The beginning of the end with the Cardinals

To commemorate the final stretch of games with the St. Louis Cardinals, we asked long-time friend of Astros County C70 At the Bat some questions (The Constable answered C70's questions over here):

AC: As you likely know, the Astros took three of four from the Phillies (!) over the weekend. Let's let that sink in for a second... Okay, does that change your outlook on this series?

C70: I don't know that it does, but my outlook on this series might not be what you expect it to be.  Obviously, I'm more comfortable with the Cards spending the next 10 days playing the Astros and the Cubs than the Dodgers or Reds, but this has been such an inconsistent team that it's hard to get too high on a series that, on paper, should be a huge mismatch.  Because if this season had been played out on paper, the Cards would have won a whole lot more games.

Having Houston playing well does temper some expectations, of course.  I'd rather be facing the team that lost 34 of 38 than the team that has more September wins that St. Louis does.

AC: What the heck is it with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's obsession with Jeff Luhnow (and what seems like a party line of "He wasn't that great")?

C70: You have to know that Jeff Luhnow was a very polarizing figure.  When he was brought on board, he brought the sabermetric mentality with him, as you are seeing in Houston now.  The problem was, not everyone in the front office was ready for that.  There was a pretty obvious rift that developed between the "new school" set and the "old school" set.  This culminated back in 2007 when Walt Jocketty was let go and John Mozeliak was hired to be the general manager.  Mozeliak's mission was to reconcile the stats and the scouting side of things (and, from all appearances, has done a good job).

Anytime that you are such a visible part in a change to a civic institution, you are going to get a lot of focus on you.  I expect that there will be some monitoring of Luhnow for a while, just like there has been of Pujols this season.  It'll lessen as time goes on, but it'll never quite go away.  When you "discover" someone that has success elsewhere, it's natural to keep an eye out.

Now, as for the latter part of your question, I don't know much about that unless it plays back into that rift he was part of.  Most internet observers seem to be fairly fond of him.  Could be some "cushioning the blow," could be some acknowledgement that no man is an island--but I know Luhnow took a few important palm trees (or rocks or whatever works to extend the analogy) with him to Houston also.

AC: Piggy-backing on that, how do you feel about Luhnow?

C70: I think he turned things around in regards to the minor leagues and helped bring a new mindset to the drafting process.  His support may have unintentionally poisoned the well for Colby Rasmus (who was often termed "Luhnow's boy" within the organization, if reports are right) but there's no denying that the Cards have more high-talent prospects in their system than ever before.  I think he'll do a fine job in Houston and wish him well.

AC: Y'all have almost $90m in payroll already committed to 2013. What does the future of the Cardinals look like for the next five years?

C70: The future is, at least to these biased eyes, very bright.  There is a lot of payroll committed, but it's not to dead weight (or at least, not much).  You have Chris Carpenter, who hopefully will be at least close to his ace-like self after a year off next year, Adam Wainwright, Matt Holliday, and Carlos Beltran (that one may hurt, but it's just one more year) make up the bulk of the big money going forward and all should be good for 2013 (again, save possibly Beltran).  The expectation is Wainwright will sign an extension this season and be here for the long haul.

After 2013, the holes that get created are likely to be filled from within.  Shelby Miller, Trevor Rosenthal, Carlos Martinez, Joe Kelly, Lance Lynn--all of these could be in the rotation by 2014.  Second base has a Kolten Wong-sized hole waiting to be filled.  Oscar Tavares is going to be ranked in the top 10 of most every prospect list this offseason and should see St. Louis by next September.  There is going to be a lot of cheap young talent coming through to help offset the expensive contracts elsewhere.  Right now, the window for championship runs seems as wide open as it's ever been.

AC: Can the Cardinals (a) make the playoffs and then (b) beat the Braves in a one-game playoff?

