SUNDAY, 9:13am: La Russa's return to St. Louis is "almost certain" at this point, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. As Saturday's AP story suggested, it's still unclear whether or not La Russa's entire coaching staff will be retained, but a source tells Strauss that he'd be "very surprised" if the long-time Cardinals skipper didn't return for 2011.
SATURDAY, 11:43am: Free agency will forever be dominated by the players, but managers are going to get a big piece of the action this winter. Arguably the biggest free agent manager is Tony La Russa of the Cardinals, but the AP (via The Boston Herald) reports that the two sides are talking daily, and that a deal could be reached soon. One of the sticking points involves the security of La Russa's coaching staff, who he presumably wants to return intact.
La Russa has been managing the Cardinals since 1996, leading them to seven division titles, eight playoff berths, and two National League pennants, including a 2006 World Series victory. Overall, St. Louis is 1,318-1,110 under his watch. It's worth noting that La Russa has had his fair share of run-ins with players throughout the years, with Colby Rasmus joining the likes of Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen this year.
At over $4MM annually, La Russa's previous contract made him one of the highest paid managers in baseball. There's no reason to expect that to change if and when a new deal is a reached.
Frank Wren, FRANK WREN!!!!!!!!!
With GM’s knowing the problems with LaRussa and Rasmus, that actually drives down his value if the choose LaRussa.
Absolutely. Just keep in mind no player has ever been able to change LaRussa’s mind. If he decides your a piece of cr@p, you will forever remain a piece of cr@p in his mind. Rasmus and LaRussa had what you call a “communication” problem. I see that getting worse, not better. In St. Louis, they always blame these “communication problems” on the player. Soon the fans will start hating him too. It’s an untenable situation for a player. Too bad. Rasmus looks like he’s going to develop into a fine player, if given the proper time and support. He’s already been pretty good.
Just tell Wren to be patient. Mozeliak will be begging him to take Rasmus of his hands by the middle of spring training.
And here’s the part where I have to say how much I dislike LaRussa, and how I can’t stand the Cardinals because of him. Sorry. I just had to say it.
I would never say that Mo will be “begging” any team to take Colby. Walt Jockety would have done that, but Mo has proven he can trade players and get a return…it’s one of those scenarios where the Cardinals can ask for the moon and say no if they don’t get an offer they love.
You have a much higher opinion of Mozeliak than I do. So I’m going to go on record and politely say I disagree.
Turned Jim Edmonds into David Freese, the broken down Scott Rolen into Troy Glaus (immediate upgrade for that season), Wallace into Holliday, Perez into DeRosa (before DeRosa’s injury), and Julio Lugo…
Kyle Lohse was signed when Carpenter was still recovering from injury and Wainwright was not yet the Cy Young candidate he is now. Trades for Feliz, Winn, and additions such as Suppan and Miles can be blamed on Tony wanting “veterans” on his team and thus taking away playing time from players like Descalso, Tyler Greene, John Jay, and Rasmus.
Freese for Edmonds was a good trade. The Lugo trade was ok and I liked the Smoltz pickup. Wallace trade at the time was a questionable at best trade. Hindsight says they came ahead but at the time, they traded a highly touted prospect for a questionable player.
Lohse was a terrible signing that has put the Cards in a huge financial bind. No excuse. The DeRosa trade may arguably be his worst trade. Perez is now a dominant closer and DeRosa was not even a huge upgrade at the time.
Let us also not forget the awful Khalil Greene trade. Coming off a career worst year where he broke his hand by punching a wall. Hmm…let’s see…let’s trade a good relief prospect for him! Gotta count against Mo.
Mo has been a C+ GM. Some good, some bad, some very bad. I think he now realizes how his two big signings, Lohse and Holliday, are going to make things very hard for him and the team for years to come. Huge financial restrictions with many holes. His true testament as a GM is to come to see if he can make them a title contender with such restrictions and holes.
are you kidding me? derosa was suppose to be a HUGE upgrade. we had freaking Joe Thurston and Brian Barden playing 3rd base and DeRosa was having a fine season at the time with the Indians, he also had a lil extra value because he returned a good draftpick to us(#50 overall-tyrell jenkins). At the time, Perez and Dave Duncan were unable to get on the same page and people were calling for him to be traded, it was a good deal at the time. if your not going to credit Mo on the good holliday/wallace trade, than i don’t see why you should slight him on the DeRosa/Perez trade.
