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The Cardinals Struggles In 2014 So Far Might Point To Accumulation Of Roster Changes Since 2011
After St. Louis won the 2011 World Series, they lost their world class 1B Free Agent player in Albert Pujols. It was the right move (10 YRs/$250 MIL is too much), and Michael Wacha was the compensation pick, so one wouldn’t even make the trade for the Cardinals former legend. However much like the Mariners in the late 90’s lost Johnson, Griffey and Rodriguez, that team had a league record 116 wins in 2001. The Cards have back to back NLCS Appearances, and lost the World Series in 2013, however despite being chalked with young talent, is that they still have lost several key components to their team in the last 3 years. Somewhere the franchise might have to slow down for a brief spell.
In no way am I going to slag the best run franchise in the MLB. We are talking about the quintessential template of how to run your team in the modern world of baseball.
All I am projecting in this article is that every team goes through a stretch of play where they may not be performing to capabilities.
Some of these problems may even persist for a whole campaign.
The 2011 Cardinals won the World Series, and then after losing their future hall of fame legend in Albert Pujols, were able to bring in Free Agents Carlos Beltran to help offset the power headed out the door.
The move paved the way for another final four finish. In fact, St. Louis held a 3 – 1 NLCS lead before the Giants won 3 straight.
2013 saw their young players come to fruition at the same time, and it mixed perfectly with their cagey Veteran core.
The organization had 6 players in the top 100 prospects as listed by http://www.mlb.com – and most of them have seen time with the big club thus far. Read the rest of this entry
Cincinnati Reds State Of The Union: Is 2014 The Year?
The Cincinnati Reds are coming off of a heartbreaking season, losing in the one game playoff to the Pittsburgh Pirates. They finished third in the National League Central after winning the division in 2012. Manager Dusty Baker had to be fired so a new manager could take this team to the promise land. Cincys will most likely lose Shin-Soo Choo to Free Agency, and put Billy Hamilton in center field next campaign. Is 2014 the year of the Reds?
BY Ryan Ritchey (Featured Baseball Columnist): Follow @baseballaddicts
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For the Cincinnati Reds 2013 ended in a disappointment. The Reds won 90 games once again, finishing 3rd in the National League Central, but couldn’t get past the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Wild Card.
Right after the season the Reds manager Dusty Baker was fired. I could write a full post just on Dusty Baker and how many things he did right/wrong but I won’t get into that.
Billy Hamilton steals 4 bases in his 1st four Games
Triple Play Podcast Ep #8 – Bucs And Nats Time In The Around The Horn Feature
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The Triple Play Show will have 5 shows per month. Each show will be about 1 hour.
By The Big Ticket Show ( AKA Triple Play Podcast on http://www.mlbreports.com) Follow @bigticketshow
Guests in this Podcast – MLB Reports Nationals Correspondent David Huzzard of Citizensofnatstown.com ( Follow @bigticketshow and MLB Reports Pirates Correspondent Brad Cuprik
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On a Mother’s day edition of the triple play podcast we heed the advice of our mother’s and turn the lemon of our original guest being unable to join us into the lemonade of Bard Cuprik of mlbreports.com (Check out his latest Roster Tree piece – where he goes through the 6 degrees of separation of a how each pitcher arrived in a Bucs uniform here ) – and David Huzzard of the Citizens of Natstown podcast (and Writer) dissects the pitching and the Nationals start to the 2013 Season. Read the rest of this entry
St. Louis Cardinals – Week 1 Review
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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:
Reds Are Going To Make The Rest Of The NL Bleed Red
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In his 1st half season during last year, Joey Votto clubbed for a 3 Slash Line of .348/.471/1.124 with 35 Doubles, 14 HRs and 48 RBI. He was the leading candidate to pull in his 2nd NL MVP Award. Once he returned from injury, he was not the same – only plating 8 RBI and HRs in the last 28 games he played in. The Canadian still led the NL in OBP for the 3rd straight season. He also led the NL In Walks despite missing 51 games. Votto has a Career 3 Slash Line of .316/.415/.968. He is signed through the 2024 year in a 13 YR/.$263 MIL deal.