C70: This Cardinal team can win the World Series.  This Cardinal team can also completely miss the playoffs.  As frustrating as they've been, they've got the pieces to beat just about anyone when they come together.  The problem is, especially with the one-game playoff, they don't always show up.  I could easily see the Cards losing a 1-0, 2-1 game to Atlanta after leaving 10 men on and having at least two ill-conceived bunts.  If Carpenter gives them some focus and everything finally comes together, though, 12 in '12 is not out of the question.  

AC: Speaking of, since StL is in the mix, how do you feel about the 1-game playoff?

C70: If you are going to do a second wild-card, this may be the best way to do it.  I'm not a fan of the second wild card--I am not really a fan of the regular wild card either--but hindering them somewhat going into a playoff series should help the "best team" win more than just the hot pitcher.  I think it'd be better just to make four divisions and let the winners get into October.  Plenty of pennant races and you'd actually have to win something.

AC: What was your favorite Astros/Cards game?

C70: So many good ones to choose from, but I think it has to be Game 7 of the 2004 NLCS.  The catch by Edmonds, the home run by Rolen, beating Roger Clemens....those are things that are hard to top.  

AC: As a team lucky enough to stay in the National League, what are your thoughts on what happened to the Astros, in regards to the move to the AL?

C70: I think it was an incredibly stupid thing to have even considered, much less gone through with.  The idea of interleague play, which was never one of my favorite ideas, going on every single day is a terrible one in my book.  Plus the whole idea of a deal being held up so that a perfectly legitimate owner could be blackmailed into moving a team with 50 years of history?  Move the Brewers back if you have to move someone--they've played both sides of the fence.  It was a shameful episode in a history of baseball rife with shameful episodes. 

We'll be back in touch with C70 for a last hurrah next week.

Q&A with C70

So Astros County and C70 exchanged some questions regarding this, the merciful final series of the 2011 season. For us, anyway. The Cardinals could very well be playing next week if things go the way they look like they could go. Here are Astros County's questions, and C70's answers. (Note: Here are my answers to his questions)

AC: If the Cardinals don't sweep the Astros, how upset will you and your readers be?

C70: All three of us? :) It'll be disappointing, sure. This September has been almost the embodiment of what we expected this Cardinal team to be like all year long, so to see them get that close and then fall short won't feel good. However, a lot of us had resigned ourselves to missing the postseason a month ago. It's been like playing with house money since then. You hope to strike it big, but if you leave with what you brought in, you can't get too worked up about it.

AC: This season has obviously come to the final three games. What do you look back on from 2011 and think, "Jeez. If this/that happened, we would be resting starters right now." ?

C70: The United Cardinal Bloggers are going to be putting together a postseason publication and I'm thinking my review of the season is going to be titled "What If?" There were a number of games throughout the year that should have gone the other way and didn't. Basically, though, if Adam Wainwright is healthy all year and/or the bullpen issues with Ryan Franklin and Miguel Batista got resolved earlier, the Cards could have had 4-5 more wins at least and been solidly in the postseason.

AC: How do you feel about the re-signing of Lance Berkman? Has he managed to make Cardinals fans forget that he was an Astro for nine years?

C70: What do you mean? Berkman's a rookie this year, isn't he? Thought it was a little strange that he was so good and so old, but.....

Actually, though, Berkman quickly became a fan favorite. I think it helps that, for the most part, the Houston/St. Louis rivalry was never that bitter and ugly, but a fairly professional meeting of two teams trying for the same goal. Berkman (and players like Craig Biggio, Roy Oswalt, and Jeff Bagwell) were respected as adversaries, even as you tried to beat them. There were some great people on both sides of that divide, so it's easier to accept one of them as your own.

Plus, hitting 30 homers helps. You'll notice no such warm fuzzy feelings exist for Ryan Theriot.

AC: Thanks for David Carpenter, by the way. How do you feel about the front office, and how confident are you in them going into this off-season with Pujols on the horizon?

