The beginning of the season and the month of April for the Reds has been entertaining to say the least. 4 games going into extra innings, with plenty more 1 run wins and losses. Below are the events that took place early this season.

Before Opening Day the Reds received unfortunate news, Ryan Madson would be out for the year. The ex-Phillies closer was signed during the winter by the Reds after Cordero moved on. Madson, just days after reportedly saying he was great and feeling good, now has a year to recover from Tommy John surgery. On the 1st of April the Reds traded Juan Francisco to the Braves for J.J. Hoover,looking to get triple-A help in the bullpen and another option at the major league level with the acquisition. At first glance Hoover does not have eye opening stats but does consistently have good numbers for a 24 year old minor leaguer. However, in Madson’s absence Sean Marshall, whom the Reds picked up in a trade with the Cubs, will take over the closer role. At the end of April, Marshall is 5/6 in save opportunities.

Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips received contract extensions just as the regular season began. Votto agreed to a 12 year contract ,or 10 year extension, worth $225 million. Phillips agreed to a 6 year contact worth $72.5 million after the Reds picked up his club option for this season. Realizing that they could lose their talent, and their chances of winning the division, the Reds worked out deals for both players within a week of each other while raising the team payroll to $81.3 million for the year.

Now that the month of April is over, it is clear some players are off to a great start and some not so much. To stay optimistic, here are the players that have been on a hot streak in April.

Bronson Arroyo has made a comeback from last year, pitching hurt almost every start he made, but this year he looks like the dominant pitcher Reds fans remember. Despite only winning one game he has allowed only 8 runs in 26.2 innings pitched with an unbelievably impressive 0.7 HR/9 and BB/9.

Jay Bruce finished April with a bang, going yard 4 games in a row. At the end of the month Bruce leads all Reds in runs scored, hits, HR, RBI, and 3 other offensive categories. One thing to watch out for is his strikeout rate. 21 strikeouts compared to just 6 walks. Since it’s still early it most likely will not be a factor.

On a side note, I am glad to see Zach Cozart take over as the starting shortstop. He is really fitting right in with this club with his speed and range out on the field.

The Reds end April in 2nd place, 3.5 games behind the Cardinals with an 11 – 11 record winning 7 of their last 10 games played.

Spring Training is in full swing at this point and as usual every team is learning who’s who and, most importantly, realizing what they have to work with for the upcoming season. For the Reds, this year, that focus is on the back end of the bullpen which will feature Bill Bray, Nick Masset, and Ryan Madson.

Bill Bray, a 28 year old lefty, pitched in 79 games throwing 48.1 innings for the Reds last year with a 2.98 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Last season Bray was virtually unhittable the first month of the season but struggled in May and again in August. He then rebounded nicely in September notching 9 strikeouts in 6 innings pitched. The only setback to Bray is his recent Spring Training injury. Stamina seems to be the Achilles’ heel for him so far. Last spring involved arm issues followed the spring with a strained groin. As of now Bray is slowly working back into form and should be ready for Opening Day. He will most likely be used as the 6th or 7th inning guy/lefty specialist again in the 2012 season.

Nick Masset, a 29 year old righty, was used in 75 games last season tossing 70.1 innings for the Reds last season with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. Last year Masset had up and down outings all season long.  Masset was either totally in the zone with a strikeout or two an inning, or he walked at least two batters per inning. This explains the higher than normal WHIP. Masset has also missed some time the spring with shoulder soreness. While this is not a major problem it did however interrupt a somewhat productive spring featuring 1 2/3 scoreless innings with a pair of hits and walks given up. Since he is the most durable of the three pitchers listed above there should be no worries here. The biggest issue for Masset is to put last year behind him and return more consistent if he wants to return as the setup man for the Reds.

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    Ryan Madson, a 31 year old righty, was involved in 62 games with the Phillies last season. In those 62 games he recorded 32 saves and had a 2.37 ERA with a 1.15 WHIP. Last year in Philadelphia Madson was the setup man for closer Brad Lidge who faltered and spent most of the season on the disabled list. Assuming the closer role Madson had a great year, as did the rest of the Phillies winning 102 games. This offseason the Reds nabbed him around the same time the Phillies signed Papelbon. Madson’s contract is for 1 year worth $8.5 million with an $11 million option for 2013. Focusing on the 2012 season he’ll fill the closer role for the departed Francisco Cordero who had saved a total of 150 games with the Reds over four seasons. While fans have seen little of Madson this spring due to minor irritation in his right elbow, he will definitely provide an impact and is certainly one to watch.

