My 2009 Opening Day Roster…

Per Derrick Goold tweeting from Twitter…Chris Perez has been optioned to Triple A to make room for Brad Thompson on the Cards’ Opening Day roster. Apparently the team feels they need an innings guy for long relief during the grueling, one-day-off April schedule. I agree…but not completely.

Here’s my Opening Day roster if the Cards’ front office thought to consult the all-too-knowledgeable staff at Cards ‘N Stuff.

STARTING PITCHERS
No surprise here, so I’ll make it short and sweet.

1. Adam Wainwright
2. Kyle Lohse
3. Todd Wellemeyer
4. Chris Carpenter
5. Joel Pineiro

In that order.

CATCHERS
Again, this is an easy one. The no-brainer guys are:

1. Yadier Molina
2. Jason LaRue

INFIELDERS
Because I want to save the bullpen lineup for last, we’re gonna’ jump right into the position players – starting with the infielders.

1. Albert Pujols (1B) – ‘Nuff said.
2. Khalil Greene (SS) - Again…no brainer. Let’s hope he can carry his hitting into the season.
3. Skip Schumaker (2B) – This time last year…never thought I would say this…but Skip’s the man at second. Good to see him improving.
4. David Freese (3B)- This is truly a positive coming out of camp. Freese is a plus player with strong defense and an exciting bat.
5. Brendan Ryan (Utility) – I just like Ryan’s energy. He has the ability to make things happen on offense, and his defensive versatility has only improved this season.
6. Brian Barden (Utility)- Aaaannnddd…here we go. I know Joe Thurston has become the new thing in camp, but Barden’s my guy. He may have a “limited” bat, but it’s still a good bat. The man is solid on defense, can play anywhere on the infield, and he is a true ball player. You may say his offensive performance this Spring came in limited at-bats (especially compared to his counter-part, Thurston), but I say all the more reason to keep him on the roster. In limited, sporadic at-bats, Barden has done nothing but hit (.385) and get on base (.442 before today’s game). The guy puts the ball in play. What more could you ask of a utility-playing, bench-warming, part-time pinch-hitter?

OUTFIELDERS
Here it is…the big one…the roster configuration where Colby Rasmus does NOT make the Opening Day squad.

1. Rick Ankiel – Guy’s a slugger. Be fun to watch him this season.
2. Ryan Ludwick – All-Star…he’s on.
3. Chris Duncan – This guy is gonna’ be exciting this season. His power’s back, and I think dealing with his injury the last couple years has made him a better hitter (better contact, fewer strikeouts, more walks).
4. Joe Mather- I know his bat has been quiet, lately…but the odd thing is he’s still capable of running up his RBI count. Despite his recent dip in production, he’s a valuable, Scott Spezio role guy. He’s on in my book.

Rasmus is not on. I’m not sayin’ he shouldn’t be brought up near the end of April, but let’s not jump the gun. Let the guy get everyday at-bats to jump-start his season in April and let his arbitration clock start later. Why? Because I want Chris Perez on the team.

BULLPEN
The Cardinals have a tight schedule in April with only one off day and all five starters still in early season form. You need a long relief guy like Brad Thompson on the team…but that doesn’t have to come at the expense of Chris Perez.

1. Ryan Franklin – Looks to be great this year.
2. Josh Kinney – Gonna’ be nasty this season. The arm looks good and the stuff looks filthy.
3. Jason Motte – The man’s a beast. I love watching him take the mound. He makes me believe nothing shakes him…and it’s the hitter that’s on the defensive.
4. Trever Miller – One of two lefty specialists on the team. He’s a must…but he makes me uncomfortable. He has not…I repeat, not…had a good Spring. But…recently…a bit better.
5. Dennys Reyes - The other lefty and a late addition, he could be the best move we’ve made in the off-season.
6. Kyle McClellan - The righty seems to have righted himself with his return to “his” side of the rubber. He’ll be strong again this season…and may end up filling a brief need as a long reliever.
7. Brad Thompson - This guy has made a career of pitching on the bubble. His role the last few seasons is under-appreciated and all-too necessary. Good to see him on the team…but with young relievers like K-Mac, Motte, and Perez…how long will he remain?
8. Chris Perez - Perez was just optioned to AAA…and I don’t like it. The way he’s throwing, and considering the way our bullpen functioned last season, the best course of action here is to plug him into Raz’s roster spot until April is over…then make the tough call in the ‘pen based on performance. But…alas…the team doesn’t see it that way. We have not seen the last of Chris Perez in 2009.

And that does it…my roster preference. To summarize, I went with six infielders, four outfielders, and a whopping thirteen pitchers to help support the Arms Race of April. My roster delays the arrival of Colby Rasmus in favor of Perez’s Opening Day debut, but it’s worth it. With one off day in the opening month, what do we need yet another left-handed outfielder for, anyway?

Anywho…with less than a week ’til Opening Day…

GO CARDS!!!!

Would a “Real” World Series “Really” Work…?

I’ve become a big fan of the World Baseball Classic (WBC).

I know, I know…I was just like you…once. It’s a meaningless tournament that risks our best players in an ill-timed event…blah, blah, blah. But after watching team USA pull together and yank out a comeback victory against Puerto Rico…I’m a fan.

It really started a bit before that game, to be honest. I get a kick out of watching teams like Japan and their disciplined respect for the game…or Korea and their pursuit to finally claim a proud spot in the Asian baseball culture…and especially Cuba where hot and fiery personalities put themselves on display as catchers and pitchers squabble over who has the final say in pitch selection.

