No special header for this one folks. In fact, you may not see one for sometime. This blog is completely about the fantasy issue. What if I owned this guy? Would I not come in last for once? What if I owned that guy? Would I have a better team.
     Thats right folks, it's Fantasy Baseball time. With the leagues starting to form, it's only a matter of time before you join one. Lets take a quick glance at who some of the top picks, the no picks and the dark horses should be in this year's fantasy leagues.
     Ok, for top picks, the obvious choices are Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard. These two were monsters last year, and if Howard can find his Pujols groove (of constant numbers each year), then he'll be up for another MVP award. Sure, he will probably never hit 58 homeruns again, because of the walk treatment, but he'll get you numbers. HR, RBI, Runs and the averages: OB, Slugging and OPS. The same for Pujols. It looks like Pujols and Howard will be the numbers 1 and 2 picks in each draft. just who will be 1 and who will be 2?
     Other top players are Chris Carpentar, Roy Oswalt, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Brandon Webb, Johan Santanna, Joe Maur and Justin Morneau. All of whom will be top picks.
     Some don't pick these guys: Barry Bonds, JD Drew, Luis Gonzalez, Russell Martin, Geoff Jenkins and Gary Sheffield. Bonds will be injuried a lot this year, if he doesn't get arrested first. Drew, well, he agreed to terms almost two months ago with the Boston Red Sox and his deal hasn't been finalized yet because of an injury during an exam. Gonzalez is old and probably won't play as much as people think. If you want a lot of bases, you might want to take him but only as a late round pick. Martin will NOT be the Martin of last year: fact. Trust me. If you need a catcher, go for Brian McCann (who would be an iffy choice as well) or Maur. Jenkins and Sheffield probably won't see much playing time and haven't done well for a few years. Late picks if you desperately need outfield help.
     Some dark horses are: Yadier Molina, Anthony Reyes, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Stephen Drew, Carlos Quinten and Sammy Sosa. Molina and Reyes really came into their own during the postseason, most noteably the NLCS (Molina) and the World Series (Reyes). Both should have really good 2007 campaigns. Kouzy is a rookie 3B with a lot of pop. He'll fit into the middle of the young Friar's lineup and should produce 20+ homeruns, a lot of doules and some RBI. the DBack boys, Drew and Quinten, were stellar last year in the MLB debuts. This year looks better. Some starting experience under your belt is very good for young players, and you can bet that these two will have good years. And lastly, Sosa. Sosa was MIA in 2006 and looks to come back in 2007. He'll be playing a lot of DH, so his wear and tear will be low on his body so he MIGHT produce. In a hitter friendly park, his numbers MIGHT be good. See why he's a dark horse candidate? Lots of mights. He's the Frank Thomas of 2007. Injuries hampered him, full time DH. Take a shot if you're willing, but make it late.
     Thats all folks!

     Yes folks, it's true. Albert Pujols was once again screwed over in the Most Valuable Player votings. Ryan Howard has become the new Barry Bonds (except Howard doesn't use steroids, is not a jerk and the world's biggest ####): stealing the MVP away from the real Most Valuable Player. Not getting your team in the playoffs and just having an offense kind of year. What did Albert Pujols do? He led his team to the playoffs while having a career year and winning a gold glove. Don't let me just opinionate you away, let me provide you with some cold hard facts.
     Pujols had an oblique injury in the middle of the season and that prevented his numbers from being better, but that has nothing to do with the voting. I'm just letting everyone know that before I tell you this stat: Howard played in 16 more games than Pujols. In fact, this was the first year Pujols was on the disabled list..and that's in 5+ years. Ok, so here's the breakdown of the numbers:
Howard had 58 homeruns, 149 RBI, 108 walks, 181 strikeouts and had a .313 batting average.
Pujols had 49 homeruns, 137 RBI, 92 walks, 50 strikeouts and had a .331 batting average.
Howard's slugging, on-base and OPS (On-base + slugging) percentages were: .659/.425/1.082.
Pujols numbers for those categories were: .671/.431/1.102.
Howard led his team to a second place finish in both the East division and the Wild Card.
Pujols led his team to a first place finish, ended a possible third eight game losing streak and to a World Series championship (although, the post season doesn't get involved in the voting).
     Now who's valuable? Is Howard more valuable because he didn't carry his team to the playoffs while only leading Pujols in three categories: walks (16), HR (9) and RBI (12)? I mean, those numbers aren't really far apart. Howard also led Pujols in strikeouts with 131 more, whereas Pujols had 42 less strikeouts than walks, and thats hard to do. Just look at these blatent facts folks, Pujols was once screwed out of the MVP. Last year, most Cardinals fans thought he would be screwed out of it again because Jones had over 50 homeruns and Derek Lee had the batting title. He won last year, beating out a 50+ homerun guy. He should have done it this year. Heck, I would have rather seen Lance Berkman get the MVP rather than Howard. At least Berkman led his team on a charge to the central title. What did Howard do? Keep a team that was still in tact together? Everyone says he took over the team when Bobby Abreu was traded. Hate to break it to you folks, Abreu wasn't leading the team BEFORE he was traded, it was Howard all year long. Just remember these numbers. The evidence is clear: nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts, Albert got SCREWED!