On a different note one guy to pay attention to is Zack Cozart. A shortstop listed as the 5th best prospect in the Reds organization. Decent power, decent speed, he also has good defensive skills. He has had a strong showing this spring, and he could wind up starting at short during the season at some point. I predict he makes the Opening Day roster as a bench player.

Photo taken via Google Images

It’s that time of the year again, gifts of love are exchanged, football has come to a close, and baseball fans stir up their optimism about their team’s chances of winning it all. With this in mind the Reds are optimistic when it comes to securing the team leader, Joey Votto. Although Votto is locked up through 2013 the Reds would like to avoid arbitration. While making around seven million last season, Votto would make about 17 million in 2013.

Seeing what has transpired to this free agent market the recent trend that just can not be missed or denied is the fact that 1B in the NL Central are following the money. Pujols and Fielder both will make around $24 million each in their first year of their respective contracts. Pujols has averaged in the last four seasons: (117/.324/.421/.612/1.033) (RBI/AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS) and is arguably the best at 1B in the game today. Fielder who received a similar contract to Pujols has averaged in the last four seasons: (112/.284/.400/.537/.937) which give many the impressions that Prince Fielder is right behind Pujols as the best 1B. The Angels and Tigers will want to see these numbers for what they have paid to get them.

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What about the teams that missed out on Fielder? The Nationals, Mariners, and the possibility of the Rangers. Will these teams make a move to get proven talent or stick with homegrown prospects? Certainly Joey Votto can not be excluded from this discussion. In 2013 will the Reds trade him or let him test the free agent market? Keeping note of how much the NL Central 1B have signed for why would Votto stay, resulting in him being paid the “hometown price.” His past four season stat averages are Fielder like, minus the power numbers (96/.312/.406/.551/.957) also averaging 8.5 runs created per game compared to Fielder’s 8. Include an MVP to Votto’s résumé and him and his agent could get a big contract. Not necessarily what Pujols and Fielder have signed for but close to it. Who’s to say Votto and his agent want to stick around inCincinnatiwhile being paid less than his counter parts.

The situation here for the Reds is to realize what they have in the organization, add it to the talents of Jay Bruce, Brandon Phillips, and Drew Stubbs. The Matt Latos trade will cost the Reds more to keep him around. Add what the organization brought in this offseason and the Reds could be looking at multiple runs for the division title. Running out of money the best solution is to either clear house for money to spend on Votto or trade him in 2013 to receive talent for the future. The Reds payroll has jumped up from the previous years so at this point it could be do or die for the Reds to make a deal with Joey Votto.

Photo taken from Google Images

• “If a guy hits .300 every year, what does he have to look forward to? I always tried to stay around .190, with three or four RBI. And I tried to get them all in September. That way I always had something to talk about during the winter.” – Bob Uecker
• “I led the league in “Go get ‘em next time.” – Bob Uecker
• “The biggest thrill a ballplayer can have is when your son takes after you. That happened when my Bobby was in his championship Little League game. He really showed me something. Struck out three times. Made an error that lost the game. Parents were throwing things at our car and swearing at us as we drove off. Gosh, I was proud.” – Bob Uecker, Sports Illustrated 1980

Some people are unaware that Uecker was involved with the WWF too. He made a special appearance at Wrestlemania and Wrestlemania III. One of the funniest moments I can remember seeing footage of was when he was interviewing Andre the Giant and after making a comment to him, Uecker was choked. In 2010 Uecker was inducted into the WWE (formerly known as the WWF) Hall of Fame. Uecker was on the show Mr. Belvedere and he hosted Bob Uecker’s Wacky World of Sports and Bob Uecker’s War of the Stars.



Uecker definitely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame—or I should say Halls of Fame—because after April he will in three different ones. It makes sense though because throughout his professional careers he has bounced around a bit and shown his talents in a number of different ways. In each role he was able to showcase his humor and over the years his love of baseball hasn’t declined in the slightest.

Editor’s Note: After a brief ad, here’s Mr. Baseball talking about his love for Wisconsin.

Both Zack Greinke and Shawn Marcum are in the middle of working on contract extensions. The Milwaukee infield is abysmal with the exception of Rickie Weeks. The Brewers really relied on the Fielder/Braun combo for a large portion of their offensive production. If I were the GM over in Milwaukee I would use this opportunity to rebuild. Don’t sign fielder, shop Greinke and Marcum and get some pieces that will help you for 2013-’14 because 2012 is essentially a loss without Braun in the lineup. I think the biggest mistake would be to continue the game plan and hope that they can pick back up in the second half of 2012. The offense isn’t strong enough to hold everything together without Braun in such a strong division.

