G-Snarls

A shorter contract that covers just his projected years as an average-or-better player comes out at four years, $58 million That's what teams would LOVE to get him for, but the author is right. He'll get a much better deal than that.

Dammit. Feel terrible for you. That blows.

Exactly right. Hitting coach only needs to step in if Bautista and Edwin are having mechanical troubles. Otherwise let 'em go.

I need a new avatar All thoughts of getting McCann have been squashed

Ervin Santana 4 years @ 16M per year level stupid? Or trading every useful piece left in the farm for Nolasco stupid?

Fat guy with serious personal problems according to team mates

I should have just called the thread "The playoffs will be difficult to make"

I know. I really do. It's the old "good pitching beats good hitting" adage which in unprovable crap. You just have to outscore the other team, it doesn't matter how. I've just been having rotation envy.

Yeah, Ruiz would be a great fit. 1. Sign Ruiz and trade for a starter or 2. Trade for Ramos and sign a starter Either fine with me. But I'm afraid to hold my breath cause I'm worried he won't go that far.

Trade for Ramos and sign Tanaka or Santana is the absolute most we can hope for I think.

Yep. Bigger payroll yes, but we're not the Yankees.

Cards take a commanding 3 games to 1 lead

Wow. Yes, we really are in a pitching-dominated era again it seems.

Dammit!

Yes. But 40% of that goes to Beeston's cognac and hookers habit.

Is it "closest without going over"? If so I'll go 145.86 Otherwise I say 150

I can't believe how crappy Fielder has been over his two years of playoffs with them.

It's clearly Farrell #30WarManager

You're right. And I am over reacting a bit. There have just been an amazing number of great performances by the starting pitching in these playoffs and I'm worried about our rotation.

What, you mean that regular season .330 BA with RISP wasn't sustainable???

I know. And you can stack up wins with good offense during the regular season against the Astros and White Sox of the world Get to the second round of the playoffs and suddenly that same offense can struggle to score single runs. If you're not fighting fire with fire (killer SP) you just don't stand much of a chance.

We all know this but many forget some times. I do, sometimes until this point of the playoffs when you see good offenses like Boston and St. Louis getting reduced to 2-3 hit one run performances so often. These last two playoff rounds have reminded us that killer starting pitching trumps everything else. Yes you can break out with a bunch of runs here and there. But not very often. Just about every game in the LCS and WS you're facing a Cy Young caliber ace. Every night it's a Verlander, Bucholz, Kershaw, Greinke, Scherzer, Wainwright, Sabbathia, etc. It's no coincidence that all 4 remaining teams each have 2-3 top notch starting pitchers. The Jays don't have any guys like that. We thought maybe Dickey Johnson and Morrow could be that good but guess what. It's not happening. It's depressing when you look at the roster and the thread about it. We're agonizing over upgrades to defense and hitting, and hoping for another #2 caliber pitcher. AA himself has even said "maybe you can get it done with 5 number 2's" Well, as far as I can tell, with 5 number 2's you can win 85-90 games. As long as your offense is really good. You can squeak in to the playoffs. You might even win a 5 game division series. But to ask any more than that of an ace-less team is asking too much. Just ask Oakland and Pittsburg or any number of other teams that just aren't quite good enough. We need serious upgrades to the rotation or this team will never get over the top.

Cardinals lead series 2-1 8:00pm EST Cardinals (L. Lynn - R) @ Dodgers (R. Nolasco - R) Gametime Forecast: 81°F • Dry • 0%PoP 1. Matt Carpenter (L) 2B 2. Carlos Beltran (S) RF 3. Matt Holliday ® LF 4. Matt Adams (L) 1B 5. Yadier Molina ® C 6. Jon Jay (L) CF 7. David Freese ® 3B 8. Daniel Descalso (L) SS 9. Lance Lynn ® P 1. Carl Crawford (L) LF 2. Mark Ellis ® 2B 3. Hanley Ramirez ® SS 4. Adrian Gonzalez (L) 1B 5. Andre Ethier (L) CF 6. Yasiel Puig ® RF 7. Juan Uribe ® 3B 8. A.J. Ellis ® C 9. Ricky Nolasco ® P

Goddamn Red Sox Fielder sux in the post season too

Not getting any better today. 1 hit through 5 innings off Verlander. (An infield hit that Iglesias probably would have made an out on if he was playing short today)