s-o-s... s-o-s...

[tonjes]

here we are. it's almost july 1, and instead of clicking, we're still trying to find our stride. things are getting pretty ugly, as we've lost seven in a row.

the starting pitching is in disaray. isringhausen reminds me of heathcliff slocumb. and with the exception of pujols and rolen, the offense doesn't have much of a fear factor. i know i used to be one of the first people to speak up and defend the team when some of you were panicking. well, i'm close to panicking myself. right now, we're not in a position to realistically focus on the world series, and if we're not careful, we could very easily play ourselves out of a playoff spot.

so boys and girls, what do we do with this team?

i've thought about this a little, and i think we should only make a move if we can acquire a franchise type player. i'd love to get tejada, carlos lee, or dontrelle willis, but i'm not sure if management is willing to pay for those guys. if we can't get a star, then i think we should just leave the lineup alone and play out the season. i don't see how trading away prospects to acquire craig wilson or kevin millar will put us over the top. it's a tough pill to swallow, but with pujols still blossoming, and rolen and carpenter with several great seasons still ahead of them, there isn't any reason to mortgage the future.

thoughts?

[hubkittel]

a few things to do to stave off full-fledged panic mode:
1. breathe (slow, deep breaths)
2. go outside for awhile (maybe look at some trees or a pretty girl walking by)
3. pet your dog (if you have one-if not, maybe go buy one)
4. take a look at the standings (note the date and the division the cardinals are in)
5. think how good miguel cabrerra would look with the birds on the bat on his chest

[tonjes]

5. think how good miguel cabrera would look with the birds on the bat on his chesthow likely is this though? i've heard the rumors too, but the kid's a generational talent. sure, he's a hot head and isn't great teammate, but i can't imagine florida shopping him.

what do you think we would have to give up for cabrera?

[Solair Wright]

I'm guessing the untouchables...Adam Wainwright and Anthony Reyes, and possibly Aaron Miles and Hector Luna. Of course, the trade would harm the Cards and Marlins.

[hubkittel]

how likely is this though?

what do you think we would have to give up for cabrera?
i honestly think it's pretty unlikely. the marlins are playing well and think they can contend for a wild card. plus i keep hearing that they're going to keep both dontrelle and cabrera. so unless we offer them the store (ie, reyes plus others) or anybody wows them with a big deal, cabrera stays in fla. i think any trade discussion with the cardinals (from the other teams point of view) begins with reyes (who didn't pitch all that poorly tonight) and with all the unsigned arms, reyes is untouchable. we're not going to trade the nucleus of the major league club and we don't have much in the farm system so making any kind of blockbuster deal is going to be difficult. i agree that we desperately need a big bat in the outfield but i don't see how we get it done. the worst thing that ever happened to the cardinals was beltrans big postseason in 2004. that was the guy i thought we would sign once he hit the market and he would come realatively cheap, having played in obscurity in kc. but you know the rest of the story. in the end, i think jockety brings in a bullpen arm and a fourth outfielder type (for power off the bench). :(

[Solair Wright]

Loss #8 now...somebody HELP this team :hp

[hubkittel]

but everybody else in the division (except mlw) lost.:confused: all is not lost (i keep saying to myself, over and over). carpenter has to step up tomorrow and be the stopper. i quote the jedi master: "he is our last hope."

[tonjes]

when was the last time we lost eight in a row?

[wogdoggy]

everybodys getting hip to duncans pitching style of keeping the ball low and getting the ground outs..instead we are leaving it up and other teams know the cardinal pitcher succeed by getting ground outs...the pitching is poor and our hitting is sporadic at best.

[KCGHOST]

You go through patches like this when a teamlooks dysfunctional. It doesn't help when your main man is on the DL for a month, your all-star CF all of a sudden looks old, Your primary SLP comes up ineffective and may be facing an extended trip to the DL, your Closer has become a risk, etc.

Right now there isn't a look on the market for the Cards to acquire. Nobody is really shopping pitching. Another bat would be nice, but as was pointed out above, the Cards a rather short of tradeable chips. The farm system is depleted and the veterans you would like to unload are not exactly hot commodities.

Sometimes you just have to suck it up and make-do with what you have.

[hubkittel]

when was the last time we lost eight in a row?
i heard somebody on the radio last night say it was 1988-but that doesn't sound right when you think about those bad/no pitching teams torre had in the early 90's.

[tonjes]

i heard somebody on the radio last night say it was 1988-but that doesn't sound right when you think about those bad/no pitching teams torre had in the early 90's.the early 90s torre teams weren't as bad as people seem to remember them being. torre's teams didn't have a losing season until 1994 and 1995.

[hubkittel]

it's a good point about torre's cardinals teams-both torre and those teams had to deal with the fan's wrath because they were not whitey's boys. but those teams were not good and they were very frustrating to watch. the pitching was just annually bad-too much ken hill and bob tewksberry (and that was the best of the rotation). and while they were never really bad until torre's last year and a half, they were never really in contention for the division title. they would always finish second or third and 13 games out. except for 96 and 98, that whole decade was tough.

[Brewers101]

WOW. You guys are all in a panic because you lost a lot lately. Look at our divison.

The Astros can't seem to get runs.

The Reds had a fluke year so far but I think they are starting to fail again.

My Brewers like to drop the ball every time they are winning and they had 3 starters injured at the very begining of the year.

The Cubs are doing all of the above.

You guys are still in good shape but all I can say is you better pray for pitching.

Otherwise the cards in in good shape.

[Solair Wright]

Slide's over...for now. 5-4 win over the Indians.

[tonjes]

WOW. You guys are all in a panic because you lost a lot lately. Look at our divison.sure, we shouldn't take our division for granted, but it's still probably ours to lose. i'm more worried about how we match up against the mets and the american league powers. i think we've fallen out of that upper tier, and we're going to be embarassed in the playoffs unless we get our act together.

[tonjes]

we're up to 8 losses in a row... AGAIN!

has a team ever had two 8-game losing streaks in a season and been a division winner? what the hell is going on?

[Gashouse6]

It's not like they've even been playing great teams. They got swept by the Cubs, Phillies, and lost to the Brewers. Hopefully this losing streak will be followed up with a big winning streak.