Juan Gonzalez played well in a 7-0 win over the Mets on Thursday.  He was one of the offensive stars of the game.  Of course, Skip Schumaker played great, too.  I can't post much on the game, I was at my OWN baseball game (high school) and didn't get to keep up with it, but box scores tell me that Juan played great.  I hear Rick Ankiel made a great play in center field, too.  It's kind of exciting, regardless of if it being a Spring Training game.  I'm actually believing the outfield could be a team strength this year.  Now, that's exciting in its own right, but saying the OUTFIELD is a strength and then looking at the infield, it really gets my blood pumping for baseball.  And by the way, Reyes pitched very well - for three innings anyway.  He might have figured it out.  For now, I'm a believer in Reyes and Gonzalez to do well.

Here's an updated depth chart prediction from Brady:

C - Yadier Molina

1b - Albert Pujols

2b - Adam Kennedy

SS - Cezar Izturis

3b - Troy Glaus

LF - Chris Duncan

CF - Rick Ankiel

RF - Juan Gonzalez/Skip Schumaker platoon

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080224&content_id=2387513&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl

In case you haven't read Matthew Leach's article on the Cardinals' official team page yet, you should go do that now.

Apparently Tony La Russa recommended that the Cardinals sign free agent Barry Bonds.  Yes.  Barry Bonds.  He told the upper management that Bonds would help the team out batting behind Pujols with his high OBP. 

What in the world is Tony thinking?  The last thing this young team needs right now is a guy like Bonds whose mannerisms and actions speak louder than his words, and his words are pretty strong as they are.  He's a clubhouse cancer, and he acts like a jerk to the media and fans.  This is St. Louis, "Baseball Heaven" as described in Busch Stadium.  Bonds doesn't belong here, and as happy as I am about Mozeliak shooting down TLR's idea, I'm more upset that La Russa would suggest stupid ideas like this.  What was he thinking? 

Tony La Russa is officially starting to lose his mind.  He ran off Rolen.  He let Jim Edmonds go.  He wants Barry Bonds on this team.  Sigh.  Bonds, just like Clemens, should not set foot on a baseball field again.  And for pete's sake, not in St. Louis!

Well, here goes.  We'll check back after the season and see how close I was.

AL EAST:

1. Boston Red Sox
2. Toronto Blue Jays
3. New York Yankees
4. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
5. Baltimore Orioles

AL CENTRAL:

1. Detroit Tigers
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Minnesota Twins
5. Kansas City Royals

AL WEST:

1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Oakland Athletics
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Texas Rangers

AL WILDCARD: Cleveland Indians

NL EAST:

1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Atlanta Braves
4. Washington Nationals
5. Florida Marlins

NL CENTRAL:

1. Cubs
2. Milwaukee
3. Cardinals
4. Cincinnati
5. Houston
6. Pittsburgh

NL WEST:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Colorado Rockies
3. Arizona Diamondbacks
4. San Diego Padres
5. San Francisco Giants

NL WILDCARD: Colorado Rockies

PLAYOFFS

NLDS1: Mets vs Rockies
WINNER: Mets in 3

NLDS2: Cubs vs Dodgers
WINNER: Cubs in 5

NLCS: Cubs vs Mets
WINNER: Mets in 5

--------------------------------------------------------

ALDS1: Tigers vs Indians
WINNER: Tigers in 3

ALDS2: Angels vs Red Sox
WINNER: Red Sox in 3

ALCS: Tigers vs Red Sox
WINNER: TIGERS in 6

WORLD SERIES:

NEW YORK METS VERSUS DETROIT TIGERS
WINNER: Detroit Tigers in 7

There ya go...gonna be a long year for Cards' fans, but not for Tigers' fans.

ALSO, wanted to add this post on Hogville.net from a Cardinals fan named Ralph...thanks for permission to share this, Ralph! Great post...

I need to rant.....

Let me say that I have been a passionate Cards fan as long as I've been a passionate Hog fan which is to say, my entire life.  I was four years old in 1982 when the Cardinals beat Robin Yount and the Brew Crew for the World Series Championship.  I cried when we lost to Kirby Puckett (r.i.p.), Jack "Big Game Pitcher" Morris, and the Minnesota Twins.  I still want to punch Don Denkinger in the testicles.  I have loved the Cards through Whitey, Red, Joe, Jorgensen, and La Russa.  It has been an amazing ride from mountain top to valley and back again loving the CARDS all the way.

