http://www.sportsnipe.com St. Louis Cardinals, Team News, Updates, and Stats from all sports sources, updated continually. http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1048029/cards-arizona-fall-league-series-daryl-jones-cardinal-nation-subscription.html The Cardinal Nation (subscription)Cards Arizona Fall League Series: Daryl JonesThe Cardinal Nation (subscription)Playing for the Surprise Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, St. Louis Cardinals prospect Daryl Jones has alternated between leading off and ... St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1047169/cardinals-add-eight-to-40man-roster-belleville-news-democrat.html Cardinals add eight to 40-man rosterBelleville News DemocratST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday purchased the contracts of eight players from their minor-league affiliates and added them to their 40-man ...Cardinals Add Eight to 40-Man RosterThe Cardinal Nation (subscription)Cardinals move to avoid Rule 5 lossesMLB.comall 12 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1047168/market-watch-mark-derosa-in-demand-st-louis-postdispatch.html Market Watch: Mark DeRosa in DemandSt. Louis Post-DispatchTOWER GROVE ? There are many things that St. Louis Cardinals recent third baseman Mark DeRosa brings to the table, not the least of which ... St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1046099/more-thoughts-on-cy-young.html If you've not seen them, my selections for the Cardinal Bloggers Awards are below.  The votes are coming in from across the blogosphere and we should have some results maybe this weekend.I briefly touched on it yesterday, but I want to talk a little more about the aftermath of the Cy Young voting.  Apologies if there is some more than usual rambling, but there are some half-formed thoughts in my head that I want to try to get out and see if they make any sense.As expected, there are some irate people in Cardinal Nation that one or the other of the two pitchers did not win the award.  Some of the arguments or thoughts expressed, though, have some merit.Obviously, I'm not hear to argue that advanced statistical measures shouldn't be used to make these selections.  These things enhance our knowledge of the game and allow us not to be deceived by our eyes completely or to be terribly biased one way or another.  Sabermetrics is here to stay and it's a good thing.That said, there's got to be some room for not only the traditional stats but also for the circumstances and qualitative factors that surround the game.  Wins aren't the be-all and end-all, obviously, especially when you recognize in what situations some pitchers get a win.  ERA can be deceptive.  However, if a guy has a lot of wins and a good ERA, that needs to be factored in.  He helped his team win, for the most part.  That has to have some sort of cache.The sabermetricians have their own biases.  For example, the biggest knock on Chris Carpenter was the fact he missed a few games.  Like Mike says, though, when did IP become the standard?  Carpenter was as dominant, if not more so, in slightly fewer innings.  There could be an argument that he was more worthy due to that, with the thought that with the same amount of innings, he'd have much better counting stats.  However, in a close race like this, I can see that being a slight mark against him.I know that Keith Law and Will Carroll have gotten a lot of grief, even after they've explained their votes.  For the most part, they don't deserve the barrage.  However, sabermetricians (and I know this is a broad generalization, so I apologize to those that it doesn't fit) tend to want to be the smartest guy in the room and will brook little empathy for those that don't fit the profile.  From the look of his ballot, Law just took the top three in WAR and went on with his day, not worrying about anything that wasn't in the numbers there on the paper.Now, I don't know a lot about WAR and VORP and FIP, though I have a general sense of them.  They are effective tools, I won't deny that.  I'm sure Pip will correct me, but with WAR, couldn't a pitcher have a dominant first half of the season, get hurt in August, and still lead the league in that?  I don't think it's a cumulative-type stat, though I easily could be mistaken.  Assuming that's correct, though, if Lincecum had been hurt and not pitched in September but still was the leader in WAR and FIP, does he still get the award?  Even though the Giants really needed him down the stretch as they tried to make the playoffs?If the sabermetrician says, "That's possible, but it wouldn't have happened.  They wouldn't have given it to him in that situation," then when do external factors come into play?  That seemed to be to be the one chink in Lincecum's argument.  When the Giants were pushing the Rockies, coming within a couple of games of the wild card spot, they really needed him.  Yet in the second half, he went 1-3 with a 3.60 ERA.  Still good, but it was the absolute worst time for him to slump.  Wainwright went 3-1 with a 3.18 and a crazy 40/7 K/BB ratio, including throwing 130 pitches in the divisional clincher.  If only Kyle McClellan could have held #20 for him.....(Interesting stat I just found looking through ESPN's sabermetric rankings.  Carpenter had a .256 average on balls in play.  Lincecum, .276.  Wainwright?  .290.  Not sure if that means anything, though it would seem to me that Wainwright's numbers were less reliant on luck than maybe the other two, but just by a hair.)Pip makes an interesting argument that now strikeouts are more important to voters than wins.  It's true that strikeouts give a better read on a pitcher, he has more control over that than wins or some other things.  But what about the teams like St. Louis that are philosophically focused on getting the ground ball?  Should they be punished for basically doing their job?Again, I'm not saying Lincecum is a bad choice.  By a lot of accounts, he was the best pitcher in the NL.  I'm not really complaining about anything, but I do think that there's got to be some sort of blend between strictly numbers and strictly scouting and traditional measures.  There's good in both of them.  I just wish they'd figured this out years ago, so maybe Ozzie Smith would have won in '87.I guess the argument comes from how you perceive the Cy.  We've had this argument with the MVP for years, but is the Cy for the overall best statistical pitcher or the pitcher that helped his team the most?  Usually those are one and the same, but not so much this year.  Which is probably why we're going to be talking about this for a while. