Revision as of 14:41, 10 October 2010

We are back as the Cardinals in the PSCB.

2010 St Louis Cardinals

X C Matt Wieters

X 1B Adam Dunn
X 2B Rickie Weeks
X 2B Sean Rodriguez
X 2B Blake DeWitt
X 3B Chase Headley

 3B Alex Gordon

 3B Mark Teahen

X SS Jose Reyes

 SS Orlando Cabrera

X LF Carl Crawford
X LF Marcus Thames
X LF Josh Willingham
X RF Jason Heyward

 CF Fernando Martinez

X CF Drew Stubbs

X SP Chris Volstad
X SP Fausto Carmona
X SP Carlos Zambrano

 SP Joe Saunders

 SP Joe Blanton

X SP Wandy Rodriguez
X SP Mike Leake
X RP Jesse Crain
X RP Joel Zumaya
X RP Jason Motte
X RP Kevin Gregg
X RP Brad Lidge
X RP Kris Medlen

X= Frank's 23 protected players as of 10-10-10

Strengths

Great youth. Lots of high quality prospects. Strong bullpen. Tons of speed.

Weaknesses

Lack of depth in the rotation. No 1B to speak of.

Assessment

This team has what it takes to compete, but its unlikely it can win it all without a couple of real strong deals.

Lineup

Here is what the lineup looks like vs right, with OPS included:

SS Reyes .750
RF Heyward .895
LF Crawford .930
1B Dunn .965
DH Willingham .830
2B Weeks .769
CF Stubbs .765
3B Headley .753
C Wieters .741

I dont like putting 3 lefties in a row, especially 3 who are weak versus left handed pitching, its too vulnerable to a lopsided reliever. The OPS numbers say this is the way to do it, but I think maybe batting Crawford 2nd, Willingham 3rd, Dunn 4th and Heyward 5th might be a decent idea.

Deals

I am getting in the mood to make this team go. We just need a bat or two and one mercenary arm and we can start thinking legit.

Hiroki Kuroda

We have spare OF, and I am looking in to getting him. He is solid and would be a nice 2-3 starter for us. My goal is to send Thames and something for him, but I dont know if that will work.

Ian Kennedy

Jim and I have talked about him a bunch of times. I have offered him Cabrera (he needs SS bad), Zambrano and a prospect for Kennedy. Who knows. He would look great on the roster, and we would free up some space to draft.

Geovany Soto

I offered Austin Jackson for Soto and its a possibility. Paired with Wieters we would be in nice shape behind the plate. I would prefer to trade Jackson over Stubbs at this time. I think Stubbs has a higher ceiling and probably a higher floor too, even though he is older.

Russell Branyan

I know you hate him, but if I can get him without giving up a premium guy, he could pair with S-Rod to make a decent 1B platoon. Maybe Thames can be what it takes.

Dan Haren

I really want to get him, but the guy wont respond to email. His only problem is the HR, he is too good a P to be this bad. He pitched in small parks, so he might overachieve in St Louis.

Josh Beckett

He is a bounce back candidate. He was dominant in the first 6 innings then made tons of mistakes in the 7th and later. His injury really hurt him. Once he is full strength he should be his old self.