Mostly quick hits today ...
Reading Time 5 Minutes:
* Cardinals GM Mozeliak is missing a wonderful opportunity to have some fun and stir things up. With the Cubs and agent Dan Lozano in cahoots in an attempt to drive up the price on the Cardinals for re-signing Albert Pujols, Mozeliak needs to throw some chum to members of the national baseball media next week during the MLB winter meetings. Mozeliak has to let it be known that the Cardinals have reconsidered their position and are now prepared to take a hard look at signing Milwaukee 1B Prince Fielder if they can't make a deal, and soon, with Pujols. It would set off a circus maximus in the hotel lobby in Dallas, with writers literally convulsing on the marble floor in an overheated state of arousal.
* I have no idea what team chairman Stan Kroenke plans to do at Rams Park at the end of the season. But if he opts for changing the football operations in any significant way, the line of authority must be reestablished. Rams head coaches traditionally have had way too much power in drafting players, choosing free agents and cutting the roster. Their blunders, which go back to the days of Mike Martz, have done considerable damage.
* I'm very happy for Shahid Khan, the central Illinois auto-parts tycoon who nearly became owner of the Rams last year. He soon will own the Jacksonville Jaguars. He's a class act. A warm and gracious man. He'll be good for the franchise. And their fans will know that he cares.
* Everyone needs to slow down on all of the Jags-to-LA moving speculation. The Jacksonville lease is team-friendly. It runs through 2029. The Jaguars can get out of the lease by proving financial losses over three consecutive seasons. That won't be easy because of the terms of the lease agreement. Besides, why would the NFL owners suddenly allow the newest guy in the club (Khan) to claim the potentially lucrative LA market for himself, and substantially drive up the value of his franchise? The Spanos family in San Diego isn't going to allow that to happen; LA is on the outer edges of the Chargers' territory. And the Chargers haven't been able to get a new stadium funded/built in San Diego.
* This season of "Dexter" on Showtime isn't doing it for me, sorry. Might have to bail. The Hanks kid? Just awful casting.
* I don't know if Tyler Greene can be an everyday shortstop for the Cardinals. Does he have skill and athleticism? Absolutely. Is Greene capable of doing the job? Sure, if his head is right. New manager Mike Matheny should be able to help him settle down. Put it this way: if the alternative is signing a free-agent hack or overpaying for an overrated and/or aging free agent SS, I'd prefer seeing Greene get a shot. If Greene flubs it, then adjust. It's not as if Mozeliak is bashful about making in-season moves.
* By the way ... does Rafael Furcal's agent believe the Mozeliak-led spin about the Cardinals' confidence in T. Greene? I doubt it.
* While coaching has been a big component of the Blues' surge under Ken Hitchcock, Blues GM Doug Armstrong has done a marvelous job of improving the organization's depth. He keeps economy-priced finding players to plug in to fill for injuries. And Armstrong's signing of goaltender Brian Elliott is proving to be one of the keenest moves of the offseason.
* Your weekly victim-scoreboard update on Sam Bradford, and keep in mind that these totals would be higher had he not missed two games with the ankle injury: He's had 29 dropped passes, tied for second-most for a QB this season. He's been sacked 32 times, tied for first for the most in the NFL. He's absorbed 33 hits, tied for 7th-most. He's been hurried 91 times, which ranks 15th.
* For the Blues to truly become special for the long-term this season, Patrik Berglund and Chris Stewart have to get a lot more done.
* With so many NFL teams likely to be searching for new coaches for 2012, the competition for top candidates would be crowded. The Rams are 15-60 since the start of the 2007 season and aren't exactly loaded with elite young players. So why would the Rams' job be appealing to anyone of stature? That's another reason why you can't entirely rule out a stay for Steve Spagnuolo.
* To his credit, Spagnuolo hasn't whined about the impact of injuries on his roster. But in comments made on a conference call with the San Francisco media, Spagnuolo did play the lack-of-continuity card, so to speak. When asked why the Rams have struggled with a new offense compared to the 49ers -- who got their new system installed without a hitch -- Spags had this to say:
"The one challenge we've had, and now we're never going to use this as an excuse -- one thing that's really important on offense, especially when you're putting a new one in, is continuity, especially on the offensive line. We haven't had that. We haven't had continuity at wideout. You really need it in the landscape of this year, and with teams like ourselves and San Francisco where you're putting in new offenses especially. You really had to bank on having the same 11, 12, 13 guys through training camp.
"In the beginning of the year we knew there'd be some rough edges, but you'd hope that you'd get to this certain point of the season and those reps underneath your belt would surface and you'd have some success. I think that's happened for San Francisco. I know (49ers coach) Jim Harbaugh has spoken of it quite often, that the goal is just to get better and get better. I think you have a better chance of doing that when you can keep the same the same 11, 12, 13 guys on offense. We haven't had that, and again, as a professional football team, professional coaches, professional players, you have to find a way to overcome that and it's been tough for us to do that."
* The ballot for the 2012 Baseball Hall of Fame selection has been out less than 24 hours, and I'm already tired of writers pontificating about their choices. Yes, I'm a voter. After I send in my vote, yes, I may explain my picks. But I'm not going to go all Oliver Wendell Holmes on everyone. I have no idea what it is about the Baseball Hall of Fame election that makes baseball writers think they're Supreme Court justices or Archbishops, appointed to protect the Constitution or set the moral standards for the diocese.
* The Blues' save percentage for the season is .922 so far; since the NHL started tracking the stat in 1982-83, the Blues' highest save percentage for a season was .912 in 2009-2010.
* I wonder if Jim Harbaugh will try to run up the score on Spagnuolo the way Spags' "friend", John Harbaugh did earlier this season when the Ravens wiped out the Rams?
Thanks for reading ...
— Bernie
