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St. Louis Cardinals – Week 1 Review

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Monday, April 8th, 2013

2012 was a season that ended with disappointment which ultimately distracted us from recognizing what a successful year it really was. 2012 highlighted a lot of the greatness that is to come for this great franchise. The Cardinals are greatly positioned for the next 5 years with the influx of 6 top 100 MLB Prospects at League Entry Level Contracts. Having said this, the club started out the year dropping 2 out of 3 to the Arizona Diamondbacks, before pulverizing the defending World Series Champions over the weekend – taking the series 2 – 1 and outscoring the Giants 20 – 7, while obliterating Matt Cain’s ERA for some time. by hanging 9 Earned Runs on him in just 3.2 IP.

By Landen Crouch ( Cardinals Correspondent) Follow @LandenCrouch

Week in Review:

The opening week of the 2013 season for the St. Louis Cardinals can now be considered successful after a 14-3 win over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals finished their opening week six-game West Coast road trip with a .500-record of (3-3).

This is definitely a huge success for the Cardinals to come back to St. Louis with at least a .500 record. Of course, they wanted to win the 16-inning marathon against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night (and early into Thursday morning), and the 1-0 pitchers-dual game against Barry Zito on Friday.

Those were two tough losses. Overall, though, this week was positive for the Cardinals and should give them some momentum coming into their home opening series against the Cincinnati Reds.

2013 St. Louis Cardinals Preview by MLB Network:

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Posted in MLB Payroll and Contracts, The Rest: Everything Baseball

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Tags: 2004 World Series, 2006 World Series, 2011 World Series, 2012 NLDS, 2012 Wild Card Play In Game, 2013 Cardinals Payroll, 2013 Cardinals Player Roster, @landencrouch on twitter, adam wainwright, albert pujols, allen craig, boston red sox, carlos beltran, chicago white sox, chris carpenter, cincinnati reds, colby rasmus, Daniel Descalso, dave duncan, david freese, detroit tigers, Edward Mujica, houston astros, jake westbrook, jamie garcia, jason motte, joe kelly, john jay, kyle lohse, kyle mcclellan, la angels, la dodgers, lance lynn, Landen Crouch, los angeles dodgers, marc rzepcynski, matt carpenter, mike matheny, mitchell boggs, MLB State of the Union, national league, NL Central, nl mvp, pete kozma, rafael furcal, randy choate, san francisco giants, shelby miller, Skip Schumaker, st louis cardinals, texas rangers, tony la russa, toronto blue jays, trevor rosenthal, ty wiggington, victor marte, World Series MVP, yadier molina

St. Louis Cardinals 2013 Payroll and Contracts Going Forward

Mar 25

Posted by LandenCrouch

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Wednesday, March.25/2013

2012 was a season that ended with disappointment which ultimately distracted us from recognizing what a successful year it really was. 2012 highlighted a lot of the greatness that is to come for this great franchise. The Cardinals are greatly positioned for the next 5 years with the influx of 6 top 100 MLB Prospects at League Entry Level Contracts. The Cards were 1 one away from the World Series in 2012 before the Giants won 3 elimination games. Can the franchise withstand the losses of Lohse, Carpenter, Furcal and even Hitting Coach Mgwire

By Landen Crouch ( Cardinals Correspondent) Follow @LandenCrouch

I believe we can expect more of the same from the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013. This is a franchise that has proven they can be competitive on a consistent basis, even doing so last year without Albert Pujols. The Cardinals enter 2013 following consecutive runs to the National League Championship Series (won World Series in 2011).

On the heels of a very quiet offseason, the Cardinals seem to be entering the 2013 season with a very clear plan: get younger while simultaneously maintaining a high level of success on the field. The franchise has clearly begun this transition already with the departure of a few key players in the last several years – Kyle Lohse being the latest.

In the money department, the Cardinals have never been afraid to spend money to help the ballclub; however, they have always done so wisely. They are not among the teams that seemingly are just trying to buy championships. They have always been a team that uses a healthy balance of money and a solid farm system for success.

In 2013, the Cardinals will rank 10th in all of Major League Baseball in overall payroll – in the upper tier, for sure, but not overspending by any means – and their farm system is ranked 1st overall in baseball. The Cardinals have the money and the players it takes to continue being competitive for a long time to come.

