NEW YORK -- For perspective, consider that the last time the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros found an agreeable deal between two division rivals, the pitcher involved had a recognizable name and a place in history with one of the franchises. He was a fan favorite. He had been the ace of the staff. He was disappointed by losing.
His name was Bob Forsch.
And the Cardinals and Astros weren't in the same division.
As the Cardinals speed toward this weekend's non-waiver trade deadline with an eye for starting pitching and perhaps a starting infielder, it's become clear that one of the speedbumps in this year's market isn't just who's available. It's who's trading. Two division rivals have starting pitchers that they would move for the right deal -- but the fact that they are within the division is apparently a complication. That appears to be the case with Houston, and though ace Roy Oswalt has eyes for the Cardinals, the Astros are reluctant to move him within the division, especially to a division rival.
Without speaking about specific players, Cardinals GM John Mozeliak spoke the politics of trading within the division yesterday at Citi Field.
"Historically we haven't had a lot of success going there," Mozeliak said. "There's reason for that. I think maybe in the offseason you'll have more luck. In the season, people are still playing each other and it seems tougher to do. It's not impossible, but it does seem trickier.
"It's part of the equation," he said about considering division rivals when making out a shopping list. "I don't look at it as a glaring one."
What's glaring is how long it's been since the Cardinals traded with several of the division foes, and in some cases it goes back to before the current alignment of divisions. They haven't found that chemistry to defy rivalry like the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates have. With help from the Cardinals' media relations staff, here are the most recent trades with the other five teams in the division (1):
Pittsburgh: July 2000. Involved Jack Wilson going to the Pirates from the Cardinals' minor-league system.
Milwaukee: August 2003. Mike de Jean traded to the Cardinals for PTBNL. Later Mike Crudale.
Chicago: August 2001. Jeff Fassero comes to the Cardinals for a PTBNL.
Cincinnati: November 1997. Cardinals send Dmitri Young to the Reds for pitcher Jeff Brantley.
Houston: August 1988. Cardinals trade Bob Forsch to Astros for OF/3B Denny Walling.
For another question about the trade deadline, check the poll above.
2. Tonight is rematch of between the pitchers who started -- and couldn't come close to finishing, of course -- the 20-inning game between the Cardinals and Mets back in April. Rookie Jaime Garcia will start, and the last time he faced the Mets he allowed one hit and no runs through seven innings of that game. Lefty Johan Santana starts for the Mets,
3. Shortstop Brendan Ryan had a revealing take on why the Cardinals struggled so against Jon Niese's cut fastball last night at Citi Field in the 8-2 loss. Niese was able to consistently get the Cardinals to chase his running or sinking fastball and coax, at worst, a ground ball. (It certainly helped that some of the harder hit balls by the Cardinals were gobbled up by third baseman David Wright.) Ryan took note of the team's scouting report on the Mets' lefty and said even though they knew what was coming, they should have handled those pitches better.
"I think we all would say we could do a better job," Ryan said after the game. "I think what happens is you get in a 3-1 count and you expect a fastball to be coming and you can get over-aggressive. I think that may have been what happened a couple times, or more. We knew a cutter was coming so we went after it anyway just because we knew."
4. In the New York Post this morning, the headline proclaims: "YANKS DOWN: But you won't believe BoSox ratings". The article goes on to describe how TV ratings for the Bronx Bombers are down 5.4 percent from last year and the Red Sox, playing in third place, have experienced a 36-percent drop, according to the article by Michael Starr. That has knocked them out of the first-place perch they usually hold and landed them in fifth. The new top team? The Cardinals, at the All-Star break. The Cardinals' TV broadcast, according to the Post, were up 42 percent over last year's numbers.
5. Meant to include this yesterday, so my apologies. During his interview with David Letterman on Monday, Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols got to name drop with almost every answer. He is the comprehensive list of players or baseball officials that Pujols mentioned in his 8-minute segment: Jose Reyes, his favorite player growing up Julio Franco, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Scott Rolen, Orlando Cabrera, Walt Jocketty, Bob Gibson, Red Schoendienst, Ozzie Smith and Jeff Francoeur, or at least Francoeur's arm. I'm a tad surprised that Letterman didn't mention one former ballplayer. Yep, Mark McGwire went unmentioned.
6. The Cardinals' hitting coach was, of course, the object of much interest during his first visit to Citi Field. The New York Daily News, which broke many of the stories on baseball's steroid era including one about an FBI investigation that had info on McGwire's use, spoke with McGwire before batting practice and had a story, by Christian Red, this morning. It reads, in part (or in full here):
BIG MAC says he has "moved on from" his forever link to the Steroid Era, and will no longer address questions about what steroids he used or where he got them during his 16-season major league career.
"That's a chapter of my life that I've moved on (from)," Mark McGwire, the Cardinals' hitting coach, said yesterday in the visiting dugout at Citi Field. "I've already answered all those questions."
7. Pujols is expected to play in his 1,499th career game tonight. Researcher extraordinaire Tom Orf put Pujols' production on the eve of 1,500 in context by comparing him to other players at the same points in their career. A sampling:
HRs
McGwire, 438
A. Rodriguez, 401
J. Gonzalez, 397
H. Killebrew, 391
Pujols, 389
Doubles
Medwick, 453
Helton, 431
Pujols, 410
Musial, 404
Boggs, 404
RBIs
Gehrig, 1,421
A. Simmons, 1,375
DiMaggio, 1,358
T. Williams, 1,327
Foxx, 1,307
...
Pujols, 1,182
More Pujols and how he compares to other Cardinals and their 1,500th game tomorrow as he is poised to reach the milestone.
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