DeRosa had a .696 OPS with the Cards in 2009 before his injury. He was not an upgrade and we handed over our future closer. Chris Perez posted a 1.71 ERA this year with 23 saves. You don’t trade a talented player because the coaching staff can’t work with him. If he is working hard and putting in the effort, the solution is you get rid of the coaching staff.
Too bad the Cards haven’t learned that by now.
are you kidding me? derosa was suppose to be a HUGE upgrade. we had freaking Joe Thurston and Brian Barden playing 3rd base and DeRosa was having a fine season at the time with the Indians, he also had a lil extra value because he returned a good draftpick to us(#50 overall-tyrell jenkins). At the time, Perez and Dave Duncan were unable to get on the same page and people were calling for him to be traded, it was a good deal at the time. if your not going to credit Mo on the good holliday/wallace trade, than i don’t see why you should slight him on the DeRosa/Perez trade.
Lots of stuff I disagree with here.
“Wallace trade at the time was a questionable at best trade. Hindsight says they came ahead but at the time, they traded a highly touted prospect for a questionable player.”
Wallace could NOT play 3rd or in the outfield, period. Therefore, he was useless to the organization, as they have a certain man at 1b that can’t be overtaken. It’s not a good trade in hindsight, it’s a good trade period that allowed the Cardinals to get a stranglehold on the division.
“Lohse was a terrible signing that has put the Cards in a huge financial bind. No excuse.”
Uhhh, when you have absolutely no reliable pitchers, and I mean that quite literally, NO pitcher you can rely on (Wellemeyer wasn’t reliable, neither was Carpenter or Wainwright for injury reasons), and you have a guy that has consistently pitched above 160 innings for the past 8 years, you would make moves like this. Now, it hasn’t gone well because of freak injuries (He got an elbow injury common only to professional motorbike riders, seriously?), and other circumstances. So yes, I can defend Mozeliak in that regard.
“The DeRosa trade may arguably be his worst trade. Perez is now a dominant closer and DeRosa was not even a huge upgrade at the time.”
Did you watch the Cardinals in the beginning of 2009? Because if you think Derosa was not a huge upgrade, I question whether you were. We had Joe Thurston, who has the most atrocious swing I have ever seen, and Brian Barden, a below-average player, manning the position. They were excruciatingly painful to watch, so don’t tell me Derosa was no an upgrade, considering before his injury he was on track for 100+ RBI on a terrible team and an wOBA in the .340 to .360 range. You are really undervaluing Derosa before his wrist injury. And trading away Perez (He’s not an elite closer yet, so I don’t know why you claim that) was again dealing from strength, as we had Motte and McClellan already in the pen, and Perez had yet to figure it all out in the pen. This trade I was also a proponent of, and it was a good move for Mo that again didn’t pay off (This is an eventual theme of his tenure).
“Let us also not forget the awful Khalil Greene trade.”
Let’s see here, we trade a RH relief pitcher (We had about 20 of these at the tim) for a potential above average SS? Hell yes I do that trade. Everyone at the time was claiming this was a fantastic trade, trading strength to potentially solving weakness. It didn’t end well, as he had depression problems that the Padres failed to report (Don’t bs me that punching your hand into a wall should tell you clearly, that doesn’t tell the whole story). This trade ultimately sucked, but was logical. Can’t blame Mo for the fact that everything went into worst case scenario.
Unfortunately, his 2 biggest FA signings are ones he was essentially forced into, and I would give him a B/B+ at this point. You are correct thought. If he is truly a great GM like I think he is, he will be able to maneuver around his financial limitations.
