With both the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs adding top of the rotation pitchers this week, it made you wonder what, if any, response the St. Louis Cardinals would have. After all, they're sandwiched between both teams right now in the NL Central and are currently atop the Wild Card standings. Well, even so, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak has come out and said he doesn't think the Redbirds need to make any additions to their current roster.Mozeliak is of the opinion that when Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright both return in August, it will have the same effect as adding a pitcher through a trade would on the team. It's too bad that his manager Tony LaRussa is of a completely different opinion.
"The difference is this is July 9 and those guys (Sabathia, Harden and Gaudin) are here now. You're looking at health (for Carpenter and Wainwright) in August," La Russa said. "That's a big edge to have the help now. I don't get comforted by the fact we may have guys coming back later.I can understand Tony's urgency as he's never been the type of manager who'd be content just playing for third place in his division, but at the same time, I'm not exactly sure what the Cardinals can do. While it would be nice to add another starter to their rotation, the team does have other more pressing needs, like a lefty out of the bullpen.
"In my mind, if you didn't have expectations and you were (lousy) July 1, it's a wash. But whether you had expectations or you didn't, when you get to July 1 like we have, then I believe since you play the year you're playing and don't take anything for granted, your goal should be to improve your chance to win right now."
Instead of making a big splash move, the Cardinals would probably be better off adding a smaller name pitcher to the rotation before the deadline (like an Adam Eaton) and let Dave Duncan work the magic he's used on a bunch of other pitchers to get him straightened out.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-14-2008 @ 1:15PM
bigcardinalfan said...
It's time to move Izzy to greener pastures. He's done. Bring up a younger replacement. Now is the time. bcf
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7-18-2008 @ 1:54AM
Bob From The West said...
La Russa should have gotten rid of Isringhausen 2 years ago when he found out that Wainwright could close. They won everything in 2006 without Isringhausen. Isringhausen hung around last year and the Cards went nowhere. La Russa has kept him around this year and the Cards would be in 1st place if Isringhausen hadn't blown 7 or 8 saves. The Cards should have gotten rid of La Russa and Isringhausen and kept Rolen and Eckstein. Walt Jockey couldn't deal with La Russa's stupidity so he got out.
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7-23-2008 @ 4:34PM
Lee Brantly said...
I hope you're kidding! Great move replacing Rolen with Troy and Isturis is much more dependable defensively than David, even though I do miss his spark.
Izzy does need to be replaced, but I think we should keep Wainwright in the rotation and find a quality reliever, either thru trade or free agency, and if one's not available, then we need to cultivate one. Meanwhile, closing by committee will be better than blowing leads!
7-18-2008 @ 3:32AM
tim hoover said...
bob from the west--- u forgot to include the dumping of edmunds, who's now making highlight catchs & hitting homeruns for the stinking cubs! who were smart enough to sign him.! if the cards don't win i switch to the abc plan--Anybody But the Cubs
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7-23-2008 @ 4:33PM
Lee Brantly said...
As a lifelong Cardinal fan, the Redbirds are my only option, but I think moving Jimmy was still the right move. Ankiel needs to play everyday to improve, and his game right now is much better overall than Jimmy could have done for us or is doing for the Cubbies!
I hope you stay with the Cardinals! My 60 years following them has been great, even with the ups and downs provided by the game of baseball!
7-23-2008 @ 4:14PM
Lee Brantly said...
Tony says that the team is at fault for the two losses this week to the Brewers, not the bullpen. His point is the team needs to score more and take the pressure off the pitchers. Good point, but we still need a closer we can depend on to hold the one run leads we seem to be able to gain quite often this season. Holding on to slim leads has to be easier than consistently scoring enough runs to eliminate the need for holding on...
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7-24-2008 @ 6:54PM
Zech Mengis said...
i have been watching an searching figuring out that the cards ned a left handed reliever. Latley there has been talk of brian fuentes on the move. i wonder why Anthony Reyes could not go to a team that is searching for a young starting pither. with our struggling pen and lack of leefties a dominant one could do wonders with some help for the inconsistent villone and flores. It would also be good for reyes to be getting out of the enviornment that he has been struggling through.
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8-06-2008 @ 10:07AM
John said...
FIRE LaRUSSA !!!!!! He over manages and has a bad attitude when HE makes the mistakes..the Cardinal teams he has had to manage is GREAT..players give it all and what happens? LaRussa pulls his wisdom moves and we loose the game. The fans are smart people and realize that he should be removed from his position. Sport's writers are scared to tell it like it is..What a shame for this great team !!!.
John
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