Why the National Media Should be Rooting for the St. Louis Cardinals

People from St. Louis love to argue that the national media seems to be biased against the Cardinals.  And I do believe there is a little validity to that.  It’s not just St. Louis, but teams from smaller cities.  I get it.  National media loves big cities.  They are more fun, more exciting.   They usually have the high-profile, big name players.  The other reason they love teams from big cities is the storylines.  Let’s be honest.   Media is all about the storylines.  And going into the 2014 MLB playoffs, there were plenty of intriguing storyline possibilities. 

The one most of the national media seemed to be rooting for was an all LA World Series: the LA Dodges vs. the LA Angels.  The “Freeway Series”.   Those teams had the major market, the major payrolls and the star players.  It was the dream matchup.  However, those teams were both knocked out in the first round, combing for one win.  Another World Series matchup national media was rooting for was Washington vs. Baltimore.  Like the LA teams, this would have been a matchup of teams with a very close proximity.   The “Beltway Series”.   However, with Washington being dispatched in the first round, this matchup too became an impossibility this postseason. 

Yet there does in fact remain two interesting World Series matchup possibilities and both of them involve the St. Louis Cardinals.  The ALCS matchup this year is the Kansas City Royals vs. the Baltimore Orioles.   The first possible resulting matchup would be Cardinals/Royals.  The storyline for this is fairly obvious.  The I-70 Series. Matchup of the two Missouri teams.   While not as glamorous as a matchup of LA, it is still intriguing.  This would also be a rematch of the 1985 World Series, which is well-known for the controversial Don Denkinger call at first base.  The media could (and would) milk this for all it’s worth. 

The other potential matchup would be Cardinals/Orioles.  The storyline here may not be as obvious. If you know a little baseball history, though, you know that the before the Orioles played in Baltimore, they were originally from St. Louis, known as the St. Louis Browns.   As well as both teams originally being from St. Louis, they also met in the 1944 World Series.  I could see the media spinning this into an interesting story as well.

This is not to say there would be no good stories if the San Francisco Giants make the World Series.  Most likely the media would point out the fact that the Giants have been on an every-other-year World Series trend, winning it in 2010 and 2012, and this being 2014.  My point is that national media loves a good storyline, and while they may not be the storylines they originally wanted, St. Louis being in the World Series provides the two best potential storylines left.  

Goodbye Craig and Kelly

The idea for this post was suggested to me by Mr. Josh Taylor.  Thanks for the suggestion.  This is how I was hoping this blog would work.

On July 31, baseball's trade deadline, the St. Louis Cardinals made a trade with the Boston Red Sox, giving up pitcher Joe Kelly and 1st Baseman/Outfielder Allen Craig in return for pitcher John Lackey and minor league pitcher Corey Littrell.  This trade has been quite controversial in the eyes of many Cardinal fans.  Craig and Kelly were fan favorites, many wanted to see Craig play through his struggles to get back to his all-star capability and some think the Cardinals did not get enough in return.  I spent much of the day mulling the trade over in my mind and listening to what others had to say about the deal.  Here is what I have concluded at this point about the trade.

This might not be a popular stance, but I have been in favor of trading Craig.  Don't get me wrong, Craig is one of my favorite players and it really pains me to see him go (especially to Boston), but, put simply, he was not producing.  As of July 31 Craig was batting .237 with 7 home runs and 44 RBIs.  Those are not good numbers for someone who was supposed to be one of the Cardinals key producers this year.  Yes, sometimes guys just have bad years and you have to be patient with them.  But I'm not sure if that is the situation with Craig.  Craig injured his foot the last month of the year last year and reinjured it during the World Series.  For a batter, having a solid foundation is key.  So if he isn't healthy, he might not get back to where  he was.  Plus the Cardinals could not afford to keep waiting on him with prospect Oscar Taveras waiting for an opportunity to play.  Yes, he has not done well so far this year, but he has not been given any consistent playing time.  In order to see if he is going to produce or not, he needs to be given a chance to show it and that was not going to happen with Craig in front of him.

