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[Twinsmom98]

The only thing Holiday did was extend the inning but Franklin still did not do the job of a closer and close the game.  I think I will rename him Izzy.  I just wish they would use Miller more.  I think he is a much better pitcher and they are under utilizing him.

Go Cards!!!

[sdcforever]

I can't hate on Holliday. One error in 63 regular season games, and that was his second since joining the team.

Yeah, it was critical. Yeah, it sucks to be him. But I still can't hate on him for playing his best, especially since he's one of the key players who got us to the post-season.

Yeah, I can't get too upset at Holliday.  Without his addition we wouldn't even be here.  I heard a lot of Cards fans talking about giving him a standing o during his first at-bat today.  That would be a nice touch, and really make him feel better.

Man, the drama is almost gone from the division series; only the Phillies/Rockies split the first two games.  Of course, anything can happen.

[sdcforever]

Well, that was quick.   Not only is it upsetting for us as Cards fans, but also disappointing for the NL Central.  Since the Cards won it all in 2006, the NL Central is 0-9 in the postseason (largely thanks to the Cubs, of course).

Was this game the final game as a Cardinal for Pineiro, Smoltz, DeRosa, Holliday, LaRussa, and Duncan?  (Hitting coach McRae will definitely be gone).  It most certainly was the final game as a Cardinal for Ankiel, who appropriately was a pinch hitter in the 9th inning.  Even more appropriately, he struck out swinging for the final out.  (Interestingly enough, he struck out swinging as a pinch hitter for the final out of the regular season as well).

At least we weren't shut out, as Albert got an RBI single in the final at-bat of his sure-to-be MVP season.   The Cardinals will start to pursue a contract extension for Pujols this off season (he's signed for 2010 with an option for 2011).  How the team shapes up for next year will play a lot into whether Pujols signs an extension before next season.

The Cardinals may have a very different look come spring training.  This will definitely be an interesting off season. 

[Zephon]

Quick yes, but not entirely surprising.  The Cards were playing pretty lackluster ball throughout the whole last month of the season.  It wasn't very realistic to assume that they would somehow magically step it up for the post season.  Hitting woes continued with many of them losing plate discipline, too often swinging at stuff out of the zone.  Our pitchers, even Carp and Wainwright, whether because they were tired or what, I don't know, but toward the end they were leaving pitches up in the zone instead of hitting those corners at the knees consistently.  One thing though, I've got to give the FO high marks for acquiring help to make the push at the end of this season.  They didn't sit on their hands as in years past.  This post season failure rests entirely upon the shoulders of the players.

This off season will be one of the most interesting we've seen in years.  Who will we be able to sign?  Who will we let go?  The team could look much the same, or it could change dramatically.

Only four months til spring training starts.

[sdcforever]

BREAKING NEWS

Looks like TLR will announce his return tomorrow morning.  McRae is out as hitting coach and, get this, Big Mac is in as hitting coach!  Details below from the Post-Dispatch.

TLR Back, McRae Out, Big Mac Appears In
By Joe Strauss
St. Louis Post-Dispatch


The Cardinals will announce at a Monday morning press conference Tony La Russa's decision to return for a 15th season as manager. Today's run-up, however, features mounting evidence that La Russa's return after a 2-week deliberation will be dwarfed by former Redbirds first baseman Mark McGwire's return from a self-imposed 8-year exile to become the team's hitting coach.

The club on Friday notified hitting coach Hal McRae it would not renew his contract, the Post-Dispatch has learned.

Multiple sources, including McRae's son Brian, have confirmed McRae's ouster following a five-year term as hitting coach.

A club source confirmed a plan to bring back McGwire but cautioned that a formal announcement could wait until after Monday's press conference. McGwire is believed to still be negotiating a deal that would put him back in uniform for the first time since he abruptly retired after the 2001 season due to chronic injuries.

Club sources indicated Saturday that La Russa's return was all but certain; however, La Russa deferred, saying he still had loose ends to tie before confirming he would be back.

General manager John Mozeliak offered no comment Sunday. La Russa, who arrived in St. Louis to attend a Sunday night Bruce Springsteen concert, did not return phone messages.

As recently as the day after the Cardinals were eliminated from the Division Series by the Los Angeles Dodgers La Russa insisted he did not foresee changes to his coaching staff should he return. Growing speculation arose during the season's final weeks that the club was considering replacement McRae, whose contract expires Oct. 31. McRae becomes the fifth hitting coach dismissed during La Russa's term in St. Louis. His 5-year term is the longest of any.