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1046096/mcclellan-faces-up-to-heat-reliever-says-he-didnt-get-job-done-in-what-could-have-been-adam-wainwrights-20th-victory-season.html Cardinals reliever Kyle McClellan called teammate Adam Wainwright on Wednesday to chat about preparing as a starter, but they couldn't avoid talking about the game McClellan didn't finish. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1046095/sigh-its-lincecums-cy-chris-carpenter-adam-wainwright-finish-second-third-in-young-voting-giants-hurler-prevails-tight.html A win for nouveau statistical analysis became a shared loss Thursday for the Cardinals' co-aces, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1046093/san-francisco-giants-tim-lincecum-repeats-as-nl-cy-young-winner.html Thanks to some spotty cell phone reception Thursday morning, Tim Lincecum received word of his second straight Cy Young Award while standing on the roof of his house. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1046091/gary-peterson-tim-lincecums-win-shows-that-old-cy-young-award-standards-are-taking-whipping.html Don't know how Baseball's new day of statistical analysis is treating you, but it's high noon where Tim Lincecum lives. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1045282/jason-bay-getting-lots-freeagency-attention-yahoo-sports.html TSN.caJason Bay getting lots of free-agency attentionYahoo! SportsNow he's waiting to see what kind of dollars and years will be offered by such clubs as the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, ...Bay will officially test free agencyESPNThoughts On Red Sox's Offseason, Part OneMVN.comFree agent pool not so deep, but big names, bargains can be hadUSA TodayTransWorldNews (press release) -Canada.com -MLB.comall 117 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1045281/arizona-cardinals-vs-st-louis-rams-nfl-week-11-predictions-pointspreadscom.html USA Online Gambling NewsArizona Cardinals vs St. Louis Rams NFL Week 11 PredictionsPoint-Spreads.comCardinals are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings in St. Louis. Over is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in St. Louis. Cardinals are 5-1 ATS vs. a team with a losing ...Big Red alumni to gather Sunday at domeSt. Louis Post-DispatchNFL Preview - Arizona (6-3) at St. Louis (1-8)Kansas City StarNFL**Arizona Cardinals @ St. Louis Rams**By The Numbers**11/22FanIQ (blog)Locksmith Sports Picks -Belleville News Democrat -WJBD Onlineall 94 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1045073/nflarizona-cardinals-st-louis-ramsby-numbers1122-faniq-blog.html USA Online Gambling NewsNFL**Arizona Cardinals @ St. Louis Rams**By The Numbers**11/22FanIQ (blog)The tiebreaker question is used to determine ranking if two or more entries have the same point total. The answer closest to the correct answer (over or ...Big Red alumni to gather Sunday at domeSt. Louis Post-DispatchNFL Preview - Arizona (6-3) at St. Louis (1-8)Kansas City StarArizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams NFL Lines & PicksLocksmith Sports PicksBelleville News Democrat -Sports-Odds.com -The Spreadall 91 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1044872/youth-prevails-on-cardinals-40man-roster-cbs2-chicago.html Youth Prevails On Cardinals' 40-man RosterCBS2 ChicagoRead more in our Privacy Policy ST. LOUIS (AP) ? The St. Louis Cardinals' 40-man roster has a youthful feel. The team purchased the contracts of eight ...and more » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1044871/joe-jackson-talks-briefly-to-newsboy-about-yesterdays-news.html File photo?Kansas City Royals pitcher Brad Thompson, center, sells newspapers outside a nickel theater in St. Louis, July 14, 2009. The Indians won 3-1 in fifteen reels. View full size photo » It's the most famous young face in the history of baseball—it's the symbol of purity corrupted, of the sport's loss of innocence in the face of organized crime and a gambling scandal that nearly ended baseball as young boys everywhere knew it.  Outside the courthouse there's a nervous crowd milling around, waiting for news.   Suddenly there's a burst of activity and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, surrounded by well-wishers, ex-fans, photographers, reporters, and baseball players, pushes through the double doors and takes the steps with his easy grace. The crowd is shocked into silence—the reporters' questions are so much rhubarb—but one brave, stoic newsboy, carrying his accusing newspapers guiltily, steps into the baseball great's path and begs, his voice quivering with the weight of posterity on its back: "Say it ain't so, Joe! Say it ain't so!" Having gotten his lede, the lucky reporter stalks back to the newsroom. But after his famous silence the fallen hero gives the newsboy a measured look and says, "Well, it depends on what you mean. Certainly I was mixed up with bad people who were doing bad things. But in the end either the facts or the sheer gravitas of my story will vindicate me, and that's all I can really ask for."  The baby-faced newsboy sniffles a little. No more than ten or eleven, by the looks of it, he's already an old hand at the business. "I—I'm glad to hear that, Joe, I really am, but that's not what I'm askin' about. Didn't you see the paper? Haven't you been paying attention? I got signed by the Royals!"  "Oh, Lord, kid," Joe says. "The Royals? That's a harsh break. But I'm afraid it's so."  "I know! I'm WonderBrad! I pitched 57 scoreless innings in a row in the minor leagues—and forget this rag," he says, "I was in the New York Times!" "The first break-up is always tough. But I say you oughtta look at it this way: now that you're gone, the Cardinals fans you impressed all through that great season, and in your first few years as a reliever—well, that's how they're going to remember you! Not as the pitcher of last resort, or the guy who could only come in after a certain percentage of the TV audience had gone to bed."  "What's a TV?" "The timeline is hazy, kid. Don't ask questions. It's like this—a role player's best moment is when he catches fire for those first few months and he can't do anything wrong. But his second-best moment is right now, after he's gone. From now on you're WonderBrad. Ten years from now they won't even remember that your fastball and your changeup eventually met in the middle."  The newsboy's face clears a little—a boyish glow takes hold. "I guess you're right, Joe." The matter settled, the crowd having grown bored and a little confused, the newsboy resumes plying his wares. # "Extra, extra—read all about it! Lincecum Cy Young of the National League!"  "Wait, kid, what'd you say? Lincecum?" "It's so, Joe. Some people say it's a sea-change in how awards will be won. Other people are just really, really mad about it."   