Do the Cardinals want to win? Of course they do.

I saw a journalist today entitling an article "Do the Cardinals want to win?" Immediately I was struck by how dumb a question this is. With few exceptions people with a enough drive and determination to go through what it takes to make the Major Leagues are never going to give up if have a chance to make it to the playoffs. Yes, there are some exceptions to this. Those guys that are so amazingly gifted that they never have to work and are handed everything on a silver platter. But generally, even guys that are selfish players generally want to win if put in a position to be in the playoffs. There are exceptions to the rule of course, but nary enough of them to merit asking the question if an entire team wants to win. The Cardinals problems are not because they don't want to win. They are an intense to with an intense manager, a lack of desire to win is just not the problem. However, there are a few things that ARE a problem.

First lets actually consider the issue of talent. Perhaps its best to look at this in a position by position break down.

Catcher
STL- Yadier Molina
CIN- Ryan Hannigan, Ramon Hernandez

WIN- CINCY

Yadier is unquestionably the best and toughest defensive catcher around. He can absolutely control the running game, but he is having a terrible year at the plate. Hannigan can also really throw, but this duo is also knocking the ball already quite successfully. If this was last year, Yadier wins this, but as much as I respect Yadier, he is just to banged up and tired to be much of a hitter.

First Base
Stl- Albert the Great
Cincy- Joey Votto

WIN- STL

Albert is going to win this, no matter who is going against him. But frankly, at this point your basically comparing the two best hitters in the National League, and it says a lot about Votto that this is a close match. You gotta be proud of yourself when your numbers are just as good as Alberts.

Second Base
Stl- Skippy Schumaker
Cincy- Brandon Phillips

WIN- CINCY

This isn't really even close. Brandon Phillips is clearly a better player than Skippy, even though he is a jerk, and bad in the clubhouse. Phillips is an excellent defender and has an .801 OPS compared to Skippy's .680 OPS and suspect D.

Shortstop
Stl- Brendan Ryan
Cincy- Orlando Cabrera

WIN-TIE

This one really is a toss up. Brendan Ryan is a terrible hitter right now, but Orlando Cabrera is really just a ton better. He is better, but he is still pretty bad overall. However, they are both good defensive shortstops, although I suspect Cabrera's resurgence in the numbers is somewhat due to Rolen being next to him. Even with that resurgence, Cabrera's UZR is an 8 and Ryan's is a 15. Ryan is truly an elite defensive shortstop, even though he is kind of annoying twit. His defensive value is enough that it makes it at least a tie.

Third Base

STL- Pedro Feliz, I guess.
Cincy- Scott Rolen

WIN- CINCY

Scott Rolen hands down. One of the greatest defensive third basemen of all time and he is having a good year with the stick as well, where as the Cardinals are so weak at third that they improved at the position by trading for the worst regular position player in the National League.

Rightfield
Stl- John Jay
Cincy-Jay Bruce

WIN-Cincy

Jay Bruce is not my kind of player, but he has big time power and a silly good arm. But honestly, if John Jay had more at bats, he would actually win this category. He just has a limited sample, and more than likely pitchers are going to figure him out a bit. However, he is a smart kid that is willing to adjust to what is needed in the game. Frankly, I like him better than Colby Rasmus.

Centerfielder
Stl- Colby Rasmus
Cincy- Drew Stubbs

WIN-STL

I don't really like either of these players. Both are high draft picks, both are incredibly questionable defensively in center field, a both are playing beneath what they were projected to. Both make lots of rookie mistakes and come up empty against good pitching more often than not. However, Colby Rasmus is having a better year than Stubbs, therefore he wins this category.

Leftfield
STL- Matt Holliday
Cincy-Johnny Gomes

WIN- STL

Gomes can absolutely crush a fastball as hard and as fast as anybody in baseball. Of course he doesn't do so well with breaking balls, so of course he doesn't get many of those fastballs to crush. Holliday is an all-star type hitter and he wins this category pretty handedly.

Starting Pitching
STL- Waino, Carp, Garcia, Westbrook, and Lohse.
Cincy-Arroyo, Harang, Leake, Cueto

WIN- STL

The Cardinals legitimately have one of the best starting staffs in baseball, top 4 at the very least. That’s even with throwing a bag of peanuts every fifth day. Cincy has some serviceable guys, but they just don’t have the same kind of shutdownness. Of course that doesn't matter if your offense doesn't score any runs.

Bullpen


Win-CINCY

The numbers show that the Cardinals bullpen is better than Cincy, but I am picking Cincy because their bullpen is pitching much better than the Cards RIGHT NOW. And at this stage of the season, in a close race numbers don't mean anything. Which team is getting the outs is what matter.