***I know MVP voting was a while back, but I have been swamped with homework lately, so I never had time to write this. Enjoy and leave comments***

     Ok, lets me first point this out: I am one of the biggest Cardinal fans ever and I celebrated the World Series victory like a mad man. I bought the World Series Champions hat the very next day. Ok, now that that is set, let me start this blog. The Cardinals are in need of pitching. They only have Chris Carpenter (who should have had won the Cy Young Award for 2006. Brandon Webb winning is bullcrap), Anthony Reyes and Adam Wainwright. Now, thats pretty good. An ace and two standouts. What is this rotation lacking? A proven starter with great stuff who is young. You think about who that is while I say about the next part.
     The Detroit Tigers like the young guys. They need a first baseman, although Sean Casey coming back isn't a longshot. They are also looking for some pop for that lineup. Their only fire power right now is Magglio Ordonez and Gary Sheffield. They could use a young, left handed bat for the first base role. Someone who is versitle if needed. Now, think about that for a little bit.
     Confused about who I'm talking about? I'm talking about Jeremey Bonderman and Chris Duncan. These two should be involved in a deal with each other. Also involved in the trade would be Ricardo Rincon and Chris Lambert. This trade can fill a lot of needs for both teams. The Cardinals former first round pick, Lambert, isn't going anywhere in the Cardinals organization. The Tigers have been known for developing young talented pitchers, and maybe adding a young arm in Lambert to replace Humberto Sanchez might do the trick.
     Ricardo Rincon is injuried, but I'll tell you right now I have no idea if he is healed or not. I have not seen any reports about him in months, but he needs to go. The Cardinal have no room for him anymore, but the Tigers do. They lost Jamie Walker and Rincon could come as a cheaper price than resigning Walker.
     Chris Duncan is one of my personal favorites on the Cardinals. He has a lot of pop, he can play first base, left field and right field. Sure, his showing in the outfield during the playoffs wasn't great. Lets look at the facts though:
- Duncan was a rookie
- Duncan never played the outfield until Spring Training
That can lead to disastorous results. His natural position is first base, and the Tigers need a first baseman. Like I stated earlier, they need a left handed power hitter too. Plus, playing for Jim Leyland could really help him. La Russa has done everything he can to help Duncan, but I feel like Leyland could take him further. He would be a great addition to the Tigers.
     Bonderman has been rumored for a trade recently. The Tigers have a full rotation with Kenny Rogers, Mike Maroth, Justin Verlander and Nate Robertson. If the Tigers trade Bonderman and finish off the rebuilding of their offense, they can focus on pitching. They can add a number one in Jason Schmidt or Barry Zito. Maybe a middle of the rotation guy like Jeff Suppan or Jeff Weaver. The Tigers have a lot of options by trading Bonderman and they can finish off their offense problems early.
     There you have it. As you can see, this trade benifits both sides a lot. I doubt this trade will be made, but if it is, don't be surprised.

     Are the St. Louis Cardinals still the underdog? They beat the favored San Diego Padres three games to one. Then they beat the heavily favored New York Mets four games to three. Now, they lead the favored Detroit Tigers two games to one in the 2006 World Series. Did you see a pattern? Favored, heavily favored and favored. Thats the pattern. Thats right folks, the Cardinals were not suppose to beat the Padres. They definently weren't suppose to be in the World Series, e####ally if you listen to Dayn Perry. Heck, you can make a case that they shouldn't be anywhere near the postseason. I mean, this team had three losing streaks that added to 23 games lost. Can this team really be this close to winning their 10th World Series title?
     The Cardinals are, despite what you hear from Perry, real close to winning this year's title. Perry says that the Cardinals aren't good enough to be this good. They can't a series if they tried. He wants you to believe the Cardinals basically suck. Well, suck on this Dayn Perry: Cardinals are almost World Champions.
     After that rip at Perry because his writing this postseason has really irked me, I will leave you with this (e####ally since I wrote this in the 15 minutes I had before class started) the Cardinals are the best. They have the best manager, the best team and the best closer. Please accept this. Don't be part of the 90% of the world against the Cardinals. If you are part of that 90%, please don't overflow the oceans with your tears when the Cardinals win.
     Just to let you know, this article basically has no information in it. It's just a rip at the Cardinal haters because I'm gloating. That 90% of the world stat is probably not right (more than likely higher), so don't go by that. Made that up. Comment badly if you must, but I think St. Louis Cardinal fans will agree with me. It's been long enough, it's time to gloat because we're up two games to one and we have Jeff Suppan pitching tonight. So eat this article you Cardinal haters, e####ally the following: Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, Jeff Brantley, Dayn Perry, Steve Phillips, Dayn Perry and Joe Morgan (I don't like Dayn Perry and Joe Morgan is the worst announcer in history, so they get listed twice =P).