Wallace was a highly touted prospect. Whether he could play 3B is yet to be seen. Sure, many scouts do not believe he can but there has been no evidence he cannot. The OFFICIAL statements by minor league scouts and managers who have seen him play 3B said he did just fine.
Let’s face a stone cold truth: Holliday cost us a trip to the NLCS. Yes, he was on fire last year and he posted a very strong season this year. Not doubting that. But we were in first place last year when we traded him, with no real competition for the division last year. That’s a fact. We made a trade to strengthen our playoff position. …and let’s face it, who blew the 2009 NLDS? Fact is it was Holliday. We would have been 1-1 with Carp on the mound in Game 4 and Wainwright in Game 5. After Holliday’s Buckner-like play, we lost all potential momentum and got swept. I’m not saying Holliday has been a bad player. But in terms of strengthening the team, he didn’t in 2009. And with his massive contract in 2010, we weren’t able to upgrade other positions that cost us to make the playoffs this year. That’s just the reality.
As for the Perez/DeRosa trade, DeRo posted a .696 OPS with the Cards. No upgrade there. Perez showed flashes of elite closer. Sorry, but in 2009, the Cards had a closer who was old and had never had a full closer season. Franklin’s been solid, but he is going to retire soon. Trading an elite relief prospect for a 3 month POSSIBLE upgrade at 3B is dumb. Plain and simple.
Finally, you say that Greene was a potential above average SS. We did not have 20 good relief prospects. In 2009, we had Motte, Perez, Worrell, Gregerson, and K-Mac. That was it. We traded both Worrell and Gregerson for Greene. You conveniently forget that Greene was coming off a career worst season. And then you neglect to mention he broke his hand in frustration. Doesn’t matter what his potential is, you have to keep in mind most recent trends and if the guy is a headcase. To trade from limited depth for a headcase coming off a career worst year is stupid. Period. It’s really that simple.
He was not forced into signing Lohse to a 4 year deal. He could have offered less money and less years. A WAY better deal would have been 3 yrs, $27 mil. Would Lohse have taken that? Maybe, maybe not. The sign of a good GM is realizing what a person’s value is and how much risk there is. Lohse had high risk and his value was at best, #3 starter status. He only had one good year so to pay him like a guy who had established himself over 3 or 4 years was unwise. The length of the deal is the worst part of this deal. To give such a lengthy contract for an unestablished guy is a problem and we’re majorly paying for it.
No one said the Cards had to sign Holliday either. They could have signed Jonny Gomes, Scotty Pods, and Orlando Hudson for a total of $8 mil and would have had much more depth and given at least as much, if not more, offensive productivity. Instead of spreading the money, they consolidated into one player. Sure, Holliday performed up to his contract, but it has to cut against the deal when they lacked any significant productivity from other positions and the bench. Cards fans might have seen Holliday’s flashiness elsewhere and grumbled, but they would have forgotten instantly once we made the playoffs. What do you think Pujols cares more about? Having Holliday with him or getting to the playoffs? Easy answer. Hope you get the right one.
“The OFFICIAL statements by minor league scouts and managers who have seen him play 3B said he did just fine. ”
You must have some pretty optimistic scouts, because there was absolutely no way he was sticking at 3rd, he just doesn’t have the instincts or the quickness to play the position every day, and many scouts said that at the time. The Cardinals had plenty of time to observe whether he could play anywhere other than 1b, and he could not. Simple as that.
When we traded for Holliday, we were dead-locked with the Cubs (They had a bad start to the season and started heating up), and they even had a game on us at one point. Milwaukee was also lurking around. Now, both these teams flamed out as the season went on, but the Cardinals had no way of knowing that would happen. Besides, we wouldn’t have been a threat in the playoffs anyway, as Ludwick couldn’t repeat his previous season to the effect of protecting Pujols. Our offense was mediocre even with Holliday, that’s how bad we would have been without him. And no, Holliday did not lose us the NLCS. The fact that Wainwright, Carpenter, and Pineiro (His last few starts going into the postseason were awful) didn’t pitch like themselves killed us, because our offense wasn’t good enough to make up for them. And what do you mean we lost all momentum? We were horrible heading into the playoffs (Lost 9 of the last 10 I believe), and lost Game 1, so again, what momentum?