What bothers me is the attitude towards winning within the current ownership.  I feel as though we are becoming the Cubs.  I don't think any objective baseball fan could argue that the Cubs organization has been in the pursuit of championships until the past 6 or 7 years.  The Cubs have always personified the "Hey, let's get folks to the park, drink a lot of beer, sing 'Take Me Out To the Ball Game', enjoy our quaint, old stadium and go home" attitude for at least a generation.  I am afraid the Cardinals are heading down this same prim rose path to mediocrity and complacency.  I know the Cardinals are just two years removed from a World Series Championship and that they have won the N.L. Pennant twice and been to the NLCS five times under La Russa. These are great accomplishments and I am proud of them.  However, there does not seem to be a commitment from the front office to building and maintaining championship caliber teams.

I have long wondered why the Cardinals purse strings have been so stingy given the enormous revenue and nationwide fan support enjoyed by the organization. Baseball writer and historian Peter Gammons has remarked several times on ESPN that Saint Louis is THE best baseball town in America, bar none.  Why with all this support do the owners not pony up the dough to compete not only with the N.L. but their high spending A.L. counterparts? 

Tony La Russa remarked in "Three Nights In August" that front offices were moving away from "Baseball Men" and more toward "Business Men."  Never has this been more apparent than the recent dismissal of Walt Jocketty.  Jocketty was and is the quintessential "baseball man."  Jocketty has a love and a passion for the game as well as a commitment to winning seldom seen in today's front offices.  Jocketty approaches baseball from a historical perspective, not the bottom line.  His exodus from the organization is an enormous loss and I'm not sure the Cardinals will recover any time soon.  After all, "baseball men" are becoming a rare commodity in ba$eball today.

Remember when the Cardinals had as many as 6 Gold Glove winners on the starting roster?  Remember Rolen, Renteria, Vina, Pujols, Edmonds, Matheny? Remember how dominant the Cards were defensively?  Tell me, who has been the everyday second baseman since Fernando Vina's departure?  Why did we let Renteria get away?  WHY THE HECK IS JIMMY EDMONDS NOT RETIRING IN A CARDINAL UNIFORM?  THE SAME GOES FOR SCOTT ROLEN!  Where is the commitment to keeping these type players in Saint Louis?

All of this and I haven't even asked why we have no flamethrowers on the pitching staff or in the bull pen.  All of this and I haven't asked why Hal McRae is still wearing a Cardinals jersey.  (Perhaps we could get rid of him if he threw another one of his infamous, phone throwing, f-bomb temper tantrums that made him all the rage in K.C.)

I love the Cardinals and will always love the Cardinals.  I just wish the ownership would recognize and be motivated by the tremendous passion of Cardinal Nation.

A recent article came out about Dave Duncan working with pitchers such as Todd Wellemeyer on not tipping their pitches.  I'm going to keep this short.  I'm a little unhappy with this.  Sure, tipping pitches is a bad thing, but give me a break, the pitchers in St. Louis right now are not all that amazing, tipped pitches or not. 

I know Carpenter is hurt.  And healthy he's one of the best in the game.
Wainwright is great, but a little inconsistent...of course he's young, and this may be his breakout year as a starter.
Looper can't win day games for some reason and the switch from the bullpen hurt his stamina as the season went on, I think.
Piniero, Reyes, and Wellemeyer are not starters. Neither is Thompson.
Mark Mulder is always hurt, and who knows if he'll come back ever or if he'll regain his old form.

At this point, I'll take my chances on Bartolo Colon.  Anyone out there who throws somewhat hard and can win games at home, away, during the day, at night.  Someone to help Waino out and boost the confidence of the rotation leading up to Carp's return at the All-Star break.

Okay, my rant is over.  Just kinda irked at the tipping pitches excuse.  Seems to me more like we just don't have good pitchers right now.

-Brady

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7816310/Former-Reds,-Cards-GM-Bob-Howsam-dies

The former Cards' GM, Bob Howsam, died recently.  He was the Cards' GM for the 1964 WS championship team.  May he rest in peace.  Baseball has lost one of its own.
-Brady

Read a rumor on the board www.hogville.net that Cards' ownership is looking to sell.  Apparently it was heard on a radio show today?

Anyone that can clarify would be a great help.

Anyway, that's the rumor I've heard.  Could be nothing more than a rumor, but it could be something.  Who knows?  If I hear anything yes or no, I'll post here with an update.

-Brady

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080219&content_id=2379262&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl

Matthew Leach first broke the story at the Cardinals' website and on his blog, and it looks like Ron Villone could be a valuabe asset to the Cards.  Expect to him to find his way to the pen this year.  If not at first, I feel confident he'll see some time coming out of the bullpen in 2008.  He really does add to the depth of the Cards' relievers, and I think this is a good pickup.

