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03.24.2008 11:40 am

The Lineup 3.24: Packed with outfielders

By Derrick Goold
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Cardinals stuffed their bus with outfielders for the trip across Alligator Alley to the opposite coast of Florida. Not just the major-leaguers are this trip as Colby Rasmus continues to tagalong days after he was assigned to the minors.

With a designated hitter available and first base unoccupied, the Cardinals can cram into one lineup all five of the outfielders they plan to take north.

Actually, they are the first five hitters for the Cardinals.

(And, quick, who’s batting No. 3? No peeking.)

Before the lineup, a couple quick notes from this morning at Hammond Stadium: Troy Glaus was expected to be on this trip, but experienced some tightness in his lower back. Manager Tony La Russa decided the third baseman didn’t need to take the 6-hour round trip. He remained back in Jupiter and will play tomorrow, La Russa said. … Also, the Twins are reportedly working on an extension for closer Joe Nathan that would put him in the four-year, $40-million tax bracket with others of his ilk, like Mariano Rivera and Francisco Cordero. Guess I’ll have to come up with a new most-underrated player for the P-D picks that will be in next Sunday’s MLB/Cardinals Preview Section.

THE CARDINALS

  1. Skip Schumaker, LF
  2. Chris Duncan, 1B
  3. Brian Barton, DH
  4. Rick Ankiel, CF
  5. Ryan Ludwick, RF
  6. Adam Kennedy, 2B
  7. D’Angelo Jimenez, 3B
  8. Jason LaRue, C
  9. Cesar Izturis, SS

Starting pitcher: RHP Brad Thompson.

The players on the bench include: OF Colby Rasmus, C Nick Derba, OF Nick Stavinoha, 1B Mark Hamilton, C Matt Pagnozzi. The spare pitchers brought along for protection are RHP Josh Dew and RHP Bob Zimmerman.

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8 comments

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Blog Comments: Rules of the Road

DG –

What do you make of the “rumors” making the rounds that the Tampa Bay Rays might have interest in Skip Schumaker?

— 007
12:17 pm March 24th, 2008

DG,

Adding to 007’s question, does the release of Reed Johnson from Toronto change the outlook? I figure a team looking for a low cost OF (Mets, Rays) would be all over him.

Thanks in advance.

— Elliott
12:28 pm March 24th, 2008

Not sure the Cardinals can afford to trade Schumaker as much as they seem to be set on him as their leadoff hitter. Rumors are just that. I saw a list of “possible trade targets” for the Rays and Schumaker was on it. Schumaker doesn’t have options, so any team making play for Schumaker has to be sure he’s going to spend some time with them.

Sure Reed Johnson’s availability changes the look for any team shopping for an outfielder. Why give up a player/prospect when you can sign a guy just released?

dg

— Derrick Goold
12:50 pm March 24th, 2008

DG: I can see the trade happening when Colby comes up. I still think management will keep him in Memphis for a month or so– A full year @ 27 is (or will be) worth more than a full year @ 21….

— allen
2:04 pm March 24th, 2008

DG - Could the fact that Colby still gets time with the big club after reassignment mean that he might be up sooner than expected?

— RCJ
3:49 pm March 24th, 2008

Ugh. Skip Scumaker as the leadoff hitter? There are so many things wrong with that, I don’t know where to begin.

I thought the Cardinals would at least be competitive with the Pirates for last place, now I know they’ve easily clinch it.

— JeremyR
5:12 pm March 24th, 2008

RCJ, Just wrote about that in the blog one door down.

JeremyR (the JeremyR?), Huh? Why ugh? The Cardinals have gone from a righthanded-batting leadoff hitter who slashed away at pitches and rarely walked on his way to a career on-base percentage of .351 (.363 at its peak with the Cardinals) to … a lefthanded-hitting leadoff batter who also slashes away pitches, makes a starter work and puts all that together for a .353 on-base percentage in the minors.

An on-base percentage, mind you, that has climbed each of the past three seasons in Triple-A.

There are many places where the Cardinals should have concerns. After several seasons of having David Eckstein leadoff, the switch to Schumaker won’t be one of them.

dg

— Derrick Goold
5:20 pm March 24th, 2008

All this talk about a leadoff hitter is stupid. It’s not a position; RF is. And Schumaker isn’t a starting ML outfielder. Pick your leadoff hitter after you put together the best 8 guys for the real positions, and it has nothing to do with Eckstein of course. He was a decent SS and a good value.

— haltz
4:13 am March 25th, 2008