     There are five teams in the Major Leagues that have payrolls of $100 million or more. They are the New York Yankees ($198 million), the Boston Red Sox ($120 million), the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ($103 million), the Chicago White Sox ($102 million) and the New York Mets ($100 million). Look at these five teams. What has happened to these teams this year? You have a loss in the first round of the playoffs (Yankees) and a pending loss in the second round of the playoffs (Mets). The other three teams lost their divisions and didn't make the playoffs. Thats pathetic for $100 million plus payroll teams.
     Lets look at who did make the playoffs: Los Angeles Dodgers ($99 million), St. Louis Cardinals ($86 million), San Diego Padres ($68 million), Detroit Tigers ($82 million), Oakland Athletics ($62 million) and the Minnesota Twins ($63 million). Big difference, right? So why don't the teams that do have big payrolls win and the teams that are under $100 million (though the Dodgers are fairly close to $100 million) win? Well, to put it simply, spending. The teams with big checkbooks spend thriftly buying all the best offense they can. The teams with lower payrolls spend wisely and buy up the cheap offense to go along with their personal big bopper creating a balanced lineup and quality pitchers to put in the rotation and the bullpen. What? I didn't say pitching for the big spenders? Maybe for a reason? Yeah, for a reason. Look at the Mets, the Yankees, Red Sox and Angels. They have no pitching staff. Only the White Sox have pitching, and they have a lot of it. The Yankees have two pitchers that collect Social Security after every start (Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson) as do the Mets (Tom Glavine). Then, they fill their bullpen with over priced and washed up pitchers, the same with the back of their rotation. Pedro Martinez was good in 2004 and hasn't been since. Maybe these teams that spend money on offense need to buy some quality pitching.
     I got into an argue with my brother a few months ago. I kept telling him the American League is a pointless league because they buy up all the talent they can and don't care about their spending. He told me the National League does the same. Then I spat into his face with this comment: Name 5 teams, other than the Mets, that have enormus payrolls. He had no answer. Then he came up with this: Take out the top spender and lowest spender in each league and see what the average payroll is (so the number isn't skewed by the Yankees or the Florida Marlins). So, I'll do it now. Here is the average payroll for the American League (excluding the Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays) and the National League (excluding the Mets and Marlins):
American League Average Payroll 2006: $78,056,695 million
National League Average Payroll 2006: $73,708,125 million
     Now, at first look you say, "haha, you were wrong! There is only a $5 million difference!" Well, that may be true. I would respond with, "How many teams are in the AL? The NL?" True baseball fans would know this right away. There are 14 teams in the AL and 16 in the NL. Then, you figure I took off two teams from both leagues, that leaves 12 in the AL and 14 in the NL. Thats right, the AL has a higher average payroll without the Yankees and three other teams.
     Knowing all of this, you can now understand why the NL loses in the All-Star game and in the World Series. You also know that the AL is stacked with teams that want to win so badly, they'll spend as much as they can to do it (and the Marlins were in the Wild Card chase till a late fade with a $15 million payroll. Food for thought there). Enjoy this new found knowledge!
*All numbers for payrolls were rounded up to the nearest million except in figuring the average. The numbers were taken from Espn.com. Thank you ESPN for the information!*

     The St. Louis Cardinals have Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter. That's what most people say. For us Cardinal fans, we say differently. Sure, we have the reigning MVP and Cy Young Award winners, but we also have Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, Yadier Molina, David Eckstein and Juan Encarnacion. There is, however, one more thing that has been added to that list and that is the bullpen. The past two years we've had the best bullpen in the majors. This year, everyone knew the Cardinals bullpen wasn't as good as it has been. Without Ray King and Julian Taverez, it shouldn't be. Instead, the Cardinals started from scratch. They started with Jason Isringhausen, Randy Flores and Brad Thompson. They filled the spots with Ricardo Rincon, Josh Hancock, Adam Wainwright and Braden Looper. Now, Rincon and Isringhausen are gone because of injuries. Now, they filled those two roles with Josh Kinney and Tyler Johnson, both rookies. Lets break down the young pen and show you how they are doing it.
     First, lets start with the guy that was there last year and did great, started bad this year and finished good: Brad Thompson. Thompson has got a sinking fastball, groundball pitcher. He doesn't over dominate you, but he'll get the job done. He gets mostly grounders to get you out, and he does it well. He started the season good but in the middle became really rocky when the bullpen fell apart. He was sent to Triple A Memphis to be a starter and work out the kinks, which he did. Since coming back up, Thompson appeared in 10 games in the regular season (the end of August and all of Spetember and October) and had a 1.13 ERA. In the postseason so far, he's appeared in two games and pitched one inning combined for a 0.00 ERA and one strikeout and one walk. Not bad. Thompson, before last year, was thought of as a future number 5 starter come 2007. Now, I don't think Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan want him pitching every fifth day because he's become so good out of the bullpen. This is one pitcher that has the bright lights of fame in front of him.
     Adam Wainwright is the new closer for the Cardinals. He started the year in Spring Training competeing with Sidney Ponson and Anthony Reyes for the fifth starter job. Wainwright was considered a long shot. At the end of Spring Training, Ponson was the number five starter, Reyes was at Memphis and Wainwright was in the bullpen. The bullpen? Wasn't this guy considered a long shot? He was a long shot, but the Cardinals needed help in the bullpen, and Wainwright got the job over Reyes because of Reyes' lack of warming up in a hurry and if the Cardinals needed Reyes for the rotation, he'd be ready by starting at Memphis. So, Wainy was in the pen working some good innings and pitched great. He pitched in 51 games before Spetember and had a 2.84 ERA. Thats impressive. E####ally for a guy who'll be in the starting rotation next year. When he was still pitching in relief, then moved to being a setup man then moved into the closer's role in September, he posted a 2.79 ERA over 10 games and was 2 out of 2 in saves. In the postseason, he's gone four and a third innings over four games and is 1 out of 1 in saves and has yet to allow a run. Way to go Wainy!
     Tyler Johnson was a nasty lefthander that was taken in the Rule V draft in 2004 by the Oakland Athletics. The Cardinals knew he would taken because he was so good, but they didn't have room for him on their 40 man roster. The Athletics though returned him and the Cardinals then added him to thier 40 man roster because they didn't want to lose him again. When Rincon went down early, it was Johnson that got the call, not Carmen Cali (who is now basically done in the Cardinals organization). Johnson pitched ok to start with, then got rocky and then pitched amazing. He ended the year with a 4.95 ERA over 56 games. In the postseason, he's showed why he's so good. Todd Walker of the San Diego Padres said his slider (his best pitch) is the nastiest thing he has ever seen. He also has a very good fastball and can get the lefties out in a hurry. He can also dominate the right handed batters if he comes in with that slider. He is key kog to this revamped bullpen.
     Last, but certainly not least, is Josh Kinney. First off, let me say Kinney pitched at Quincy Unniversity during his college years and QU is my hometown's college, so I like Kinney more than anyone else (Josh Rabe of the Minnesota Twins also played at QU). Kinney was pitching with an independent league team a few years ago when the Cardinals found him. They persuaded him to come into their organization. He did, and he's flourished. He wasn't at Spring Training and he has bounced around all over the Cardinals organization, but has finally made it. He is the setup man to the new closer Wainwright and has pitched well since his recall from Memphis. When he first came up, he had a 4.97 ERA over his first 10 games and was sent down. When Spetember came along, he got recalled and proved he was better than what he showed in July. He pitched in 10 games and had a 1.97 ERA in Spetember and October and has pitched extremely well in the postseason so far: 3 games, 0.00 ERA, 2 Ks, 2 BB in 3 innings. Not bad at all.
     Now that you know how good these four have been, think about next year. Hancock and Looper will be back and Isringhausen will be healthy. Johnson and Flores will still be the dynamic duo against lefties and Kinney will be out there as well. Wainy will be in the rotation. That's six guys. Know what that means? They can either sign a veteren (maybe Kerry Wood? Great fastball, former starter. He could be a good setup man) or callup Mark Worrell. The possibilities are endless right now.

