Irrational Exuberance?

Someone might need to sedate Jeff Gordon: Future looks even brighter for Cards

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa never wants to talk about 2009. Neither does general manager John Mozeliak.

Both men are convinced the ’08 team could contend. So far, the Cards are doing just that, despite suffering myriad injuries.

They are 11 games over .500 and they have staying power.

But projections for the ’09 season ARE intriguing. The Cards will have more payroll flexibility next year, due to several expiring contracts. With several key prospects developing at once, Mozeliak will move into an enviable position.

The Cards’ success with rookies this season makes the forecast for next season even better. Circumstances are forcing the team to test a lot of kids.

OK, fine. This season has been a pleasant surprise so far, but how good could next year look?

Infielder Brendan Ryan, Sunday’s hero, is a potential starter at second base or shortstop. Righthanded power hitter Joe Mather looks capable of balancing a left-centric outfield. Rule 5 addition Brian Barton has shown he can excel as a No. 4 or No. 5 outfielder.

Kyle McClellan, Chris Perez and Mark Worrell have bolstered the bullpen. It’s too early to assess pitcher Mitchell Boggs, but he ascended quickly through the Cards organization after arriving from the college ranks.

The Next One, outfielder Colby Rasmus, is finally hitting in Memphis. Good-hitting catcher Bryan Anderson is making great defensive strides. Both could become factors next year.

When we chatted Friday with Memphis manager Chris Maloney on KFNS, he raved about the potential of third baseman David Freese. The kid has big league defensive potential and a nice bat; when he becomes more selective at the plate, he will move to the front burner.

Maloney also raved about the professionalism of veterans Anthony Reyes and Chris Duncan. Reyes appears to be auditioning for other clubs looking for pitching help. Duncan, who is trying to relocate his power stroke, suffered a setback when he crashed into an outfield wall.

But both players remain assets. As a result, Mozeliak has options.

Sure, the kids have done surprisingly well, and its been a bonus to have Rasmus adjust at the AAA level instead of learning on the job in St. Louis. But, this is the Cardinals we are talking about here. We've never had a "pipeline" of young talent, as long as I can remember. You get one every other year or so, and sometimes they are named Joe Magrane.

Still...man, there are a lot of nice looking prospects down on the farm. However, I don't dare stare. It like looking at the sun.

OK, even if we get positive contributions from our young guys we have to have prohibitive payroll contraints, right?

Juan Encarnacion’s $6.5 million salary will be off the books after this season. Kyle Lohse ($4.25 million), Braden Looper ($5.5 million) and Jason Isringhausen ($8 million) will become free agents. Mark Mulder ($6.5 million) could also exit the payroll, unless the Cards exercise their $11 million option.

Hallelujah!

Pass me the Kool Aid. I'm drinking.

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...

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