C70: As you so adroitly point out, the front office isn't perfect. That trade last year made no sense on the face of it and got worse as Pedro Feliz played in St. Louis. However, it's also the front office that got Berkman on a bargain deal and made a controversial trade of Colby Rasmus and apparently got the better end of the deal, at least short-term. (And after Colby's comments in the National Post, I'm not sure they aren't going to win the deal long-term, either.) Is Pujols a big deal? Sure it is, but I don't think it's an intricate negotiation. I don't know that they'll lock him down (I really think they will, but no guarantees) but I trust them with the process just as much as I'd trust any other front office.

AC: Who deserves to be in the playoffs: Cardinals, or Braves?

C70: Deserves? Depends on what you value, I guess. Braves have run into injuries and a wall and don't look to be much of a post-season threat, but that's what some said about the Cards in '06. The Cardinals are playing better baseball now and could make a deep run, but they could also get swept out by Philadelphia. My bias says the Cards deserve it, but unfortunately that and $4.50 gets my wife a coffee at Starbucks if they don't win two more games than Atlanta does in the next three (or four) days.

C70 at the Bat on the upcoming Cardinals/Astros series

Our buddy Dan from C70 at the Bat gave us a little series preview from the Cardinals stand-point. And note the closing sentence, I'll be on the United Cardinals Bloggers Radio Hour tomorrow night around 9:45pm, trying not to swear.

Hello, Astros fans! Appreciate James giving me a chance to talk with you again, giving up prime blog estate, if you will, to a lowly Cardinal fan. (Hey, just trying to make sure you don't throw rotten vegetables or sharp objects at me!)

Thought I'd tell you a little about the Cardinal team that you'll be facing this week and what's going on in Cardinal Nation. The biggest discussion point revolves around the offense. I'm pretty sure I hear some of you saying, "Hey, we'd take your problems!" I'm guessing that when you've scored fewer runs than any team in baseball, griping about someone else's offense goes in one ear and out the other.

Still, that's what the Cards are talking about right now. After a series in Philadelphia that they only scored three runs in the last three games, followed by two in Pittsburgh where they only scored four and were shut out--by the Pirates, are you kiddin' me?--there was a lot of discussion about whether things were working or not under the new hitting coach.

Of course, these are the same people that complained earlier in the year that the Cardinals were relying too much on the home run, scoring around 50% or so of their runs via the long ball. Maybe there's something to that, because the Redbirds haven't gone deep since the seventh inning of last Monday's game, 57 innings ago. Then again, they didn't need the homer to beat the Pirates 11-4 in the finale of that Pittsburgh series on Sunday.

Looking at the matchups, this could be a very interesting series. Brett Myers had some bad career numbers against St. Louis before he threw against them last time, but he only gave up two runs in seven when he saw them earlier in the year. Brad Penny has a 1.99 ERA on the season, though his last couple of outings have been more pedestrian (though still good). Might give the slight edge to Penny here, but if Myers pitches the way he did last time, it could easily go either way.

Wednesday, it's Wandy Rodriguez vs. Kyle Lohse. Lohse has been the weak link in an otherwise stellar rotation. While he's shown flashes of his '08 form, for the most part he's struggled, as he did in Philadelphia giving up five runs in four innings. He pitched a good game against Houston earlier in the year, which gives Cardinal fans a little hope. Rodriguez has always been a Cardinal killer, save the game earlier this year when the Cards finally figured him out a bit and Albert Pujols finally tagged him. I see that Rodriguez has been having a rough season so far, but I'd still probably lean toward Houston in this one.

The finale should be a heck of a duel, with Bud Norris going against Chris Carpenter. Y'all all (yes, that's legal Southern, I believe) know Carpenter, though he's probably slipped from co-ace status in the eyes of many St. Louis fans due to the emergence of Adam Wainwright. That's no knock on Carpenter, though. He's still almost as dominant as he always has been. Earlier in the season he wasn't feeling comfortable with his fastball, but seems to have regained it in his last couple of starts. As for Norris, he turns into some combination of Superman and Cy Young when he faces the Cardinals. Still haven't figured that one out, but it should make for a great pitching duel.

