Joe Strauss: Wow!!! The Tsunami has crashed ashore big time this week given the number of inquiries awaiting the ChatMeister. No doubt local sports talk has stirred the pot with its recent El Hombre talk. John Mozeliak is in the Dominican perusing the local talent pool. The Cardinals are doing their due diligence with this year's draft, most recently signing their second-round pick. And last night the local nine punished Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander, who was 7-0 with a 1.10 ERA in his previous nine starts. It's an interesting grab bag we have to talk about. No doubt the ChatHeads will mix in some curveballs and slurves as well. Like clockwork the tide is rising. Time to hit the board!!!

dub the beachcomber: joe, since arizona is buried, any chance of bringing Felipe Lopez back to play third? Thanks waverider, and remember, a nice swell really is.

Joe Strauss: Interesting question, Comber. Lopez was acquired following his release last August by the Washington Nationals and hit .385 in 156 at-bats for the Redbirds. Indeed, he led the league in hitting after the Cardinals picked him up. He hasn't sustained that kind of production this season in Arizona/He's become a singles hitter, carrying a .304 average with only four home runs and 11 RBI in 237 at-bats while mostly playing second base. GM John Mozeliak probably doesn't receive enough credit for acquiring Lopez last season, probably because there were factions within the organization that would have liked to see the club retain him for '09. Lopez is making $3.5M, leaving his "next" team liable for only about $2 million as we speak. He's an interesting name. Right now, however, the Cardinals are looking for a power boost. "Flip" would appear a good add-on if the club first acquired an impact bat.

dub the beachcomber: Surfmeister, would you rather be waterboarded, or watch the team face a lefty?

Joe Strauss: Sorry, one question per customer.

Tim: I believe the MLB should pass a Tony LaRussa rule that would limit the number of relief pitchers a manager can use in a nine inning game. Tony has singlehandedly changed what was once a two..two and half hour game...[ I remember when Gibson would have you out of there in UNDER two hours], into these three and four hour marathons with his over use...nee abuse, of his bullpen with the constant changing of relief pitchers. Five in a nine inning ball game is ridiculous...six is just ludicrous. If it takes ten to fifteen minutes to bring in a relief pitcher, well, do the math. Isn't there a delay of game rule for pitchers taking too long in between pitches...well the same rule should apply to over managing Managers.

Free Ryan Ludwick.

Joe Strauss: It's one reason why the Cardinals consistently rank near the top of the league in "holds," which may be even more open to manipulation than saves. I don't care how long TLR's moves make the games last (well, not much anyway.) I would like to see MLB adopt a TLR Rule mandating that postgame access be granted in accordance to MLB policy. Unfortunately, MLB takes its access policy (at least outside of NYC) far less seriously than the NFL and NBA. Oh, well, a guy can dream.

Dave in ST PETE: Oh Great One of Internet Wisdom,
Much has been made in the media about the Cardinals front office divide over the past years through hiring Lunhow and implementing more statistical analysis. Overall in baseball, more weight is being given to these new metric and stats like OPS. After becoming a regular over at puckprospectus.com (the hockey equivalent of baseballprospectus.com, I was wondering how much the Blues Front office may be starting to look at these possible future indicators or new metrics such as Offensive Contribution Percentage. I ask this b/c Perron was the best on the blues this year in OC% and 6th overall in the NHL. I think if we give credit to these new baseball metrics, we should look at these and maybe not be so quite to pull the trigger on a trade involving Perron.

Joe Strauss: Interesting thought; however, JSL!!! currently limits himself to major sports. I'll forward your question to the appropriate bin.