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Ron Santo spent 14 of his 15-year career as a professional baseball player with the Chicago Cubs before he joined their broadcasting team. He was the self-described “single biggest Cubs fan of all time.” He was vocal on and off the field too, especially when it came to his desire to be voted into the Hall of Fame.

Santo had fallen short of being voted in over and over again (15 years to be exact), but today his wish was finally granted. He was voted into the Hall of Fame, receiving 15 votes from the 16-voter panel of the HoF Veterans Committee. Sadly, Santo passed away just over a year ago after suffering from diabetes and bladder cancer.

A few people argue that Santo was a great player, but not worthy of the Hall of Fame. I couldn’t disagree more with these people. Sometimes there are circumstances that need to be taken into account when it comes to voting a player in.

Santo was forced to retire at the age of 34 because of his illness. He was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 18 but he didn’t make it known for the majority of his career. Doctors gave him a life expectancy of only 25 years. He continued to battle on despite the odds stacking up quickly against him. He would eat candy bars in the clubhouse to keep his blood sugar up during games.

Santo didn’t reach the milestones that usually make a career considered Hall of Fame worthy: 3,000 hits and 500 homeruns. But at the time of his retirement, not many others at his position had reached those stats either, so it’s not surprising he didn’t meet those criteria. Santo did win five Gold Gloves and played in nine all-star games.

More importantly, he was able to do all that while fighting through an illness. If he was healthy, his career may have been another 10 years longer. Detractors also point to the fact that Santo never reached the postseason. While that is true, the blame for it shouldn’t fall directly on Santo. The pitching staff had breakdowns and the team around him wasn’t as good as the competition. After the playoff argument, people talk about how he only hit .277 for his career. Statistics show that his OPS would have him right in the mix with the other third basemen that are currently in the Hall of Fame.

His commitment to the Cubs should count for something too. If you ever listened to him call a game with Pat Hughes, it was impossible to not hear his passion. I had to redo my home theater design to get better speakers just so that I could catch the excitement in his voice with every homerun or the disgust of an error or tough loss. Santo was great with fans and he genuinely cared about the Chicago Cubs organization.

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He wasn’t happy about being repeatedly snubbed from the Hall of Fame, but in 2003, when the Cubs honored him by retiring his number 10 jersey he yelled out, “this is my Hall of Fame.” Well Ron, it’s a shame you weren’t able to be here for this honor, but now you made it, you’re in the Hall of Fame.

Image taken from Google Images

We heard it a lot.  At the end of September and during every playoff series, we heard “this could be the last time Albert Pujols has an at-bat in a Cardinal uniform,” sometimes tweaked with the last home appearance.  So much so that someone made a chart out of how he did in those situations.  (Spoiler, not all that well.)

So I’m here to lay out the reasons why all of that was moot.  I’m staking my (not so) considerable reputation as a blogger that Albert will be back in St. Louis for 2012 and for many years to come.

I admit, I come at this from a St. Louis bias.  That’s pretty much to be expected when you read a post written by a Cardinal blogger, don’t you think?  However, I’ll lay out my numerous reasons and you can decide if it is sufficient for you to believe as well.  I’m sure there will be numerous objections to some of my reasons (that’s what the comments are for).  Even if you disagree with one or two, though, hopefully the others will make you think.

The first and biggest reason is that the market for Pujols is not as strong as you’d expect for a legend heading into free agency.

Let’s look at the teams in MLB:

Arizona

Atlanta

Baltimore

Boston

Chicago Cubs

Chicago White Sox

Cincinnati

Colorado

Cleveland

Detroit

Houston

Kansas City

Los Angeles Angels

Los Angeles Dodgers

Miami

Milwaukee

Minnesota

New York Mets

New York Yankees

Oakland

Philadelphia

Pittsburgh

San Diego

San Francisco

Seattle

St. Louis

Tampa Bay

Texas

Toronto

Washington

Right off the bat, we can eliminate roughly a third of the league, the teams that just don’t have the financial resources to make a splash like this.  I’m counting the Dodgers and the Mets, who would normally be in the mix on this, but have ownership situations that create uncertainty and the inability to really make this kind of commitment.  Atlanta and Arizona also don’t strike me as the types that would be willing to spend this kind of money, but I’d be willing to hear other sides of that argument.

So what does that leave us with?