     Now that the season is over, we can finally start making real predictions for all of the awards. Now, there are so many hard picks, this will not be easy; however, I'll do my best. Before I start though, I will only say who wins and why they do. Then I'll do a little blurb after the winner on who was passed up with the place they finished in after their name in (). Ok, MVP time. The National League goes first because obviously the National League is better than the American League.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER 2006
NATIONAL LEAGUE: ALBERT PUJOLS, ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
This is a no doubter folks. Who lifted the St. Louis Cardinals into the playoffs? Albert Pujols. Who didn't? Ryan Howard. Who ended a possible third eight game losing streak for the Cardinals? Albert Pujols. The guy is obvious pick. Sorry Philly fans. Ryan Howard does deserve the Most Outstanding player, no doubt; however, the Most VALUABLE Player is the guy that carries you into the postseason, not carries your luggage to the terminal for a flight home.
SORRY TO: Howard (2nd), Carlos Beltran (3rd)
AMERICAN LEAGUE: JUSTIN MORNEAU, MINNESOTA TWINS
There is no denying that Morneau wins the MVP for the AL. Without him, the Twins never would have won the division (or go to the postseason for that matter). The guy made the Twins go. Sure, say Johan Santanna made them go, but he led the pitching staff. He led the pitching staff last year too and and "made them go" home. So, obviously Santanna can't do it alone. This is where Moneau came in and won the MVP award and stole it from other deserving players.
SORRY TO: David Ortiz (2nd), Derek Jeter (3rd), Frank Thomas (4th), Santanna (5th), Jim Thome (6th), Jermaine Dye (7th)

CY YOUNG AWARD 2006
NATIONAL LEAGUE: CHRIS CARPENTER, ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Yes folks, it's a clean sweep for the Cardinals again. Carp was very dominate all year long. Sure, he had some struggles along the way, but he did towards the end of the year last year. This year, though, can be blamed on a inconsistent bullpen. Because of that pen, Tony La Russa was forced to leave Carp out there on an empty tank at the end of the year and his numbers suffered. Although, a 15-8 record and 3.09 earned run average is pretty damn good.
SORRY TO: Roy Oswalt (2nd), Brad Penny (3rd), Carlos Zambrano (4th)
AMERICAN LEAGUE: JOHAN SANTANNA, MINNESOTA TWINS
Another sweep, this time for the Twins. Santanna carried the Twins pitching yet again. He was the MLB leader in all three pitching Triple Crown categories (ERA, Wins and Ks). This guy is dominant and when he took the mound, you know you were gonna win.
SORRY TO: Barry Zito (2nd), Justin Verlander (3rd), Kenny Rogers (4th)

MANAGER OF THE YEAR
NATIONAL LEAGUE: JOE GIRARDI, FLORIDA MARLINS
It's a shame what happened to Girardi. Get stuck with a bunch of rookies, be predicted to win less games than the Kansas City Royals and end up with a 78-84 record then get fired because he strained relations with the front office? Thats gotta blow. Girardi, though, gets the last laugh. He'll be interviewing for jobs left and right and has the Manager of the Year award for 2006 to put on his resume. The Marlins were foolish to let him go, and they'll more than likely regret it. The question is though: How long will Gonzalez last in Florida?
SORRY TO: Charlie Manuel (2nd), Grady Little (3rd), Bruce Bochy (4th), Phil Garner (5th), Tony La Russa (6th)
AMERICAN LEAGUE: JIM LEYLAND, DETROIT TIGERS
In his first year in Florida, he won a World Series. In his first year with Detroit, he almost pulled of the greatest upset: win the division and knock out the White Sox. Part 2 came through, but they didn't win the division. Thats ok though. Mr. Miracle came through and guided the Tigers to their first playoff berth in 19 years and did it while everyone was telling him his team wasn't good enough. Who's laughing now?
SORRY TO: Ron Gardenhire (2nd), Ken Macha (3rd)
NOT SORRY TO: Joe Torre (30th)

And there you have it folks, your 2006 awards. I only did these three because they are the most important, and the MVP has had a lot of debate behind it this year. So, there you go and I hope you enjoy!