-Brady

I uploaded a new photo album titled "Brady's Favorite Baseball Pics" so check it out, let me know what you think!

-Brady

Adam Wainwright throws a pitch at the Civil Rights Game in Memphis, Tennessee in 2007.

Adam Wainwright celebrating the 2006 World Series win on a poster outside Busch Stadium

The view from my seats to home plate at the Metrodome.

Left field from my seats at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

The center field wall at the Metrodome in Minnesota.

I love this view, though. It's amazing.

It poured all before the Civil Rights Game last year.

The scoreboard at Busch Stadium

Me and the Stan Musial statue outside Busch Stadium

Great view of the St. Louis Arch from the ground.

Pujols 5 restaurant in St. Louis.

I had to throw in this picture because these guys work so hard.

I love this pic...Best pic I've ever taken by far. All pure luck that I got a pic this good.

Walking towards the stadium before a game.

An amazing picture of old Busch I found.

Haha...awesome picture

The best view in the stadium to me. I love it.

Busch Stadium game I went to at night time.

Amazing picture. I love it. It's old, from last year's Spring Training, but it's awesome

Baum Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team played Florida...and won.

I loved these seats!

The big clock above the scoreboard at Autozone Park in Memphis. This was taken at the Civil Rights Game last year.

It's that time of year again!  Spring is in the air, and Spring Training is underway for MLB teams from all over.  Some teams, like the Mets or the Tigers, go into their February and March workouts preparing for a long season and championship hopes.  All teams have championship hopes, but there are teams that face a lot of uncertainty this time of year, and one of those teams is the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals face numerous obstacles and a lot of adversity before the season even starts this year.  Ace pitcher Chris Carpenter is out at least til just before the All-Star Break and starter Mark Mulder won't be ready for quite some time either.  It just came out today that recently acquired starter Matt Clement, who is coming off of surgery himself, will not be ready on opening day either.  It looks like Adam Wainwright will be the number one guy for the Cardinals, at least starting off the 2008 season.

The team will present a very different lineup in 2008, and nothing is set in stone for position players (except for Albert Pujols at first, Yadier Molina at catcher, and new third baseman Troy Glaus).  Second base, shortstop, and all outfield positions are up for grabs.  The departure of David Eckstein at short and Jim Edmonds in center field provides just that much more uncertainty for the Cardinals' lineup this season.  At second, last year's underachiever, Adam Kennedy, will get a lot of looks.  He's coming off of knee surgery and has every shot at winning the position if he can produce.  Deangelo Jiminez will get looks, as well.

In the outfield, Rick Ankiel heads into Spring Training as the main candidate for center field, with Chris Duncan likely holding down left field yet again.  Right field, on the other hand, will be a different story.  Juan Encarnacion, who I must say I feel absolutely horrible for, will miss the season after getting hit in the eye last year.  Candidates for right field are non-roster invite Juan Gonzalez (yes, Juan Gonzalez), Brian Barton (a 25 year old speedy outfielder who has been through a big time surgery, himself), and even Ankiel.

Of course, all these plans can change if young star outfielder Colby Rasmus makes his way into the picture.  Tony La Russa is not the type of manager who particularly enjoys using young talent, but Rasmus is of Edmonds' mold.  The last time La Russa really let a young player play was back in 2001 or so when he allowed the current first baseman to get some playing time.  We all know how Pujols has turned out.  Rasmus can be just as good, just in different ways.

As Spring Training continues, I'll give some more in-depth reports (to the best of my ability), so keep checking back!
-Brady

Hey everybody, Brady Holzhauer here.
Some of you may remember me as the guy who used to own "In the Cards" and did the "Coral and Brady on Baseball Show" with Coral Marshall (also of MLBlogs).

Today, I'm starting my blog back up, under a new name, because baseball season is getting close, and if there's anything to get me in a baseball mood it's all the MLBloggers talking spring training.

I currently write for the Stuttgart Daily Leader newspaper in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and I'll be headed to college next year at the University of Arkansas.  You can check out my sports columns at www.stuttgartdailyleader.com.

Another good link for you guys is www.hogville.net.
If you are a fan of college football, even if you aren't a Razorback fan, that's the place to go.  Check out the MLB forum on there and you can talk baseball with more fans of lots of teams, although it is for the most part a Cardinals' oriented place. 

Anyway, I'll be back soon to talk more on the Cardinals' and their 2008 campaign.  Hopefully you'll enjoy my commentary!
GO CARDS!
-Brady