Derosa injured a tendon in his wrist right after he was traded. His bat was ultimately useless (But still better than the alternative….). His stats are meaningless at that point, because we don’t know what impact he could have had without the injury.
“Trading an elite relief prospect for a 3 month POSSIBLE upgrade at 3B is dumb. ”
The Cardinals weren’t playing for the future. They gambled on rentals and lost. Now, why not trade Perez? We already had enough decent bullpen arms developing, and Perez was still not a sure thing. 3b was also a position of vital need, and had Derosa not gotten injured, the Cardinals may have had a great offensive weapon at the hot corner rather than a useless bat.
As for our relief prospects, sorry that my sarcasm alluded you. My point was, we had plenty of RH relief options, and Perez was expendable. We didn’t have limited depth, as you say. We also had Todd, and still have Sanchez, Salas, etc as well as mediocre relievers like Walters and Hawksworth. You misunderstand just how many bullpen arms we have/had in the farm.
Uhh, I clearly mention that he punched a wall in my post, but okay, I “neglected to mention it”. One incident does not a headcase make, he never made multiple transgressions like Zambrano or someone has. It was a buy-low opportunity that failed, and again, you claim we had limited depth, when that just was not the case.
Mozeliak had this outlook. It was before the offseason, Lohse was unsigned, and his staff was in utter ruin at the moment. He absolutely HAD to have a consistent innings eater, which Lohse had been throughout his career, with varying levels of success. The career year aspect may look bad, but if the guy is even mediocre and pitches above 200 innings, he (Sabremetrically) is worth his contract. It sucks now, but the fact that it failed is not Mozeliak’s fault.
Jonny Gomes is absolutely awful away from home with his bat, and would be terrible at Busch stadium, as well as being a bad defender. The Cardinals don’t normally employ players for their steals, so Pods main use would have been negated. I personally like Hudson, and have no idea why they didn’t sign him, but they were still vested in Schumaker as a 2b (He wasn’t bad defensively as 2009 went on) and wanted to see if he could stick, which they now know he can’t. I guess your central point is that we could have invested in other positions, but we had no other LF option. The huge gap between Chris Duncan and Holliday was so big, that I doubt you could have made up the difference by investing in other positions.
If the Cardinals wanted to get the most out of Pujols, they had to sign Holliday, and what do you think Pujols cares about? Having a chance at the World Series or just being an above average team? Without Holliday (Let me also say there was also no other option for a big bat at this point), they can’t possibly be a World Series team.
First, accidentally pressed like haha. So forgive me for that.
Ok, addressing your point on Wallace at 3B. Minor league managers said at the time they had him that he could play there. Lunhow never changed his position. They were thinking about it, but never did. I don’t know what TLR heard, but it did not come from his minor league managers. The A’s converted him quickly but so what? Just means they felt he had more worth at 1B. Just because another org changed him does not mean he cannot man the job.
When we traded Holliday, we were ahead in the division. We were trending upwards and the Cubs were falling. The trade was used to fortify ourselves in the postseason, not to get to the postseason. Holliday in the end did not do that. Yes, Carp was not Carp in Game 1. But are you going to tell me you wouldn’t bet on Carp having a great game in Game 4? You know he would’ve rebounded in a big way. Holliday missed the catch that would have won Game 2. Wainwright pitched great and well enough for the win. Instead, Holliday lost the game. We would have been 1-1. Pineiro did poorly, yes. But even if we went down 1-2 in this alternate scenario, we would have had Carp and Waino on the mound for Games 4 and 5. Even being down, you felt like they had a better chance of winning with that duo. So Holliday in the end did not do jack in the postseason.
DeRosa had 10 games before his wrist injury in 2009. In those ten games, his OPS dropped off from .830 to .777. 7 of those games were from the Indians. 7 games sounds like a small sample size, but this was against the likes of the Cubs, Pirates and Reds. I think the trade was bad straight up even if he was good. But the fact that he was starting to struggle should have sent some signals.
