St Louis Cardinals

Those of us that were busy composing the official obituary for the postseason prospects of the St. Louis Cardinals have spent the last two games scratching our heads and eating our words. It seems pretty clear that we have severely underestimated the possible effectiveness of this baseball team.

Mark DeRosa was a good start for John Mozeliak, but he still has work to do if he wants to make this a championship club.

There are too many struggling pieces to believe that one player will make the difference.

Many fans will be saying that if the team does not get Matt Holliday, then we are not serious about winning.

So wrong.

Matt Holliday's time in Oakland has proved that he is in fact a Coors Kid.

He will still get that ridiculous contract, but he does not need to be in St. Louis.

Who does? So glad you asked.

Josh Willingham.

Saturday was June 27th. At the end of the day, the Chicago Cubs were tied for third place in the National League's Central division with the Cincinnati Reds, trailing the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals by three-and-a-half games.

Saturday also marked 179 days since Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry traded the most versatile, and arguably the most valuable, player from last season's team to the Cleveland Indians. Mark DeRosa was dealt to the Tribe for a couple of minor league pitchers.

Over the last few years, it has become very apparent that the media and the Hall of Fame voters will never allow one of the greatest power hitters of my generation to enter the Hall of Fame.

My question is: Why? What is their basis to keep Mark McGwire out?

All they can say is McGwire used performance-enhancing drugs.

Has McGwire failed a drug test like Rafael Palmeiro or Manny Ramirez?

The answer is no.

Was McGwire on the dreaded Mitchell Report like Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Andy Petite, Roger Clemens, and many others?

After coming off a sweep against the Kansas City Royals, the Cardinals dropped three of four from the New York Mets. Although they only managed to win one game, the Brewers also struggled against the Twins, keeping the Cardinals atop of the NL Central. Let's take a look at the good, and the not so good of this midweek matchup.

The Good

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If you asked a baseball fan last year who the best player in the game was, you would most likely get a wide array of answers.

Manny Rameriez, Alex Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera, Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, and countless more names that rank atop any stat sheet. All of them are worthy players with extreme talents.

However, a lot can happen in the course of one year.

ESPN.com's Buster Olney is reporting that the Indians are ready to trade Mark DeRosa after the Cubs swept them this past weekend.

The Indians, like other struggling teams, are looking to build for the future; in other words: build a younger team.

The Cardinals could very well fulfill those needs in Cleveland. St. Louis has multiple young players on their current active roster.  They also have some talented players devoloping at the AAA level (keep an eye on outfielder Mark Shorey).

Another one bites the dust.

With this week's disappointing, yet predictable news that Sammy Sosa failed a drug test in 2003, the running list of great home run hitters linked to PED's continues to grow.  

While many people had already subconsciously assumed this to be true, the news put another dark cloud over America's past time once again.  

Then, the discussions began, does Sammy Sosa still belong in the Hall of Fame?

Date: June 16, 2009
Time: 8:15pm
Teams: Detroit Tigers at St. Louis Cardinals
Park: Busch Stadium
Weather: 83 and partly cloudy. Chance of rain later in the evening.
Starting Pitchers: Justin Verlander(7-2, 3.02)  Adam Wainwright(6-4, 3.49)
Records: Detroit(34-29)  St. Louis(34-30)
Last 10 Games: Detroit(6-4)  St. Louis(3-7)

My Two Cents

After a week or so of below-average baseball, the Cardinals still find themselves in second place of the NL Central.