So here's what I still don't get. How can you look at what Wainwright did from a won-loss standpoint and essentially dismiss it in favor of Lincecum? As gifted a pitcher as Lincecum clearly is, he faltered down the stretch when his team was in the playoff hunt. In his last 10 starts, the San Francisco ace was only 3-4 with a 3.15 ERA. I'm sorry, but that has to mean something, doesn't it? If won-loss records are suddenly obsolete, why do we bother to keep the stat? "Don't read any more unless you're gonna buy that." "Okay, okay. There's something kind of haunting about that last line, isn't it? Like he's just a little worried somebody's going to say, 'You're right, why do we bother?' 'If switchboards are suddenly obsolete, why do we have all these people sitting in front of them?'"  "Give him his wins, Joe. They're a narrative, for goodness' sake. You should know something about that."  "Oh, wins and losses are great; nobody's ever going to occasion a parade when he breaks the 6 WAR barrier. And Wainwright and Carpenter both had great years. But it's a shame that this is the debate he's having, or trying to have, when there's a neighboring one that's a lot more important, especially considering a lot of these guys probably picked Lincecum because of his innings and his strikeouts, anyway: Does the Cy Young measure value, or does it measure what that value should have been?" "This is why I never strike anybody out. I cut off philosophizing at the pass."  "Say we could eventually have a stat that measures the expected value of each swing, from a grounder to the second baseman to a ball that should be a home run. Is that a tool for MVP debates?"  "Is this about Keith Law's ballot?"  "Javier Vazquez had better peripheral stats than Wainwright. He should have been better. But all those runs Wainwright stranded were valuable, even if there's no reason to think he'll do that again. Vazquez is a perfect test case for this, too, since his ERA has always lagged his peripherals. But instead we're talking about wins like nobody's ever lost the Cy Young to a player with fewer wins before."  "This is a slippery slope, though. Do you give the MVP to the clutchest player, too?"  "Look, I don't know, Brad. I'm just a baseball player. I can't even read, to be totally honest—I just figured Bryan Burwell would be really mad and I made it up the best I could."  "You did good, Joe. We all have secrets," the newsboy says. "I'm actually 27 years old."  St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1044018/sigh-its-lincecums-cy.html Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright finish second and third in Cy Young voting. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1044017/past-nl-cy-young-award-winners.html Lincecum is first repeat winner since Randy Johnson in 1999-2001. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1044016/breaking-down-votes.html Lincecum won the award in one of the closest results in Cy Young history. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1044015/mcclellan-faces-heat-over-wainos-loss.html Reliever says he 'didn't get the job done' in what could have been Adam Wainwright's 20th victory of the season. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1043821/becomes-free-agent-cardinal-nation-subscription.html Becomes a Free AgentThe Cardinal Nation (subscription)The St. Louis Cardinals have invited 20 non-roster players to Major League spring training camp The Red Barons' infielder wants a return to the majors. ... St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1043820/joe-thurston-becomes-free-agent.html St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1043819/brad-thompson-signs-kansas-city.html St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1042821/la-russa-finishes-second-for-nl-managerial-honorswainwirght-carpenter-aim-wjbd-online.html La Russa finishes second for NL managerial honors...Wainwirght, Carpenter aim ...WJBD OnlineTracy received 29-of-31 first-place votes, while La Russa, who guided St. Louis to a 91-win season and the NL Central title, received the other two. ...Sets Bridesmaid RecordThe Cardinal Nation (subscription)La Russa runner-up in NL MOY votingStlCardinals.comall 11 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1042541/my-2009-cardinal-blogger-award-ballot.html For the third straight year, the United Cardinal Bloggers are voting on the Cardinal Blogger Awards.  (It's probably best that we do it, instead of having the Dodger bloggers vote for the CBA.)  If you want to see the past winners, you can find them here (2007) and here (2008).  If you want to see who has voted in this year's incarnation, click here.So without a whole lot of excess rambling, let's dive into the nominees and make the selections. Of course, this is completely opinion and your mileage may vary.  Chances are, if you are actually reading this, you are a member of the UCB and are voting anyway, so take a gander and see how close we are. 1. Cardinal Player of the YearNominees: Matt Holliday, Albert Pujols, Brendan RyanMy selection: Albert PujolsI love no-brainer questions.  I mean, honestly, I had trouble even coming up with the other nominees on this one.  Pujols should lock down his third MVP next week, his second in a row.  He dominated basically every facet of the game.  He led the team in stolen bases, for cryin' out loud!  If anyone else gets a vote in this category, I'll be completely shocked.2. Cardinal Pitcher of the YearNominees: Chris Carpenter, Ryan Franklin, Adam WainwrightMy selection: Adam WainwrightThis one was a lot tougher.  For all the good that he did for the team, Ryan Franklin would be a distant third in this debate, even without his late-season collapse.  When you have two credible Cy Young candidates in the same rotation, you know you are doing something right.I really wasn't sure which way I wanted to lean between the two aces.  I loved what Carpenter did all year long, and I think he might have been more dominant between the two.  Wainwright, however, was the rock all year long.  As Carp said, Waino took the ball every fifth day and always gave the team a chance to win.  I don't think you can go wrong with either of them, but Wainwright inches out the win in my book.3. Game of the YearNominees: July 24 (at Phillies), September 6 (at Brewers), September 26 (at Rockies)My selection: September 26I think the September 26 game in Colorado, which clinched the NL Central for the Redbirds, was indicative of the whole season.  The offense struggled, but put up enough to win.  Wainwright went eight, throwing a ton of pitches.  Franklin made it interesting, but locked up the win.  If you wanted to boil down 2009 into nine innings, that was the game.4. Surprise Player of the YearNominees: Ryan Franklin, Brendan Ryan, Skip SchumakerMy selection: Ryan FranklinThis is one of the toughest awards to select, because I think all of the nominees are very worthy of taking home the prize.  