Todd was part of the DeRo trade and he was never touted as an MLB quality reliever. He had the starter numbers but Lunhow converted him for some dumb reason. Sanchez was not much of a prospect in 2009. Salas showed some flashes but was not high on our depth chart. Hawksworth’s conversion was mid-2009 and a last ditch effort to get him going. And don’t even bring up Walters. He’s not even worth mentioning. I was talking about MLB crafted relief prospects. We only had a handful and we traded 4 of them in 2009. Notice how Salas was the only relief prospect called up by the Cards this year. So much for that “depth.”
Yes, punching a wall makes you a headcase. He did it because of his poor 2008 performance. In 2009, he was terrible and was talking about hurting himself. This is indicated by an article in STL Today. This is further proof he was a headcase. It’s just sad the Cards did not realize this sooner before the trade. Money and prospects down the drain.
Kyle Lohse is not an innings eater. Before his extension, the last time before 2009 he went 150 innings was 2005. He’s only gone more than 150 innings in his 10 year career 5 times. That is not being an “innings eater.” And your last post saying if he is mediocre he is worth his contract is false. He will be making $11.875 mil. A 4.5 ERA or more, even eating innings, is not worth nearly $12 mil. $12 mil is ace money. There are only 10-20 pitches all of baseball making $12 mil this coming season. Unless he posts an ERA at 3.3 or less, he is overpaid.
Jonny Gomes is making all of $1.5 mil this year for his .758 OPS and 86 RBIs. On a minor league deal no less! How we did not secure him for the bench is Mo’s fault. It’s actually a LOT of GMs faults but Mo should have seen him and picked up for the bench or RF. Does not matter about his defense. As long as he is not Dunn or Duncan out there, for $1.5 mil, he was the 2010 biggest bargain in baseball.
By the way, your claim that Gomes is absolutely awful from home is false. He had a .735 OPS away from home this year. Your claim he is awful at Busch is false too. .762 OPS in 29 ABs this year. I’ll take recent trends over historical trends.
Scotty Pods was second in 2010 biggest bargain in baseball. For a whopping $1.95 mil (incentives included), he posted a .297/.342/.382 line over 500+ ABs with 30 stolen bases. He was super solid for bargain prices. Again, how did the White Sox left him go with such a meager asking price?
I’m glad we agree on Hudson. As for the OF pre-Holliday, we had Ludwick in RF and Rasmus in CF. LF was a problem but Mo made sure to boot Duncan (Mo’s best move). Ankiel wasn’t great but he was ok in the lineup as long as he was pushed further down. Ludwick had a 97 RBI season so he was carrying his own. Rasmus was babied too much, getting sits because of Duncan and Ankiel. So when Duncan was cleared, Rasmus got more playing time and would have been ok at #5. The lineup would have a bit weak, yes. But when you get into October, anything goes and the Cards had the best pitching trio in baseball, along with a mostly solid closer (he collapsed at the end but pitched well enough in a high pressure game to win the game, if it weren’t for Holliday).
Pujols cares more about having a chance at the World Series. Consolidating money into one guy and having black holes on the team is not better than spreading the money around, especially in a market like last year where there were good players around for bargain basement prices. Instead we broke the bank on one guy and the 2010 season ensued. Pujols sees this. People know you have to have a supporting cast. The bottom line is that if we had spent the money on multiple positions, the chances are we would have had much more offensive production from 2B and the bench. A Gomes/Pods platoon this year would have only been one step down from Holliday and would have been a quarter of the price.
All in all, Holliday has performed up to his contract for the most part. I am just saying without payroll going up a lot, which is unlikely, the team will have invested half the payroll in two players. That is unsustainable and unless they are batting .800 with 100 homers each, they are not going to get the team to the promised land. You need people around them in the lineup and with a weak position prospect farm system, you have to acquire that kind talent outside the org. That takes resources that you have to be wise and frugal with. Holliday was one way to go, but 2010 is the evidence of how successful that option was. Just the facts.
