reasonably to make the playoffs.

I agree with a lot of that. Except I think Ankiel is pretty good. He'll be a good major league outfielder

Highly unlikely they will make the playoffs this year, but it was highly unlikely they would win the world series a couple years ago. If things do go right, then they have a shot.

2-0 in spring training.

Ankiel patrolling center from what I've seen.

Any thoughts?

Pujols with a messed up elbow. I guess I understand the decision to delay surgery.