Baltimore

Boston

Chicago Cubs

Chicago White Sox

Cincinnati

Detroit

Los Angeles Angels

Miami

Milwaukee

New York Yankees

Philadelphia

San Francisco

Seattle

St. Louis

Texas

Toronto

Washington

The next step is to eliminate those teams that have a first baseman under contract already and wouldn’t be inclined to move him for Pujols.  Boston has Adrian Gonzalez, New York has Mark Teixeira (and most likely wouldn’t want to lock up their DH slot as Alex Rodriguez might be needing that in the near future), Cincinnati Joey Votto, the White Sox Paul Konerko, Detroit Miguel Cabrera, Philadelphia Ryan Howard.  Let’s take those teams out.

Baltimore

Chicago Cubs

Los Angeles Angels

Miami

Milwaukee

San Francisco

Seattle

St. Louis

Texas

Toronto

Washington

Still a good number of teams, but I think we can narrow it down some more.  If Milwaukee had the wherewithal to sign a big name first baseman, they’d resign Prince Fielder.  I exchanged some emails with bloggers today and got the sense that while Miami is going to raise payroll, Pujols would eat up that whole raise and they are not likely to do that.  The San Francisco bloggers tell me that the team is still focusing on pitching (which is really surprising, given their obvious issues on offense last year) and they are limiting their payroll to around $120 million, which doesn’t leave them room for AP.  Seattle is looking at about $95 million already in payroll and I can’t see them going much higher than that.  Let’s remove those.

Baltimore

Chicago Cubs

Los Angeles Angels

St. Louis

Texas

Toronto

Washington

The nightmare scenario is, of course, that Pujols goes to the Cubs.  Some even got more worried when Theo Epstein signed with the Chicago team.  However, my opinion is that Epstein is smart enough to know that the Cubs are more than one player away from being a contender, and by the time he’s able to strengthen the farm enough so that he has players to surround Pujols with, AP will be on the downside of his career.  I think Epstein is smart enough not to go big with Albert, knowing that he doesn’t have to make a splash in his first offseason.

Baltimore has tried for the big names before, pursuing Teixeira before he signed with the Yankees.  However, they weren’t able to get him and one of the drawing cards was supposed to be that he was a Baltimore native.  I don’t think they go high enough to get Albert and, even if they did try to spend the money, I think Pujols’s competitive nature wouldn’t want to be sitting on a fourth place team on a regular basis.

I don’t think Toronto is going to be in play, partly because of the AL East scenario again (though I think Toronto is on the way up) but also because of the major upheaval it would be to go to a different country to play half your games.  Also, I’m not sure exactly what AP’s relationship to Colby Rasmus was, but I’m thinking there’s a good chance they aren’t dying to play together.

So what’s left?

Los Angeles Angels

St. Louis

Texas

Washington

Four teams, and I think Washington is only on the fringes.  They obviously don’t mind spending money, as we saw with the Jayson Werth contract, and they have a lot of good talent such as Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper on the way.  Washington is in a position where the addition of Albert could make them favorites (or close to it) in the NL East, especially with Ryan Howard being out in Philadelphia most of the 2012 season.

Los Angeles has been rumored to be interested in Pujols for quite some time.  They are supposed to get Kendry Morales back, but he’s proven that you can’t plan on his health.  However, they have some serious payroll commitments and I’m not sure Arte Moreno is going to want to extend the payroll that far into the stratosphere, as a Pujols contract would likely have them into the luxury tax range if they made no other moves.

That brings us to Texas.  Texas could use a first baseman, that’s true.  They have no problem spending money, another plus.  They are obviously a winning organization, having gone to back-to-back World Series.  All the pieces are in play for them to try for a little revenge and steal away Pujols.

However, according to reports Texas is going to go the pitching route in the offseason, and you can’t really blame them.  They’ll either have to spend big or they’ll lose C.J. Wilson, so either option requires them outlaying a lot of their capital for the guys on the mound.  Plus, in that ballpark, either Mitch Moreland develops or they can go out and find a first baseman that normally hits 15-20 and get him up to 25-30 without too much trouble, just from playing in that hitter’s park.  There’s no reason to shell out big bucks to get Pujols, who won’t be that much of a step up for a team that already has plenty of big bats.

Process of elimination has very few competitors for St. Louis.  However, there are other reasons.

The second reason (and one that I think is huge) is the fact that the Pujols Family Foundation is based in St. Louis and Pujols has said it will stay here.

All we know about Pujols is his public persona, right?  From everything that we read, that we see, that we hear from others, his faith is a huge part of his life and the Foundation is the best way he can put that faith into action.  The Foundation does outstanding work both locally in the St. Louis area and in the Dominican Republic.