Oh, and if I come off like a jerk, I apologize. Just the way I type :P.
Freese for Edmonds was a good trade. The Lugo trade was ok and I liked the Smoltz pickup. Wallace trade at the time was a questionable at best trade. Hindsight says they came ahead but at the time, they traded a highly touted prospect for a questionable player.
Lohse was a terrible signing that has put the Cards in a huge financial bind. No excuse. The DeRosa trade may arguably be his worst trade. Perez is now a dominant closer and DeRosa was not even a huge upgrade at the time.
Let us also not forget the awful Khalil Greene trade. Coming off a career worst year where he broke his hand by punching a wall. Hmm…let’s see…let’s trade a good relief prospect for him! Gotta count against Mo.
Mo has been a C+ GM. Some good, some bad, some very bad. I think he now realizes how his two big signings, Lohse and Holliday, are going to make things very hard for him and the team for years to come. Huge financial restrictions with many holes. His true testament as a GM is to come to see if he can make them a title contender with such restrictions and holes.
if anything, teams will be begging to pick up rasmus 100 times more often than Mo will be begging to move him. Your hatred of the cardinals is extremely blindsiding you.
Who other than so called reported blame the confrontation on the players. I am yet to talk to a fellow Cardinal fan who doesn’t lay the blame on TLR. Ozzie, Rolen, Edmonds, Rasmus, etc. The common figure is TLR.
which is why he isn’t going anywhere. you can stop dreaming of an outfield of heyward-rasmus for half a decade now. he isn’t leaving.
Although I must say, I’d dream of an outfield of Holliday, Rasmus, and Hewyard if we could trade away prospects to get him in a Cardinals uniform. Hell, if I’m dreaming of a sweet outfield I’m going to go all out and say Holliday, Rasmus, and Justin Upton…just dreams though. Sigh.
Funny part, Braves had a better record than the Cardinals without Rasmus.
what does this have anything to do with? well the cardinals didn’t have martin prado, omar infante, tim hudson, tommy hanson, etc. funny huh?
It’s funny the Braves didn’t have Matt Holliday, Albert Pujols, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, or Colby Rasmus. You mention Infante, who is a career backup who was forced to an everyday role. Tim Hudson coming off Tommy John surgery, and Tommy Hanson a second year player. Prado was also injured and the Braves played half the season with no outfield production or a true first or third baseman, so I really don’t get your argument. The Cards have more talent on the field and on the mound. If anything all the Braves had over the Cards was a strong bullpen. So your attempt to make a joke didn’t work too well son. Better luck next time!
the cardinals had almost no supporting cast. we had guys like Schumaker, feliz, ryan, miles, and winn getting regular/semi regular playing time. it was pretty even when you take everything into consideration. Cards had a better nucleus, Braves had a good all around team. don’t act like they had everything and did nothing with it.
The thing is, most likely unless there’s a huge payroll increase, the cards are gonna have to deal with a supporting cast around holiday and pujols because their salaries will be half of their 100 mill payroll.
Pretty sure Cards swept the Braves in a four game set.
Yes he is.
i’m sure you would like rasmus to be traded for a couple b prospects, wouldn’t you? ain’t happening, if he is moved, it will be for a package that is astronimcal because they have no one to replace him and TLR is probably going to retire after this last season when he moves 2nd in the alltime wins list.
TLR loves Jon Jay.
I’m going to laugh at you when he is traded to the Braves for Randall Delgado, Arodys Vizcaino, and a B prospect
Why would the Cards do that when they could pry a much better package from the Blue Jays?
Because the Braves will probably make a better package.
So why even post the first one to begin with?
Rasmus isnt going anywhere bud.. With or without TLR
Garcia or Shelby would have to be involved for that to ever happen. Most likely Garcia. Others would have to be involved also.
I get every one’s comments….thing is TLR and Mo need to go. More so with TLR. Many have talked about how he handled players the last few years, but what about how he treated Ozzie Smith in 1996, Ozzie’s last season. He jerked him around. It has been stated that Ozzie will not do much with the Cardinals until TLR leaves. I am not sure how true it is, but there comes a time for new blood. Maybe that time is now.
