Cardinals p's & c's reported today in Jupiter, Florida, including, of course, Yadier Molina, who has added to his array of tattoos.
In addition to the two he got on either side of his neck last offseason, Yadi has gotten some new ink portraying a giant World Series trophy emblazoned with 'World Series 2011' and surrounded by fireworks, a baseball and a Puerto Rican flag covering his entire upper right arm.
Tony LaRussa is joining his buddy on a new team; at least for the spring.
The recently-retired manager will be with his friend and fellow captain Jim Leyland during Tigers spring training.
"Tony's going to be down for a couple weeks. He's going to work with [Dave Dombrowski] in the front office, and he's going over to Jupiter for a few days and then go out to Arizona for a few days. He will not be in uniform."
Kimmy Carter, daughter of Gary Carter:
"Hello to Team Carter,
Pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training is an over-glorified event. After all, what will we fans be doing differently then? There will still be no games to watch. No, the real action for us starts with practice games beginning for the Cardinals on March 5, when the best players throughout the system try for a spot, some passing, some failing, some biding their time for next year.
The inaugural Miami Marlins may become the most dramatic clubhouse since the 1977 “Bronx Zoo” New York Yankees. Not wanting to miss out on the impending chaos, EM will follow their exploits in 2012–from a safe distance, that is.
Manager Ozzie Guillen on now-third baseman Hanley Ramirez: “I don’t think he’s 100-percent on board [with playing there]. Not yet. I don’t expect him to be...
The TV series The Franchise followed the then-champion San Francisco Giants for the first three quarters of the season last year, profiling each player and making the concept of a Major League team aand the people that comprise one little more clear for the outside fan.
The inaugural Miami Marlins may become the most dramatic clubhouse since the 1977 “Bronx Zoo” New York Yankees. Not wanting to miss out on the impending chaos, EM will follow their exploits in 2012–from a safe distance, that is.
Executive crony Dave Samson says of the Fish's interest in Cuban free agent Yoenis Cespedes:
“Aggressive right to the point of stupidity, but not quite there. We think he’s a perfect fit for us, but it has to be sane. [We're] expressing interest, going to visit, making it very clear to his representatives and to him and his family that we think he should not be anywhere other than Miami. As a Cuban and someone in the DR, it makes perfect sense. We have a perfect position for him to play. It would be great.
Okay, eight teams are locked in for the EM readers fantasy league. This is the last call for any new teams if you want in.
The league will get some coverage on this site for maybe no other reason than to get the seven other guys to comment on the site a lot; and I know the fantasy rule: "Nothing's more interesting than your fantasy team, but nothing's less interesting than someone else's. But don't sweat it; all fantasy posts will be sectioned off so you can ignore them if you want. (A perk of new EM.)
The current players: Me, @adamw502, @ajlutz97, @BaseballYakker, @BreakingWI, @DarthCarp29, @ediddy1979 and @MickLiteSports.
Mike Matheny on his Christian faith, "the greatest gift":
"Part of that comes from my faith, part of that comes within the style that I need to do my job. I don't want to cower at somebody's misinterpretation of what I'm about... I'm supposed to be doing it—and I'm going to throw this word out there—with excellence. There's no excuse for me to give anything less than all I've got in everything I do. That's scriptural.
"For me, that's the foundation of who I am."
I knew I liked this guy.
A few interesting bits in the week that was at EM. Players have already reported to Florida for spring training, and ST games start in 23 days.
> Yadier Molina says his return to the Cardinals after this season is out of his hands. Huh?
> EM has quit on the Roy Oswalt updates for now. Kyle McClellan is safe for now unless Oswalt decides to get off his high horse and sign for $10 mil.
No, Yadi's not an emotional wreck after Albert's exit stltoday.com/sports/basebal…
— El Maquino (@El_Maquino) February 11, 2012
The Cardinals have signed reliever Scott Linebrink to a minor league deal/spring training invite.
He's pitched in 12 Major League seasons with a 3.51 ERA, pitching in 54 innings in 64 games for the Braves' long-haul bullpen last year. His claim to fame for Cards fans would be that he was the one who blew it for the Braves on the last day of the season in the 13th inning, thereby getting the Cards into the playoffs by a hair.
[@BJRains]
It wasn't exactly news when the Cards signed Dominican Andres Serrano recently, though the situation is a bit more complicated than just handing over the $750 thousand since his name may or may not actually be Andres Serrano.
For all we know, he's a 17-year-old from Santiago who has a fastball that goes from 90-95 mph along with a curve and changeup. But there have been many instances where guys will make up identities for a bigger paycheck, and MLB must have reason to think that's what this guy is doing, since MLB is currently investigating who he really is. And they will have to approve the contract.