Skip moved to second and, by the end of the year, most everyone was thinking of him as a second baseman instead of an outfielder that was playing second.  I've never been high on Brendan Ryan, but I had to come around to the idea that he might have similar attributes as players like Joe McEwing and Bo Hart, but he had some talent to go along with them.However, Franklin tops them all.  I've been leery of Franklin for a couple of years, thinking that when he was in the eighth inning role he allowed too many fly balls and always danced on the edge of disaster.  When he moved into the closer's role after Jason Motte's early meltdown, I didn't expect it to last very long.  He surprised me greatly by not only running off save after save, but doing it in a fashion that was very close to automatic.  He started to struggle after signing his new extention and I wouldn't be shocked to see him on the Disappointment list next year, but for 2009, he was the biggest of big surprises.5. Disappointing Player of the YearNominees: Rick Ankiel, Khalil Greene, Kyle LohseMy selection: Rick AnkielFor such a strong year, there were still numerous disappointments to be found.  Greene cost the Cards two bullpen arms, one of which (Luke Gregerson) may come back and haunt them, especially after all the other arms they gave up this season.  Lohse continued to run into bad luck, never quite recovering from the beanball he received in the Kansas City game but had issues in games even before that.Rick, as painful as it is for me to say it, really didn't pan out at all this year.  Even before his collision with the center field wall, he was struggling and that kind of impact didn't do him any favors.  We wanted him to be good, we wanted him hitting .270 with 25 homers, but it just wasn't to be and, with his strikeout to end the NLDS, it was just a terrible way for him to end his Cardinal career.6. Cardinal Rookie of the YearNominees: Mitchell Boggs, Blake Hawksworth, Colby RasmusMy selection: Colby RasmusWhile I appreciate what Boggs and Hawksworth did (especially Hawksworth, who made Brad Thompson expendable and continued to improve as the year went on), it's really hard not to give the award to Rasmus.  His second half was nothing to write home about, but 16 home runs and some spectacular defense made for a ROY-worthy campaign.  Plus he once ended a ballgame with a home run minutes after I predicted it on the UCB Radio Hour, so how do you top that?7. Off-Season Acquisition of the YearNominees: Khalil Greene, Trever Miller, Dennys ReyesMy selection: Trever MillerNormally, the next two awards are combined into one trophy, but with so much activity happening during the season this year, it seemed only fair to split it up.  While Reyes started the year as the dominant lefty, Miller continued to improve and, by the end of the year, was the lefty that I felt more comfortable with when they were in the game.  Miller was good enough to get that extra year that had been cut off his original contract, so the front office was watching as well.8. Mid-Season Acquisition of the YearNominees: Mark DeRosa, Matt Holliday, John SmoltzMy selection: Matt HollidayDeRosa never really did bring the bat to St. Louis that we thought we were going to see, being injured almost immediately after donning the birds on the bat.  Smoltz was an impact player during his time here and I would be interested in seeing him return.  But no one defined this as a "win-now" season more than the acquisition of Holliday.  He tore it up immediately on his arrival in the NL and made the Cardinals into World Series contenders.  Not only that, but the trade put them on the baseball map, as well as added intrigue to this offseason.9. Most Anticipated CardinalNominees: Allen Craig, Daryl Jones, Shelby MillerMy selection: Shelby MillerNothing against the other two (and I really think Craig should have gotten a callup sometime in '09), but I'm a pitching guy, and the thought of having an ace in the minors is very intriguing to me.  I know it's still years before Miller can make it to the bigs, if he ever actually does, but he's the one I'm most waiting for right now.10. Best Individual BlogMy selection: FungoesUntil a late vote broke the tie in his favor, last year I was tied with Fungoes for this title and I couldn't have been more proud.  You can't top the game that Pip brings to his blog on a regular basis.  This year, the individual field dwindled somewhat as blog partnerships were formed, but Pip continued his Pujolsian efforts and I commend him for doing so.11. Best Team BlogMy selection: Pitchers Hit EighthViva El Birdos has been the heavyweight in this category and still produces amazing content on a daily basis.  You wouldn't go wrong selecting them, but having worked pretty closely with Nick and Josh this year, both in blogging and in the radio show, I've got a special fondess for their site.12. Best Media BlogNominees: Bird Land, Cardinal Beat, Obviously You're Not A GolferMy selection: Bird LandI'm going to get to Matthew Leach in a moment, because I really appreciate what he brings to the Cardinal fandom.  However, Derrick tends to blog a little more often and that tipped the scales.  Of course, you can't go wrong reading any of the nominees and you'll get great information wherever you go.13. Best UCB ProjectNominees: Progressive Game Blog, Roundtables, Top 7 ProspectsMy selection: RoundtablesWe did a lot of good projects this year, including some new things like a blog swap and a debate day, but it's tough to go against the old standby of the roundtable, especially since we do in (in one form or another) three times a year.  Having a chance to interact with all the bloggers, to exchange ideas, really makes you look forward to checking your e-mail!14. Most Optimistic Cardinal BlogMy selection: La BeisbolistaA lot of Cardinal blogs actually stopped production this season.  You'd think a dominating season by the team on the field would have more people writing about it, not less.  Sarah dropped off on her writing some as well, but never did she get down on the team and players.  Of course, it helps that Yadier Molina had such a good year too.....15. Funniest Cardinal BlogMy selection: Fredbird FollysWhile it's a fairly new blog, I do get a kick out of Travis's Onion-style discussions about the 'Birds.  Of course, that kind of humor is right in my wheelhouse.  (What do you mean, my humor is not in that league?  Oh, right.)16. Rookie Cardinal BlogNominees: The McBrayer-Baseball Blog, St. Louis Sports SceneMy selection: St. Louis Sports SceneI hate to award this to a blog that, as of now, doesn't even exist due to Steve's move to Play a Hard Nine with Erik, but the stats and sabermetrics that he brought to the table in just a short amount of time deserves recognition.  