It’s great! I love it…and I think the tournament is worth while…with a few changes. The WBC clearly has a lot of work on their hands to tweak and fine-tune this tournament…but for now, it’s exciting. If you really stop and think about it…who wouldn’t love to watch a team of All-Star worthy players take on the world in meaningful games?!

And then it got me thinking…isn’t the purest purpose of all this international fanfare to grow the game in other parts of the world? And why do that? Well…as many would suggest…in the hopes of someday having a true “World” Series.

But would that really work? Let’s explore…

First, the concept of a true World Series would mean teams from all over the world would be able to compete with one another for the title. Let me be clear about this…we do NOT mean a national All-Star team. The current team Japan, for example…forget it. We’re not talking about that roster…we’re talking about a single team (like, say, the equivalent of the Red Sox) with all it’s deficiencies and lineup holes.

That brings up another question…intermingled leagues or conference championship style? The intermingled league approach is probably what most typical fans think of when they hear about the possibility of regular international competition…but it’s simply not possible. To intermingle the teams/leagues between Japan and the USA, for instance, would be disastrous. Long flight times, extended down-time between games, and jet-lag would all be significant issues. It just wouldn’t work.

But the conference champion approach? That could work. Imagine a world where baseball is played all over the world…Australia, South America, China, Europe, and America. Then, split the globe into four Baseball Regions and hold a playoff system to determine a regional champion…America, Canada, and Mexico would fight it out…the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, etc. would play one another…Korea, Japan, and China would face off…and, you know, anyone in and around Australia? Hey…it’s not a perfect system…just bear with me.

So…those four regions duke it out and settle on a single team to represent them in a semifinal/finals tournament. But where would they play the games?

Let’s assume for a moment that we could find a central location with year-round baseball weather that would NOT participate in one of the four regions (part of this is Science Fiction, people). Why is such a location necessary? Because flying back and forth from region to region in the middle of a series is not really an option…jet-lag, travel time, etc. And playing it in one of the four regions would give incredible home-field advantage to one team.

(Note: I suppose it would be possible for two teams to fly to a neutral region – like North America vs. Asia would play in Australia – but that just seems too complicated…and still wouldn’t solve the problem of where to play the final series.)

Of course, if you play in a non-baseball region, you have another very simple problem…facilities. If they don’t play much baseball, they won’t have a sizable, professional level field/stadium for the tournament. How do we solve that? Simple…we build an International Baseball Association (IBA…I made that up) Village complete with lodging for four teams and a full-size, Major League quality stadium funded by shared profits from all of the professional divisions across the four baseball regions.

And then you hold a tournament.

All four teams would fly into the area, stay at the village, and then play a 5-game series formatted semifinal round. The winners of the round would then play a single 7-game series to determine the true international champion.

Could be fun…right?  Of course…there are a few problems…

Assuming you hold the tournament after the regular baseball season in America, you’re adding up to a month onto an already lengthy and tiring season for MLB players. At some point, health, wear and tear, and just plain exhaustion become  a factor…and then injuries. So…do you cut the season down in MLB? Not likely…you cut the season down, you cut into MLB profits. Not a good idea when you’re already asking MLB to fund an international competition. So…we have a scheduling problem.

We also have a competition problem.

A team from America will play 162 games in a season plus playoff games and Spring Training. But there is no way a Central American team plays that many games. I just don’t see how those countries could support a season and league that large and long. But let’s say they could play half of those games…you’re still asking a team playing more than 162 games to match up against a team playing 81. That’s just not fair. So…there’s a competition problem.

We could go on…but none of this addresses what I think is the biggest problem and obstacle to ever having an international champion.

Player prospecting.

Think about it…players like Dice-K, Beltran, Ichiro, Delgado, Pujols, A-Rod, Yadier Molina, etc. are all from other countries. If those countries were able to develop comparable leagues to our own, the MLB talent pool would drop significantly. Sure, those countries are not likely to pay anywhere near our salaries (except maybe Japan), but there are considerations such as national pride and governmental issues (such as trying to leave Cuba or China) that would make it very difficult for many of those players to leave their native country to play in/for America in an internationally-focused league. Make no mistake…this would not be the WBC…players would NOT be allowed to leave their team and represent their country. They would be required to play against it.

In other words, if MLB truly wants to create and develop an international competition, they better be prepared to sacrifice a significant portion of their most talented players to do it…including American born players lured to rich and dedicated countries like Japan.

And that is where I think MLB is not willing to make the necessary sacrifice. It’s all well and good to preach “international development!”…until you have to give up significant assets to make it happen.

Anyway…that’s just my random thought-ramblings on international competition…the result of allowing myself to go off on a tangent for a few minutes.

Okay…that’s all for now…carry on…

Go Cards…

Kudos to Strauss…

Joe Strauss has finally written a brief article – a blurb, really – praising Skip’s play at second base. Then, he followed it up with a statement on Bernie’s radio show that this was “by far Skip’s best defensive day.”

Interesting…because by all accounts, Skip pulled Pujols nearly off the bag on his one double play, and then looked awkward on his “sprawling” dive. Don’t get me wrong…I’m glad Strauss is getting off Skip’s back…just curious what caused the change. It’s quite a bit different than his previous stance.

Hmmm…maybe Cards ‘N Stuff has some pull…? Doubtful. Maybe ‘ol Joey finally realized how hard he was slammin’ the guy just because he didn’t like the idea of being wrong to thousands of fans.

Ah well…whatever the reason, let’s hope it lasts. Joe’s a good reporter with a lot of pull. I would hate to see him on the wrong side of this issue just because of pride.

Go Cards