Total Score
Cincy-5
Stl- 4

That’s the bottom line folks. Cincy right now just has a few better supporting pieces to aid their mashers. When it comes to offense the Cardinals really only have Pujols and Holliday and some gritty guys that play the game right (mostly) but really don't have much in the way of good offensive production. Cincy trots out more guys that can make a difference in the game, and its showing in the Win-loss record.


Also, lets be honest about the Cardinals club house. They have some issues right now. Brendan Ryan is not meshing well with the team all the time, and this time of year is when his made for TV goofiness really begins to grate. Also, Colby Rasmus and his attitude also strains the situation, especially when his dad is involved. Its not that the Cardinals don't want to win, its just that they have a pretty damn good team to go up against.

Ranking the Cardinals in a fight.

After all of the fireworks this week I decided that I would write a little ranking of the Cardinals you really wouldn't want to mess with in a fight.

8. Matt Holliday- Holliday doesn't really look like a guy who would be that tough in a fight, but according to the Cardinals strength coach he is the strongest Cardinal, particularly in the lower body. He wouldn't really be a stand up puncher, and he seems to have a long fuse. But when you finally go over the top he will just charge you and use his legs to pile drive you into the ground until you throw up.

7. Jason Larue- Larue is a catcher, and catcher automatically get extra tough points just for breathing. Larue would rank higher, but like Samson and his hair, Larue lost quite a bit of his strength whenever he cut of his menacing facial hair. For most of his career his walk up song was "County boy can survive" which makes me think that he wouldn't punch you out, he would just wage a guerrilla war of attrition against you. He is the guy I want on my side in a "Red Dawn" type situation.

6. Dennys Reyes- I don't know how many of you have heard of the Marvel villain "The Blob" but Reyes has the same power set. The blob is a really large man that just absorbs whatever punches are thrown at him in his blob like gut. If you hit Reyes with a couple of body shots you will just feel the blows absorbed through out his torso then he will bite your ear off.

5. Skippy Schumaker- Its always the quite ones. Skip doesn't make much noise. Never really draws attention to himself. One second your running your mouth the next your picking your teeth up off the dirt.... silent but violent.

4. Yadier Molina- Tough as nails catcher who would love to catch every day. Would be ranked higher but as long as you are capable of a slow jog then you can run away from him. But if he catches you....

3. Aaron Miles- This guy is someone you REALLY don't want to mess with. His dad was a boxer and I get the feeling he imparted quite a bit of knowledge to him. Secondly, many people haven't realized this about him, but he fought with a guy who had a gun to his head during a hostage situation. Some dude had a gun to his head for about 20 minutes and he said "screw this" and decided to take matters into his own hands. He wrestled the guy all the time having to hold the guys gun hand away from him, and bit a huge plug out of his arm, then the cops came in and had to shoot the guy four times while Miles had him in the grapple. Miles then jumped out the window, and he wasn't on the first floor. Don't mess with this guy.

2. Chris Carpenter- Sometimes it doesn't matter how scary or imposing the guy looks. Sometimes its something else that makes the guy a complete and utter bad ass, like say Hannibal Lector. Carp has something going for him like that. HE IS FREAKING INSANE. Don't mess with him.

1. Albert Pujols- Albert is like the Mighty Thor. The only reason he isn't knocking people out by accident with his shear presence is because he is always consciously putting limiters on his omnipotence. In Cincy he didn't start yelling at people because he knew that the sound of him yelling might make ears bleed. If he had wanted to he could have just Hulk clapped and knocked everyone on their butts. Its the cyborg parts that make it possible.

The Aftermath

The suspensions have come down from Major League Baseball. Both Dusty Baker and Tony LaRussa were suspended for two games and Johnny "dancing feet" Cueto was handed a 7 game suspension. Carpenter, Molina, and Phillips were both fined. I am not really sure I agree with the way the suspensions came down. I thought it was curious when TLR and Dusty were the only ejections, and I am not really sure that their actions merited a suspension. The only thing I can figure is the were punished for either A. not controlling their players or B. Escalating the situation. Rolen didn't receive a fine, and Carp did which I don't understand in the slightest. Yes, Carp dropped the F-Bomb to Dusty, but Rolen is the one that charged Carp after that which actually set off all the more physical activities. Cueto deserved every bit of his seven game suspension and probably deserved more.

Brandon Phillips helping the Cardinals win the division.

It is a true thing that I am a bit of what is known as a red ass when its comes to sports competition, but I fall squarely on the side of Molina in this situation with Brandon Phillips and the brawl. Nobody really looks good after a brawl, but Brandon Phillips and Johnny Cueto come out of this looking like complete idiots. Cueto for certain came out as a coward. If Cueto was a Cardinal and he had done that kicking BS he did I would never root for him again, and he would get booed relentlessly every time I was at the game. In fact, I would bet money that he would get boo's from lots of fans everytime he played a home game. I actually bet my bottom dollar that even a couple of his own teammates had some words for him after that little act of pure cowardice.