I'm very interested to see what those two guys can put together in the future.17. Best UCB Radio Hour GuestMy selection: Matthew LeachThis award wasn't on the initial slate of nominees, but I felt like it needed to be addressed.  We were able to line up some amazing guests this year.  With the All-Star Game going in St. Louis, we were able to get Hall of Famers Ozzie Smith, Bruce Sutter, and Lou Brock as part of Bank of America promotions.  We had minor leaguers Pete Parise and Josh Squatrito.  We had Cardinal hurler PJ Walters.  We had Post-Dispatch writer Derrick Goold.  We even had team president Bill DeWitt III.So naming one guest over all of them is tough to do.  Matthew, though, joined us at least three times and was a spectacular interview each time.  We'd toss up a question and he'd go to town on it, giving us much more than we ever could have thought we'd get.  He was always gracious with his time and was open to return engagements.  In other words, exactly what you want when you host radio!Check the official site for links to all the ballots and for the winners post coming soon! St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1042075/cards-denied-in-cy-young-vote-ozarks-first.html Canoe.caCards Denied In Cy Young VoteOzarks FirstSt. Louis Cardinal fans from Market Street to Seneca are upset Thursday because San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum won the National League Cy Young ...Was Lincecum the rightful Cy Young winner?USA TodayGiants' Tim Lincecum Wins NL Cy Young for Second TimeBloombergPair of Cardinals vie for NL Cy Young AwardSeattle Post IntelligencerSt. Louis Post-Dispatch -TheCelebrityCafe.com -San Jose Mercury Newsall 654 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1041228/cardinals-minority-partner-kladis-dies-bizjournalscom.html Cardinals minority partner Kladis diesBizjournals.comThe St. Louis Cardinals announced Thursday that minority partner Nick Kladis died earlier this week at his home in Chicago. Kladis, 81, was part of the ...and more » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1041227/nfl-preview-arizona-63-at-st-louis-18-kansas-city-star.html Sports-Odds.comNFL Preview - Arizona (6-3) at St. Louis (1-8)Kansas City StarThe Cardinals swept last year's home-and-home for a second consecutive season, taking a 34-13 decision at St. Louis in Week 9, and triumphing by a 34-10 ...Big Red alumni to gather Sunday at domeSt. Louis Post-DispatchArizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams NFL Lines & PicksLocksmith Sports PicksArizona Cardinals vs St. Louis Rams NFL Week 11 PicksSports-Odds.comThe Spread -Lucky Lester Football Picks (blog) -Cardinals Insider (subscription)all 82 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1041226/was-lincecum-rightful-cy-young-winner-usa-today.html CBS NewsWas Lincecum the rightful Cy Young winner?USA Today... but San Francisco's Tim Lincecum emerged the winner by a hair over St. Louis Cardinals teammates Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. ...Giants' Tim Lincecum Wins NL Cy Young for Second TimeBloombergPair of Cardinals vie for NL Cy Young AwardSeattle Post IntelligencerGiants' Lincecum repeats as Cy Young winnerSt. Louis Post-DispatchTheCelebrityCafe.com -MLB.com -Missourinet.comall 610 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1041225/tracy-scioscia-are-voted-top-managers-baseball.html Talk about your windfalls. Jim Tracy was named the National League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Wednesday and, within the hour, it was announced that the final details had been worked out that would keep the Colorado Rockies' interim manager last season on board for three more years. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1040607/4-people-added-to-honorary-society-krcg.html 4 people added to honorary societyKRCGFreeman is an attorney and worked to desegregate public housing in St. Louis. She was inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame in 2007. ...and more » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1040606/arizona-cardinals-at-st-louis-rams-nfl-lines-amp-picks-locksmith-sports.html Sports-Odds.comArizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams NFL Lines & PicksLocksmith Sports PicksThe 6-3 Arizona Cardinals appear poised to repeat as NFC West champs, and a date with the 1-8 St. Louis Rams this Sunday should only get them closer to ...Big Red alumni to gather Sunday at domeSt. Louis Post-DispatchArizona Cardinals vs St. Louis Rams NFL Week 11 PicksSports-Odds.comArizona Cardinals vs St. Louis Rams NFL Free PickLucky Lester Football Picks (blog)The Spread -Cardinals Insider (subscription) -fox4kc.comall 46 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1040605/arizona-cardinals-at-st-louis-rams-nfl-lines-amp-picks-locksmith-sports.html Sports-Odds.comArizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams NFL Lines & PicksLocksmith Sports PicksThe 6-3 Arizona Cardinals appear poised to repeat as NFC West champs, and a date with the 1-8 St. Louis Rams this Sunday should only get them closer to ...Big Red alumni to gather Sunday at domeSt. Louis Post-DispatchArizona Cardinals vs St. Louis Rams NFL Week 11 PicksSports-Odds.comArizona Cardinals vs St. Louis Rams NFL Free PickLucky Lester Football Picks (blog)The Spread -Cardinals Insider (subscription) -fox4kc.comall 46 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1040602/nl-cy-young-eludes-both-cardinals-contenders.html In the 2009 National League Cy Young Award voting, Chris Carpenter finished second and Adam Wainwright third to winner Tim Lincecum from San Francisco. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1040601/nl-cy-young-eludes-both-cardinals-contenders.html In the 2009 National League Cy Young Award voting, Chris Carpenter finished second and Adam Wainwright third to winner Tim Lincecum from San Francisco. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1039652/cy-in-cards.html (OK, I'm sure that'll be a headline used by just about everyone.  Nobody's ever said I was creative.)The news is out, and Tim Lincecum won another Cy Young, beating out Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright.  It was a ridiculously tight race, with Lincecum beating Carp by 6 points and Waino by 10, with Wainwright getting the most first place selections.It was a race that any of them could have won.  If the Cardinals don't blow the lead in Wainwright's last game and he gets to 20, would that have made a difference?  All it might have taken was to sway one or two voters.  We'll never know.Derrick Goold was kind enough to let people in on his vote.  Like Bernie's article this morning, it lays out a strong argument.  No matter who won this race, the other two were not going to be robbed.Which is even more surprising that the BBWAA went with Lincecum, to some degree.  