I agree with you tank1976 and until TLR leaves the Cardinals the problems are not going to be solved only going to get worse. I have heard some rumors and it is not to pretty about how Tony really manages the club. It is just time for a new beginning in St. Louis and integrity restored. To me, Tony has worn out his welcome in St. Louis and hopes he returns back to California.
I agree with you tank1976 and until TLR leaves the Cardinals the problems are not going to be solved only going to get worse. I have heard some rumors and it is not to pretty about how Tony really manages the club. It is just time for a new beginning in St. Louis and integrity restored. To me, Tony has worn out his welcome in St. Louis and hopes he returns back to California.
Rasmus has said the he hopes La Russa is back. You can even go search rotoworld for what Colby Rasmus said about La Russa. And laos Pujols wants La Russa back. If La Russa leaves, Pujols might now be too far behind. Yes, La Russa has trouble with having a lot of young kids. But, he also has done well with them. Like, Albert Pujols when he was a rookie. Alan Benes in 96. Adam Wainwight in 06. Matt Morris, I guess you can count him. Yadier Molina in 04. Kyle McCellan, in his 1st season. And most recently, Jaime Garcia. Garcia was even coming off of tommy john, and stil did well. I don’t think La Russa has worned out his welcome, as long as the players want him back. Which, they do. The front office just needs to improve the team, and then La Russa will have a better team. And you also need to wonder, what happened if Brad Penny never got hurt? The Cardinals were doing well with him, until he got hurt and he was even pitching fine.
but that doesn’t help guys like BravesRed or JohnMiltonRocks argument, therefore we will continue to create a parallel fantasy that all is still not well with Rasmus and LaRussa and he can be had for a bag of balls and some b prospects
Please show where I said anything about “bag of balls and some b prospects.”
look up what the word facetious means. while your add it, look up sarcasm.
look up what the word facetious means. while your add it, look up sarcasm.
Please show where I said anything about “bag of balls and some b prospects.”
This argument that La Russa’s contract is instrinsically tied to La Russa coming back does not seem logical to me. Let’s keep something in mind here: La Russa has 1-2 years left and Pujols is looking to sign at minimum a 7 year contract. Also, Pujols is already here for one more year with the option so if TLR is back one more year, Pujols won’t be thinking about this at the table. He’ll be playing for a new manager under his new contract anyways. So let’s throw this TLR coming back influence on Pujols contract extension out the window shall we?
Rasmus has said the he hopes La Russa is back. You can even go search rotoworld for what Colby Rasmus said about La Russa. And laos Pujols wants La Russa back. If La Russa leaves, Pujols might now be too far behind. Yes, La Russa has trouble with having a lot of young kids. But, he also has done well with them. Like, Albert Pujols when he was a rookie. Alan Benes in 96. Adam Wainwight in 06. Matt Morris, I guess you can count him. Yadier Molina in 04. Kyle McCellan, in his 1st season. And most recently, Jaime Garcia. Garcia was even coming off of tommy john, and stil did well. I don’t think La Russa has worned out his welcome, as long as the players want him back. Which, they do. The front office just needs to improve the team, and then La Russa will have a better team. And you also need to wonder, what happened if Brad Penny never got hurt? The Cardinals were doing well with him, until he got hurt and he was even pitching fine.
The Cardinals gm, even said that he’s not trading Rasmus. So, if La Russa does want him gone. Then, La Russa can leave instead. Jose Oquendo can be manager.
I am personally sick of Larussa’s antics and his salary. Would we be better getting a younger manager with a smaller price tag? That means we could invest more in our infield. I also think having a former Cardinal player would be helpful to get the Larussa era in St. Louis to be over.
I would not mind having Oquendo as manager. He has paid his dues. Terry Pendelton would be a nice guy to have around as well. I would take him as either hitting coach or manager if we could get him. He has done great work in Atlanta. I can remember that the Cardinals broadcasters had previously said that the Cards wanted Joe Girardi to be a coach in the St. Louis system when he was older and playing for the Cardinals.