The second piece was Joe Kelly.  Also with Kelly, I am very sad to see him go.  I think he was a very underrated pitcher and was a great, fun personality to have on the team.  However, one thing against him is that he has never been able to go consistently deep into games, and on a staff right now that needs more innings from its starters in order for the bullpen to not get overworked, Kelly was not doing that.  And also with Kelly, I am not convinced he is healthy.  Kelly missed 3 months this year with a hamstring injury.  That is far too long to miss with a hamstring injury.  He was only expected to miss 2 weeks.  Since returning from that injury, Kelly was struggling.  Thus far this year, he was 2-2 with a 4.37 ERA.   Basically, there is a very good chance the Red Sox are getting damaged goods in this trade.

Now for the return.  The key player coming to St. Louis is John Lackey.  This year, Lackey is 11-7 with a 3.60 ERA and has been known throughout his career as a big game pitcher.  Some Cardinals fans might remember that he was the winning pitcher in the clinching game of last year's World Series.  The same was true for the 2002 World Series.  Also, moving from the American League to the National League should benefit him as it is more difficult to pitch it the AL because of the DH.  Also he has an option for $500,000 for next year which, unless he retires, he says he will honor.  So the Cardinals are getting a solid pitcher, who will provide innings, knows how to pitch in big games and would be a cheap player for next year.

The other player the Cardinals are getting in return is minor league left-handed starter Corey Littrell.  Littrell was drafted in the 5th round last year and is currently in high-A ball.  It was a while after the trade that I heard this player was also included in the deal, which made me feel a little better about it.  Littrell is a minor leaguer, so it will be a few years until we see if he ends up helping the team out or not.  This is not comforting for people who want to see immediate returns for this trade, but that is the reality.  He might help out, he might not.  We will have to wait and see.

When I first heard of this trade, I thought the Cardinals gave up too much.   And perhaps they did.  But I think a key part about this trade is something Jim Edmonds mentioned during the post-game show of that day's game.  Edmonds believes that this trade is essentially a kick in the the butt to the team.  Had the team played better collectively, this trade would not have been necessary.  And that is true.  Maybe this team needed a wake up call to get them going.  Giving them time was not working.  We will see if it is effective.

So who got the better end of this trade? I think baseball writer Ken Rosenthal put it best.  Rosenthal states, "No trade can be judged fairly the day it happens. Think of all the deals over the years that appeared one way and turned out another".  If Kelly and Craig are injured, they might not produce in Boston either.  If one or both of them is healthy, then Boston gets a solid pitcher and an MVP quality player.  And as I said, it will be a few years until we see if Corey Littrell helps out or not.  Until then we wait and we root, root, root for the Cardinals.

2014 AL All-Star Picks

As promised, here is the AL addition of my all-star picks.  Enjoy.

First Base: Miguel Cabrera (Detroit)

This wasn’t as easy a pick as in years past.   Typically Cabrera has been leaps and bounds above other first basemen.  But this year he has some competition.  That comes in the form of Cuban defector Jose Abreu.  Abreu is tied for the league lead in homeruns and RBIs.  However, Cabrera is still right there in RBIs and runs despite not having the same homerun totals.  And he has done this with an average about 30 points higher. 

Honorable Mention: Jose Abreu (Chicago), Brandon Moss (Oakland)

Second Base: Jose Altuve (Houston)

Surprisingly, I felt like this was a fairly easy pick.  Altuve is leading the AL  in hits (118), average (.347) and stolen bases (37).   Altuve plays for the Astros, so I feel he does not get the credit he deserves, but he has been there best player the past 3 years and is having an all-star year this year.

Honorable Mention: Robinson Cano (Seattle), Ian Kinsler (Detroit)

Shortstop: Alexi Ramirez (Chicago)

I know!  I am a horrible person because I didn’t vote for Derek Jeter! The baseball gods will not be happy with me.  I’m sorry, but my opinion on the all-star game should be based on which players are having the best seasons and frankly Jeter is not having an all-star year.  There are many other deserving shortstops this year and it is pretty close.  But he is the only one who is in the top 4 in hits (1^st), RBIs (2^nd) and runs (4^th).