"Albert Pujols got to know [Bradley Feldt] through his Pujols Foundation. Bradley’s Mother Helen told KMOX Albert talked with children who knew and loved Bradley.
"'He visited with all the Down’s Syndrome children that were at the reception later. He was just one of the people who loved Bradley.' Helen Feldt told KMOX. Pujols did not let the press know he was in the St. Louis area.
"She says the visit was simple, very low key, in stark comparison to Bradley’s life which was far from low key..."
[KMOX]
There's been some doubt this offseason as to whether or not Cardinal staple Yadier Molina will be sticking with the team or following his buddy Albert Pujols out the door after his contract runs out at the end of this year. To this point, the speculation wasn't really well-founded. A passing hint here and there from the likes of John Mozeliak and Mike Matheny was about all anyone had to go on, but the question of Molina's return was definitely there. And today he spoke of it directly.
The inaugural Miami Marlins may become the most dramatic clubhouse since the 1977 “Bronx Zoo” New York Yankees. Not wanting to miss out on the impending chaos, EM will follow their exploits in 2012–from a safe distance that is. Search ‘Miami Zoo’ for the whole saga.
A lot of people don't take well to Hanley Ramirez for some completely unknown reason. And apparently they take to Twitter to tell him so. And to that he says, "Oh yeah, you meanie heads?" in his new Powerade commercial.
Lance Berkman spoke to a crowd at a baseball clinic at Second Baptist Church in Houston on Tuesday night.
“The hardest time in my professional life was when I was traded to New York. I had been in Houston a long time. I was very comfortable, played at Rice, a native Texan, so it was like a dream come true. For the first two weeks I literally wanted to cry. I felt so bad. I was having a bad season, and was in a completely new and alien environment. I just felt overwhelmed. Fortunately, I did have one friend in New York, and that was the main reason I waived my no-trade clause and went up there because [Andy Pettitte] was there."
ESPN's Keith Law is one of the esteemed names who, along with Johnathan Mayo and Baseball America, EM considers important in summing up the best of the minor leagues for those of us who might not keep such a close eye on them.
Here is his complete list of top 100 prospects, which came out today, and farm system rankings which came out earlier this week.
This absurdity showed up on the Cardinals' Facebook page today. David Browning, who left the first comment on it, put the rally squirrel situation perfectly.
"Okay, this is just getting stupid now."
The image has generously been hidden from the home screen so as to prevent accidental viewing. If you got here by other means, I apologize.
The inaugural Miami Marlins may become the most dramatic clubhouse since the 1977 “Bronx Zoo” New York Yankees. Not wanting to miss out on the impending chaos, EM will follow their exploits in 2012–from a safe distance that is. Search 'Miami Zoo' for the whole saga.
The Marlins' new free agent acquisition Jose Reyes will have to cut his dreads in accordance to team policy. (The one Hanley Ramirez loves so much.) Not noteworthy if you're a normal person. MLB Network is apparently not run by normal people, though, since they will be televising the aforementioned hair cut 5:00p tomorrow. Not kidding.
Kyle McClellan was being offered up to the rest of the Majors in an attempt to make payroll space for Roy Oswalt, but such a notion has since been all but defested by Oswalt's desire for a deal much bigger than the $10 million the Cards were willing to give him. All the same, McClellan isn't sitting too cozily even a week and a half before spring training. "They could still do something."
Ex-Cardinal Jeff Suppan has signed a minor league deal with the Padres--not the Pirates--after spending a year in AAA for the Royals.
Suppan came on with the Cardinals in his tenth season in '04 and won playoff MVP when they won in '06. He came back in 2010, the last time he played in the Majors.
[MLB.com]
SICK AND TIRED
Scratch that--the Reds don't want him either. Unless they do.
Cincinnati GM Walt Jocketty: “It’s all rumors. I'm sick and tired of it. We’ve had no serious talks. We’ve had no contact with the player.”
Em's done covering this mess unless the Cards surface again, which looks unlikely now. Hope you don't mind, but that's too much unnecessary frustration to deal with.
"The jerseys of those less-enlightened times featured a savage on the sleeve and it's a wonder that anyone ever thought the image was okay. The logo strips Native Americans of any humanity and turns them into a one-dimensional character devoid of any sympathy or tribute. It honestly might be the only defense that the few defenders of Cleveland's Chief Wahoo have left. ('Well, it's not as bad as what Atlanta used to have.')"
You got that right! Tony LaRussa and some literally high-browed mortgage lender have made yet another lame, backfiring ad for your amusement. This one involves Albert Pujols.
Former Cardinal Rick Ankiel will return to the Nationals, signing a minor league deal with them today that included a spring training invite.
Ankiel, of course, was a pitcher with the Cards before converting to a power outfielder. He spent over ten years with the organization before leaving for Atlanta, followed by stops in Kansas City and DC.
