Being a Cardinal fan, I have always known Carlos Zambrano as an arrogant ####. What he has said recently, proves my point.
Zambrano recently said this: "If they don't sign me, sorry, but I must go. That's what Carlos Zambrano thinks." <ESPN.com>
That's what Carlos Zambrano thinks..he's talking in THIRD PERSON! That right there shows his arrogence. If he has to talk in the third person to make a point...his head his large. Then, if he doesn't get a contract, he must go? That's understandable. You don't want contract negoiations hampering your performance. But, this is why he said it: During the annual Cubs Convention, Zambrano, when asked whether he will test free agency next season, repeatedly said "This is a business" and noted that Barry Zito's seven-year, $126 million deal helped raise his value on the free-agent market. And more: "When you're a great pitcher and have talent, you deserve the money no matter who gives it to you," he said, according to the Tribune. "Zito is a great pitcher. Good for him he has that contract, and I think that will help me." And yes, more: "Jim spent a lot of money. I hope he has more for 'Big Z,'" he said, the newspaper reported.
He referred to himself as Big Z..that made me laugh. Sorry, onward. He's not even a free agent left, he has 1 year until he can file for FA. And he acutally said Zito's large contract (who, by the way, deserves the contract he got) helped raise his market value. Can you say a greedy ####? Zito is a great pitcher. Good for him he has that contract, and I think that will help me. Wow...see what I mean? Cubs fans, I'm a huge Cardinal fan, you should not want this guy on your team. Your GM spent loosly (which won't help =P) and Zambrano thinks he deserves a lot of money. No. That shouldn't happen. I hope Jim Hendry is as smart as I think he is and he lets the overweight, arrogent #### go. Your team's history is too rich of talent and failure (=P) to have that loser on your team.
The Most Valuable Player award this year has three strong candidates again this year. Now, being a Cardinal fan and loving Albert Pujols, my vote is to Albert Pujols; however, I'll have to say Ryan Howard and Carlos Beltran both have a good shot. Each player's breakdown include their accomplishments this year, a reason why they should win and a reason why they shouldn't win. ALBERT PUJOLS, CARDINALS 1B: Pujols has a batting line of .321/.423/.681 (AVG, OBP, SLG). He has 101 runs scored and is third in the league with 43 homeruns, and second with 115 RBI. He needs just three more homeruns to match his career high (46 in 2004) and 15 RBI more to match his career high in that category (130 in 2001, 117 RBI last year). He has put up his sixth straight 30+ HR, 100+ RBI, 100+ runs season. He has only made five errors at first base and is probably looking at his first ever gold glove (his previous low was 2003 with five, but was in the outfield and at first base. His previous two season he had 10 and 14 errors at first). Now, you're thinking these numbers are awesome stats and another Pujols like season. Well, you're wrong. He has only played in 118 games and can only play in maximum of 144 games (a career low. Previous was 154 in 2004). He was out for 18 days in June. So, you have to wonder about the lost numbers because of that injury AND the effects he is still feeling. REASON WHY HE SHOULD WIN: He is the regining MVP and he is playing on a first place team. He is the main reason why the Cardinals have been in first or shared first since May 12. REASON WHY HE SHOULDN'T WIN: He will more than likely not be the leader in any offensive categories, and he was injuried for awhile and you can't assume his numbers would be better. PREDICTION: MVP
RYAN HOWARD, PHILLIES 1B: Howard is the MLB leader in HR and RBI (53 HR, 134 RBI). Those are some impressive numbers. In fact, his numbers are better than Andruw Jones' numbers from the end of last season (51 HR and 128 RBI), and Jones led the NL in both categories (the MLB in HR). Thats imprssive. Whats more impressive is the Howard won the Century 21 Homerun Derby back in July and Rookie of the Year last year. He played in only 84 games last year and hit 22 HR. The downside: he's 26, the same age as Pujols. So, are those numbers as impressive after knowing that? Yes and no. It does take tremendous skill to hit 50+ homeruns, and it also takes a lot of skills to overcome the effects of the Homerun Derby (ask former Fightin Phil Bobby Abreu). REASON WHY HE SHOULD WIN: He does lead the planet in HR and RBI, and is hitting over .300. He is also one of two reasons why the Phils are back in the hunt for the Wild Card. REASON WHY HE SHOULDN'T WIN: It took him 16 days to pass Pujols in HR and RBI (while Pujols was on the DL) and is playing a team that more than likely will not go to the playoffs and could more than likely end up under or just barely above .500. PREDICTION: VERY CLOSE 2nd
CARLOS BELTRAN, NEW YORK METS CF: Beltran plays on the New York Mets, the best team in baseball. He has Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Shawn Green following him in the batting order. The guy is in the top five of every offensive category and is having a career year on top of it. There is a downside, he has Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Shawn Green following him in the batting order. Thats some of the best offense in the game right there. So, if he played somewhere else, would he have this good of numbers? Probably not. Look back to last year when he only had David Wright, who really wasn't a big offensive threat last year. His numbers were extremely down. So, does having someone good behind make a difference? Damn straight. Pujols' numbers last year came with Yadier Molina and Abraham Nunez batting after him following Reggie Sanders injury. Then, when Larry Walker and Sanders got back, Pujols' numbers raised. Howard's numbers this year came because of Pat Burrell and Chase Utley batting after him. Pujols has had Scott Rolen and Juan Encarnacion. So, you figure that Pujols and Howard have had less offense behind them and have better numbers than Beltran, who has had some big fire power behind him, you know Beltran's name shouldn't be muttered in the MVP voting. REASON WHY HE SHOULD WIN: He has had a career year on a winning team. REASON WHY HE SHOULDN'T WIN: He is on a team that could win without him. He has a lot of protection around him, and his numbers are inflated because of that. PREDICTION: 3rd Now, you may be wondering about the name of the article. It's pretty simple. In M V P, there is a P. Does it stand for Pujols, Phillie (Howard) or Puerto Rican (Beltran)? See, it's simple.