MLB Reports: Welcome to our newest Kids writer Jason Alpert-Wisnia – for being selected to join our MLB Reports Kids Writing team. We are pleased to present the readers with a youthful look to the game of baseball. Moms and Dad’s – if you have a young kid who loves baseball and wants to write about the game, please email us at mlbreports@gmail.com. We will be selecting three more kid writers for our website this year.
By Jason Alpert-Wisnia (AKA “JAWS”): (MLB Reports Kids Writer – visit his website here )
The Cincinnati Reds last season had a 97 Wins and 65 Losses Team Record, scoring them 1st place in the NL Central last season. The team could have made it even farther in the Postseason, maybe even beating the Giants and becoming the NL representatives, BUT, they missed their chance in losing 3 straight tries to eliminate the club from the BAY after taking a commanding 2 – 0 lead in the Series.
During the year Joey Votto injured his knee and was out for a while along with the manager Dusty Baker having a stroke, and you have to wonder about these two incidents not factoring in them feeling less than 100% heading into the Playoffs.
You throw in Johnny Cueto‘s injury moving up all of the depth on the Starting Pitching versus the Giants in the 2012, and you can see that things spiraled downward.
Joey Votto Highlights – Mature Lyrics so Parental Guidance is advised:
St. Louis Cardinals 2013 Payroll and Contracts Going Forward
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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:
San Francisco Giants Payroll in 2013: And Contracts Going Forward (Updated Mar.8)
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Angel Pagan (31) led the NL in Triples with 15 in 2012 amongst his 61 Extra Base Hits and 95 Runs. Pagan parlayed his great campaign into a 4 Year/$45 MIL Contract.
By Kyle Holland (Giants Correspondent): Follow @TheKHolland13
Coming off of the 2012 World Series victory, the Giants haven’t really done much this offseason. Either way every team in the league is going to be trying to take them down. When you’re the Champion of all of baseball, what team wouldn’t be gunning for you? Their biggest contest is going to be their rivals in the NL West, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team has made more moves since August than you can count. The Giants realize what a great team they have and how little moves they made have shown they are confident in what they can do in 2013.
The possibly most important move they have made is resigning the Second-Half-hero Marco Scutaro. His 3 yr./$20,000,000 deal is a great deal for San Francisco. After what he did the Giants probably would have considered paying more for Scutaro. You just can’t match .500 AVG in the NLCS. This man was the definition of clutch for the club. Other very important deals include Hunter Pence, Angel Pagan, and Jeremy Affeldt. Pence, who was acquired at the Trade Deadline from the Phillies, was a huge reason the Giants even made it past the NLDS. His inspirational speeches got the entire squad ready before every game. Him resigning for a 1 YR./$13,800,000 deal was huge for him and the Giants. The team gets to utilize his skills for another year – while he gets to prove he’s worth more come next winter.
San Francisco Giants: 2012 World Series Highlights. Mature lyrics- parental guidance is advised:
Raising Cain: The New Ace Of The San Francisco Giants
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Wednesday February 20, 2013
Matt Cain had been living in the shadow of Tim Lincecum ever since the 2008 season. After Cain’s brilliant 2012 campaign – coinciding with Lincecum’s worst year to date, he has proven himself as the new ace of the Giants’ pitching rotation. He is 55-35 (.611) over the last 4 seasons -with an ERA under 3.
By Kyle Holland (MLB Reports Writer): Follow @TheKHolland13
On Saturday, February 16, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced, to no one’s surprise at all, that Clayton Kershaw would be the Opening Day starter for the third straight year. You didn’t have to be a baseball expert to see that one coming. What may have possibly come as a surprise to some is who his opponent will be on April 1 at Dodger Stadium.
Bruce Bochy announced Monday, February 18 that Matt Cain will be making his first career Opening Day start. For the last 4 years Tim Lincecum took the hill on Opening Day. The 2 years before that was Barry Zito and the 2 before him? Jason Schmidt. That brings us all the way back to when Matt Cain first suited up in 2005. Matt Cain has had a brilliant career since debuting in 2005 with the Giants. Throughout these fantastic years though, Matt Cain has been unable to call himself the ace of the Giants staff.
Matt Cain Perfect Game All 27 Outs:
San Francisco Giants Payroll in 2013: And Contracts Going Forward
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Without Marco Scutaro during the second half of the 2012 season – who knows if the Giants would’ve gone nearly as far as they did. He hit a very impressive .362 after joining the Giants in July. He hit a new NLCS record .500 versus the Cards last year. Resigning him was definitely a priority for the Giants so signing him through 2015 on a 3 YR/$20,000,000 was huge for both sides of the deal.