All of these works, though, take money.  There’s no doubt that Albert will be able to fund PFF with his next contract, but he can’t do it all.  If he leaves St. Louis, you have to figure that donations drop significantly.  (If he signs with Chicago, they drop by over half, I’d think, maybe more).  That’s got to weigh into his calculations.  Sure, his new city might step up and shower the Foundation with donations, but how long would that take?

Coming into a new place, you don’t automatically have the rapport and connections that you do in your old place.  I mean, the fans may love him, but would they love him any differently than any other free agent signing?  To some degree, until you’ve been in a place for a while, you are a mercenary, a hired gun.  People don’t often donate to hired guns.

(On the flip side, imagine what levels contributions might soar to if he stays in St. Louis!)

Third, I think that the Cardinals will make a competitive offer, one that will not be that far off of what he is looking for.

Let’s take a look back at the beginning of spring training.  Albertgeddon was huge and there was a press conference on the first day that both John Mozeliak and Pujols spoke at.  You can read some of the comments on this old post, but the sense I got from listening to both Mozeliak and Pujols was that the two sides weren’t miles apart.  Both of them seemed to indicate that the media didn’t have the full story, which was completely believable.

Just look at how well the front office kept the secret that Tony La Russa was looking to retire at the end of the season.  That’s huge news, but because only a couple of people, people that had integrity and character, knew about it, the news stayed secret and was a big shock when it was finally announced on Monday.  I don’t think there’s any doubt that the two sides could have been extremely close and neither side leaked it.  For all we know, there were some informal negotiations during the season that we weren’t privy to.  I just don’t think it’s a huge gap that these two sides have to bridge, which makes me optimistic that it can get done.

Fourth, Pujols knows and respects Stan Musial, hopefully to the point that he realizes just what he could be to this town if he stays.

Pujols has always shown deep respect for The Man, going so far as to dissuade people from calling him El Hombre.  He knows what the love for St. Louis is for Musial and he has to recognize that, if he stays his whole career under the Arch, he’s going to have that same sort of goodwill and adoration when he’s 90 as well.  It wouldn’t be a stretch to see people pushing for him to get the Presidential Medal of Honor, due to his on and off the field work.

This happens nowhere else.  He can’t go to Texas, put up 10 great years, and be that beloved.  First off, putting up 10 great years is a stretch at his age, we all recognize that.  But again, it’s the hired gun mentality.  It’s tough to fully embrace a guy that comes to you in the middle of his career.

Don’t get me wrong, if Pujols went to Texas or Washington or wherever, I know the fan base would go nuts for him, buy the Pujols jerseys, and honor him at the end of his career as one of their own.  But it’ll always have a different tinge, a different feeling to it.

For instance, Cardinal fans love Lance Berkman, even though he’s been here only a year.  I was excited when he signed his contract extension and I’m glad he’ll be around in 2012.

That said, do we as Cardinal fans think we even approach what Astros fans felt about Berkman throughout his career?  Watching him develop at the big league level and then leading them to their first World Series?  If he’d been able to stay in Houston, he’d have probably moved right into some sort of role with the club and been their icon for years to come.

It just seems different to me when you go through the trials and tribulations with a player versus when they come to you already developed, already having lots of success somewhere else.  It may be only in degree and it may not be much, but I think there’s a difference.

If Pujols leaves for somewhere else, yes, his number will likely be retired by the club, but he’ll never be held in the regard of Bob Gibson, Lou Brock or Ozzie Smith, much less the great Musial because he didn’t end here, he chose to leave.  If he stays, he’s the only person that might someday bump Musial out of the top spot as greatest ever.

Fifth, I think this playoff run reinforced what playing in St. Louis was all about.

If this team had limped to the finish line, winding up 8 or so games back, maybe it’d be easier for Albert to think that the best days of Cardinal baseball were behind them and that it’d be a while before this team really contended again.  He might have been more likely to mentally start disconnecting from the organization while playing his final games.  It might have made it more likely to leave.

Instead, this team put on a run for the ages with packed houses every night, full of fans going wild.  Not only getting to the playoffs but succeeding in them, bring home another trophy and reminding Pujols just what it’s like to win in Baseball Heaven.  There’s no way that didn’t affect him somewhat, giving him even more of a connection to the city and the fan base.

Along with that run, he can look and see that the window for this team isn’t closing anytime soon, that it will still be very competitive.  You get Adam Wainwright back next year.  Berkman is back.  Matt Holliday, Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia are all here.  Shelby Miller will be coming soon.  There’s a lot to like about this team.  It’s not one that looks to collapse any time soon.

Plus, it generated some unexpected money for the organization, money they could use to help shorten that gap between the two sides.  That’s what we call a “win-win”.