It's always good to see the Astros and Cardinals hook up, if for no other reason than I get to work with James again. In fact, you can hear him talk about the series tomorrow night on the UCB Radio Hour, which should just be a blast. I appreciate you hearing me out without incident (we'll ignore those two rotten eggs that were thrown since they missed) and good luck the next few days!

Friend and Foe

Constable's Note: In advance of the Astros @ Cardinals series, Daniel from C70 at the Bat and I are taking a post on each other's blogs previewing the series from the opposing viewpoint. You can read my thoughts here. Now, Daniel, take it away.

My thanks to James for letting me take a little time over here at Astros County. As most of you know from reading his blog this year, we've tried to do something to mark the times when the Cards and Astros get together, reminisce about old times, and throw the ball around this season. I also want to thank James for being one of the first blogs to commit to our new Baseball Bloggers Alliance, a group that numbers close to 40 now. Be watching for more from that group after the season.

So as the Astros and Cardinals get together for late-season baseball, what do we have? This series is lacking some of the drama and high stakes that has marked their relationship in the past. I think I speak for most of Cardinal Nation when I say that we've always had a lot of respect and admiration for the Astros organization and their players. The rivalry has been intense in the past, but it's always been professional. So while the pennant race isn't over and a sweep by the Astros might change some minds about the season, the gap between the two teams does lessen the drama somewhat.

When last we saw each other, the Cardinals had just lost a shutout to Bud Norris but had won the series anyway. They stood a half-game ahead of the Cubs while the Astros were in third, just 4 1/2 back. It looked like a great pennant race was shaping up.

Being that my focus is fairly myopic on the team in red, I'm not sure exactly what happened to the Astros, but the Cardinals kicked it into another gear. They are 14-4 since that shutout back on August 2. The offense has kicked into gear as they've assimilated Matt Holliday and figured out the best ways to use Julio Lugo. The pitching staff, which had been strong all year, continued to go well and with a number of off days, the Cardinals were able to skip the #5 starter a couple of times. Not having Todd Wellemeyer especially on the bump increased the Cardinals chances five-fold.

Right now, there just aren't a lot of weak spots in the lineup. Tony LaRussa continues to mix and match somewhat, but the lineups have been much more stable after the Holliday trade, with a regular grouping of Albert Pujols, Holliday, Ryan Ludwick, and Mark DeRosa. Usually Yadier Molina, whose bat sometimes gets overlooked due to his defensive prowness, is right after that group. The middle infield of Skip Schumaker, Brendan Ryan and Lugo on occasion have the ability to get on base for the big guys as well as deliver a key hit when necessary.

The schedule doesn't favor the Astros either, as you will see all of the top Cardinal pitchers in this series. Adam Wainwright will go in the opener. Waino has been just spectacular, right at the top of the league in wins and a nice 2.61 ERA. His curveball has been an amazing weapon for him this year, freezing hitters on a regular basis. He currently has a streak of 24 games where he's gone at least six innings, so he's been able to stay in ball games.

The middle game will feature Joel Pineiro, who has taken this whole "keep the ball on the ground" to new heights while fashioning an ERA just a little above 3. The ERA would look even better if you factor out the 7 runs in 5 innings that he allowed to the Mets at the beginning of the month. That kind of hiccup, which was a regular occurrence last year, hasn't happened much at all this year, though the potential always lurks for it. However, he's only allowed over three runs in a game five times this year, and three of those were in May. He won't strike out many, but he won't walk anyone either, which can make for a quick game.

Finally, on Thursday Chris Carpenter takes the hill. You know Carpenter. Take everything I said about Wainwright and add about 10%. If it wasn't for his three weeks on the DL in the early part of the season, he might have overtaken Tim Lincecum in the Cy Young talks. He's 13-3 with a 2.27 ERA and has been, at least to Cardinal fans, a joy to watch on the mound this season. It's made the agony and the waiting for the last two years worthwhile.

