November ramblings
A few disjointed thoughts:
It has been one month since the season ended, so I figure it is a good time to start blogging again. The biggest news from November was the sudden retirement of
Redbird Nation. It is very disappointing that we can no longer absorb Brian’s very insightful (and fun) baseball perspectives, but he certainly devoted himself admirably during his run. I’d also like to send thanks to
Josh, who also has ended his Cardinals blogging.
But I’m still here and am trying to imagine Randy Johnson in a Cardinals uniform. First, though, it is time to say goodbye to pitcher Jason Simontacchi and Marlon Anderson. Neither was added to the 40-man roster in lieu of the upcoming Rule 5 draft. Though he looked sharp in 2002, Simo Man has shown nothing since. He only tossed 15 innings last season and had a 1.57 WHIP and 5.28 ERA. Anderson was a great pinch hitter with a .919 OPS in 51 at-bats. But his OPS was .649 overall and he is easily replaceable.
I saw a note today that Jason Marquis’ 15 wins was the most by a Jewish pitcher since Steve Stone's 25 wins in his 1980 Cy Young season.
I won’t get into analysis about Bobby Cox being named NL Manager of The Year over Tony La Russa, but I was very surprised at the huge margin he won by. Cox had 22 first-place votes and 10 second-place votes to 4 and 9 for TLR. The Cards did the unexpected; the Braves did what they do every season. It is all J.D. Drew’s fault . . . At least Walt Jocketty was
executive of the year.
The final season at Busch Stadium will feature visits from the Yankees and Red Sox, so that is very cool. The season-ending series against Cincinnati will likely be meaningless. I’m disappointed to not have Opening Day in STL (they play at Houston) given that it is Busch’s final ride. The games at Toronto and at Tampa Bay will be, at least, something different.
Redbird Reasoning has a good breakdown of the available free agent starters, including Randy Johnson - who is due $16.5 million in 2005, much of which is deferred. Would you take RJ and, say, SS Orlando Cabrera rather than re-sign Edgar Renteria? Probably. But I’d be happy to see Matt Clement, Carl Pavano and/or Odalis Perez sign with STL if it meant Edgar stays. Perez seems to be overlooked, but he was very reliable last season.
Mike Shannon is reportedly interested in moving to the FSN television booth next season, but I have not heard if that will happen. It sounds like he and Wayne Hagin do not have the best chemistry, which I did not realize.