There are other reasons as well.  I think the fact that he has some great friends here, people like Yadier Molina who he is so close to, has to weigh into his decision.  There’s also the specter of setting some team records, which has to mean a lot when you think about the history of the Cardinals.  He’s already been passing some big names, but he could own the whole record book by time he is done.

Finally, though, today may have been the clincher on the whole argument.  Today, a statue of Pujols was unveiled in front of his restaurant in Westport Plaza.  Now, really, if you thought you were going to leave a fandom as passionate as St. Louis’s, do you really think you’d put up a statue?

Apparently the funds were provided two years ago by an anonymous donor.  Even granting the time it took to make the statue and all of that, would you really want to dedicate that just weeks before you left town?

If you were going to leave, wouldn’t you perhaps just quietly put the statue out if you had to do something with it?  Not have the big ceremony and hoopla?  Because you know that if you walk out of St. Louis, that statue is not going to look very nice unless you put 24-hour guards on it.  Would the restaurant even stay in business if he went somewhere like Los Angeles?  You’d think the dropoff in business would be pretty significant.

All in all, putting up a statue like this seems to scream that, if at all possible, Pujols wants to stay in St. Louis.  I think the organization is going to make that possible.  It might take some creativity, it might take some bending by both sides, but I think it’s going to get done and we’re all going to feel much better.

Put all of that together and I don’t see how he can walk away from St. Louis.  That doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but I think the odds are very low.  Of course, until the contract is signed, you just never know!

Image borrowed from Zoner Sports via Google Images

With Tony La Russa deciding to call it a career earlier this week, MLB will try to remember what it’s like to exist without him managing one of its teams. It hasn’t had to since 1978. As some reminders just how long ago that was:

-        Cardinals 10-time All-Star Albert Pujols wasn’t even conceived yet.

-        Cardinals Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith, who retired in 1996, finished 2^nd in the Rookie of the Year balloting.

-        Cardinals Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog hadn’t yet managed the Cardinals.

-        The Jimmy Carter administration had a 52% approval rating.

-        Jamie Moyer first became eligible for social security.

As long and as full of winning La Russa’s career was, the growing acceptance of Sabermetrics among front office executives in the 21^st century, and later mainstream media, has led to a counter culture in baseball that sees La Russa and his old school ilk in a less favorable light. Aside from his small ball obsession, La Russa was too often accused of letting his ego take precedent over keeping the most talent on the team – and the Cardinals brass would allow it. Even former General Manager Walt Jocketty was fired by the Cardinals during his feud with La Russa, reportedly due to La Russa’s influence. This made room for John Mozeliak to be promoted to GM chair in 2007.

Mozeliak, who began his career in Major League Baseball as a number cruncher straight out of college with the Colorado Rockies, is no stranger to Sabermetrics. He has shown to be a shrewd GM for the Cardinals and has often enough balanced La Russa’s wills to keep his job. But with La Russa now gone, Mozeliak gets to do something most GMs get to do as their first executive action – choose a manager to his liking. One who likely wouldn’t, for example, refuse to play a rising star, power-hitting, center fielder, because, God-forbid, a 24-year-old millionaire is accused of having immaturity issues. Or perhaps one who likely wouldn’t push away his future Hall of Fame third baseman due to a feud that must be inconsequential compared to what’s best for the team.

2012 may be Mozeliak’s 5^th season as captain of the good ship Cardinal, but it will be the first that he gets to choose how much autonomy he wants to share with the Cardinals manager. Ideally, Mozeliak would have the last say for every player transaction on the matter of who wears the Cardinals uniform – just like nearly every GM in baseball. In theory, this will make Mozeliak better at his job.

Or will it? Legendary pitching coach Dave Duncan (who’s face arguably deserves to be on La Russa’s future Hall of Fame plaque) has a tight bond with La Russa, and may not return to the team for the 2012 campaign. Worse, free agent Albert Pujols will now have less incentive to re-sign with the Cardinals, as he has been an outspoken La Russa backer through most of his career as well. And though the Cardinals have won two championships with Mozeliak as either the GM or Assistant GM, nobody is in doubt that neither would have been possible without Pujols in a Cardinals uniform.

Mozeliak may be having his dream come true by not having to manage La Russa’s hurt feelings anymore, but he has some hard work to do this offseason that may be impossible without the help of one of the longest-tenured and most respected baseball men in MLB.

Once upon a time, there was a baseball team.

This baseball team wasn’t the richest team, though it wasn’t poor by any means.  It wasn’t the strongest team and it wasn’t by any means the fastest team.  It wasn’t even considered the best team within its region, much less in all the land.