Could we ever get one over on the Cubbies if we picked up Sandburg as manager for a season? Not that I would want that to happen, but it would be a great way to spite them. I would not fault the Cubs for picking Quade or Girardi over Sandburg.
Big time PR. I put very little stock into Mozeliak saying that. You don’t TELL the media you plan to trade a player- that’s bad for leverage, especially if you have the player under control for multiple years. For Mozeliak to come out and say anything other than “we’re not trading Rasmus” would be absolutely dumb.
I’m not saying the Cards plan to trade Rasmus or anything, just not to put real stock into that statement.
Nope, I don’t buy it. You don’t claim a player isn’t getting traded and then trade him. You get a bad reputation for those sorts of actions.
But why would Mozeliak trade Rasmus in favor of a manager that is only going to be here for 2 years at the most? That doesn’t seem to make much sense to me, especially if Rasmus is fine with TLR coming back and doesn’t want to be traded any more.
The Cardinals gm, even said that he’s not trading Rasmus. So, if La Russa does want him gone. Then, La Russa can leave instead. Jose Oquendo can be manager.
The La Russa era has run its course, time for them to move on
“Almost Certain” that Colby Rasmus would want a trade and leave. The Braves have to jump on this. Golden opportunity is only made possible by Tony La Russa’s stubborness!
Any thread that has Cardinals or Tony LaRussa in it ends up with a bunch of posts about Colby Rasmus. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Rasmus was Willie Mays. But I look at Rasmus’ numbers, and so far, he’s sorta Nate McLouth.
Not the McLouth of this year, the one that used to be a pretty good ballplayer.
he’s 24 and led all centerfielders in OPS…….. call me crazy but i think he has some growing still to do. His ceiling is probably a hybrid of Grady Sizemore-Carlos Beltran.
Rasmus’s defense in CF is monumentally better than McLouth’s ever was.
You seriously underrate Rasmus, and considering the guy had an incredibly inconsistent year and ended up with a wOBA above .360 is a statement in itself.
@Ferrariman, that’s a high ceiling. From age 24 to age 31 Beltran averaged:R=108, RBI=104, HR=29, SB=29, CS=4, OPS=.877, OPS+=124@melonis_rex, Yes, Rasmus is better than McLouth defensively.@Taskmaster75:2010: Rasmus, OPS=.859, OPS+=132, Age=232008: McLouth, OPS=852, OPS+=125, Age=26The way I see it is that Rasmus is ahead of McLouth at this point, but not by that much. It all depends on his development/consistency or lack thereof. I can’t see that he’s going to be a superstar from what he’s done so far.
Remember how easy it is for young players to take a big step backwards. Look at Matt Kemp, 127 OPS+/age 22, 124 OPS+/ age 24. Age 25? Right now, half the people on this board would say they didn’t want him on their team.
My point being that Rasmus is capable of so much more if he just stays consistent. When he’s on and not racking up 2-3K’s a game, he’s a very good hitter, at least capable of above .900 OPS. Add in the fact that he and his manager had a pretty big tiff, and it’s safe to say he has had a pretty distracting season.
And yes, it’s possible for him to regress, but without Ludwick, it’s very hard to not put Rasmus into the lineup, even for TLR. He just needs consistent AB’s.
For all TLR did in Oakland back in the day, the A’s really need to take Colby Rasmus off LaRussa’s hands in STL.
Good. St. Louis can have him. I was afraid he was going to end up with the Mets. They have enough problems in New York without looking out on the field and seeing Aaron Miles playing second base.
And the Rasmus rumors continue.
Not going into his value because it’s really a pointless debate, but I would like to say that young players of Rasmus’ skill (.850 OPS, slightly above average defense at a premium position, upside) have a much higher tendency to stay with their club (at least through their arbitration years) than they do to leave. Until Mozeliak says he’s on the block (or at least stops denying he isn’t) or actual names are mentioned, I’m inclined to think this is just a rumor.