Bleacher Report - Articles by cody grubbs

A-Rod Off The Throne, Now It's Albert Pujols' Time To Shine

cody grubbs — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:01:06 -0500

Well this week has been interesting in steroid news. Barry Bonds' trial took a positive step for him as the worst evidence against him was thrown out. Roger Clemens' defamation trial isn't going well for him, as it appears there are syringes with Clemens' DNA present.

And a player that goes by A-Rod has just been discovered to have taken steroids. There is one slight difference between A-Rod's testimony and Clemens' and Bonds'; Rodriguez confessed to it all.

Now we hear 103 other players that tested positive during the same drug testing period. The question on the people's minds is who? There are at least a few people you could instantly take off the list if they were tested such as Jason Giambi.

But that still doesn't help very much since we don't know if he was tested or was even on steroids at the time.

What I can tell you is if Rodriguez took steroids and it was such a shock, who's to say other superstars haven't been on "the clear".

A few stars in 2003, when the tests were conducted, were putting up monster stats, such as Derrek Lee, Carlos Delgado, Javy Lopez(the catcher), and Richie Sexson, all of whom are out of baseball or are not putting up numbers near that level in 2003.

Now that A-Rod has confessed to steroid use, who should we consider the king of hitting. The answer is very easy, none other than Prince Albert Pujols. Pujols has been the most dominating hitter in the past 50 years to play baseball.

He puts up the most consistent numbers year in and year out. The Prince truly is royalty because of his accomplishments.

Pujols owns a career .334 batting average (top in the ML) and 319 home runs, which is the second most home runs in a player's first eight seasons.

I hope King Pujols isn't like the the past two kings, only to be pushed aside because of personal selfishness to be the very best.

The Rotation

cody grubbs — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:53:40 -0500

The rotation is pretty much set where it is. With a need for a starter to fill one slot left by Braden Looper the Cardinals appear look to patch the problem with a inside pitch.

The rotation as it is now is

Adam Wainwright
Kyle Lohse
Todd Wellemeyer
Joel Pinero, Mitchell Boggs, Kyle McClellan.
Chris Carpenter

If you can see I set the rotation up as three solid starters and the rest probably won't go the whole season and make 30 starts. There are some rookies that can fill the void set by injury such as Mitchell Boggs, P.J. Walters, Mike Parisi, Clayton Mortensen.

The most probable starter to come up and earn a spot is Boggs who earned experience last year and will be coming in this year knowing what is expected of him. Mortensen who looks like he was rushed last year didn't adjust to the Triple-A hitting so will most likely have to earn his way on with a impressive spring training and a strong start in Memphis.

Chris Carpenter will be coming back to the rotation with apparently no limitation because of the Tommy john surgery. If Carpenter is healthy the whole team will perform better. The Cardinals though appear to be backing off adding another starter but one could help the rotation solidify its stamina.

Last year Wainwright was 11-3 which was the best win percentage for starters with 10 decisions now if only Wainwright made ten more starts last year the team would have had a better chance to win.

I definitely don't expect Kyle Lohse or Todd Wellemeyer to have another breakout season but you know how the old saying goes "you just need one oppurtunity to show what you can do and you'll go from there."

A side note, Braden Looper is still a free agent this off season and he is just the starter we would need to finish off our rotation. Looper had a much better year in his second year of starting and if that indicates anything he might improve again in 2009.

In conclusion the rotation looks to be set based on the economy and the lack of interest in our outfield depth. The Cardinals will go into spring training looking for the next "Kyle Lohse" and really just hope for another miracle to happen again.

Are The Cardinals Done Shopping?

cody grubbs — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:41:00 -0500

The Cardinals Hot Stove season looks to be getting worse and worse. Since December fourth when they traded for Khalil Greene the Cardinals haven't done anything to affect their Major League club.

The most notable acquisition since that trade was when they signed former Dodger prospect Joe Thurston to minor league deal (I assume there was also a spring training invite as well).The most notable need for the Cardinals would be a starting pitcher presumably someone who can get at least 175 innings pitched.

Among the Free Agents available I have narrowed it down to five who I see available to the Cardinals

Ben Sheets. Why? because his market hasn't started yet so pounce now before Cards are outbid. The ace can still provide 150 quality innings a year so he would be worth about nine million with incentive after.

Paul Byrd- Of course isn't front end material but he is a inning eater and can help reinforce the staff.

Odalis Perez- Yes, the lesser known Perez and I don't really know why. Perez pitched 160 innings and recorded 120 Ks and a 4.34 ERA but assuming Perez is better with Duncan he could be another Lohse in the making.(Odalis also is bargain at this point)

Jon Garland- Yeah, I know we would give up a second round pick but Garland who has averaged 200 innings since 2002, Garland is probably a tough FA to acquire though.

Pedro Martinez- Yeah, a tough year last year and a bigger injury risk but he would be considered a risk and reward player because he can still pitch as evident by his 87Ks in 128IP that is still a great ratio.Also in August last year he put up a great stat line which I think can point to his ability to still pitch.

Bargain Bin-Kenny Rogers, Curt Schilling, Tom Glavine, Bartolo Colon, Josh Fogg, Jason Jennings

The Notable Five, I would take a look at if I was GM but the only thing I can do is type this. I hope we make a move soon because Carpenter won't be relied to come back this year and carry the rotation.

Also I am extremely happy we didn't sign Fuentes he wouldn't have played his heart into the game if location was so important to him also Ten Million for a reliever I would much rather have Motte and Perez close the game.

This season is also important to note because LaRussa contract will be up at seasons end and the drama will begin again. If La Russa needs a closer I would go after Saito from the Dodgers because he scares everyone away because of injury last year.

St. Louis Cardinals' Predicted Batting Order for 2009

cody grubbs — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:48:38 -0500

The Cardinals 2009 season is up next on deck, and here is my prediction for the lineup/batting order. The 2009 season will be the 128th season of the St. Louis Cardinals and the 118th in the National League. *Warning this prediction is based on December 18, 2008 Lineup could potentially change . The order is subject to change based on pitcher handedness and players overall performance during the year.

Begin Slideshow

A Way for the St. Louis Cardinals to Get Rafael Furcal and Orlando Hudson

cody grubbs — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:07:02 -0500

I have come to the conclusion that being able to retain all the players we have is sort of stupid because we have the tools to help us win and i think it's time for us to go after a two of the most sought out middle infielders this offseason—Orlando Hudson and Rafael Furcal.

How, you might say, could this be possible?

Well with $20 million stashed away for free agents and some salary dumps (Pinero $5.5 M, Kennedy $3.5M, and possibly a trade of troy Glaus for a prospect $12.5M) that would put an extra $20 million to spend on free agents.

Now, I know Glaus was spectacular defensively and showed signs of the stick some times, but we have to face it that this is probably the last year of his contract and while he is still of value, he is a dent in the payroll and it might be best to give another rookie a shot (Freese, Craig, or Wallace).

I don't think a trade like this will hurt the team as much as you might think. Hudson and Furcal would make an excellent one and two hitter for Albert pujols.

I want you to imagine this lineup

*Rafael Furcal
*Orlando Hudson
Albert Pujols
Ryan Ludwick
Rick Ankiel
*David Freese
Yadier Molina
Starter
Skip Schumaker

I don't know what you might think about this, but to me it looks like pujols has some protection in the lineup. He would have a impressive one two hitters in front of him and the powerful bats of ludwick and ankiel behind him. that is a pretty potent lineup.

Salary's http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/salaries?team=stl