2011 Cardinals World Series:

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Tags: 2004 World Series, 2006 World Series, 2011 World Series, 2012 NLDS, 2012 Wild Card Play In Game, 2013 Cardinals Payroll, 2013 Cardinals Player Roster, @landencrouch on twitter, adam wainwright, albert pujols, allen craig, boston red sox, carlos beltran, chicago white sox, chris carpenter, cincinnati reds, colby rasmus, Daniel Descalso, david freese, detroit tigers, Edward Mujica, houston astros, jake westbrook, jamie garcia, jason motte, joe kelly, john jay, kyle lohse, kyle mcclellan, la angels, la dodgers, lance lynn, Landen Crouch, los angeles dodgers, marc rzepcynski, matt carpenter, mike matheny, mitchell boggs, MLB State of the Union, national league, NL Central, nl mvp, pete kozma, rafael furcal, randy choate, san francisco giants, shelby miller, Skip Schumaker, st louis cardinals, texas rangers, toronto blue jays, trevor rosenthal, ty wiggington, victor marte, World Series MVP, yadier molina

St. Louis Cardinals Roster For 2013: State Of The Union

Jan 9

Posted by LandenCrouch

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Wednesday, January.09/2013

The Cardinals have been the most consistent Franchise in the National League, having appeared in 7 of the last 11 NLCS since 2000 (3-4). They have also won 2 World Series in that time (2006 and 2011.) They held a 3-1 NLCS lead over the San Francisco Giants before losing to the 2012 World Champions. They are ready for another great 2013 campaign. The NL Central goes from 6 teams to 5 – with the departed Houston Astros.

By Landen Crouch ( Cardinals Correspondent) Follow @LandenCrouch

The current St. Louis Cardinals roster, set to take them into the 2013 season, has seen little changes from what was a very successful 2012 season. This really is not much of a surprise, though, as the front office has told fans they were not planning to change too much this offseason. After a gut-wrenching offseason a year ago, in which Albert Pujols headed west to the Angels, a quiet offseason really does not seem like such an awful thing. In the upcoming season, the St. Louis Cardinals will be hoping for more of the same from a team that was one win away from a second straight World Series Berth. The Cardinals will look to continue recent success, while filtering in some young prospects in the process.

Game #5 of the NLDS (Comeback win versus the Washington Nationals)

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Tags: 2004 World Series, 2006 World Series, 2011 World Series, 2012 NLDS, 2012 Wild Card Play In Game, 2013 Cardinals Payroll, 2013 Cardinals Player Roster, @landencrouch on twitter, adam wainwright, albert pujols, allen craig, carlos beltran, chris carpenter, cincinnati reds, colby rasmus, Daniel Descalso, david freese, Edward Mujica, houston astros, jake westbrook, jamie garcia, jason motte, joe kelly, john jay, kyle lohse, kyle mcclellan, lance lynn, Landen Crouch, los angeles dodgers, marc rzepcynski, matt carpenter, mike matheny, mitchell boggs, MLB State of the Union, national league, NL Central, nl mvp, pete kozma, rafael furcal, randy choate, san francisco giants, shelby miller, Skip Schumaker, st louis cardinals, toronto blue jays, trevor rosenthal, ty wiggington, victor marte, World Series MVP, yadier molina

Fantasy Baseball Report: Week of May 28th

May 28

Posted by pwstein87

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Monday May 28th, 2012

Peter Stein (Fantasy Baseball Analyst – MLB reports): In this week’s fantasy focus, I take a look at a group of hitter who have improved significantly in one category and as a result have seen a tremendous increase in their overall value. While some of these guys are legit, others should be traded while their value is at a peak. Also, do not miss the “Closer Corner”, as the saves category has been as frustrating and hard to predict as any in 2012.