The club remains extremely sensitive to reaction about McGwire's return. After setting the single-season home run record by hitting 70 in 1998, McGwire became the face of an ongoing controversy surrounding the prevalance of performance-enhancing drugs in the game. The club offered him a spot as a guest hitting instructor during 2007 spring training, an invite McGwire briefly entertained before rejecting due to a family issue.

McGwire has operated a de facto off-season hitting camp in Orange County for a number of major-league hitters in recent years. Current Cardinal outfielders Skip Schumaker and Matt Holliday along with recently-traded outfielder Chris Duncan are among the campers. Daric Barton, Bobby Crosby and Garrett Atkins also have attended.

McGwire has eased a bit from his seclusion from media in recent months, serving as a panelist on a Sporting News opinion board. He also spoke to the Post-Dispatch shortly before the 10th anniversary of his breaking Roger Maris' single-season home run mark. However, he has yet to address the smear to his reputation that followed him from Congressional hearings on steroid abuse on March 17, 2005. McGwire famously insisted he did not attend to "talk about the past."

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/commishs-hot-stove/commishs-hot-stove/cardinal-beat-updates/2009/10/tlr-back-mcrae-out-big-mac-appears-in/

[Swoosh]

Any word on Duncan returning as the pitching coach?  I know he was ticked his boy got traded and it would be nice to see new blood there as imho he sucks and is the reason our pitchers have so many injuries

[sdcforever]

^Word on Duncan is that he'll be back if TLR is back.  So, it looks like Duncan will be back next year.

[oldsdcer]

Tony is back for one year, Duncan is also back and Big Mac is the new hitting coach.
The obvisous questions on him have been raised and Mr. DeWit has suggested that he deal with it, and Tony does want him to clear the air with the STL media and fans.

[sdcforever]

It took nine seasons, but MLB is finally recognizing what Cards fans have known all along:  Albert Pujols is a once-in-a-generation player.  Congrats, Albert, on winning your third MVP in a unanimous decision!

[sdcforever]

It sounds like the Cards are quickly switching Plan A and Plan B around with Holliday.  Cardinals ownership has made recent statements that make the point that they may not be strung along by Boras in the Holliday sweepstakes very long before moving to Plan B--spreading out the money they would use on Holliday for two or three good free agents and allocating more money to extending Pujols.  I don't blame them.  Why allow yourselves to be strung along by Boras, because the longer you wait the more affordable, good free agents get signed by someone else.  Then, if Holliday signs elsewhere in February or March the Cards would be left with whoever remains unsigned (likely no one good would be left).  I think they'll make a legit/formal offer to Holliday, then wait a few days or so before aggressively going after a few other quality free agents. 

I don't have a problem with this as long as the Cardinals don't go CHEAP with Plan B.  Then, I'll have a problem.  It's important to surround Pujols with quality talent so he knows the Cardinals are serious about winning so he'll sign the extension.  It would be hard to build a quality team if 40-45% of your payroll is tied up in two players (Holliday and Pujols).  I also hope the Cardinals have communicated to Pujols their stance on Holliday.  It would be terrible if Pujols believes the Cardinals are prepared to do a lot to sign Holliday, then observes them letting Holliday sign somewhere else without much negotiation from the Cardinals.  There could be a backlash from Pujols, if that's the case.

Pujols has said he wants to be a Cardinal for life, and wants the team to be able to construct a quality team around him.  He might take a discount to help that happen.  (He's not obligated to, of course.  He should be paid what he's worth, and being the best player in a lucrative business, that's a lot.  I think he can be offered at least six or seven years for $26-27 million per.  It will be backloaded, like his current deal, and offer incentives for milestones.  The biggest question will be the length--it could be for as long as ten years).

I believe the Cards have started off on the right foot with their arbitration offers (offered arbitration to Holliday, DeRosa, and Pineiro; did not offer it to Glaus).  It'll be interesting to watch the chess moves as the offseason moves into the winter meetings.

[Zephon]

^Yah, I agree with you. 

I also read on MLB Trade Rumors some discouraging comments by DeWitt about signing Pujols.  They're gonna do everything they can, but there is a limit to how far they'll go....

