The Cardinal Way- Crops, Clydesdales and Championships

[royals19]

Finally folks, its time to start the second half. I can't quite put my finger on it but there's just something about second half baseball that makes the sun shine a little brighter, the sweet tea taste a little better and the school week seem not that long.

Sure the first half has meaning but folks, everyone knows that second half is where it's at folks.

But before we get to some actual Cardinals baseball, let's take a look at how the first half shook out for us.



OK, it wasn't a bad first half but it sure as heck wasn't a good one either. We didn't even manage to get 10 games above .500 and as you can see, the offense was more of a problem than originally anticipated. Now that I think about it, the blame can't really fall on the pitchers. Their advanced metrics showed that they were superseding their face value.

But as you can tell, the team was downright mediocre in the first half. Surely this isn't what people meant when they said St. Louis was a perennial title contender.

So after crunching over some tasty numbers, analyzing the trade market, checking the payroll and pushing paper all over the place it is now time for us to now partake in the first game of the second half.

And let me start off by telling you, it was indeed a doozy.



Bud Black, with nothing left to lose except his job, handed the ball to Dale Thayer to start the game... Perhaps you didn't see... DALE F'N THAYER. Yes, the same Dale Thayer who is the Padres' #1 setup man.

When I saw him toe the rubber, I about lost it. You see, Buddy Black and his friars were about to hand us a W. Manager Matheny's gameplan for today entailed that we'd just have to wait Thayer out for a couple innings and then turn up the heat and send San Diego packing.

Surely it wouldn't be harder than that...

...And then all of a sudden, crazy **** starts happening.



Jon Jay tried to hotdog a flyball for the ladies and next thing we know, Jay is triple barrel-rolling across the outfield, the ball is rolling to the fence and the bases are now cleared after previously being loaded.

The ladies were shaking their heads.
The players were shaking their heads.
Mike Matheny was shaking his head.

And guess what?

I was shaking my head.

Just because you're the best hitter on a marginally good team doesn't mean that you need to go showing off for the ladies. I'm not going to lie here folks, Mike Matheny had to make a generous contribution to the swear jar and Jon Jay lost some serious street cred as a result of Jay's game costing mistake.

Such is the way baseball works.



An f'n 5 hitter against the San Diego Padres... The Padres for crying out loud! Allen Craig and David Freese tried to mount a comeback but everyone's favorite Cardinal Jon Jay hit into a double play effectively squashing any attempts of ours to win the game.

So folks, what exactly went wrong today for the Cards?

Quote: Originally Posted by Post Game Report

The Padres started a setup man who managed to throw 8 innings. Jon Jay was goofing around. The Padres pitching was hands down, shut down.

That's all there is to it.

[royals19]

So when we came to you last, things were supposedly looking up. The pitching was going to be better, the offense was going to pick up the slack and we were going to march straight into October.

Well, I'm here to tell you that is simply not going to be the case.



5 games. 5 losses. 0-3 against the Padres and 0-2 against the Phillies... Can you believe it!? The Padres and the Phillies!

Losing 5 straight puts a gigantic strain on our hopes for the playoff race. The Pirates, Braves and Phillies are within 1 game of our Wild Card spot and they're all playing out of their minds. Meanwhile, we're jack legging around losing a game here and winning a game there.

Heading into Atlanta, yes Atlanta, we are facing a must win situation. If we continue the losing streak and drop the series to Atlanta then we're screwed. We don't have the team to play catchup.

We've tried everything from extra BP to high socks to get back on track. Folks, desperate times call for desperate measures. So we called in a favor and whipped up a batch of Ozzie Smith '84s for the team to wear.



Yessir, the colors that the Wizard himself wore back in the day. Not only did we pick the jersey's because they're awesome but also because we were going to need a little magic to get through this one alive. Nothing, and I mean nothing screams "magic" like the Ozzie Smith 84s kids.

...So something about a game in Atlanta... Oh yeah that's right!

Tonight's matchup would pit the good 'ol Georgia boy Adam Wainwright against the youngin' Julio Teheran. Normally it would be a pitching matchup worth writing about. But not this time because they both traded equal blows... yada yada and all that junk.

Folks, the real story tonight was ironically the shortstop of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the real Daniel Descalso. Now Descalso isn't a character that we've talked a whole lot about. He's been the unsung hero of the team this year. When we demoted Ruben Gotay (the replacement for the inconsistent Pete Kozma) we needed someone to fill the void until Rafe returned.

Enter Descalso.

Descalso is currently hitting .300 and has practically driven the lineup... or the bus I guess in this case and tied down the shortstop position. If Descalso can continue this type of production, we might not even have to go hunting for a new shortstop. Right now, he seems as good as any to hold the fort down until that Oscar Mercado kid arrives.