Honorable Mention: Erick Aybar (Los Angeles), Alcides Escobar (Kansas City)

Third Base: Josh Donaldson (Oakland)

Surprisingly this was also a pretty easy pick.  Donaldson is by and large best AL third baseman.  Despite a low average (.245), which I normally take very seriously, he leads AL third basemen in homeruns (18), RBIs (61) and runs (57).  No one with a more respectable average can compete with these numbers

Honorable Mention: Kyle Seager (Seattle), Adrian Beltre (Texas)

Catcher: Salvador Perez (Kansas City)

Honestly this was a pretty difficult pick.   There really isn’t anyone in the AL who stands out head and shoulders above anyone else.  Joe Mauer and Carlos Santana switched positions in the offseason.  And it seems the rest of the catchers are excelling in different areas.  In the end I went with Perez.  He is 3^rd in average (.283), 1^st in hits (81), 2^nd in homeruns (10), 2^nd in runs (33) and 1^st in doubles (17).  When combined with above average defense, he seemed to be the best choice. 

Honorable Mention:  Derek Norris (Oakland), Yan Gomes (Cleveland)

Outfielders: Jose Bautista (Toronto), Mike Trout (Los Angeles), Michael Brantley (Cleveland)

The first two of these picks were no-brainers.  Trout leads AL outfielders with 19 homeruns and 62 RBIs and has a solid .311 average.  Bautista has 17 homeruns, a .300 average and leads all players with 60 walks.  The third outfielder was an interesting choice.  There are many deserving players.  In the end I liked Brantley’s all-around game.  He is 3^rd with 54 RBIs, 1^st with 56 runs and 1^st with a .312 average.  Honestly I was surprised by how well he was doing, but the numbers don’t lie!

Honorable Mention:  Adam Jones (Baltimore), Yoenis Cespedes (Oakland), Brett Gardener (New York)

Designated hitter: Edwin Encarnacion

This was the second pick I had to change since I previously voted.  This is maybe the closest of any two players in my eyes.  In reality one could flip a coin between Encarnacion and Cruz.  Both are deserving picks.  They are practically even in all major stats.  Encarnacion: .281 average, 90 hits, 26 homeruns, 69 RBIs, 56 runs.   Cruz: .280 average, 89 hits, 26 homeruns, 68 RBIs 50 runs.  Honestly the deciding factor for me was on-base and slugging percentage. Encarnacion has an on-base percentage of .370 and slugging percentage of .603.  Cruz’s percentages are .346 and .569.  These are not huge differences, but with everything being so close, it’s enough to give Encarnacion the nod. 

Well there it is!  Did I get them right or do you think I snubbed someone?  Let me know what you think!  I really enjoyed doing this and I hope you enjoy (or get angry, haha) reading it.  God Bless!

*stats as of 7/2/14

2014 NL All-Star Picks

On July 15, Major League Baseball will play its 85^th All-Star game.  So I thought I would have fun with this one and talk about who the starters in the game should be.  This entry will deal with the National League and will be followed by an entry on the American League.  So without further ado, here are my National League All-Star starters.

First Base: Paul Goldschmidt (Arizona)

This was a pretty easy one for me.   Goldschmidt is second in the NL with 15 homeruns, second with 53 RBIs, first with 58 runs, first with 27 doubles and fourth in batting average.  He is the only first bagger who ranks in the top 5 in all those categories.  And for the record leads all first basemen with 7 steals. 

Honorable mention: Freddie Freeman (Atlanta), Anthony Rizzo (Chicago)

Second Base: Dee Gordon (Los Angeles)

This guy is the best basestealer in baseball, leading the majors with 40.  I think in today’s game of homeruns and more homeruns, guys who can steal bases are underrated.  This guy is fast and he is smart.  Plus he has a solid .288 average, is fourth with 42 runs scored, leads the majors with 9 triples and is playing above average defense. 

Honorable mention: Daniel Murphy (New York), Chase Utley (Philadelphia)

Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado)

This was another pick which was pretty easy.  Tulowitzki is generally regarded as the best shortstop in baseball.  The only downside he has is that he is injury prone.  But he has stayed healthy this year and is putting up the numbers.  He leads all shortstops with 18 homeruns and 65 runs, is second with 47 RBIs and leads all players with a .353 average. 

Honorable mention: Hanley Ramirez (Los Angeles), Starlin Castro (Chicago)

Third Base: Todd Frazier (Cincinnati)

I originally did my all-star voting a few weeks ago, and in that time I have had to change my mind on this pick.   Originally I voted for Matt Carpenter with the mindset that Frazier and Carpenter are different type hitters.  Frazier had the RBI’s and homeruns but Carpenter had hits and runs.  Well Frazier has stepped it up and now has a slightly higher average and is about even in runs.  So although I love my hometown guy, I’ve got to give it to Frazier.