I know I'm a hopeless homer, but the rotation shakes out to make it very favorable for the Cards to win the series. However, Houston always plays St. Louis tough, so the predictions and projections are worth about the paper they are printed on. (And since we aren't using paper....) Wandy Rodriguez has been a terror for Cardinal hitters this year, and you never count out Houston in a game Roy Oswalt starts. I know it's going to be a fun series to watch.

C70 at the Bat responds to the Holliday trade

So many of you have read the exchanges between Astros County and my favorite Cardinals' blog, C70 at the Bat. I asked Daniel from C70 what the heck happened. Think they're happy? Think again...

AC: What the heck just happened?
C70: Once I figure it out myself...Basically, from what I understand, the Cards traded their top prospect, Brett Wallace, plus two other prospects (including Clayton Mortensen, one of their top pitching prospects) for Matt Holliday.

The thought is that they can get him to St. Louis and do the McGwire/Rolen/Edmonds bit on him, have him fall in love with the city and want to give a reasonable deal on the extension.

Fanbase opinion? At least what I've seen so far, they are wondering if John Mozeliak has completely lost his mind. Wallace for Holliday was untenable enough--check out this post from yesterday at Future Redbirds-- but to add to the deal and still not get an extension signed ahead of time? Sure, they got back $1.5 million, but that's hardly anything.

Check out C70's full post here.

Astros County's Q&A with C70 at the Bat

Earlier today I posted five questions/answers with C70 at the Bat. This afternoon, they posted their questions with Astros Coutny's answers.

Go check it out. Give 'em some love. Friends close, enemies closer, etc...

Previewing St Louis @ Houston with C70 at the Bat

Cardinals series time, and Astros County traded questions with C70 At The Bat on the upcoming series. I asked five questions, C70 asked five questions. Here are C70's, and I'll get the link to AC's answers later today.

Astros County: Seeing as how the Cubs just swept the Nationals, ESPN is anointing the Cubs as being "back." Of course. What is it going to take for the Cardinals to hold off the Cubs/Brewers/Astros for the division?
C70 at the Bat: I do worry about the Cubs somewhat, if only because as a Cardinal fan, you hate to lose to them. I'd much rather see them closer to Pittsburgh than St. Louis. That said, with Ryan Ludwick starting to find his bat, the Cards are in better shape than they were earlier in the year. Getting a boost out of Troy Glaus or Khalil Greene, both at AA right at the moment on rehab assignments, would help a lot as well. The Cards also need a better fifth starter, as Todd Wellemeyer has been erratic, but mainly bad.

AC: The Cardinals have been linked to Roy Halladay, where the word was "give Toronto the minor-league rosters and let them circle five names." How does the Cards' fan base view trading away five prospects for Halladay?
C70: It's an interesting question. Many people don't necessarily want to see a farm system that right now is just starting to come into its own to be ravished for Halladay, but it seems to me that a lot of people, and I'd lump myself into this group, are willing to give up Brett Wallace (the top prospect in the system) and 2-3 others for an ace pitcher that would be under control for a year and a half. The Cardinal farm system has gotten to where a deal like this would hurt, but wouldn't destroy it. All that said, I'd be surprised if it happened or if Halladay was traded at all.

AC: The Astros have a reputation as being a second-half team. Does that concern Cardinals fans?
C70: The focus has been so much on the Brewers and Cubs this year (added to the fact that the Cards haven't seen the Astros since, what, April?) that I think Houston is a little bit under the Cardinals radar. The longer they hang around, though, the more nervous Redbird fans will probably be.