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.
Wanting to know how to build that World Series winner? It's not as simple as spending as much money as you can or even having the best veterans of the last decade and no youth. To build that winner you need to mix and match. You need some young blood, some proven veterans and some good minds to make things go. What I mean by some good minds is a manager that knows what he needs to do every game so he can win that game and get that much closer to the series. So, here's how you build that winner.
MANAGER: Experience Your manager needs some experience in some way, shape or form.Maybe not World Series experience, but at least some playoff experience. It could also help if your manager was also a player at some point. That way he knows how hard it is to go out there everyday and how much pressure a player is under in the playoffs. This way he can relate to you.
PITCHING AND HITTING COACHES: Brains Your coaches need some brains. They have know what they are doing. You can't just hire some random bums you met down at the river and begged you for money while inside of their box and their pet sock was talking to you. They need to be able to know other pitchers and hitters and tell you a plan of attack. They also need to know their own pitchers and hitters so they can help them get beter and maybe help them get some hardware.
THE TEAM: Experience, Youth and Some Fun Your team cannot have expenses out the butt. You can't go out and pickup every 40 year old player that was good in the late 80s and early 90s. They have to be good NOW. They have to have a little experience in the playoffs and a lot of experience in strech runs. You also have to have some young blood. No one can do it all with old veterans. Young blood keeps the team a float with it's youth and energy. Something you really need for a season that can last 7+ months. Energy. Now, fun is what every team needs. You can't go around and have a serious team that has no fun whatsoever. It's like what the Brewers do. They have two team buses. One bus is for players that want to go on say whatever they want and not get in trouble for it. Guess what? The caoches ride this bus to and say what they want. This keeps the chemistry high and lets players be themselves and they can have a lot of fun too. The other bus is for players and coaches who don't want to speak their mind. Not many people ride that bus. You have to have some joksters. It's like with the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals. Reggie Sanders was the big jokster on that team. He was serious when he needed to be, but when he didn't need to be he made others laugh. Thats what a team needs: seriousness when seriousness is needed, but laugher the other 99.2% of the time.
There you have it. You need experience and some young blood.
The Dodgers have completely revamped their team. They added players to 7 different positions and look good this year. They have a backup closer if Eric Gagne is still recovering, two new starters, a leadoff hitting shortstop, a batting champ/gold glover third baseman and a shortstop switching positions. They look great this year and should be a threat.
San Diego PadresThe Padres are defending West Champions, and besides retaining Brian Giles and Trevor Hoffman, they really haven't done anything huge. They did get rid of Phil Nevin last year and added a quality starter (that is adjusted to his new team and new league now), but they didn't have a first baseman. They added Mike Cameron to cover spacious center field, and that's a good move. They moved the speedy Dave Roberts to left, another good move. They put Ryan Klesko at his natural position, another good move. Will these moves add up to another division title, most likely not. They have Mika Piazza too, another good move. The Padres are a great team, but I don't think they can edge out the Dodgers, but, the Wild Card may be their's. Will it? Tune in on Saturday...
San Francisco Giants
I didn't think much of the Giants last year. Without Barry Bonds, the Giants pretty much blow. They added Steve Finley to the mix of old farts (like the Yankees, but the Yankees actaully have talent). The Giants are lucky that the Diamondbacks are in a rebuilding year and the Rockies blow as well. Otherwise, they'd be in last. They have no offense (and Bonds can't carry the entire team, no matter what people say), no defense and no pitching. They're worthless, and sorry to you Giants fans, but they are.
Arizona Diamondbacks The Diamondbacks are in a rebuilding year. They'll have all their top prospects up in 2007 and will be ready to fight. They need to wait, but the team they have isn't ABSOLUTELY horrible. They're trying to build around certain players. What they need to do is to add a surplus of young arms, like the Marlins, and that way their pitching will be just as good as their defense and offense will be when Stephen Drew, Justin Upton, Chris Young, etc. are up. They look good.........for the 2007 season.