Honorable Mention: Matt Carpenter (St. Louis), Casey McGehee (Miami)

Catcher: Yadier Molina (St. Louis)

I dealt with this subject in my last entry.  Honestly, this is one of the most even positions.  Jonathan Lucroy leads Molina in the offensive categories, with Molina still putting up solid numbers.  But of any position, defense is important for catchers, and this is where Molina has a big advantage.  Lucroy has allowed 45 steals in 62 attempts.  Molina has had 34 stolen base attempts against him total, throwing out half.  So, I feel Molina is a better all-around player.

Honorable Mention: Jonathan Lucroy (Milwaukee), Devin Mesoraco (Cincinnati)

Outfield: Giancarlo Stanton (Miami), Andrew McCutcheon (Pittsburgh), Charlie Blackmon (Colorado)

Stanton was an easy pick.  He leads NL outfielders with 21 homeruns and 60 RBIs and 1run behind the NL leader.   McCutcheon  was also a fairly easy pick.  He leads with a .314 average, second with 24 doubles, is a smart basestealer (12 for 12) and is an impeccable defender.  The third spot was difficult to choose.  In the end I went with Blackmon.  He got off to the best start of any player and while he has slowed down he still has solid numbers.  He is among the leaders in hits, runs, RBIs and stolen bases. 

Honorable Mention: Carlos Gomez (Milwaukee), Yasiel Puig (Los Angeles), Hunter Pence (San Francisco)

Agree? Disagree? Let me know! I love debating this stuff.  Again, my AL starters will follow shortly.  I figured that would be too much to put into one entry.  Hope you enjoyed reading.  God Bless.

*stats as of 7/2/14

Jonathan Lucroy for President?

So, recently the Milwaukee Brewers released a “political ad” in favor of their catcher Jonathan Lucroy over the Cardinals’ Yadier Molina to start for the National League in this year’s All-Star Game.  In case you have not seen this ad yet, watch it here. 

Did you watch it? No? Go back and watch it, then keep reading.  Anyway, there are a lot of people who are upset about this ad.  I’ve heard it described as stupid and classless.  I’ve seen this ad a couple of times.  Personally, the first time I saw it I busted out laughing because I thought it was hilarious.  It was so absurd and unexpected.  But was it out of line? I’m not so sure.  I agree that Lucroy is perhaps the most underrated player in baseball.  He has put up some fantastic numbers over the past few years and really has not gotten much recognition.   So is it absurd to think of him as an all-star?  Not really.

But how about the ad?  Was the ad itself out of line?  I really do not think so.  This isn’t a very popular opinion among Cardinal fans but I was not really offended by it.   Personally I thought it was funny.  It was a spoof on the all-too-common political ads we see and get sick of each time an election is rolling around.   And I thought it was pretty well done.  Yes it “bashed” the Cardinals but they are rivals and frankly the Cardinals have beat them a lot over the past few years so they probably don’t have the best feelings toward St. Louis.  Also, St. Louis really is becoming one of the teams people either love or hate.   And that is due to their success.  Not to be cocky, but just observing.  When a team does well, others tend to start not liking them because the other team is doing well and their team isn’t.  It’s common nature.  No one is going to out of nowhere start hating on a team that is struggling.  That’s not how people work.  So, personally I think Milwaukee was just having some fun, taking a few shots at a rival and hoping to build hype for one of their guys. 

And that is where I start to take issue with the ad.  As I said earlier, I think Jonathan Lucroy is a phenomenal player and does not get enough recognition.  And because of this he is not doing as well as he maybe should be in the all-star voting.  In my opinion, that falls on the Milwaukee fan base.  If you think your guy is having an all-star year, then step up and vote for him!  Stuff the ballots!  Vote online!  Use multiple email addresses so you can keep voting!  If you think your guy is an all-star than vote him in!  Realize what you have on your team!  That there I think is the real issue.  I think Jonathan Lucroy is not just underrated around baseball, I think he is underrated in his own city.   Ken Rosenthal wrote a very good piece on this topic, which you can read here if you like.In case you don’t want to read it, basically it talks about how around the Milwaukee clubhouse, Lucroy isn’t treated as if he is a star.  He is treated more like a “kid brother”.  Teammates ask reporters why they are interviewing Lucroy and not someone else.  Lucroy went undrafted out of high school, wasn’t recruited by the major schools in his area, went out of state to play and has essentially never really been a hyped guy.  So before Milwaukee starts taking shots, even just playfully, at other teams they need to step up and realize that Lucroy really is that good. 