[@acomak]
Former Cardinal Brad Penny is joining the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan after going 11-11 with a 5.30 ERA with the Tigers in his age 33 season.
Penny, you’ll recall, played nine games with a 3.23 ERA with the Cardinals in 2010 before injuring himself on a grand slam swing against the pitcher he replaced in the rotation, Joel Pineiro.
The Cardinals have signed infielder Alex Cora to a minor league deal.
Cora has primarily played middle infield during his career, but had 35 games at third for the Nationals during a 91-game season in which he hit .224. He's played in the Majors for 14 years and has changed teams eight times.
> We thought Roy Oswalt would come to the Cardinals after a Kyle McCellan trade, provided the Rangers couldn't get their reliever to Baltimore first. But in a seemingly minor move seemingly seen only by EM, the Orioles signed three minor league starters, which I think took them out of the McClellan/Koji Uehara market. Texas's fifth starter Matt Harrison was willing to move if his team got Oswalt so he could start elsewhere, but they wanted to keep him instead of adding Oswalt; effectively taking them out of the bidding and leaving the Cardinals as the only team Oswalt wanted to play for that was also close to his home in Mississippi.
ADDITIONS
Carlos Beltran
J.C. Romero
Koyie Hill
Alex Cora
Erik Komatsu
Eugenio Velez
R.J. Swindle
Andres Serrano
Erick Hurtado
[Adam Wainwright, Mike Matheny]
Mike Matheny is going back home.
He had his dream home built in the early 2000s 30 miles west of St. Louis–a nice joint with 17 rooms, a batting cage, a home theater, a pool to land in after coming down the waterslide, and a tree house (with electricity), and a golf course with a floating green in the middle of a private lake. But when a real estate investment went south, he got into financial trouble and was evicted, having to then move in with his in-laws.
But EM is reporting that the CEO of the bank that bought his place is now letting him stay there for next to nothing. Must be a Cards fan.
Brian Tallet has signed a minor league deal with the Pirates.
He was intended to be Dennys Reyes' replacement at the beginning of the 2011 season as the Cardinals' second lefty in the bullpen, but was eventually traded back to Toronto after having an 8.31 ERA in 18 games.
Busch Stadium operations manager Joe Abernathy discussed the Stadium championship renovation, which is now underway.
A crane is now above the 10 championship flags past right field, although adding the eleventh one won't be easy.
After being arrested for his second DUI last year, TV play-by-play man Dan McLaughlin will return to the booth in 2012 to call Cards games on FSN.
"I’m humbled, I’m grateful, and in the same breath I’m still very, very sorry. It’s still on the front burner for me. I think about it a lot... If it came to that, the point I didn’t have a job, which for a long time I [thought was going to be the case], I wouldn’t have blamed them at all; it was my fault."
In last night's nightly coverage of the Roy Oswalt-to-the-Cardinals drama, I said that Oswalt needs to watch his step and maybe humble himself a bit before getting too big league for the Big Leagues. When reports come out that, if the Cards traded away Kyle McCellan to scrape up $10 million for the guy and that amount isn't anywhere near what he wants, the logical response is, Okay then, take a hike. If you're worth that much, go get someone else to pay it to you. (All this, mind you, is only true if $10 mill is in fact not enough.)
This guy doesn't agree. Brace yourself.
Edwin Jackson has turned down several multi-year offers and has instead gone to agent Scott Boras's standby: the Washington Nationals. The plan is for him to do well this year and maybe seek a longer contract after settling for a one-year deal worth $8-12 million.
Jackson came to the Cards at the trade deadline last year in the Colby Rasmus deal that proved to be essential to the Cards' making the playoffs and winning the World Series. He went 5-2 with a 3.58 ERA during his short regular season career with the team, who play the Nats seven times in 2012.
I was wondering how Pujols 5 Grill at Westport Plaza in St. Louis would do after the star athlete who gave it its namesake left for Los Angeles shortly after a golden statue of him was erected right outside. Turns out, not very well.
Apparently, the business side of the operation was hurt too badly by the millions of fans who turned on Albert Pujols when they perceived he turned on them. So now, Pujols 5 will be called the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame Bar and Grill.
From Phil Rogers, Chicago Tribune columnist:
"One more year, two at the most.
"Unless that pesky Mayan calendar is correct, and the Earth drifts into a black hole or is attacked by a higher species we never knew existed, Joey Votto will be with the Blue Jays in the very near future. When that inevitable acquisition is finalized, they will have the full attention of the American League for the first time since the early '90s.
Roy Oswalt might be getting too big for his britches.
The former Astros ace turned down a $10 million deal with the Tigers, supposedly because Michigan is too far away from his Mississippi home. He has since turned down an offer from Boston and has decided that, since he prefers the Rangers and Cardinals, that one of them will sign him.