By Kyle Holland (Giants Correspondent): Follow @TheKHolland13
Coming off of the 2012 World Series victory, the Giants haven’t really done much this offseason. Either way every team in the league is going to be trying to take them down. When you’re the Champion of all of baseball, what team wouldn’t be gunning for you? Their biggest contest is going to be their rivals in the NL West, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team has made more moves since August than you can count. The Giants realize what a great team they have and how little moves they made have shown they are confident in what they can do in 2013.
The possibly most important move they have made is resigning the Second-Half-hero Marco Scutaro. His 3 yr./$20,000,000 deal is a great deal for San Francisco. After what he did the Giants probably would have considered paying more for Scutaro. You just can’t match .500 AVG in the NLCS. This man was the definition of clutch for the club. Other very important deals include Hunter Pence, Angel Pagan, and Jeremy Affeldt. Pence, who was acquired at the Trade Deadline from the Phillies, was a huge reason the Giants even made it past the NLDS. His inspirational speeches got the entire squad ready before every game. Him resigning for a 1 YR./$13,800,000 deal was huge for him and the Giants. The team gets to utilize his skills for another year – while he gets to prove he’s worth more come next winter.
San Francisco Giants: 2012 World Series Highlights. Mature lyrics- parental guidance is advised:
MLB Player Profile: Nationals Pitcher Jordan Zimmermann
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Wednesday January 23rd, 2013
Jordan Zimmermann is heading into Arbitration shortly with the Nats coming off of his best year in the Major Leagues with a 12-8 Record. For his career, he is 24-26 with a 3.47 ERA. Zimmermann had Tommy John surgery in 2009 – and has come back stronger.
Bernie Olshansky (Baseball Writer): Follow @BernieOlshansky
Having his breakout season in 2012, Jordan Zimmermann has been a guy the Washington Nationals have been able to rely on. 27 years old in 2013, Zimmermann helps anchor the young Nationals rotation including Gio Gonzalez and Stephen Strasburg. The Nationals had success in 2012, winning the NL East and making the playoffs for the first time as a franchise. The Nationals got unlucky though, and were eliminated by the St. Louis Cardinals in the Division Series. This year the Nationals will hope to build on their 2012 performance, and Jordan Zimmermann will most likely be a big help.
One of the main reasons the Nationals were eliminated so early last season is because of the shutting down of Stephen Strasburg. In the middle of the season, I wrote about the pros and cons of shutting Strasburg down, and in the end the situation ended badly. Last year, the Nationals had a very strong rotation consisting of Strasburg, Zimmermann, Gonzalez, and Edwin Jackson. By shutting Strasburg down, the Nationals lost a quarter of their rotation and had to scramble when the Division Series went more than three games. Ross Detwiler got the start and Zimmermann had to come into the game in a relief role. There was no reason for this to have to happen. Protecting Strasburg was important, but in my opinion the Nationals overprotected him, which cost them dearly in the playoffs.
Jordan Zimmermann Flashback Highlights:
St. Louis Cardinals Roster For 2013: State Of The Union
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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)
Dusty Baker and The San Francisco Giants Just Don’t Mix Well
Tuesday October 23rd, 2012
Jake Dal Porto: The San Francisco Giants and current Reds’ manager Dusty Baker just don’t seem to mix all that well. Baker had a very capable Reds squad just a win away from the NLCS, putting pressure on the Giants to win all of the remaining three games. And they did, doing their best imitation of the comeback kids.
The thing is, the Reds weren’t expected to be on vacation by the end of the second week of October. They were built for a World Series run. They had the pitching, the powerful offense, and air-tight defense all in their favor to make a charge. They didn’t boast the second best record in baseball by accident. This was a team on a mission- a team of destiny.
More simply put, their expectations and the fans’ expectations exceeded a first round departure, especially with a lofty 2-0 lead in their home park. Of course, DustyBaker doesn’t deserve all the blame. He set up his troops to succeed and they didn’t answer the bell at home. It’s that simple, and there really is nothing else he or any other manager could have done differently to alter the outcome of that series. Read the rest of this entry
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