"We can pay Albert $95 million per year and give $5 million to the rest of the guys, but how good would we be? We'd have minor leaguers out there and Albert," DeWitt said. "We can make it work. It's just at what point does it become counterproductive at a competitive standpoint in terms of one player. That's the balancing act. That's not a set number.

"But we do know at a certain kind of range on an annual basis it gets beyond a rational decision. I'm hopeful. I think he understands."
 
I guess it makes sense from a business standpoint, but I sure would hate to see Albert in another uniform.

[sdcforever]

^I read that too.  I think those comments are more trying to address the ability of the club to sign both Holliday and Pujols.  He never mentions Holliday, but the team has consistently said that they want Albert to be a Cardinal for life (and Albert has echoed those sentiments).  I also believe Albert and DeWitt are on the same page about the club being able to remain competitive and sign/keep solid players around him so they have a chance at going to the World Series every year.

I think the club is willing to give Albert close to or at market value with his extension.  It's just a matter of ironing out the details once negotiations begin.  The tricky part is this offseason and next year, making sure that Albert feels they are serious about remaining competitive in the marketplace.  That's the key to signing Albert to an extension.

It goes without saying that if Albert walks the club would be facing a PR backlash like none they've ever seen before.  Ticket sales, merchandise, everything would go into free fall.  I know DeWitt doesn't even want to think about that happening.

[sdcforever]

The Cardinals have a one year deal pending with starter Brad Penny, worth around $9 million (the physical is scheduled for tomorrow).  I like him, and wondered last year if the Cards might pursue him.  He seems like a good fit, and with a group of competitors around him should perform well.  It is expected that DeRosa will decline the Cards arbitration offer, especially since comparable players (Palanco and Figgins) signed multi-year deals worth between $6 and $9 million per year.  DeRosa is reportedly seeking a 3 year $21 to $24 million deal.  Penny's signing doesn't mean the Cards are no longer pursuing Holliday.  Mozeliak had a 90 minute meeting with Boras a couple of days ago, and another meeting with him during the winter meetings is possible.  Mozeliak did say that if the Cardinals acquired another starter, filling the rotation, it would mean the Cards have ended their pursuit of Holliday (the arbitration offer to Pineiro does not apply to this condition).

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/commishs-hot-stove/commishs-hot-stove/cardinal-beat-updates/2009/12/mozeliak-acknowledges-pending-deal-with-penny-meeting-with-boras/

[sdcforever]

Well, the Cards made their formal offer to Holliday last week, Boras discussed it with his client, then Boras and Mozeliak sat down again.  This past weekend the Cards presented a revised/tweaked offer for Holliday, trying to address some objections.  If reports are true, the Cards are really going all out for Holliday.  The tweaked offer is for 8 years with an average of $16 million per season (plus incentives).  Here's the kicker, though:  the offer has an opt-out option for Holliday after five years, meaning he can test the market in 2014 if he so chooses.   That's an offer you run with, unless a team is out there with a better offer.  The only other team that appears to be a candidate (and they haven't come out publicly declaring interest) are the Mets.  Why would Holliday take a little more money to play for a bad team at Citi Field, a park that is not power hitter friendly unless you're a pure pull hitter (Holliday is not)?  It's crazy!  I agree with the Post-Dispatch's Bernie Miklasz, the Cards have nothing to apologize for in their pursuit of Holliday.  You might even argue that they're being too generous with their offer.  If Holliday turns the Cards down and signs somewhere else, I think the Cards have gone above and beyond in their efforts to sign him.  If he doesn't sign, he's not a good fit for the Cardinals.  Pure and simple.

As for the other teams, the Mets have made a formal offer (and tweaked it) to Bay.  It's rumored that Holliday is out of their price range.  The Yankees have publicly stated they're not interested in Holliday.  However, they did the very same thing last year regarding Mark Teixeira; feigned no interest until the very last minute, then swooped in with an outlandish offer and signed him.  Let's hope they don't do that with Holliday this year.

The good news:  Holliday has not rejected the Cards offer yet.  Once Bay signs somewhere, then things will get moving.  It's believed we may know the answer to that by early next week.  Oh, the intrigue...

Read more here:  http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/bernies-extra-points/bernies-extra-points/bernies-5-minutes/2009/12/cardinals-and-holliday-no-apologies/

[sdcforever]

Here's a nice article from ESPN.com's Jayson Stark declaring Pujols the MVP of the decade.  Enjoy!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=4765077