This team had many players that made up its merry band.  It had the Warrior, who could battle teams with amazing firepower and also could undermine them with guts and guile, depending on the situation.  It had the Young Gun, a man who started building his legend early and then continued to develop it.

There was the Legend, one known far and wide as the most intimidating, the most amazing, the most everything of players.  Aiding the Legend was the Hired Hand, imported indirectly from the mountain tribes to help the Legend in his times of trial.  To go along with these two was the Rival, a man that had started out as a fierce member of an opposing tribe, only to become a trusted member of this team.

There were others, of course.  The Local, the Phenom, the Lefty, the Poet, the Gunslinger, the Finisher.  All sorts of names and characters made up this unique team.

Every year, the Lords of Baseball held a contest in the fall of the year, when the leaves were changing and the north winds began to blow.  This contest was to see just which team would be able to hold the title of Best Team and feast on the adoration of those that followed these brave and intrepid men.  Teams came from far and wide, down long and winding roads, to get to the tournament, well knowing that only eight of them would be allowed inside the gates once they arrived at their destination.

After a winter of rest, the members of this team gathered together in the warmth of the south to practice their talents and prepare themselves for the long road ahead.  They had barely begun to do this when tragedy struck the group.  The Young Gun, the one expected to lead the charge over the walls to get them into this vaunted tournament, would not be making the trip.  Prior battles had wounded him, and he would not be able to go on.  The team mourned their loss and regretted that their road had gotten that much rougher.

Still, this club, these men, they knew they had to press on.  There are no easy roads to the Lair of the Lords and while the team knew that the bumps and twists and turns would be tougher this year without their key member, they also knew that if they did not attempt the journey, they had no chance of reaping the reward.  And so they set off.

In this land, teams in a region tended to walk the road together.  Our heroes walked with beermakers and buccaneers, with spacemen and socialists and even a band of bear-like warriors.  These teams had walked together many a time before and knew each other well.  That did not mean they liked each other, as tempers would flare before this journey would be completed.

The team faced many battles and were not always successful.  They would often seem to be leading a fight, only to have the Poet or the Finisher be unable to seal the deal.  They would set a team up for a killing blow, only to see the Legend or the Hired Hand take out a couple of their own men, missing the opportunity to sway a battle to their advantage.

Even with these issues, though, the team was able to stride the road at a rapid pace.  Soon they left behind the spacemen and the bear-men.  While it was only one full turn of the calendar ago when they had had such battles with the socialists that the woods had reverberated with song, this season our friends pulled ahead of them as well.

As the teams were about halfway down the road, the buccaneers, the beermakers, and our favorites were walking three abreast.  It seemed like the last half of the road was going to be interesting, as it narrowed down through the mountains to push one team ahead of the others.

Watching the team, the Overseer was uncertain that this group would be the one that would make it through the gap.  Using a runner, he contacted another group, a band of bird men that were walking a different road and were well behind on their path, and suggested a meeting.  The Overseer met with his opposite number and, after discussions, an exchange was worked out.

The Phenom was sent up the mighty river to the bird men, hoping that he could learn their ways and become a legend in his own right for them, helping them overtake the northmen and the bean eaters in another journey.  The bird men, for their part, sent over the Traveler, the Gamer, and the Old Man to see if they couldn’t shore up the team’s defenses and help them gain time on the road.

Those that were following the teams on the side of the road, those that waved their banners and played the trumpets for the squads when they did battle, were not amused.  This rearguard of watchers complained about how much they liked the Phenom, how much they thought he could help this team in years to come.  Could this Traveler, who flitted from tribe to tribe, help as much?  Wasn’t the Old Man someone that had already fought his best battles? Could this Gamer really be what the team was looking for?

The Overseer heard all of these complaints.  He heard them louder when, as the buccaneers stumbled, the beermakers pulled ahead, outdistancing our team as they could only catch a glimpse of their backs in the setting sun.  The road was getting shorter, much shorter, and it looked inevitable that our heroes were not going to be getting through the gap first.

There were six different roads to the fall tournament and every one of them had such a mountain gap.  The Lords had decreed that whichever team made it through the gap first were eligible for the tourney, but they had left one lifeline for those that might have been trailing behind.

The paths ran in two groups of three.  The first team outside of the winners to come out of each group was also allowed into the tournament.  All others, though, were left outside for the cold winter, forced to trudge back to their homes as the snows began.

So, with just one sixth of the road left and the beermakers out of sight, the Warrior asked that the tribe circle around him.