As for Brandon Phillips, I like the old school mentality. When Joey Votto said what he said about Marlon Byrd I thought it was pretty damned cool that somebody was channeling some inner Bob Gibson. But when Votto did it he didn't say the Cubs suck, or that he hated the Cubs because of any particular trait they had, he just wasn't going to be friendly. In fact he didn't do anything at all to personalize other than to say hey, I am a hard nosed ballplayer and I am not going to be friendly with the opposition when I am in a pennant race. That, to me is a good quality. Phillips on the other had just wanted his quote to make the press, wanted to call out the Cardinals. And you know what? I don't care that he did that either, thats his priority. I don't give a damn what some player thinks about another team personally, and I don't really think any other players care either. But he didn't stop there. Molina had it right when he said (a bit of a paraphrase) you don't tell me you hate me one day and then say hi like nothing happened the next. Which is exactly what Brandon Phillips did with his little bat tap to the shin guard. That a friendly gesture towards other players. In this situation, I don't think anybody with half a brain cell thought for a second that Brandon Phillips wasn't making a calculated gesture to mock the Cardinals at the very least and perhaps Molina on a personal level. Frankly, I would have reacted the same way. Actually, to be perfectly honest Molina probably acted with more restraint than I would have.

Now as for the play by play of the fight, there were some interesting things that happened in in other than Cueto acting like Brandon Phillips proverbial "little bitch." The most interesting of which is Scott Rolen tearing after Carp after what originally looked like a peace mission towards Yadi. (it looked like from what I could read of his lips that he actually kind of agreed with Yadi) I watched this about thirty times from various angles, just trying to piece together exactly what happened. Basically what happened was there was the initial altercation, then Dusty and Tony were having there dust up. There is actually a brief moment where Edmonds actually had a sentence or two of harsh words for his on manager Dusty Baker. (pretty sure all those bush league moves he made versus the Cardinals and Edmonds. Keep in mind Cubs fans, I am saying Dusty Baker was bush league, not your team, well, not your team except for Big Z.) Then Carp says something, and the umpire says something to Carp, then Carp says something very heated to Dusty Baker. At this point Rolen comes after Carp. However, although Rolen charged after Carp, it doesn't appear that he was actually going to get physical other than maybe get in his face and yell, but as soon as Rolen did that the Red's players scrummed in pushing the pile back. As soon as the full weight of the pile started pushing back towards the backstop, Rolen immediately switched from aggressor to trying to hold Carpenter up, and started trying to pull him out of the pile. He was also trying to pull him away from that little girl Cueto who was kicking at whatever moved like a Can-Can dancer. At the end of it Rolen had his hand on Carps back and it looked like what it was. Two old very intense teammates that had let their emotions get the better of it and felt a little ashamed of it. This was nothing, and nothing that is worth talking about really. Rolen's actions showed that he did not want to harm Carp, and they seemed to work out their issues right there. Cueto and Phillips are the Belles of this Ball.

So what does Brandon Phillips comments and actions really mean in the whole long mess of a major league season? Maybe nothing. But, maybe, just maybe it means something. Don't get me wrong, this team cares about winning, and they play hard, but for most of the season passionless is a way to describe how they go about their game. Maybe business like is a better way of putting it. In fact, in July Mo said that perhaps they were going to go after a fiery personality or a joker clubhouse presence just because he really thought that was what his team needed. Something to break that stoic presence of the team. Actually, personally, I thought Carpenter being more fiery in the last three weeks might actually have been an effort to try and flame a little passion. Particularly in younger guys like Rasmus and Ryan who really do seem to play like they don't care sometimes. But ladies and gentlemen. They have a challenge now. They looked like a different team tonight. They weren't a better team, or a more skilled team tonight. But you could see it in them mannerisms, in their eyes. There body language said they were pissed and that there was no way they were going to let any team led by a Cub reject manager beat them. I have said the last few years that I think the Cardinals are a better team when the Cubs are at least competitive. It gives them some fire. Well, they haven't had any fire this year. But now, maybe, thanks to Phillips, they will. If he had just made his comments and that was it, it might have faded. But he didn't. He actually took the insult to them in person and tried to show them up on the field. They won't forget that and Brandon Phillips might have just given them the fire they didn't have and given them what they needed to win the Central crown. Regardless, I bet money that if Ex-Cards GM Walt Jocketty (good friend of TLR, and oh yea, the man who built those Cardinals teams) is still the Reds GM then I bet Brandon Phillips won't be a Red next year. Particularly if they don't make the playoffs.

