Baseball Brou-Haha's

Alright, it cannot measure up to the Chicago Cubs beating the crap out of each other in the club house, but things are a bit testy down Cardinals way. From the PD:

Former Cardinals catcher Eli Marrero on Friday blasted Tony La Russa for the manager's recent comments about how Marrero blew his chance to remain with the organization.

"I don't know what this guy thinks," Marrero said. "I have no more respect for this guy whatsoever. I can't believe what this guy put out there."

The Cardinals released Marrero, 34, from Class AAA Memphis on May 21 after he caught one complete game for the Redbirds on May 18. Marrero, 34, said Friday he never received an explanation from Redbirds manager Chris Maloney but held no animosity toward the club or La Russa until recently reading his explanation.

"I go up there. I catch nine innings, get my four at-bats and my two hits. Then they release me. That's their decision. I left. I'm done with the Cardinals," Marrero said. "Then, all of a sudden, I read this from this guy. He doesn't have the (guts) to call me. He says, 'He didn't do enough with his chances, injuries aside.' Yeah, right."

...

In need of catching depth after Yadier Molina suffered a broken left wrist Tuesday, the Cardinals turned to Brian Esposito, 28, who was hitting .178 at Memphis.

"They screwed up in letting me go. Now, they're trying to make it sound it like it was my fault. Typical," Marrero said.

I have to say it sounds like Marrero is more in the right here. The Cardinals brass did not do a good job preparing the franchise for this season, and they are trying to cover their asses. Blaming Marrero seems like a pretty petty way to go about it. Given the sheer amount of injuries that have clobbered the team it might not have mattered much in the standings even if the off season preparations had been handled correctly, but there is no way to deny the half-assed approach.

Given all of that, the questionable moves just keep coming:

Altering course because of mounting injuries, the Cardinals now concede left fielder Chris Duncan will probably land on the disabled list today, two days after he returned to St. Louis for treatment of persistent infection and bursitis.

The club is expected to promote shortstop Brendan Ryan from Class AAA Memphis after putting Duncan on the DL retroactive to Sunday.

The moves are in contrast to the optimism expressed about Duncan's condition before an 8-1 win over the Houston Astros. During the win, third baseman Scott Rolen strained a right hamstring, left the game and is expected to miss the balance of the weekend's series.

Alright, I won't question bringing up an infielder as Eckstein's and Rolen's status is up in the air, but how do you continue to justify keeping Ankiel down in AAA given the state of the Cards outfield? I know that once you bring Rick up you are committed to him for the season, but so what? The lack of pop in this lineup is a serious handicap, and Ankiel is the only viable option at this point. (I'm really writing off Preston Wilson at this point, and can anyone give me a good reason not to do that?)

Early Thoughts on City 2025

There are few things harder to keep track of than an MLS side in their off-season, at least for me. Despite the fact it takes place roughly during the time the MLB Hot Stove season is in full swing, it is nowhere near as easy to follow along with as baseball. Part of it is how disconnected MLS is with the international soccer calendar. St. Louis City SC is still digesting the moves it made last summer even though those players have already played important games for the club. It is all weird and disjointed, and I always feel like I am playing catch-up. Happily, the moves made in the off-season this year were not numerous. German Timo Baumgartl comes over from Europe as an option at center back, which is good because that was a position that was a little rocky for City last season. Given his own troubles over the last few seasons (cancer and uneven play in the aftermath of that), a spell with City can give Baumgartl a chance to have a re-set. Given his pedigree and the fact City si...

Blues Fall Off a Cliff

Hockey seasons will have their ups and downs. For whatever reason, be it injuries, a challenging schedule, an inexplicable loss of form, it is difficult for teams to maintain a good level of compete for an entire season. The good teams just limit their funks. The St. Louis Blues, however, are not a good team. They are a poor team, and poor teams sink under the weight of "here we go again" night after night. I will admit I only watched the first two periods of last night's 5-0 loss to a Colorado team that had been scuffling of late. Two periods were more than enough to get the gist of it. It was also enough to lead me to a diagnosis as to what ails the team. It isn't that they are young and are going through growing pains. No, the reason the Blues are so bad is that the veterans who are being paid to be the backbone of this team are not doing their jobs. I'm talking about Schenn, Buchnevich, Faulk, and even Binnington and Parayko. Over $30M of the salary cap is b...

My Life Amongst the Moguls

It maybe trendy YOLO nonsense, but as I get older I have taken to "experiences" more than I used to in the past. Do not get me wrong, I still love stuff, and I am not unaware that having cash at my disposal opens up the range of possible experiences. However, I must say my mood is often "I'll try anything once," as often as not. To that end I recently became a part owner in three racehorses. Through the website MyRaceHorse.com I have purchased ownership shares in three horses, 1 share each in an as yet unnamed colt and unnamed filly, and 2 shares in a colt named Munny Problem. All of these horses are 2-year-olds who are just beginning their lives as potential racehorses. I say potential because there is no guarantee any of them will ever make it to the starting gate of an official race. The race game is a tough one and plenty of well-bred horses don't make the cut for various reasons; they can get injured, they don't take to the training, they turn ou...

(Get) A Sporting Life

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