It's 11/11/11 and many people around the country are making wishes, fanciful as they may be. Fresh of their 11th World Series title, the Cardinals have some wishes of their own and plenty of work left to do this off-season. Below is the Cardinals 2012 Off-Season Holiday Wish List:
#1: Albert Pujols--Does this come as a surprise to anyone? Pujols represents the biggest decision, and financial commitment, in St. Louis Cardinals history. Pujols, almost universally considered the best player in the game, will be on all thirty teams' wish lists, only a fewbut can actually afford him. The Marlins, Cubs, Rangers and Angels have all expressed legitimate interest in Albert. They also have the check books to back it up. The Cubs are the heavy front runner from that list. Thankfully, for Cardinals fans, four names don't appear in connection with Pujols, the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets. These clubs either lack the financial stability or already have first basemen inked to long term deals. The Cardinals have the money, fan base, supporting cast and iconic appeal to be the front-runners in the Pujols sweepstakes. The stars seem aligned for Albert to be welcomed back to St. Louis... however, that can't happen soon enough.
#2: Who follows Tony?--Tony La Russa, long-time Cardinals skipper, went out on top a few weeks ago, retiring immediately follow the World Series Championship. The Cardinals quickly lined up candidates to replace him, unfortunately not pursuing Hometown Discount favorite Joe Maddon. The Cardinals have narrowed the search down to six men, with Mike Matheny, Jose Oquendo and Terry Francona (formerly of the Boston Red Sox) being the favorites. Ryne Sandberg remains a dark-horse. Francona is the only one with previous Major League managing experience, the rest having various degrees of coaching backgrounds. In all honesty, The Hometown Discount doesn't have a preference between the four, trusting the Cardinals brass to do their jobs well.
#3: Middle infield--The middle infield has been a bit of an enigma for the Cardinals in recent years. The Cardinals have plenty, though mostly unattractive, of in-house options to fill those roles. At SS that includes Tyler Greene, Daniel Descalso and Ryan Theriot. At 2B we have Skip Schumaker, the aforementioned Theriot and the A-Craig Hammer. Allen Craig is a bit of a liability defensively at 2B, but more than makes up for that with his bat. Schumaker and Theriot are both average defenders with light bats. Back to SS, Greene and Descalso are solid defenders but, again, unimposing at the plate. This brings us to our free-agent options, the most enticing of such is Rafael Furcal, an instrumental part of the Cards' World Series run. Furcal is an electric defender with a streaky but occasionally dangerous bat, however, he comes at a much higher price than all of the options mentioned above.
The Cardinals have many other minor details to take care of this off-season. However, if Mo' can effectively and efficiently care of the top three items on the Holiday Wish List, everything else will fall into place and the Cardinals will once again be a championship-caliber club contending for another title in 2012.
(Also, a shout-out to The Hometown Discount's readers from Russia, Germany, UK, Sweden, Netherlands and France. Cardinal pride from around the world!)
#1: Albert Pujols--Does this come as a surprise to anyone? Pujols represents the biggest decision, and financial commitment, in St. Louis Cardinals history. Pujols, almost universally considered the best player in the game, will be on all thirty teams' wish lists, only a fewbut can actually afford him. The Marlins, Cubs, Rangers and Angels have all expressed legitimate interest in Albert. They also have the check books to back it up. The Cubs are the heavy front runner from that list. Thankfully, for Cardinals fans, four names don't appear in connection with Pujols, the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets. These clubs either lack the financial stability or already have first basemen inked to long term deals. The Cardinals have the money, fan base, supporting cast and iconic appeal to be the front-runners in the Pujols sweepstakes. The stars seem aligned for Albert to be welcomed back to St. Louis... however, that can't happen soon enough.
#2: Who follows Tony?--Tony La Russa, long-time Cardinals skipper, went out on top a few weeks ago, retiring immediately follow the World Series Championship. The Cardinals quickly lined up candidates to replace him, unfortunately not pursuing Hometown Discount favorite Joe Maddon. The Cardinals have narrowed the search down to six men, with Mike Matheny, Jose Oquendo and Terry Francona (formerly of the Boston Red Sox) being the favorites. Ryne Sandberg remains a dark-horse. Francona is the only one with previous Major League managing experience, the rest having various degrees of coaching backgrounds. In all honesty, The Hometown Discount doesn't have a preference between the four, trusting the Cardinals brass to do their jobs well.
#3: Middle infield--The middle infield has been a bit of an enigma for the Cardinals in recent years. The Cardinals have plenty, though mostly unattractive, of in-house options to fill those roles. At SS that includes Tyler Greene, Daniel Descalso and Ryan Theriot. At 2B we have Skip Schumaker, the aforementioned Theriot and the A-Craig Hammer. Allen Craig is a bit of a liability defensively at 2B, but more than makes up for that with his bat. Schumaker and Theriot are both average defenders with light bats. Back to SS, Greene and Descalso are solid defenders but, again, unimposing at the plate. This brings us to our free-agent options, the most enticing of such is Rafael Furcal, an instrumental part of the Cards' World Series run. Furcal is an electric defender with a streaky but occasionally dangerous bat, however, he comes at a much higher price than all of the options mentioned above.
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| John Mozeliak, GM: The Cardinals' Santa Claus (AP) |
The Cardinals have many other minor details to take care of this off-season. However, if Mo' can effectively and efficiently care of the top three items on the Holiday Wish List, everything else will fall into place and the Cardinals will once again be a championship-caliber club contending for another title in 2012.
(Also, a shout-out to The Hometown Discount's readers from Russia, Germany, UK, Sweden, Netherlands and France. Cardinal pride from around the world!)
The Marlins are signing Albert. Put it on the board.
ReplyDeleteugly face, no they arent
ReplyDelete11/11/11 good day full of promise
ReplyDelete