Martin Prado has always been a serviceable infield option, although now only eligible at third base, due to his ability to hit for average and decent power and production. However, his average took a hit in 2011 (.260) and his career highs in home runs (15) and stolen bases (5) leaves a lot to be desired. In 2012, Prado has made an effort to be more aggressive on the base paths and has already stolen 7 bases in 8 attempts. Even 15 stolen bases would tremendously increase his overall value. I expect him to approach 20, especially as he is getting on base more with an even 21:21 walk to strikeout ratio. His average is a robust .333 (career .297) and his new approach at the plate could have Prado ending the year with a line looking something like this: .310/14/80/20.

After crushing 21 home runs in 2009, Billy Butler has disappointed many owners by hitting 15 and 19 home runs in his follow-up seasons. He is an OPS machine and the power seems to be developing in 2012, as he already has 11 home runs. Due to his size, 240 pounds, people expected the power to develop right away, but we cannot forget that he is only 26 years old. Guys typically do not reach their full power potential until their late twenties. While we know we can expect a .300 average from Butler, is appears that he will at least come close to approaching 30 home runs in 2012. The fact that he hit 13 of his 19 home runs in the final three months of the 2011 season is even more promising for Butler owners. The only discouraging thing about Butler is that he is only eligible at the DH position in most leagues. Read the rest of this entry →

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Tags: addison reed, b.j. upton, baseball, billy butler, brandon league, Carlos Marmol, closer, Edward Mujica, Ernesto Frieri, fantasy baseball, heath bell, james russell, martin prado, mlb, rafael dolis, rafael furcal, robin ventura, saves, steve cishek, tom wilhelmsen, tyler clippard

MLB Closer Report: Where Does Your Team Stand?

May 6

Posted by Bryan Sheehan

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Sunday May 6, 2012

Bryan Sheehan (Baseball Writer): Seeing Mariano Rivera go down with a torn ACL is like driving by a car accident and reflecting on how easily it could have been you in that accident, or in this case- how it could have been your team’s closer cringing in pain on the warning track. And this is the year of the injured closer: from Boston’s Andrew Bailey to San Francisco’s Brian Wilson, closers across the league have been dropping like flies. Other closers, like the Angels’ Jordan Walden, have stayed healthy but haven’t played well enough to keep their coveted ninth inning role. Even though there has only been a month of baseball so far, much has changed for some clubs.

Today, I’ll be taking a look at every team’s closer situation, and breaking down how it got to be the way it is: Read the rest of this entry →

Posted in MLB Teams: Articles and Analysis, Players: Fantasy Baseball Articles

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Tags: alfredo aceves, andrew bailey, aroldis chapman, baseball, brandon league, brandon lyon, brett myers, brian wilson, Carlos Marmol, chad qualls, chris perez, chris sale, closer, craig kimbrel, david hernandez, david robertson, drew storen, Edward Mujica, fernando rodney, fernando salas, francisco cordero, francisco rodriguez, frank francisco, glen perkins, grant balfour, heath bell, henry rodriguez, huston street, j.j. putz, jason grilli, jason motte, javy guerra, jim johnson, joakim soria, joe nathan, joel hanrahan, john axford, johnny venters, jon rauch, jonathan broxton, jonathan papelbon, jorden walden, jose valverde, kenley jansen, luke gregerson, mariano rivera, matt capps, mike adams, mlb, pedro strop, rafael betancourt, rafael soriano, ryan madson, santiago casilla, saves, scott downs, Sean Marshall, sergio santos

Mike Adams Leads the Way – 2012 MLB Holds Leader

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Thurday April 19th, 2012

Ryan Ritchey: Most teams are 12 games in to this 162 game season, with many teams having played close games in all 12. With that in mind I would like to check out the stat that no one really pays attention to (except some hardcore fantasy baseball fans)… that being holds. For those of you that don’t know what a hold, is let me explain. A hold by definition is when a relief pitcher enters the game in a save situation, records at least one out, and leaves the game without his team giving up the lead- with also not recording the save. That is a lot to take in at one time but it all works out in the end on the stat sheet.

Now that you know what a hold is, let’s take a look at the top ten relievers in holds:

10. David Hernandez ARI - 3 holds, Arizona has gone on a hot streak and it is because of their pitching. With Upton not producing, the pitching is taking most of the responsibility on their shoulders and are doing a great job. Hernandez in 7 appearances has 8 strikeouts to only 2 walks allowed. He also has one blown save. (more…)