     Let this be known right away, I am not a Red Sox fan or a Yankee fan. I cannot stand the American League East, or the American League for that matter. So don't think I'm a homer. Since that is now known, I can finally type my story. Theo Epstein has an ok team in front of him, but he really needs to do something else. He needs to address about every part of his roster this offseason. Here's what the Red Sox need to do in order to keep pace with the Yankees next season. Some of these moves probably won't happen, but they can work.
     ANDRUW JONES: The Braves want to resign. Jones wants to stay a Brave. Does this mean this will happen? No. Could it? Yes. The Braves don't really have enough money to reisgn Jones after this season, and if Jones goes to Beantown, he could make a lot of money. Plus, the Braves could benefit a lot from a trade of Jones. They could trade Jones to Boston for Coco Crisp (to play left field and leadoff), Mike Lowell, Kason Gabbard and Manny Delcarmen. Now, you ask why trade a center fielder for a left fielder? Simple, the Braves need someone out in left that is good. Also, Crisp could be their leadoff man (or Edgar Renteria could take that spot). They just need to bump Marcus Giles from the leadoff spot. He's not comfortable there, and everyone knows it. This could also be beneficial because that will allow the Braves to sign Torii Hunter (if he's a free agent) to play center. Their lineup would get a big boost. Gabbard could be in the rotation for the Braves in the second half of next season (starting at Triple A) and all of 2008. Delcarmen could be out in the bullpen and help out their to bridge the gap to Bob Wickman. Lowell would be good for Chipper Jones. Jones and Lowell are getting up there in age and their play is starting to show it. If you platoon these two, their injuries could be done and both could impact the club.
     For the Red Sox, they get a great hitting center fielder whose bat has finally come alive in recent years. Jones is also a super defender and is a big boost over Coco Crisp and anyone else that they put out in center.
     BARRY ZITO: The Red Sox have an ok rotation. They'll have Josh Beckett (inconsistent), Curt Schilling (old and inconsistent), Jon Lester, Jon Papelbon, Matt Clement and Tim Wakefield. All of those pitchers are either young, old, consistent or a combonation of some. Thats not good enough to compete with the Yankees offense (they have a pitching staff other than Wang and Johnson?). They need to add a boost. That's where Zito comes in. Zito can fit in nicely in this rotation as the number one starter. That'll put these pitchers following Zito: Beckett, Schilling, Paplebon and Lester. This lets the pitchers know where they stand in relation to their peers so they can pitch better. If you're told you're the ace of the staff, that can mess with your head if you've never been one before. Schilling can't carry this staff anymore and Beckett is Beckett. Zito is needed to keep this rotation together. This also makes Wakefield and Clement expandable to trade off for some pitching help. They really don't have a closer, unless Keith Foulke or Craig Hansen and take the duty. Look at this bullpen: Foulke, Hansen, Mike Timlin and Julian Taverez. Is that threatening? Not really. They really need to add some people. They can look to teams that have a lot of youth coming up, that way they don't care if they give up some veterens. They could also look to signing Joe Borowski to help build a bridge, maybe even be the closer. Eric Gagne will be available, maybe they could go there. No matter what they do, they need to stock the bullpen along with adding Zito to help improve this offense.
     GARY SHEFFIELD & MARK LORETTA: Yes folks, Gary Sheffield. Sheffield is getting old, but based on the other night, the guy can still hit when healthy. To help keep him healthy, the Yankees moved Sheffield to first. Well, the Red Sox just traded off Lowell. Remember? The Red Sox really want to move Kevin Youkilis back to third, and thats why they traded Mike Lowell. This allows them to move Youkilis to third and sign Sheffield to play first. Look at that, their defense is almost completed. They just need to resign Loretta. They did have a middle infield combo coming up in Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia, but they traded Ramirez. This leaves Pedroia, who has and can play second and short. This is big. They can move him to short and keep Loretta to play second and their defense has taken a big leap. Also, their offense has as well. We have one more move, then I'll show you the updated lineup.
     GEOFF JENKINS: Yes folks, Jenkins. Sure, he's not great anymore, but neither is Trot Nixon. Thaats why I'm letting Nixon go and I'm trading two Single A players to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jenkins. Jenkins, en turn, will play in a platoon with Wily Mo Pena and Manny Ramirez. Pena is good enough to play everyday, but he needs to be kept fresh. With this platoon, he'll play about 100 games (three out of five games he plays) and Jenkins would play about 62 games in right. Then, he'd also be used to give Ramirez a day off. Meaning, he'd play about 20 games in left. He could also be used in the DH spot as well, once in a while.
     Ok, so here's the new lineup that I would put out there everyday:
SS  Pedoria
RF  Pena/Jenkins
DH  David Ortiz
LF   Ramirez
CF  Jones
 C   Jason Varitek
1B  Sheffield
3B  Youkilis
2B  Loretta
Thats a pretty good looking lineup right there. Speed and on-base percentage at the top, then comes a very good power supply with the 2-5. Then comes some good hitters with the 6-8. Then, it's your second leadoff man in the ninth spot to get it back to the top of the lineup.
     Now, that sounds like a very productive offseason. What do you think?