So while we wait for Mercado,


Descalso will just be winning games for our roster and putting the team on his back. We'd been battling the Braves throughout the game and had managed to tie the game in the late innings forcing extras.

In the 11th, we got a little somethin' somethin' cookin' and next thing we know, Descalso is at the plate sending a Cory Gearrin sinker into right field and scoring us the go ahead run.



By George, the Smith 84s got it done!

Against overwhelming odds, we got it done. This may go down as one of the defining wins of the season. In a game where our playoff hopes were at stake, the troops rallied and put a nice ball game together and brought home a W as well as a little breathing room.

So while we let the boys celebrate with a little champ.... Sparkling cider, we'll go ahead and take you into the war room of the Cardinal brass as they contemplate what and who to target at the trade deadline. That's right folks, the next post is the first of 3 or so deadline posts that I've been hinting at....

[royals19]

Now that we've got the 5 game skid stopped, it's now time to shift our focus to back to St. Louis as the Front Office gears up for the trade deadline. To sort of get this over with and out of the way, don't expect any crazy rebuilds or trades. This isn't the Royals or the Padres, we virtually have everything that we need already on the roster so we don't need to go out and make 5 or 6 trades. Despite the previous comments about trades, we still need to peruse an upgrade or two.

So with that, let's get down to business and outline the situation.



Now when we picked this thing up, the St. Louis Cardinals had just about everything a baseball team could ever need or want. To most, it seemed like we were strapped up for at least the next decade.

I'm here to tell you that simply isn't the case.

You see, we've battled general ineffectiveness, injuries and all that. We've brought back Carlos Beltran, Chris Carpenter and Rafael Furcal from the scrap heap in an attempt to stem the tide and push towards the postseason. Had we not dropped 5 straight, we wouldn't be having this conversation. In other words, we probably would've stood pat through the trade deadline. To stem off the attacks by the Braves and Phillies, we have to make some sort of trade deadline acquisition.

So with that being said, we aren't the type of team that is going to trade for a player and then cast them away in the offseason. That just isn't how this is going to work. You can't expect us to drop a top prospect or two and then waive the fruits of a deal goodbye a couple months later. I suppose this leads me into my next point of contention,

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY


This is something I've touched on a little bit but not much until now.

It is inevitable that our payroll is going to increase over the course of this dynasty. It is John Mozeliak's job to ensure that the payroll doesn't get out of hand. Our payroll currently sits at 102 Million and with a deadline acquisition, it could see an increase from anywhere to 103 Million to 115+ Million. In essence, we must remain fiscally responsible in order for our ball club to be successful. We start throwing around Robinson Cano money and next thing we know we'll be the next Houston Astros.

Our team has to keep its spending curtailed or increase it at a responsible rate. So Royals, exactly what does this have to do with the deadline?

Well son, the answer is everything.

We will not let whoever we trade for walk in free agency so we must have a future commitment in mind. If we trade for a star caliber player, then obviously, we're looking at a potentially massive contract. If we trade for someone of a lesser caliber, we're still potentially looking at a fairly decent sized contract.

So as a result of our fiscally responsible policy, what we do at the deadline will most likely be limited to a trade or two (but two is a stretch).

So with that outlined, I'm proposing two executive orders:

Quote: Originally Posted by Executive Order #1) [B

THE FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE CLAUSE The St. Louis Cardinals shall adhere to the fiscal policy set forth at the beginning of the year. [/b]

Quote: Originally Posted by Executive Order #2

THE BIG BOOM CLAUSE The Cardinals shall be limited to one big trade per season.

[royals19]

I know you probably weren't all wowed or intrigued by the fiscal situation of the St. Louis Cardinals and how it comes into play. Hopefully this post outlining the actual players we are targeting will catch your eye.

Heading into the trade deadline, we have 3 primary areas of need/upgrade that we could address through the deadline. Now as I said before, it is unlikely that we will be able to address all 3 needs so it's more than likely that we chose one or two to address.

So about those needs... Here's our trade deadline shopping list in no particular order:

• Relief Pitching
  Center Field
  3rd Base

And it also might not be a bad idea to bring in a more known commodity at shortstop.

The woes as far as relief pitching have been clearly evident. When we do get leads, the bullpen usually finds some way to blow them before we can get the ball to Mujica to close things down. In a playoff game we all know how crucial it is to have good, talented relief pitching. The only problem with relief pitching is that one good reliever isn't going to be able to change the course of the season.

Next on the list, we have Center Field. Now we've had Jon Jay posted up out there for quite some time and he's done a fantastic job. My only worry is that he's going to crash and burn again before the season is over. Jay's defense has been suspect all season long and as you saw against the Padres, it's been costing us games. If we add an impact player here in Center that plays good defense and can hit effectively at the top of the order, then we're in good shape. The only downside is that acquiring a Center Fielder would effectively force Carlos Beltran out of the equation and require either Jon Jay or Oscar Taveras to take up residence in right next season.