Colorado Rockies Not much to say here. The Rockies sit on their butts and do nothing. They need to move to a place where altitude doesn't play a huge role in the runs or hits. Moving to Las Vegas could be what they need. Their minor league system is good, and they have veterns who are good. This team could contend if they weren't in the altitude. That has a big factor on how they finish in this division. You could be 81-0 on the road, but not winning at home can put a huge damper on your win-loss record, not to mention your morale.
I'm 18 and I enjoy baseball, as I'll only write about baseball. I'm a business major at Illinois State and I plan on going into baseball for a career. Hopefully one day, beating Theo Epstein's record as the youngest GM ever. My dream job is being the GM of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Most Valuable Player award this year has three strong candidates again this year. Now, being a Cardinal fan and loving Albert Pujols, my vote is to Albert Pujols; however, I'll have to say Ryan Howard and Carlos Beltran both have a good shot. Each player's breakdown include their accomplishments this year, a reason why they should win and a reason why they shouldn't win.
of .321/.423/.681 (AVG, OBP, SLG). He has 101 runs scored and is third in the league with 43 homeruns, and second with 115 RBI. He needs just three more homeruns to match his career high (46 in 2004) and 15 RBI more to match his career high in that category (130 in 2001, 117 RBI last year). He has put up his sixth straight 30+ HR, 100+ RBI, 100+ runs season. He has only made five errors at first base and is probably looking at his first ever gold glove (his previous low was 2003 with five, but was in the outfield and at first base. His previous two season he had 10 and 14 errors at first). Now, you're thinking these 
numbers are awesome stats and another Pujols like season. Well, you're wrong. He has only played in 118 games and can only play in maximum of 144 games (a career low. Previous was 154 in 2004). He was out for 18 days in June. So, you have to wonder about the lost numbers because of that injury AND the effects he is still feeling.
(53 HR, 134 RBI). Those are some impressive numbers. In fact, his numbers are better than Andruw Jones' numbers from the end of last season (51 HR and 128 RBI), and Jones led the NL in both categories (the MLB in HR). Thats imprssive. Whats more impressive is the Howard won the Century 21 Homerun Derby back in July and Rookie of the Year last year. He played in only 84 games last year and hit 22 HR. The downside: he's 26, the same age as 
Pujols. So, are those numbers as impressive after knowing that? Yes and no. It does take tremendous skill to hit 50+ homeruns, and it also takes a lot of skills to overcome the effects of the Homerun Derby (ask former Fightin Phil Bobby Abreu).
Green following him in the batting order. Thats some of the best offense in the game right there. So, if he played somewhere else, would he have this good of numbers? Probably not. Look back to last year when he only had David Wright, who really wasn't a big offensive threat last year. His numbers were extremely down. So, does having someone good behind make a difference? Damn straight. Pujols' numbers last year came with Yadier Molina and Abraham Nunez batting after him following Reggie Sanders injury. Then, when Larry Walker and Sanders got back, Pujols' 
numbers raised. Howard's numbers this year came because of Pat Burrell and Chase Utley batting after him. Pujols has had Scott Rolen and Juan Encarnacion. So, you figure that Pujols and Howard have had less offense behind them and have better numbers than Beltran, who has had some big fire power behind him, you know Beltran's name shouldn't be muttered in the MVP voting.
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 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.
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).
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?
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.
g as 
much money as you can or even having the best veterans of the last decade and no youth. To build that winner you need to mix and match. You need some young blood, some proven veterans and some good minds to make things go. What I mean by some good minds is a manager that knows what he needs to do every game so he can win that game and get that much closer to the series. So, here's how you build that winner.
Maybe not World Series experience, but at least some playoff experience. It could also help if your manager was also a player at some point. That way he knows how hard it is to go out there everyday and how much pressure a player is under in the playoffs. This way he can relate to you.
to have some joksters. It's like with the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals. Reggie Sanders was the big jokster on that team. He was serious when he needed to be, but when he didn't need to be he made others laugh. Thats what a team needs: seriousness when seriousness is needed, but laugher the other 99.2% of the time.
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
Arizona Diamondbacks The Diamondbacks are in a rebuilding year. They'll have all their top prospects up in 2007 and will be ready to fight. They need to wait, but the team they have isn't ABSOLUTELY horrible. They're trying to build around certain players. What they need to do is to add a surplus of young arms, like the Marlins, and that way their pitching will be just as good as their defense and offense will be when Stephen Drew, Justin Upton, Chris Young, etc. are up. They look good.........for the 2007 season.
Colorado Rockies Not much to say here. The Rockies sit on their butts and do nothing. They need to move to a place where altitude doesn't play a huge role in the runs or hits. Moving to Las Vegas could be what they need. Their minor league system is good, and they have veterns who are good. This team could contend if they weren't in the altitude. That has a big factor on how they finish in this division. You could be 81-0 on the road, but not winning at home can put a huge damper on your win-loss record, not to mention your morale.