     So, now that there's only a week left in the regular season, it's time to get down and dirty with the playoff predicitions. Now, only two divisions have been clinched, two more will be clinched in three days or less and the other two will go down to the wire, along with the Wild Card races (of both leagues). So, I'm going to show you my predicitions below, and all the teams I have in are the teams I think (or all ready know) will be in the playoffs.
     First, the best league out of the two, the National League. This is how the National League side will break down:
NEW YORK METS vs. LOS ANGELES DODGERS
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS vs. SAN DIEGO PADRES
The Dodgers will be the Wild Card team and the Padres won the West. The Cardinals blow out the Padres, again, in a three game sweep. The Mets, with their pitching lacking, get beat by the Dodgers in five games. The Mets have a great offensive team; however, you need pitching to help you win. Ask the Boston Red Sox what all offense and no pitching gets you. Sure, the Mets have Pedro Martinez (who is very inconsistent and still a little injuried) and Tom Glavine (inconsistent) and Steve Trachsel (enough said). That's it though. Oliver Perez is a joke, ask the PITTSBURGH PIRATES! If you get sent down by the Pirates, and then traded, you're pretty much useless. Sure, he has pitched ok in New York, but only ok. In retrospect, he pitched ok in Pittsburgh too. John Maine, a guy that hasn't smelled the postseason. You want to count on him? Good luck with that. The Dodgers, though, have a proven force of attack. They have three starters with World Series rings (two coming in the last three years), a pitcher who won 15+ games a year for more than a decade who is also a 300 game winner and a very good, hard throwing rookie. Their rotation is much better than the Mets and thats what will stop their offense. The Mets' pitching staff will not be able to halt the Dodger's offensive enslaut and they will end up winning the series.
     The Cardinals will sweep the Padres. I know I'm a Cardinal fan and everything so my answer is kind of bias, but still: Cardinals have a better team. The Padres have two good starters and a starter with a good postseason history (whose numbers are flawed because he pitched with the New York Yankees in their World Series run). The Cardinals have the regining (and more than likely repeat) Cy Young Award winner, a starter who has been nothing short of dominate in the second half, and two vets that can eat innings. The Cardinals have a balanced offense with David Eckstein back and three guys that have put up a combined .291 AVG, 60 HR (Juan Encanracion needs one more to be the fourth Cardinal with 20 bombs this year) and 211 RBI behind the regining (and more than likely repeat) Most Valuable Player Albert Pujols. In June, the Cardinals missed his bat a lot and these players (Encarnacion, Chris Duncan and Scott Rolen) didn't step it up to make up for Pujols' bat, proving they need him in the lineup to win. Now that Pujols and Eckstein ar ehealthy, and the three backing up Pujols are having decent seasons (Duncan by the way doesn't even have 300 at bats yet and has 20 homeruns), the Cardinals can blow the Padres out of the water.
     The next series, the League Championship Series, will be a tough one. You have the well balanced Dodgers who just beat the best National Leagaue team during the regular season and the Cardinals, who have been the best team in the National League the last two years. This series will go all seven games, most definently. The Cardinals will come out on top, but by a slim margin. The Dodgers have three great starters and then a so-so starter, whereas the Cardinals have one great starter, a good starter and then two so-so starters. If the Cardinals get their way and have Jeff Suppan and Chris Carpenter start Games 1 and 2, then get Jason Marquis and Jeff Weaver to start Games 3 and 4, they'll be in good shape. With the Dodgers being the Wild Card team, the Cardinals would have homefield advantage and Carp and Supp have pitched better at home and vice versa for Weaver and Marquis. Game 5 would belong to Anthony Reyes so Carp and Supp could pitch at home, if needed. The Dodgers would throw Greg Maddux in Game 1 against Carp, Derek Lowe in Game 2 against Supp, Brad Penny in Game 3 against Marquis and then Chad Billingsley in Game 4 against Weaver. This is where the Dodgers need to be creative. They could pitch Maddux in game four and save Billingsley for Game 5, and then pitch Lowe and Penny in the final two games. This would also assure Maddux to be ready for Game 1 of the World Series (if they make it, which won't happen). This could also assure the Dodgers a better suited matchup for an important Game 4 and it lets Billingsley pitch against a fellow rookie. I'll stop myself from my rambling to move on and say the Cardinals are in the World Series.
     Tune in on Thursday for the American League AND World Series Matchup blog!

     Is Albert Pujols a lock for the Most Valuable Player award? Sure, Ryan Howard's numbers look amazing, but he also has Chase Utley, Pay Burrell and Jimmy Rollins in his lineup. Pujols has a slumping Scott Rolen, Juan Encarnacion, Chris Duncan and a bunch of role players in his lineup. After knowing that, whose numbers are padded? I'd say Howard's. I know that gets you Phillies fan steamed, but here's something else to add to your crockpot: Pujols missed 18 games due to injury. Here's something else as well: the Cardinals will only play 161 games this year, one game less than the Phillies. Knowing all this, you know Howard's numbers are padded and Pujols would be leading Howard in all the major categories (Pujols leads Howard in all the minor categories). Albert Pujols is a lock for his second consecutive MVP award. For you Phillies fans, accept it and look forward to next year's postseason run cause you aren't making it this year.