AC: What has been the most surprising aspect of 2009 for Cardinals fans?
C70: Interesting question. There are a number of them. Skip Schumaker has played a tolerable second base, or at least at a better level than many expected. Colby Rasmus has started to blossom, though that really wasn't a surprise. On the downside, Rick Ankiel and, until recently, Ryan Ludwick were nowhere close to their 2008 forms. I guess probably the biggest surprise is that the Cards are still in first, even with the offensive struggles of the first half.

AC: When is Mozeliak going to stop screwing around and just give Pujols his $300 million?
C70: It's not completely on Mozeliak. While there is some caution in the front office, trying to get a read on what they should pay Pujols, a lot of the hesitation is coming from his side. The feeling is he wants to see if this is going to be a contending team for the future and that management isn't going to gut the team to pay him. I think that's one of the biggest reasons they are seriously considering Halladay. I feel like AP will eventually sign with the Cards at less than people think he would be worth, but it may be as late as November 2010.

Astros County on C70 at the Bat

Yesterday I posted C70 at the Bat's responses to my five question for this upcoming series with the Astros. Today, you can read my responses to theirs...

Houston @ St. Louis Q&A preview

As promised, Astros County traded e-mails with Daniel from C70 at the Bat earlier this week. He asked me five questions, and I answered - look for my answers tomorrow. I asked him five questions, and he answered - look for his answers below.

AC: What's with your closer situation?
C70: Ah, you noticed our Opening Day game, did you? Even though Jason Motte blew the first chance of the season, right now he's probably still considered "the closer". However, Tony La Russa never officially put the title on anyone, so you could see Ryan Franklin take the ninth, you could see Trever Miller in the ninth if there are a lot of lefties due up, you could possibly see Josh Kinney. I would expect, however, they'll do their best to get Motte back on the horse pretty quickly.

AC: I thought Pujols needed elbow surgery...last year. What the heck?
C70: Pujols's elbow problem was blown well out of proportion last year, as it was an injury that he'd had for most of his career. Sure, it could blow out, but it wasn't any more likely than it had been beforehand. Derrick Goold did a good look at his elbow at the time last year. After last season, though, AP did have a nerve transposition surgery. It wasn't serious, but it did lessen the pain in there. Chris Carpenter had one last fall as well and both of them seem to be showing no ill effects from the surgery. So, could something happen to Pujols's elbow? Sure. But it's not exactly hanging by a thread.

AC: What do you expect from Schumaker at 2nd?
C70: Skip's been pretty surprising at second, adjusting to the position better than anyone expected. That said, he's in the lineup for his bat. Defensively, he'll make probably an average amount of errors, but where the real damage may come is in those things that don't show up in the boxscore. He may not be able to get to a ball a good defensive second baseman might, or the Cards may only get one out on a double play ball instead of two. I hope that he'll be right about league average and I don't think you can expect more.

AC: How much do you hate the Cubs?
C70: With the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns? No, that's probably overstating it. I wouldn't like to say I hate the Cubs, though I don't want to see them win and I hope to live a long life and die still waiting for them to have a World Series title. I think wins against the Cubs are probably sweeter than most others in the regular season and the lowest point in Cardinal history would be if we lost to the Cubs in an NLCS matchup. Other than that, I don't think about them much.

AC: What's your prediction for this series?
C70: I've not looked at all the pitching splits and how the batters have done against the hurlers, but I know that Mike Hampton has been tough on the Cardinals in the past. Joel Pineiro looked very sharp in the spring, but with our lefty-heavy lineup, Hampton might get the win there. Oswalt vs. Wainwright should be a fun game, and it's not surprising that Fox has picked it up as a national telecast. Neither of them were extremely sharp (in their first start), but the Cardinals have solved Oswalt a few times since his dominating Game 6 in the '05 NLCS. I'm going to take St. Louis in that one. Rodriguez has been a tough nut for the Cards in the past, so him vs. Lohse could be a close game. As a Cardinal fan, I think we eke it out, especially since we are at home.