Carpenter, Ryan, and Brandon Phillips

On Monday night Chris Carpenter wasn't all that happy with Brendan Ryan. This particular encounter got a lot of publicity because Carp was obviously irritated at the start of the game and the camera caught him chewing Ryan out in the dugout. Despite what a lot of people are saying, Brendan Ryan deserved it, and all the embarrassment it gave him. Firstly, Chris Carpenter is intense. He is Bob Gibson level intense. He gets dialed up (as most pitchers do) and did not want a delay in him starting the game. Brendan Ryan was in the clubhouse taking swings, and completely missed that he was supposed to be on the field. Then he ran on the field with the wrong glove, just making his situation worse. This isn't the kind of thing you do when you are young, and frankly not contributing much to the team other than using that said glove well, MOST of the time. Ryan deserved a butt chewing for this, and he got it. End of story. The second situation was based on Carp's judging his defensive positioning to be wrong. This may seem minor as it happens all the time, but the problem was this was more the straw that broke the camels back. In the past Ryan has had trouble with positioning and ignoring when people try to position him. I have seen people in the dugout exasperated with it and most importantly I remember Carpenter being exasperated with it in the past. One incident in particular last year had Carp looking in the dugout and motioning Ryan into the hole. So did Skip and second. Ryan ignored both of them and stayed close to the bag. Carp glared at him, pitched, then glared again. The next pitch resulted in a seeing eye single right through where Ryan was SUPPOSED to be playing. Carp visibly rolled his eyes. This was not the only time this has happened, although it was the most overt showing of it. For Carpenter this was not just the reaction to a single incident of Ryan, but the cumulative effort of lots of idiocy by Ryan. Thirdly, if the camera hadn't showed all of this, no one would have noticed this. Yes, Carp motioned for him to follow him in front of other players, but jeez they all knew what was coming anyway and were all probably equally peeved, but he didn't yell at him in plain view, he pulled him into the tunnel and spent about 15 seconds saying what he wanted to be said and that was that. Ryan deserved his buttchewing and maybe this incident will actually get his head in the game. Frankly, the Cardinals would be better off without him. His personality is well known for rubbing players wrong in the clubhouse. His mind is not in the game all the time and it results in lots of situations like this. Sometimes Ryan is so flaky and weird it almost seems like he is doing it on purpose. Regardless, he needs to get his act together.

Brandon Phillips

Brandon Phillips needs to keep his mouth shut. His comments were calculated and idiotic, and called out about 4 of his teammates and his GM. Mostly it seems with his comparing the Cardinals to the Cubs that he was posturing trying to get attention in relation to Joey Votto and his All-Star game comments. This was the same guy who said he was a better player than Chase Utley, which is a laughable delusion. Not only that he has oh, say 4 Ex-Cardinals on his team. Two of which being Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds. Those two were the face of the Cardinals along with Pujols, and Brandon Phillips comments about the Cardinals includes them. Oh yea, your GM is Walk Jockety, isn't like he put those Cardinals teams together that you are bagging on, oh yea, plus he is good friends with the manager of that team. Also, not like you want to give the Cardinals more bulletin board material in one of the biggest series of the year. I bet that Phillips receives a very frosty reception in his own clubhouse the next few days, not to mention the reception he is going to get from the Cardinals. What an idiot.

Ozzie Guillen and his crazy antics.

To be honest I watched the interview where Guillen made his comments about translators and how Asians are treated better than Latin players, and I am really not quite sure what his point was. He started out talking about a Korean player in minors that had a translator and there were 17 Latin players on the team and only 1 translator. But then he followed that with Japanese players are treated better. So, honestly, I don't really know if he meant that he was upset at their treatment in the minors or in the Major Leagues. His beef with Japanese players can't be at the minor league level because they are always signed to Major League contracts and don't go through the minor league system. As usual with Ozzie, he likes to shoot of his mouth without knowing what the heck he is talking about.

Contract information is pretty easy to come across. Cot's Contract is a comprehensive site of Major League contracts. If you go there and look at the contracts that Major League Japanese players have signed then you will see that this is not any sort of alienation of Latin players. The Japanese players negotiation for the perks they get and have them put into their contracts. For example Dice-K, when he signed his contract, had it implemented that he gets an interpreter, trainer, massage therapist, housing allowance, transportation when he was state side, and several round trip tickets back to Japan. Oh yea, and the number 18 is always his, its right there in his contract. Fukodome's contract in Chicago is almost identical, of course with the number 18. Ichigo's doesn't have all of that stuff, but it still has a requirement for an interpreter, housing allowance, and tickets home. Kuroda in L.A. has a contractually obligated translator for him plus another separate one for his family. Plus English lessons for everyone. Take a look at the other Asian contracts its pretty similar.

The point is, Ozzie is accusing people of favoritism towards Asians, when in reality these Japanese players are just requiring these kinds of services being written into the contracts if the team wants to hire there services. Perhaps Ozzie, its just you who doesn't get shown respect, because you have't earned any.