     Yes folks, it's true. The Cincinnati Reds are stacked up for the 2007 season. They made a real attempt to compete in 2006, but they knew it was a long shot. Now, they're looking forward to 2007. They have a real chance next year. Lets look at what the Reds have done this year to build for next year.
     First and most importantly, the Reds hired someone that knew what he was doing to run the club in the front office, General Manager Wayne Krivsky. Krivsky spent all of his years in Minnesota, a place where all they do is develop young talneted players. Krivsky came in and addressed the Reds needs as fast as he could. He added Bronson Arroyo, Brandon Phillips and David Ross. These three have been key aquisitions. Phillips has been spectacular at second, offensivly. On defense, he's been average with 14 errors. Ross has been hitting the snot out of the ball and has finally been named the everyday catcher for the Reds.
     Bronson Arroyo pitched great, in the first half. His season stats look this: 12-9, 3.33 ERA, 1.21 WHIP. In the first half, his stats were: 9-6, 3.12 ERA, 1.18 WHIP. Since the All-Star break, 3-3, 3.70 ERA, 1.25 WHIP. Those numbers since the break are decent, but not great (like before the break). This guy was suppose to be the ace of the staff. Instead, that has fallen upon Aaron Harrang, yet again. This guy has been the head of the staff for years. To make a long story short, Arroyo needs to step up next year and be the number guy everyone knows he can be.
     Kyle Lohse was a good pickup and can be a decent number four guy in the rotation. Eric Milton is a number three pitcher. Do you see something? There's no legimate ace of the staff here that can set the rest of the pitchers in place. I mean, look at the Marlins, Cardinals, Mets and Yankees. They all have that ace that can set the rotation in place. The Reds need someone like that, and I assure you Krivsky will be shopping for plenty free agent pitchers. Thats his basic need. His bullpen is pretty set. You, hopefully, have Eddie Guardado coming back next year to be your closer. You've got Dave Weathers and Todd Coffey to be the setup men in front of the lefty. Rheal Cormier as the lefty specialist and Ryan Franklin to be a long relief guy out of the pen. All they need is a guy that can face both lefties and righties equally and is a power arm (Kerry Wood?) to make this bullpen complete. Plus, yoiu have Gary Majewski and Bill Bray to make the bullpen better.
     The offense is together. All you need is a shortstop (because Royce Clayton SUCKS). You can entrust right field to Ryan Freel and make him your leadoff hitter. Another thing you can do is go spend money and add that ace for the staff and a power outfielder (to compliment Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey, Jr.). This of course means you move Dunn to first and LEAVE HIM THERE. He's a liability in the outfield. So, your order kind of looks like this: Freel, RF; Shortstop; Dunn, 1B; Power Left Fielder; Griffey, CF; Ross, C; Edwin Encarnacion, 3B; Phillips, 2B; pitcher. Thats a dangerous lineup (no matter what power left fielder they add). Then, all of the sudden, your team is rebuilt and refueled and ready to make a real run in 2007. The 2006 team was a good start, now they just have to build on it.

Here's a promotion for the greatest fan club site in the world.

Like the greatest player since Babe Ruth? Believe in Gods? Well then, you'll want to join the Albert Pujols Fan Club! You can join for free. You can be an All-Star member for life by paying $5 (via PayPal), or be an MVP member like me and pay $10 for a lifetime membership. The best part? You may meet the man himself, Albert "The Machine" Pujols. So go join up today!

     There are some moves the Cardinals need to make for next year. I'll give you a rundown in a second. First off, lets remember not to long ago the Cardinals had an over $90 million payroll. What did that bring? A World Series appearence. What has this $85 million dollar payroll bring? Disaster. There are teams that have upped their payrolls past the Cardinals. Now, the Cardinals can say they don't want to spend to much. However, whats too much? When Scott Rolen, Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter make over $31 million (for good reason), I think you know that you have to up the payroll. After all, those three make more than a third of the payroll. So here's what the Cardinals need to do:
     First off, the Cardinals need to up their budget to $100 million. Now, remember that's their budget, not their payroll. You need some flexability, and this is how you start it. Now, you set your sites on a few goals. First and foremost, limit your spending to your own possible free agent players. You don't want to spend too much, but you don't want to spend too little. So, here's what I would do. I would resign Ronnie Belliard to a two year contract worth $6 million, with a club option for a third year worth $4.5 million. Next, trade Ricardo Rincon for a minor league player, outside of the league. This frees up spots for Tyler Johnson and Randy Flores to be the full-time lefties out of the pen. Next comes the tricky part: Jim Edmonds. I would deny his option. Then, try to sign him to a one year deal worth $1 million. If he denys, fine. If he accepts, great. Either way, this saves $6-7 million. After this, I would resign Jeff Suppan, who has probably been the number two pitchers the past three years. I would definently resign Preston Wilson. This gives the Cardinals a lot of insurance. If they can't sign a big time outfielder, at least they have a fall back plan. Now, the expensive part: Mark Mulder. I would definently try to work out a deal with Mulder. Sure, he's been a little inconsistent, but everyone knows the capability this guy has. I would try to sign him to a five year contract worth between $48 and $55 million dollars. Why so high? The money we would get back on Mulder and the money we save on Edmonds would cover the first year of the contract, and it still gives us $2-3 million to play with.....along with $13.5 million dollars. Ah ha, think of that. Sounds bad, but when you break it down, it's huge. We have about $28 million to spend in the offseason. We have an open outfield spot for a big time signee and a set rotation (Carpenter, Mulder, Suppan, Anthony Reyes and Adam Wainwright). Also, look at the bullpen: Flores, Johnson, Brad Thompson, Josh Hancock, Jorge Sosa, Braden Looper and Jason Isringhausen. Plus, after a big offseason signee of an outfielder, we can add a few arms to the bullpen, if we want. Now, lets move on to the free agent market.
     Now, the free agent market is going to be a huge part of the Cardinals offseason. On the shopping list is: a backup catcher, a utility infielder, a big outfield bat and maybe some bullpen pitchers. First target: outfield. The Cardinals outfield (assuming Edmonds resigns) will be pretty crowded. The following are the names of the outfielders on the roster (* means they are starting): Edmonds, Wilson, Chris Duncan*, Juan Encarnacion* and So Taguchi. So, backup outfielders are not necessary. Now, lets go shopping. Down the fvie tool isle, we see Alfonso Soriano (2B/LF). Soriano comes with great speed, an even better bat and a better than average throwing arm. He converted to the outfield in Washington. With St. Louis, he's still an outfielder. Soriano will cost a lot, but guess what? We got close to $30 million to spend. So, lets try to pick him up. Soriano wants a no-trade clause, and plenty of teams are going to try for his services. Here's a few: New York Yankees, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, San Diego Padres. Like I said, just a few. So, the Cardinals need to blow Soriano away with an offer. Here's my offer layed out over the period of years the contract states:
Year 1 - $12.5 million
Year 2 - $13 million
Year 3 - $13 million
Year 4 - $16 million
Year 5 - $18 million (club option; buyout: $3.5 million)
Yeah, thats a big contract, but for a good reason. Soriano is worth the money. He can hit fourth in the order with Scott Rolen batting after him, followed by Duncan and Encarnacion. This gives the Cardinals a batting order of five guys that can hit for 20+ homeruns. Thats worth $54.5 million over four years.
     Next isle: Carlos Lee. This cat is worth the dough, but not as much as Soriano. Lee has great power and the ability to hit for a high average and score a lot of runs. He's basically a Panama version of Albert Pujols. What I would do with him is lay out another four year contract with a fifth year option, but not as much money:
Year 1 - $11 million
Year 2 - $11 million
Year 3 - $13 million
Year 4 - $14 million
Year 5 - $16 million (club option; buyout: $3 million)
Soriano's contract can be worth either $72.5 million or $58 million. Lee's can be worth $65 million or $52 million. It's significantly less money, but beings Soriano has more abilitys than Lee, it's actually pretty reasonable.
     Now, notice what I'm doing here with Lee and Soriano. I'm looking for guys who can hit 40+ homeruns and drive in over 100 runs. Why do that when I have Pujols? Here's a question to your question: why have Manny Ramirez bat after David Ortiz? You have two guys who hit over 80 homeruns and drive in over 270 runs a year (between the two). This gives the Cardinals an even more dangerous middle of the order and it takes a little pressure off Rolen to always come through.
     The bench can be easily addressed. We bascially only need two players for the bench. We have Micheal Hernandez at Triple A right now, and we can always resign Jose Vizcaino. So, no big deals there. The bullpen, yes it could always use an extra arm (e####ally after watching it this year). So, basically, whoever becomes available, we go after. After all these moves, we should have about $12 million left over for jus in case moves, and to carry over and pay for some salaries of guys' contracts  that grow.
     Now, how can you argue with that?