Astros County makes friends with C70

A few weeks ago Astros County traded questions with C70 at the Bat, a Cardinals blog I like to read. They sent questions, I sent answers. I sent questions, they sent answers.

Click here to read Astros County's response to five questions from the Cardinals.

Questions and Answers with C70 at the Bat

Like an insecure starlet who keeps Googling herself, I'm always curious what other people think of our chosen Major League Baseball team. So I'm going through and selecting my favorite blogs from other NL Central teams (even though Astros County took some shots for the MLBTradeRumors link this past weekend for - God forbid - discussing the impact of other NL Central teams' moves on the Astros). Granted, if there was a post I would haved liked 1,889 people to see, that might not have been it. The sarcasm was cranked up to 11 that day, and it clearly didn't translate. However, for those of you who are new citizens to Astros County, I appreciate your navigating around and reading other posts.

Anyhow, I do like to read other blogs and one of my favorites is C70 At the Bat, devoted to the St. Louis Cardinals.

We are in talks to offer some shared content whenever our fair teams meet up this season, but as it stands, we discussed each other's teams. We asked questions, they answered those questions:

AC: (GM John) Mozeliak took some shots in a live chat not too long ago - what are your thoughts on him? Was Walt Jocketty such a great GM that nobody could come in and replace him?

C70: Mo has done a pretty decent job in his first year plus at the helm. He got rid of two declining icons and got probably more than they were worth when he dealt them off. Troy Glaus for Scott Rolen was particularly amazing given that most everyone in baseball figured he had to move Rolen, so he had little leverage.

Mo came up through the ranks, so he's got a lot of Jocketty's style about him. The biggest thing with him, though, is that he's trying to reconcile the scouting with the stats and it seems to be working so far.

AC: The Cards have come out and said they're trying to save a little money, like everyone else. Are they really just saving money to pay for Albert Pujols in a few years?

C70: Depends on which part of the fan base you talk to. There's the grumpy section (it's a definite minority, but it's not insignificant) that says Bill Dewitt is just saving money for Bill Dewitt. I'm not in that group--I think this ownership has done a good job of laying out payroll--but I know that the 2011 end of Pujols's contract weighs on just about everything that they do right now. There are few contracts that they've given out that reach past that time, with the implicit understanding is that they'll need some cash to resign the greatest hitter of our time.

AC: Was/is there any one player fans were hoping St. Louis would sign this off-season?

C70: I think the player that has gotten the most widespread support this offseason is Ben Sheets. The rotation could use another strong arm and Sheets, injury history notwithstanding, would make for a devestating rotation. A healthy Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Sheets, Kyle Lohse and Todd Wellemeyer would stack up with most anyone in the division.

A close runner up, at least for some people, was Brian Fuentes. With the Cardinal bullpen woes last season, many felt they needed that shut-down closer at the end of the game. They made a play for him, but wound up losing out more in geography than money, it appears.

AC: Which player on the Astros roster inspires fear in the hearts of St. Louis fans (as opposed to Lidgean levels of delight)?

C70: Ah, Lidge. Always wanted to see Albert against him with the game on the line. Anyway, I think the player that most people wouldn't mind seeing on vacation when the Stros came to down would have to be Lance Berkman. He seems to just destroy Cardinal pitching on a regular basis. Without him, the games would seem a little easier.

AC: What are your thoughts on the Astros in 2009?

C70: I've not done a lot of looking over the roster, etc., but it seems to me that the Astros are on the decline. As you noted in your responses to my questions, the offense is still fairly potent, but the pitching staff just doesn't seem to be there. Even Oswalt wasn't himself last year, though I'm sure that he'll round back into form for 2009. Some of the moves lately have been a little questionable and there doesn't seem to be a lot of farm talent on the way. That said, you never count the Astros out, in my book. They've been a very classy rival for the Cardinals the last decade and it'd be great to see that continue this coming season.

Any blogs you read that you want to exchange information with? Let us know at astroscounty@hotmail.com.