I've thought that, with younger sportswriters and more open minds, the writers were coming to the point where they were making less egregious errors.  (Then they gave Chris Coghlan the ROY, so I wasn't so sure.)  This is the kind of race that, in years past, would have gone to Wainwright because he had the most wins.  Not so much today.  While some of the uberstatmeisters might have torn their garments if a Cardinal had one, claiming Lincecum was decisively better, most recognized the closeness of the race.What I'm trying to get at is, more than Zack Greinke's selection in the AL, the fact that Tim Lincecum won the NL award is an indication the BBWAA is changing as an organization.  As Cardinal fans, we wish they could have changed a year later. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1039057/big-day-in-cardinal-nation.html Today's the day that Cardinal fans have been anticipating since the end of the season.  We knew that Colby Rasmus wasn't going to get the Rookie of the Year award.  We knew that Tony LaRussa might make a good showing, but he wasn't going to win the Manager of the Year award.  We know that Albert Pujols is taking home MV3 (to pull out an old term and totally misuse it) next week.But Cy Young.  There's intrigue.Even though the odds are in favor of a Cardinal winning the award, it's still strongly possible that both will be shut out.  Tim Lincecum had an outstanding year for the Giants, taking home the Baseball Bloggers Alliance version of the Cy.  While it'd be disappointing to St. Louis faithful if the Giant hurler took home the prize again, I don't think anyone could get real up in arms about the unjust robbery of our hometown heroes.If Lincecum doesn't win, though, who will?  Bernie Mikalsz picked Chris Carpenter with his ballot, and I will say his argument is a very strong one.  As I'm working on my Cardinal Blogger Awards post for tomorrow, I'm really going back and forth on the Pitcher of the Year selection.  Both Carpenter and Adam Wainwright have amazing cases and it's one of the things that made this year so exciting and fun, watching them go out there every time and put up a great game.Matthew Leach said in his UCB Radio Hour appearance that he thought Wainwright would get the nod from the writers, especially since he led the league in wins and had the peripheral numbers to go along with it. I'd kinda like to see Waino get the award, because he was the bedrock of the rotation all year long. You knew he was going to go out there, give you a good game, and was going to go as deep into the game as possible.  Perhaps in anticipation of AW getting the Cy, Derrick Goold has a great story on him and where he grew up.Even though it wasn't my hosting week, I spent some time (quite a bit of time, really!) talking to Nick and Josh from Pitchers Hit Eighth last night on the weekly show.  Before I jumped on board, though, they talked about the news that the Cardinals had added eight players to the 40-man roster, protecting them from the upcoming Rule V draft.You can find the list of those players here if you've not already read about it elsewhere.  There weren't too many surprises, though I do think the fact that they kept Mark Hamilton was a little surprising, just because of his limited use for the Cardinals.  That said, he might be a good trade chip, someone people are asking about, and so you don't necessarily want to just give that kind of player away.  Other than that, it was pretty standard and it'll be interesting to see how many of these players make it to St. Louis sometime in 2010. Part of the show was to discuss what next year's Redbird roster might look like.  While you can listen to most of my thoughts there and we didn't get into the bench, I wanted to put down what it might look like if the Cardinals did go out and use the Matt Holliday money for pitching and other hitters.  As I mentioned, I was intrigued by the thought of Chone Figgins and I'd love to see Rich Harden (though, of course, there's injuries to worry about there).  If you got those two, you might see: Schumaker Figgins Pujols Ludwick Rasmus Molina Craig Pitcher Ryan I could see Tony LaRussa reverting back to having the pitcher in the eighth slot (which would meet with Nick and Josh's approval) to try to increase offensive production.  There's not a lot of power in this lineup, though you have to think that Rasmus could take another step toward being a full-time productive player after a year of experience. Carpenter Wainwright Harden Lohse Garcia The rotation would be pretty interesting as well.  Harden is one of those wild-cards.  When he's healthy, he's just about unhittable, so that'd be a dominating top three, and if Kyle Lohse was able to rebound from his jinxed year, it could easily be the best rotation in the majors.  That said, you figure Carp and Waino will tail off some from this year and who knows just how many innings you can get out of Harden. Hawksworth Franklin Miller Reyes Motte McClellan Boggs Blake Hawksworth probably takes over Brad Thompson's old role of occasional starter, though he looks like he'll be a better all-around pitcher than Thompson has been the last couple of years.  It's still a fairly young bullpen, but it's tested.  The key will be Ryan Franklin.  If he stumbles, there's no definite replacement.  I'd guess Jason Motte would get the first crack. On paper, this roster would be intriguing.  It would definitely win from the mound and not necessarily from outslugging everyone, though if you can consistently put players on in front of Albert Pujols, you can put up some crooked numbers.  I don't know that I'd be completely comfortable with this, but I think I could live with it. CBAs tomorrow.  Oh, and if you are a Twitterer, you might want to check out Fake Mike Shannon! St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1039056/mlb-trade-rumors-john-smoltz-to-close-faketeams-blog.html MLB Trade Rumors: John Smoltz to Close??FakeTeams (blog)by raygu on Nov 19, 2009 12:15 PM EST in Baseball 0 comments More photos » by Al Behrman - AP about 1 month ago: St. Louis Cardinals starter John Smoltz ... St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1039055/bay-will-officially-test-free-agency-espn.html St. Louis Post-DispatchBay will officially test free agencyESPN... year and a half in Boston and would like to return. He and the St. Louis Cardinals' Matt Holliday are the premier left fielders on the free-agent market.Cards must prep for future without HollidayMLB.comFree agent pool not so deep, but big names, bargains can be hadUSA TodayMLB News: Jason Bay Declines Boston Red Sox Offer, PlansTransWorldNews (press release)Bleacher Report -St. Louis American -Boston Globeall 43 