St Louis Cardinals

After Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa has reportedly signed a multi-year contract to return as the Cardinals skipper next year, St. Louis's front-office decided not to bring back hitting coach, Hal McRae.

Mark McGwire was named McRae's replacement by the Cardinal's front-office. McGwire's hiring would be his first return to baseball since 2001.

LaRussa's extension has not been officially announced but he is expected to make his return to the Cardinals sometime this week.

The St. Louis Cardinals enter the offseason in a frustrated, yet excited state.

They were just swept out of the playoffs. Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa, Joel Pineiro, Rick Ankiel, and John Smoltz enter free agency. Tony La Russa and the entire coaching staff are free agents.

But, the Cardinals did make the playoffs for the first time since 2006, and have a great base of young talent brewing.

Decisions, decisions.

What should the Cardinals do?

I am here to help.

Ah, the season is over and the speculation begins.  

The offseason is a breeding ground of excitement, uncertainty, disillusionment, and hyperbole.  It's a time when every fan becomes an expert, and within Cardinal Nation there is, no doubt, a great deal of whispering about Tony LaRussa's pending future.  

A good number of people are voicing the opinion that the Cardinals would be ok—perhaps even better off—without LaRussa at the helm for the 2010 campaign.  

Beginning tonight at 9:37 PM Eastern time, the Los Angeles Dodgers will take on the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodgers Stadium. Both teams are tremendously talented and lead their respective leagues in several categories.

Both the Dodgers and the Cardinals have strong pitching and stacked hitting lineups. The question is, who has the advantage at each position?

This slideshow breaks down the projected lineup each team will put out on the field during this NLDS, of course I my lineups may not be completely accurate but I am going by what they most likely will be.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers have played a combined 226 seasons of professional baseball. They have won 16 World Series, 38 NL pennants, and almost 20,000 games. Over 100 players and managers that have worn either uniform are enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Both franchises are widely considered the crown jewels of the National League...

And come 8:07 p.m. CST Wednesday night, none of it will mean dick.

It may not be his fault, but John Mozeliak has been bamboozled.

Who would have thought that when Mozeliak acquired Mark DeRosa from the Cleveland Indians in late June that he would trade for Matt Holliday, who would then go on to have an MVP-caliber second half?

And there was no way that Mozeliak or anybody else could predict the wrist injury that DeRosa endured less than a week after beginning his stint with the Cardinals.

Panic!

John Smoltz is hurt. Chris Carpenter has lost his “A” game. Ryan Franklin has morphed into a bad Brad Lidge slash Jason Isringhausen clone. Kyle Lohse is complacent after signing a big contract. The defense is poor. The hitting is worse. It’s time to stop the season right now and put this team out of it’s misery. We can’t let them perform any longer. We simply do not want the youth of America exposed to such blatant acts of cruelty. The kids, why doesn’t anybody ever think about the kids!

Easy, people. Easy.