Lastly, we have third base. "Well I thought David Freese was pretty" Yes, he was pretty good. We'll never forget what he did for us in the postseason back in 2010. Unfortunately, .265 with 7 dingers at the hot corner isn't going to get it done. Backing up, we can live with Freese at third until we get someone else to replace him. But with options on the trade market far and few in between, it might be wise to seek an upgrade here if one is available.

So with that, let's see who the Cardinals' Brain Trust has been looking at.



Strengths

Velocity, Command, stability

Ain't nothing like trading for a division rival's best relief pitcher right? Axford is surprisingly not the closer for the Brew Crew. Instead, Axford is sitting the Brewer's middle relief corps providing stability with a 2.65 ERA. He has several plus pitches highlighted by his slider and 4 seamer.

If we brought Axford into the Cardinal's organization, it likely won't cost much in the way of prospects but he projects to be one of the top relief arms on the market and you know what that means? Big money. Do we want to make a major financial commitment to a reliever? Probably not. Do we need a reliever? Yes. Unfortunately we might have to target a reliever just to use them for a half a season or so.

Our bullpen problems this year have been well documented and you can't help but think that bringing in Axford would give us a very valuable middle reliever.



Strengths

Hit for Contact, leadership, defense

Michael Young: beloved by the old school, hated by the saber new school.

Young is having a surprisingly good season with Philly, hitting .307 with 15 dingers. If Philly was to trade him, they would likely replace him with the more than ready Mikael Franco who projects as their long term third baseman.

Going back to Young, he's also extremely versatile which plays in huge to what we've been doing here in St. Louis. On top of that, Young is a great baseball guy. He would easily become a leader on this team and really drive home the importance of "The Cardinal Way" to our younger players. Young easily becomes an upgrade over David Freese but its very possible he retires at the end of the season; meaning that we would lose out on the investment.

While Young has all the intangibles baseball people love, he's also an appeaser to the math kids this season with 69.7889 RC (Runs Created). His ability to create runs means that we would finally have another driving force in the lineup to couple with the inconsistent Matt Holliday and Allen Craig.

So with all that being said, it might not be a bad idea to trade for Michael Young and capitalize on the serious helium that he has as of now.



Strengths

Speed, Defense, Hit for Contact,

Ahh... Yes, Jacoby Ellsbury. This is the kid that we've probably talked the most about adding to our roster. In St. Louis, we value speed and defense tremendously. The fact that Ellsbury does both well and is also a premium bat makes his addition to our roster seem almost perfect.

Despite Ellsbury's obvious pluses, he comes with some recognizable negatives. Ellsbury is a free agent at the year's end and is likely to command Carl Crawford type money. Despite his massive free agent cost, he's going to cost quite a bit in prospect terms with Carlos Martinez a very likely target in any trade talks.

Needless to say, the risk involved in this trade is tremendous. Ellsbury has a lengthy injury history, there is no guarantee that he'll sign with us at the end of the year and on top of that, Carlos Martinez has a chance to develop into the next Pedro Martinez.

Still, trading for Ellsbury is as enticing as ever. We have a chance to land one of the top center fielders in the game and we have the economic resources to keep him in St. Louis for quite some time. In effect, the conditions are nearly perfect for us to land a Jacoby Ellsbury type talent who could electrify the roster.

*******

So with all that being said, what do we do? Who do we bring in? Do we bring in the flamethrowing John Axford? The salty Vet Michael Young or the uber talented Jacoby Ellsbury? Or perhaps do we perform some sort of package deal? With about 5 days until the trade deadline, we'll let this marinate on 360. If you have any suggestions before I pull the trigger on a deal then feel free to let me know.

[xboxxerx]

I think the "Fiscal Plan" you laid out here is awesome Royals. I personally have always followed you through your Padres, Mets and Royals 'chises. At times I did find it a little unbelievable with some of the moves, but the way you have this 'chise going I personally like it a lot. Keep up the great work as always. Hoping you can get your season turned around here before its to late.

Edit - Kinda of torn between Ellsbury and Young. Going after Axford as a 2nd half rental not to keen on. Never been a fan of teams going after "rental" players. Young, would help you a lot in many ways as you stated in your scouting report. Ellsbury though is still young, and like you stets in your "Fiscal Plan" who ever you get, you would like to lock them up for some time. Ellsbury will probably command a top $ guy. Young being his age and all, I'm not sure. He could possibly retire after all said and done when the season is completed so that would leave you up a creek again. So it looks like Ellsbury would be he way to go.