Finally, the part of the ad which really got me was when they call Lucroy the best catcher in baseball.  There are two ways to interpret that.  He is the best catcher in general or he is the best catcher this year.  If you take the first one, there is a picture which sums up my response nicely. 

Or you take the second one and mean he is having the best year and is most deserving of the all-star start.  That is an interesting argument.  Lucroy is having a great offensive year.  He is among the league leaders in hits and is ahead of Molina in most offensive categories.  But that is not to say Molina is having a bad year.  Offensively, he is still above average for a catcher, as of June 30 hitting .280 with 7 homeruns, solid marks for the halfway point, especially on a team which has struggled offensively.   Defensively is where there is a difference.  Lucroy has allowed 45 stolen bases thus far, throwing out only 17.   Molina has had 34 stolen base attempts total against him, throwing out exactly half.  As a whole both offensively and defensively I would give Molina the edge this year.  Although I do think Lucroy is having a great year as still deserving of an all-star selection, just not the starting spot.  That has been earned once again by Molina.

Let Me Introduce Myself

So, I’ve decided to start up a sports blog.  I like sports and I like talking about sports, so I figured this would be a fun idea.  We’ll see how it goes.  Hopefully you all read it J.  Or else it might get kind of pointless.  No pressure everyone.  I will also go a little into football and some hockey.  I probably won’t deal with basketball much unless there is just something I really find interesting.  

So, for those of you who don’t know me for some reason, my name is Brett Woods.  I was born and raised in the St. Louis area and thus born and raised into loving St. Louis sports.  I root for all the St. Louis teams.  I love baseball; it’s by far my favorite sport.  Can it get boring at times?  I guess.  But it really is the thinking man’s game.  There is so much complexity and strategy in the game.  It’s the one major sport where once you take a player out of the game, they can’t come back in.  For anyone who has spent any period of time around me, you know how much I love the Cardinals.  But, what less of you might know is that I am also a huge Tampa Bay Rays fan.  Yes, Tampa.  Why would someone from St. Louis, whose only experience in Florida has been layovers at the Miami airport, be a fan of a team in Tampa you ask?  Well frankly, because they used to suck.  Really bad.  When they came into the league they were absolutely horrible.  And I thought at that point that I should start rooting for them.  Because I knew eventually one day they would get good and more people would start liking them.  And I did not want to be accused of being a bandwagon fan.  I was going to be a fan before there was a bandwagon. (Yes, I realize I basically just called myself a hipster). 

As far as football, first and foremost I am a Rams fan (Yes, I know they have sucked for a long time, but watch out this year). They were the first St. Louis team I remember seeing win a championship (The Tackle!).  I also like the Green Bay Packers.  I grew up being a big fan of Brett Favre. Although I lost respect for him because he couldn’t decide to retire and got into that scandal about the pictures he sent to a reporter Anyway, I thought when he retired I might not care about the Packers as much but I gained respect for them for not putting up with his wanting to continually retire and then decide to come back.  They made a bold move to say no to one of the best quarterbacks of all time and put the rest of the organization first.  And let a man named Aaron Rodgers start at qb. 

I’m pretty simple as far as hockey is concerned.  I like the Blues, even though they might be cursed. We’ll see.  I’m not really a fan of any other teams.  Even for me, there’s only so much sports one person can follow.    I’m not really a big fan of basketball.  Probably because there is not a team in St. Louis, so I was just not raised to that.  If I had to name a favorite team, I would say the Oklahoma City Thunder.  I liked the when they were in Seattle and I have a lot of respect for Kevin Durant. 

Well I think that’s enough for this first blog.  I hope this goes well.  It should be a lot of fun.  If there is anything you would like to see my thoughts on, let me know.  Comment on facebook.  Tweet me on Twitter.  If you have my number, text me.  If you see me, ask.  If you have a carrier pigeon, write me a note and send it to me (People still do that, right?).  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this.  Have a great day.  God Bless.