i am sick to my stomach that some fool gave Duncan’s son 150 AB’s he shouldn’t have had. Stomach further complicated by sports writers that fail to pursue why this idiosyncratic crap happens time again. It seems that access to club officials, coaching staff and players is much more important than challenging the endless lineup changes, Pujols being hot until Lopez, Mather, Miles, Duncan is inserted in front of him (yes, i realize that Tony uses the slot to get everyone back in their grove {except for Pujols himself}, Glaus still can’t see the ball at Busch, McCellan’s arm was used up too early in the season, the bullpen was used up too soon in both of the last two seasons, LaRussa headgames will not work with a young roster, LaRussa trashing players BEFORE we can trade them.

Come on, the Dictator needs to go. He had a lot of talentsome years, he made the most of it, he breathed life and credibilty into the Cardinal org. For that i will always appreciate the sum of the whole. we cannot re-build with Tony.

Footnote for the sportswriters: even when team mgmt says they’re not rebuilding (say, for the past year), they are.

Glaus hit within a point or two of his career average –but I suppose facts are too much for you to consider.

I think the Cards would be wise to listen to trade offers for Luddy. As I’ve said before his value will never be higher than it is right now. I really don’t think that he will match 37 HRs and drive in 113 runs again. That being said, there are a lot of questions to ask when you remove Luddy from the Cards OF situation.

Where does Raz factor in as a potential OF for 2009? Schu? Will Dunc be healthy? Can Mather produce? And what do you do with Lopez?

I’m a huge Joey Mather fan, and I think based on what he did in his time here with the Cards, he could be counted on as a solid hitter and a better defender in LF then either Dunc of Lopez. He has 20 HR power and the potential to hit .280, and play solid D in LF.

With Luddy’s value being so high, I think the Cards would be wise to package him for a solid hitting middle infielder or a LHRP. Package him with Bryan Anderson and maybe one other solid prospect. What sort of value would that bring about?

What is wrong with you people, as Ive asked before and will ask again. I should just stay off the boards. TLR, tho I have problems with him too, at times, just wrung an amazing season out of a bunch of players that the league doesnt see equaling the sum of it’s parts, so he can’t rebuild? Trade Ludwick? He’s +30 years old and has had exactly one season to impress the world. His value is much higher than it has been or probably will be, but if he gets 60% of what he got this year, its more than he will bring in a trade. When I visit this place, I suspect that STL does have the best fans, but not necessarily the most realistic fans.

Derrick,

Tough list to choose from, nice job. I’m not sure any of these players have reached their ceiling. It would be pretty easy to state that any Cardinals starter could have added victories to their totals if it wasn’t for an inconsistent bullpen and offense. Catchers hitting .300 is more of a rarity than the norm. I’m not convinced that Yadier will hit .300 again. But, that’s fine, I’ll take his defense over the hitting. Who knows about Ludwick? He went through a major learning curve this year and survived it rather well. Considering he’s willing to hit the ball to all fields, this may just be the start for him. Having Albert around to talk hitting doesn’t hurt either!

Interesting blog/poll DG. Can’t imagine what got the ire up on the first two responders? Maybe they have just discovered big time 401k loses. Who knows?

Norman, w/i 2 points of what? he was 14 points above his career avg, he was a full std deviation above his carrer Away (.253) his Home/Away (.253/.288) was one of only two meaningful instances from in a norm (no pun intended) of hitting better at home. he struck 25% more frequently at Home, he struckout almost 50% more often. Both stats are significantly at odds with his career.

The funny thing about stats, it takes more effort than reading the back of a baseball card. But, i guess that is too much for you to consider.

PS No 401k losses, hanging out in short term Treas, TIPS and Double Short Spyders. But i suggest moving to Short Treas, buy Euro.

Good numbers. Good argument, 44year. Now about that shot at sportswriters …

If Welly doesn’t tweak the elbow, he wins 15, so I think he has the most room to improve. I think Yaddy can hit .300 standing on his head, but I would rather see him strike out a little more and hit with a little more pop. Still situationally hit, but cut down on the DPs. Lohse probably hit his high water mark, but I would expect him to be near there most years under Dunc. I love Schu, but he can’t hit lefties and that’s all that needs to be said about him. Luddy is a stud and frankly he has always been a stud. He finally got the opportunity and was finally healthy. Will he put up numbers like this year? Probably not, but I would expect him to be .280, 30, 100 guy.