“Men,” he said, “it’s very possible that our quest has failed.  It could be that we will have to brave the snows to return to our loved ones, having no chance to drink from the Lords’ cup.  I tell you this, though.  As long as there is an open slot in this tournament, I intend to battle like never before.  I will treat each battle that comes our way as if it is the last battle we have to fight to get into the Lair of the Lords.  I will wake each day with the determination that, this day, we will see those walls and know that we are entering them.  What say you, my friends?  Shall we fight?”

The roar reverberated through the mountains, down all the roads, including one where another tribe, those of men native to that land, walked.  These men were also trailing in their path, well behind those who took their fill, but they felt confident that they would beat anyone else through the gaps.  When they heard that roar, though, they realized that things were not over.

And so the race began.  The natives stumbled.  Our heroes did not.  Every day the gap between the two closed.  Our men could see them now, see the natives on their road across the way, continuing to lose their battles and being forced farther from the mountain gap.  Every day our heroes continued to press on to their goal with determination and sure-footed speed.

Finally, the last steps of the road were in sight.  The weather was changing–cool breezes blew through the trees and the first leaves were falling to the ground.  The Warrior stepped in front of the tribe and said, “Today, we get into that tournament.  I will lead you.”

The Local stood up and said, “No, today we will lead you.  Save your strength.”

The Warrior responded, “I do not know how to do that.  We will fight together.”

And so the battle was joined.  The Warrior was brilliant, allowing no slings and arrows to get past.  The Local, the Legend, and more from the tribe poured on the boiling oil, dominating the last battle.  Would it be enough?  Could they finish off this last step of the amazing journey?

They looked from afar and watched.  The natives fought well against those of the fill.  They fought long and hard.  But in the end, they fell, and our heroes slid into the last slot of the Lords’ Tournament.

Inside the walls of the Lair of the Lords, the tribe looked around.  They noticed that there were some strong tribes here.  The filled ones, the snakes and the beermakers would be their first priority.  They would worry about the tribes from the distant lands soon enough.

They squared off against the filled ones first.  They took a strong blow when the Slugger of the filled ones blasted the arrow of the Crow Eater, giving them their battle.  Then, the Warrior tried to go again, but he went too soon and the tribe was on their back, with the filled ones looking to place a mortal blow.

The tribe remembered the Warrior’s speech, though, and they refused to take that blow.  They battled back, turning the tide and taking a battle that was thought to be unwinnable.  The teams exchanged victories in the next battles, setting up one climactic duel between the Warrior and the Ace.

Our heroes quickly got ahead in the battle.  Not much, just a small edge.  That was all they needed, though.  The Warrior turned back onslaughts, fought off battlers, and even though the Ace did the same, that one chink in the armor proved to be fatal.  The filled ones were filled with defeat, and our heroes moved on.

The next battle, as expected, took place against the beermakers.  These two teams knew each other well, having fought many times over the years.  The beermakers got to the Lefty early, but our team bludgeoned them in the second match and eked out a win for the Warrior in the third.  While the beermakers tried to rally and were able to take another engagement, this tribe was too much for them this time.  The beermakers were shown the door, with the Jester fully cowed.

The tribe looked around.  There was only one group left.  The lawmen were tough, focused and more than a match for our men.  The teams went back and forth, with one team winning a battle, then another.

Finally, after five such matches, it looked like the lawmen had finally done it.  They were ahead in the decisive battle.  There was nothing this team could do.  It was over.

Until the Local stood up and said, “No.  No it is not.”

He grabbed that last incoming arrow, turned it around, and plunged it into the lawmen.  The lawmen screamed, but then threw another mortal bolt into the tribe.  Surely, surely, this was the end of the line.

Until the Rival stood up and said, “No.  No it is not.”

He turned the last incoming shot around, putting the teams back on equal footing.  This was the epitome of the Warrior’s call.  If there was to be a battle lost, it would not be lost with any breath, any ounce of strength left in this band of brothers.

And then the Local said, “There will be no losing today.”

His bolt knocked the lawmen into the soft grass.  The battle had been one and that meant there was just one more battle to be fought.

The lawmen did give it their best.  They jumped on our heroes early and looked poised to finally do what no one else could do.  Again, though, they did not anticipate the Local, who quickly put things back even.  After that, it was a matter of time.  The team wore down the lawmen, made them to make mistakes and, at the end of the match, at the end of these epic battles, these battles they had been fighting for months on end and the battles that had pushed them to the edge of defeat time and time again, at the end of all of that, this team was still standing.

The Lords of Baseball awarded their cup.  The tribe drank in the adoration.

And they lived happily, so very happily, ever after.