[royals19]

Quote: Originally Posted by xboxxerx

I think the "Fiscal Plan" you laid out here is awesome Royals. I personally have always followed you through your Padres, Mets and Royals 'chises. At times I did find it a little unbelievable with some of the moves, but the way you have this 'chise going I personally like it a lot. Keep up the great work as always. Hoping you can get your season turned around here before its to late. Edit - Kinda of torn between Ellsbury and Young. Going after Axford as a 2nd half rental not to keen on. Never been a fan of teams going after "rental" players. Young, would help you a lot in many ways as you stated in your scouting report. Ellsbury though is still young, and like you stets in your "Fiscal Plan" who ever you get, you would like to lock them up for some time. Ellsbury will probably command a top $ guy. Young being his age and all, I'm not sure. He could possibly retire after all said and done when the season is completed so that would leave you up a creek again. So it looks like Ellsbury would be he way to go.

For the first time, I've really been conscientious of my spending. In San Diego and in KC, the money was really flowing like water. In hindsight, it wasn't particularly realistic to increase their payrolls the way I did. When I began this Cardinals dynasty, my goal was to make a conscious effort to keep the spending at a minimal. I obviously have one of the best farm systems in baseball and one of the greatest collections of major league talent in the game so I felt that it would behoove me to work with what I already had on the roster. On top of that, I really found in my Padres and Royals dynasties and I guess in the Mets dynasty as well that I didn't really have a strong connection with my team. If you don't have a strong connection with your team, then its impossible to sustain one of these dynasty threads. Each player takes on their own legend and persona as the years go on. That was something that my dynasties had really been lacking because it seemed like I was rocking a new set of guys each and every year.

As this dynasty goes along, it's my intention that I build this dynasty around the assets I already have. Money wise, the Cardinals have 11th highest payroll in baseball at 116 million so really, I'm content to keep it in the 110-130 million dollar range. Will I reach 120 Million? Probably not. There's a chance I could go over and if I had to max it out, I would say that anywhere north of 140 million is running in the red. With what I'm trying to do here, it's really important that I remain fiscally responsible and not trigger happy on trading and in free agency. Naturally the roster will get expensive over time as players like Shelby Miller, Michael Wacha and Oscar Taveras start wanting their fair share. As I mentioned earlier, I will be trying to keep this payroll down.

I've got the fiscal policy mapped out in my Cardinals notebook here on my desk so I have a pretty decent idea of where this club is going to be financially in the coming years.

I appreciate your input dude, thanks!

[royals19]

"Holliday hits a sharp ground ball to Simmons, the throw to first and he's out. And that folks, is the ball game. After breaking their 5 games skid last night, the Cardinals fall again..."

The distant roar of thunder could be heard as Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt shut off the television in his suite and turned to General Manager John Mozeliak who was sharing the suite with the DeWitt family.

As John Mozeliak sat at the bar, Bill DeWitt ushered his family out of the suite and told them that he would meet them in the lobby. DeWitt walked back into the suite and sat at the bar with Mozeliak.

Slowly, the soft pitter-patter of rain could be heard on the windows outside. On the field, the grounds crew rushed to get the tarp of the field amid a steadily increasing downpour.

Quote: Originally Posted by DeWitt

John, you and I both know that I wasn't coming down here for a family vacation. I came down here to get the facts for myself and see where this ball club really is. And to be honest John, I don't think I like what I see. It seems to me your job security is rapidly increasing.

Quote: Originally Posted by Mozeliak

Look, we've got multiple guys coming back from injuries and from the farm. You can't just expect an immediate impact. We haven't even gone through 10 games. Trust the process Bill.

Quote: Originally Posted by DeWitt

John, like I said, I'm going to give you free reign for the rest of this season. But come October, you better have something to show for it. Otherwise, it looks like that Singleton kid is going to have your job.

Quote: Originally Posted by Mozeliak

Singleton? You can't be serious... the kid has no GM experience... and he's the scouting director!

Quote: Originally Posted by DeWitt

Maybe we need some fresh meat in here. Obviously what you're doing this year isn't working.

Quote: Originally Posted by Mozeliak

*Sigh* We've been successful for the past 3 or 4 years. I don't understand why we have to pick out one bad season. I have explained this to you multiple times now.

Quote: Originally Posted by DeWitt

I'm not here to argue. I'm here to tell you that you better get your act together or Singleton or someone else gets your job. Are we clear?

Quote: Originally Posted by Mozeliak

Oh, we're clear Bill.

Bill DeWitt left the room and headed towards the lobby to meet up with his family and get back to the hotel. Meanwhile as the speed of the rain picked up, John Mozeliak stayed seated in the suite and picked up his phone and made a call.

Quote: Originally Posted by John Mozeliak

It's John. He's starting to interfere in our plans...

[xboxxerx]

ooh ooh here we go