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1039054/giants-lincecum-repeats-as-cy-young-winner-st-louis-postdispatch.html Globe and MailGiants' Lincecum repeats as Cy Young winnerSt. Louis Post-DispatchST. LOUIS ? San Francisco Giants starter Tim Lincecum won the 2009 Cy Young Award, the Baseball Writers' Association of America announced ...Pair of Cardinals vie for NL Cy Young AwardSeattle Post IntelligencerGiants' Lincecum repeats as NL Cy Young Award winnerUSA TodayGiants' Tim Lincecum Wins NL Cy Young Again, Beating CarpenterBloombergBelleville News Democrat -San Francisco Chronicle -Missourinet.comall 258 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1039053/big-red-alumni-to-gather-sunday-at-dome-st-louis-postdispatch.html USA Online Gambling NewsBig Red alumni to gather Sunday at domeSt. Louis Post-DispatchBidwill, owner of the Arizona Cardinals, rents out a suite for the game and provides food and drink for former St. Louis Cardinals. ...Arizona Cardinals vs St. Louis Rams NFL Free PickLucky Lester Football Picks (blog)Cardinals Turn Back to Road in St LouisCardinals Insider (subscription)Warner 'entrenched' with CardinalsAZ Central.comAmerican Chronicle -CBSSports.com -St. Louis Americanall 31 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1039052/royals-come-to-terms-righty-brad-thompson-seattle-post-intelligencer.html Royals come to terms with righty Brad ThompsonSeattle Post IntelligencerThompson, who turns 28 on January 31, pitched in 32 games with eight starts for the St. Louis Cardinals last season and logged a 2-6 record with a 4.84 ...Source: Royals have deal with righty ThompsonFOXSports.comRoyals agree to Minor League contact with pitcher Brad ThompsonKansas City RoyalsPitcher Brad Thompson jumps across the stateMissourinet.comall 38 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1039051/giants-lincecum-wins-second-consecutive-cy-young-ap.html San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum won the National League Cy Young Award on Thursday for the second consecutive season to become the first repeat winner since Randy Johnson seven years ago. Lincecum led the NL with 261 strikeouts and tied for the league lead with four complete games and two shutouts. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1039050/lincecum-wins-cy-young-over-carpenter-wainwright.html San Francisco Giants starter Tim Lincecum won the 2009 Cy Young Award, the Baseball Writers' Association of America announced this afternoon, giving the righthander his second consecutive award as he edged St. Louis Cardinals starters Chris Carpen... St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1038270/arizona-cardinals-vs-st-louis-rams-nfl-free-pick-lucky-lester-football-picks-blog.html USA Online Gambling NewsArizona Cardinals vs St. Louis Rams NFL Free PickLucky Lester Football Picks (blog)Arizona Cardinals (-8.5) @ St. Louis Rams NFL Free Pick: The Rams have been very good lately running the ball. Steven Jackson has seemingly stacked each and ...Cardinals Turn Back to Road in St LouisCardinals Insider (subscription)Warner 'entrenched' with CardinalsAZ Central.comCardinals-Rams PreviewCBSSports.comSt. Louis American -SBR Forum -ABC15.com (KNXV-TV)all 26 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1038269/who-will-nl-cy-young-wainwright-carpenter-cards-fans-find-out-today-belleville-news-democrat.html Who will the NL Cy Young? Wainwright, Carpenter, Cards fans find out todayBelleville News DemocratSt. Louis Cardinals pitchers Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter will learn Thursday afternoon if one of them has been named the National League Cy Young ...and more » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1038268/cards-must-prep-for-future-without-holliday-mlbcom.html St. Louis Post-DispatchCards must prep for future without HollidayMLB.comST. LOUIS -- The doors open wide on Thursday night. It remains to be seen how rapidly the traffic will flow through them. ...Free agent pool not so deep, but big names, bargains can be hadUSA TodayJason Bay and Matt Holliday: What are They Worth?Bleacher ReportGame plan for Matt Holliday: How to keep getting robbed by Scott BorasSt. Louis AmericanBoston Globe -ESPN -RealGM.comall 34 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1038267/albert-pujols-wins-nl-cy-young-award-satire-bleacher-report.html St. Louis Post-DispatchAlbert Pujols Wins NL Cy Young Award (Satire)Bleacher ReportThe Baseball Writers Association of America has selected St. Louis Cardinals' first baseman Albert Pujols as the 2009 National League Cy Young Award winner, ...Some fans wil have chance to get autograph from PujolsBelleville News DemocratPujols helps launch Down syndrome centerSt. Louis Post-DispatchPujols to sign at Winter Warm-UpKMOX.comFOX2now.com -KSDK -Belleville News Democratall 10 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1038266/nod-to-carpenter-on-tough-call-all-three-cy-young-candidates-were-tremendous-but-no-one-was-as-consistent-season-long.html The ballots for the National League Cy Young award had to be submitted before the start of the 2009 postseason, and I agonized over my decision until the final hours. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1037234/my-cy-carpenter-edges-lincecum.html If Tim Lincecum wins his second consecutive National League Cy Young Award today, I will be happy for the lad. Lincecum is one of the best and most electric pitchers in the game and had another fantastic season. Without him, the Giants could not have contended as long as they did in 2009. St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1036944/rule-5-you-do-talk-about-draft.html Nothing exemplifies the Hot Stove season quite like worrying about the Rule 5 draft. Most of the players don't stick it out all year; most of the ones that do are eventually traded for Ronnie Belliard or Blaine Boyer; and most of the time it would be completely absurd to spend time thinking about this. Fangraphs won't return my calls, but according to my new WARP/seconds-in-your-limited-lifespan converter most of these guys peak around fifteen, twenty seconds. (Brian Barton, simply because his nickname was briefly "Enunciate It", broke the curve at forty-five.) But it is November, and I already did a VEB Theater, and though it kills me to say it there is no baseball going on at Busch Stadium. So let us take solace in the dim light of this good news: the Cardinals will probably not lose a useful player to the Rule 5 draft this year. In approximate order of near-term usefulness: ALLEN CRAIG WHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: He doesn't really have a position; he's a minor league slugger who played in the PCL, so his numbers are vaguely suspicious; he strikes out too much and doesn't walk enough.  WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: He's looking more likely every day to spend significant time in left field in 2010, and there's a non-zero chance that he has a hot month while David Freese burns and Tony La Russa is suddenly convinced he can play third. He's never crushed a league, but he's also been extremely consistent level to level—in his three full seasons he's always hit .300, always hit 20 home runs, and always managed an OBP over .365. If the Cardinals find a left-handed outfielder they're comfortable with he is the ideal short side of a platoon.  JON JAYWHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: He might be the platonic representative of the Cardinals' more conservative draft inclinations—he's almost guaranteed to be a likable fourth outfielder, but he's almost guaranteed not to be a likable third outfielder. WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: He cowrote the Federalist Papers, and every dollar the Cardinals don't have to spend on a fourth outfielder who can play great defense and get on base a little is a dollar they can spend on the player who is consigning him to the bench. If pressed into service on a full-time basis he probably wouldn't hit much worse than Harold Ramis did last year, although the only thing we have to suggest his defense would be as good—I have the distinct impression that he was drafted as a defensive "tweener"—are a year and a half of minor league numbers. ADAM OTTAVINOWHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: His career minor league ERA is 4.15, and his career minor league BB/9 is even higher. In the high minors he's basically been Todd Wellemeyer.WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: He's a first rounder, so we have to think about him, up to and including the moment in which he crushes our dreams. We were only allowed to stop thinking about Chance Caple last June. In addition to that, Ottavino's always been a Stuff Guy, and not a Results Guy; this is good for him, and bad for us. lboros's expert scouting report set me back about three years, as far as forgetting about him as a front-line guy goes.  In any case, he's too good a Rule 5 pick to not put him here. He's exactly the kind of starter who gets drafted, pitches fifty innings for a non-contender in the Brad Thompson role, and spends a third of the season on a rehab assignment for Rule 5 Syndrome. In fact, if he were playing for another team, we would be including him on a list of players for whom the Cardinals should dump Brad Thompson on the eve of the Rule 5 draft.  TYLER NORRICKWHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: The Cardinals have Trever Miller and the Diner signed through 2010, so for once we don't need to worry about LOOGY free talent. He walked nearly seven batters per nine innings last year. WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: He's probably better than Carmen Cali. Against lefties, his strikeouts-to-hits ratio was 2.5, which is awesome. His first name is Floyd, which is awesome, too.  DARYL JONESWHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: He followed up 2008's breakout campaign with a breakdown campaign, treading water in AA Springfield. He's not a good 2010 option, even though we were hoping he would be. WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: He's DJ Tools! He runs like a gazelle! He leaps like a gazelle! He no longer hits like a gazelle! He's the top hitting prospect on a team that doesn't have any, and he's got a skill-set that's become more popular in the outfield corners in recent years. He's not nearly as MLB-ready as Brian Barton was, but somebody might grab him anyway.  BRYAN ANDERSONWHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: I don't think anybody's thought about him since last March.WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: You remember Charles Cutler, who we all watched fly up the prospect lists this year with a great high-average low-power season in the low minors? Bryan Anderson is five months younger than Charles Cutler. Anderson was rushed through the system, but until going down with injuries this year he had displayed his one tool, hitting for average, at every spot. So far he's stuck at catcher.  He probably shouldn't be Molina's back-up this year, if the Cardinals have any long-term plans for him—because he's still only 23—but he's interesting enough at a position where offense is at such a premium that if keeping him on the roster were contingent to, ah, keeping him on the roster, some club would do it.  FRANCISCO SAMUELWHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: Adam Ottavino's career walk rate, which is a concern, is a little more than half of Francisco Samuel's walk rate. I have nothing else to say about that. WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: It takes exactly two good weeks for our opinion to change about middle relievers, and the Cardinals traded every single righty relief prospect who was ahead of him on the depth chart before 2009.  MARK HAMILTONWHY WE SHOULDN'T BE THINKING ABOUT HIM: WHY WE WILL ANYWAY: After threatening to join Mike Ferris in the annals of great college sluggers who didn't do anything in the Cardinals system he was nearly as impressive as Allen Craig in an abbreviated season spent between AA and AAA. It seems like we've been thinking about Hamilton a lot longer, but they're the same age, and Hamilton's hitting prowess is less BA dependent. He might be the most underappreciated player in the Cardinals' system. If something were to happen to—no. No. For the Cardinals Hamilton will never, ever, ever, ever play regularly, ever, don't even consider the possibility, but for another team in the Rule 5 draft he could be Chris Shelton.  St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1036058/nick-kladis-dead-at-81-chicago-tribune.html Nick Kladis dead at 81Chicago TribuneMr. Kladis, an investor in the St. Louis Cardinals, was scheduled to meet Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt on Tuesday night in Chicago. ...Former Loyola basketball star Nick Kladis diesChicago Tribuneall 2 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates http://www.sportsnipe.com/main_sportsnews/1036057/some-fans-wil-have-chance-to-get-autograph-from-pujols-belleville-news-democrat.html St. Louis Post-DispatchSome fans wil have chance to get autograph from PujolsBelleville News DemocratST. LOUIS -- Cardinals Care, the charitable foundation of the St. Louis Cardinals, on Wednesday announced the online process for fans to register for a ...Pujols helps launch Down syndrome centerSt. Louis Post-DispatchPujols to sign at Winter Warm-UpKMOX.comPujols signing autographs at Winter Warm-Up for charityKSDKFOX2now.comall 6 news articles » St. Louis Cardinals - Sport Snipe - Team News - Stats - Updates