Joe Strauss: All right, wave riders, the Tsunami has rolled back in from the palacial O'Hare Hilton. Last year MLB held its GM meetings at the Dana Point St. Regis overlooking the Pacific as a tune-up for the winter meetings at Bellagio in Vegas. This year we got stuck overlooking a tarmac as a prep for spending a week in December at the Indianapolis Marriott. This cost-cutting has gone a bit too far -- and the ChatMeister is a Marriott points hog!!! Whatever. I'm sure you feel my pain. Without further ado, let's dive into the mountain of questions awaiting for this week's edition of Joe Strauss Live!!!, a cyber-phenomemon no matter the day of the week. Last week we went three hours; this week we may the ride may be a little quicker. Boogie boarders out of the ocean. Time for full contact chat!!!

Kim Miller: Joe, The number 1 question facing the Cardinals is Matt Holiday. My feeling is you give him your best "All In" offer right now and tell him take it or leave it. A Bobby Abreu type contract with more years and a no trade clause would be a very fair offer. Don't get into a bidding war with yourself and Mr. Boras's imaginary big offers. Let the decision be quick and give yourself the whole winter to work on your needs. I would like Mr. Holiday back, but not at Albert money.

Also, what are your thoughts on the Cardinals offensive balance? I feel they rely on the long ball too much. Speed on the bases can be more disruptive. Our offense is too station to station, 1 base at a time. We need to be able to create innings and scoring opportunities by putting men in motion.

Thanks for your time.

Joe Strauss: Interesting point, especially since I heard a guest on St. Louis radio just note that Chone Figgins would be a better fit for the Cardinals than Matt Holliday. Now I know why this is called baseball's silly season. Guys with calculators, slide rules and "metrics" start hyperventilating with heart palpitations. The new craze is protecting Pujols from the front rather than behind. Interesting concept, since signing a Figgins-type would create a potential run of a LF to be named (Allen Craig?), Yadier Molina, Brendan Ryan, the pitcher, Skip Schumaker and Figgins behind each other in the lineup. Don't know about you but that doesn't make my heart skip a beat if I'm in the opposing dugout. If you believe Colby Rasmus is ready to hit 5th and that Ryan Ludwick is a true cleanup hitter, then the Figgins Solution should work for you. However, many would suggest a team coming off a 91-win season can be more ambitious. The ChatMeister does not genuflect at the Alter of the Walk. It's great to have run scorers, but a team requires more than two run-producers.
Abreu money (2y/$19M) for Holliday? Come on. I know many of you yearn for the return of WhiteyBall, but that's not the way the game is played today. It's also not the way the current manager runs a game.
The Cards are short a run-producer. Figgins is a guy who can play 3B or LF, steal some bases, hit both ways and score some runs. He's not Rickey Henderson. He would be a great addition if the Cardinals also address their primary need.

thewizard25: Have the Cardinals ever considered bringing back Ozzie Smith as a coach? Does Ozzie want to coach again? Knowing the history between Ozzie and Tony LaRussa, maybe I would guess it would not be feasible.

Also - why haven't the Cardinals retired any numbers besides Bruce Sutter's when he went into the Hall of Fame? There have been a lot of players who have been superb players who should get their numbers retired. (Darryl Kyle, Wille McGee, Vince Coleman, John Tutor, Tommy Herr to name a few)

Thanks so much!

Joe Strauss: There are few sure things in life: Ozzie never appearing within a TLR coaching staff is one of them.

cjworden99: Alright Joe - let me in, let me in - I wanna ride the waves! So it is sounding more and more like Holliday and Bay are out. Chone Figgins seems intriguing to me. I cannot believe the name Jermaine Dye is even coming up, the dude's broke down. Nady might be a good option. It is becoming very evident that DeRosa needs to be back here. I think if Ludwick is healthy he can hit behind Albert and consistently produce. I guess I am confused I just don't know where to go with this team and what they can actually do to get better. What say you almighty Chatmeister!

Joe Strauss: Again, Figgins is a nice fit for a team with several muscular offensive pieces. Right now, the Cardinals don't really fit that profile, barring Rasmus' rapid development into a 90-RBI guy. Agree with you about Dye. He nosedived last season and is a minus defender. DeRosa remains a good fit here. He represents the perfect No. 6 hitter for this club when healthy. However, he is receiving plenty of attention from both leagues. The Phillies have interest in Figgins and DeRosa. Note that the Phillies already possess a powerful offensive nucleus. Many of you have written off Holliday. I think that's premature. Serious questions exist about who will push his market. The Cardinals' slow-hand approach may be validated.

MOSportsFan: Joe,

Man, last weeks Tsunami was maybe the longest I've ever seen. Good job Joe, I appreciate your dedication to the job. You're expertise is invaluable to a Cards junkie like myself.

Question for ya

Why didn't the Cardinals ask for a 48 hour negotiating window for Holliday like the Mets got before they finalized their trade for Johan Santana? Back when they made the trade, I questioned to myself why they wouldn't pursue it. Everyone and their mother knew that Holliday's contract value was going to boom once he got back to his fimiliar stomping grounds, the National League. When the deal was first completed, you and other valuable insiders guessed that Holliday was looking at 3-4 yrs 13 million a year, but if he hit well in Cardinal Red, Boras was going to look for 20 mill per season. That's why I didn't understand why the Cardinals didn't ask for that 48 hour window. Knowing that they could face having to pay 6-8 million per season, and 2-4 more contract years, there was plenty of incentive for the Cardinals to force the issue with Boras or else risk a struggling Holliday, stuck in Oakland(I know Holliday was starting to do better in his last few weeks in Oakland, but his production in that time was a far cry from his first month in St. Louis), watching his clients contract hopes plummit by each month, while cementing the attitude around the AL that Holliday was a NL only player. We all know that many view that the Cards gave up too much for Holliday, which should have given Mo the leverage to get Beane to agree to that request. All of this lead me to believe that the Cardinals weren't married to the idea of resigning Holliday and if it turned out that he signed elsewhere they were content on receiving the 2 draft picks. After the long build up, did the Cardinals ask for a negotiating window for Holliday and is my assumption that the Cards are content with letting him go correct? Afterall, Oakland did pay a decent portion of his salary, which was a shrewd, yet cheap way to convince Albert and Tony that they are committed to winning now. I really appreciate your time and your insight is the main reason why I come to this site.

Brian

Joe Strauss: Don't know which was longer, last week's chat or your question. Simply put, Team Boras was not interested in granting anybody a negotiating window. Holliday was going to test the market. The Cardinals knew that, which may account for their absence of an offer to date. The Cardinals also were realistic enough to know they were unlikely to make the postseason without an additional impact bat. They got their man and their berth in the postseason. Ever since, there have been many more questions than answers.