     Folks, I think it's offical. Take out the gun and shoot them now. Walt Jocketty has done everything he can to keep the farm system intact and try to win. He has done a pretty good job too. Bringing in Preston Wilson to help off the bench and start once in awhile. He has also added Ronnie Belliard to help spark the offense. However, none of these plans of Jocks have worked out the way he wanted them to. Lets break these down, shall we?
     Belliard has floped as a Cardinal. He has posted a batting line of .264/.312/.361 (AVG, OBP, SLG) in 19 games. Also in those 19 games, Belliard has hit one homerun and put up nine RBI and six runs. How can this help, honestly? I know the platoon of Hector Luna and Aaron Miles wasn't producing a lot, but they produced better numbers than Belliard has put up so far. My hope for this move is that Belliard understands he's not as good as he has been and takes a paycut for next year. I would love to see him back in a Cardinals uniform and see how he produces in a full year in the STL.
     Wilson, for only being around for five games hasn't been bad. He's been himself, really. He has a .235 batting average and he's played center and right field. He's got two taters and three RBI as a Cardinal so far. Now, thats not bad for five games. Wilson was picked up for his veteran skills. He can play all three outfield positions, and all well. He has a Jim Edmonds like arm and defensive skills. He also has Carlos Beltran speed. The guy packs a wholap as a five tool player. His downfall is that Chris Duncan is in left and will not move. Edmonds is in center and Juan Encarnacion is in right. Now, if I were Tony La Russa, I would do this with Wilson. Against lefties, play him in center and give Edmonds a day off. Do NOT put him in right and move Encarnacion to center. Encarnacion needs to stay in right field and not be moved around. Also, use Wilson in right or left field every fourth game (fill in for Duncan) and fifth game (filling in for Encarnacion). This way, Wilson gets to play at least twice every five games and it keeps the outfield fresh for October (assuming they get there).
     Almost done. Not only does that explain the story, it explains this next person: Jose Vizcaino. Vizcaino was released by the San Francisco Giants. He's a utility infielder (like Scott Spezio) and can play all four infield spots. The advantage Vizcaino has over all these other new comers: Playoff Experience. Thats huge my friend. Now with David Eckstein on the disabled list, Vizcaino was desperately needed. Here's the scoop though: what to do afterwards?
     After Eckstein gets off the DL, what will the Cardinals do? Assuming Edmonds gets healthy, the Cardinals will have two outfielders on the bench (Wilson and So Taguchi), three infielders (Spezio, Vizcaino and Miles) and a backup catcher (Gary Bennett). Then you think about the bullpen (and yes I know, if you add up everything, there will be 26 players, don't worry) consisting of: Randy Flores, Braden Looper, Adam Wainwright, Jorge Sosa, Tyler Johnson, Jason Isringhausen and Josh Hancock, what will happen? You have to drop someone to get to 25. A bench guy or a bullpen pitcher? Who knows. My planning would be to drop Johnson, being a rookie how would he handle the pressure of the playoffs?
     Last, but not least, closer. This has not been the year of the closers. Ask Brad Lidge, Francisco Cordero (before going to Milwaukee), Derrick Turnbow, The Braves, Bobby Jenks, The Reds, Eddie Guardado (before going to Cincinnati) and Eric Gagne. Oh, I forgot one, didn't I? Isringhausen. What will the Cardinals do with Isringhausen? Some people want La Russa's head for going with him all the time. Some are cutting Isringhausen slack (like I did). My idea: bump Isringhausen to the seventh and eigth innings and use a combonation of Brad Thompson (in September), Jorge Sosa and Braden Looper in the closers role. A closer by committee group. It can work for the rest of September. This gives Isringhausen a chance to make his cutter better in earlier innings and it won't blow the game.