Props to Posty

[Buckrub]

Bud, you're a literal Liberal Loon when it comes to politics and arguing..........you remind me of Charles Durning singing "Oooo, I do the side step"......... but you can't deflect your shortcomings on me just because you hate being wrong. Sorry. And you can't simply give up by saying "boy you argue funny" and expect to claim victory. You got to make sense, son. Always. Your biases are so obvious..........and when you try and hide 'em, they surface. Unlike us mean old conservatives, we just stay mean all the time, and admit it..........And it won't kill ya to admit you're wrong.

Now, that said........

Boy did you nail the KC deal. I had no clue. I wouldn't have given them the time of day of a chance. I had Baltimore all the way to Champs. How little do I know?

But you? You had 'em day in and day out.

Do you not have a number in Vegas??? I hope so!

Now........almost time for me to go eat fingernail soup............

[LW]

I didnt give KC a chance. The O's looked dominate until this series. Of course I also didnt expect to see Mattingly ans Scioscia on vacation by now either. Glad they are though.

[BarryBobPosthole]

I started paying attention to the Royals last year when they were threatening Detroit's dominance in that division. And then they got Shields. and a friend of my son's is a huge Royals fan and cant' stop blabbing about them. He's probably drunk as Cooter Brown right now celebrating.
Now we gotta hold up our part of the bargain!

BKB

[LW]

This country can't handle ebola and an all Missouri world series at the same time.

[BarryBobPosthole]

"How to Win Friends and Influence People" by AJ Pierzinsky

BKB

[Buckrub]

I TOLE YA AND I TOLE YA AND I TOLE YA.

Wong is the man. NOW we have a 2nd baseman, AND a 3rd baseman, AND a 1st Baseman, for years to come.

He's a player. It was obvious from the first.

WHEN O WHEN are you gonna start listening to me and admitting I'm way, way, smarter'n you?????

[BarryBobPosthole]

I assume that's a rhetorical quetion.
BKB

[Buckrub]

Nah. Just one that doesn't expect an answer. :hello

Here's my take. I'm outta here tomorrow for a while.

Waino ain't got it. End of career, plus injury, Baumgardner is 25 and good. It's over.

BUT....we learned a lot. Here's my assessment, worth nothing:

Here's the negatives:
Matheny has to stop thinking he's Larussa. He is too quick to jerk, too impatient. There's only 25 players, and 27 outs. Calm down. Nights are long. He'll learn.

Peralta is not a bust, but without the PED's he's average. I'd have gone with Kozma tonight. If Matheny has any cahuna's, he'll go with him tomorrow night.

Molina is on way out. End of career. Best that ever was, but prone to injury at such a high stress position at that age. NO ONE is behind him coming up. This is a major MAJOR issue.

Holliday is on way out. He won't make it till end of June next year and he'll be on DL. Then it'll be up to Piscotty vs. Taveras to see who is worth a bucket of spit.

Infield is basically solid for years to come. Carpenter will learn that he can't take EVERY AB to 3-2. He has to swing when it's close, not take. Wong and Adams are learning on the fly and will be solid. Peralta is.......ah....so-so.

Jay and Grichuk are solid for years. Two center fielders. Borjas is gone. Holliday is......see above.

Motte is gone. Siegrest is gone. Choate is gone. Maness and Little Pedro will have to learn faster. Miller is fair. Lynn finally gets a big payday. Lackey? I dunno. MAYBE one more fair year. Waino? I dunno either. We'll see. Gonzales is a great up and comer. Jaime Garcia has to recover, and permanently or he's history.

At no point did I think this was 'the year'. But they over achieved, as always. 2013 they hit the cover off the ball. 2014 they won more 1 run games than ever. Every year it's something else. They compete. They're fun to be a fan of. But they learned SO MUCH from being in playoffs. Next year, very well could be the year.........if Mo does his part.

I'm outta here.
Next year, these guys will have learned a TON of stuff.

[Chicken Dinner]

This country can't handle ebola and an all Missouri world series at the same time.

It's not looking like that's going to be a problem .

[BarryBobPosthole]

Bucky you amaze me but I've come to expect it.

I didn't watch 170 some odd games this year to give up on them while there's still a chance for them to win. and no, I don't have any false hopes, but I sure as hell am not gonna sit here and mope about shoulda woulda coulda when my team made it all the way to the NLCS and is still alive with our ace coming to the mound.

BKB

[Big Muddy]

I'm thinking like Phole....don't give up on them, now....dang, if they win the next game, the pressure will be on the Giants.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Usually in MLB when they get to the playoffs unless a team is just really really hot (like the Royals are this year) the games are a slugfest. And by slugfest I don't mean high scoring as much as I mean its punch and counterpunch. this SF series has been two good teams really getting after it. The Cards simply have blinked a few times. This is why I love baseball. And we're in it!

BKB

[Buckrub]

Nowhere did I give up on 'em. I'll be at camp tonight, and if I can't get the game, I'll drive to town. I don't miss a game, period.

I just commented on what we've learned to here, and what changes I see will be made, or need to be made. I always watch the game(s) with an analytical eye. I gave my assessment and prediction.......having nothing to do with 'giving up on them'. I watch the Razorbacks, every game. If girls lacrosse played, I'd watch that. But I am not blind, nor am I an idiot.

And it amazes me that I amaze you. My thinking on the Cards seems quite sensible and logical.........

[BarryBobPosthole]

Pbbbbbbbbtttt......

I think the Cards have the same issue they've had the past two years, they are still pretty weak offensively on the bench. That's improved and shows promise though. I'd look at some of those players as trade bait. I'm not sure if Taveras can wait for someone in the outfield to get hurt or die or retire. He's on the cusp but needs to play more often to be better. That's the caliber of bench we need though.

The outfield is in good shape and I think Holliday has a few more seasons before they platoon him. This year he played in more games, had fewer injuries, played better defense, and got hot enough that he's one of the major reasons the Cards had such a good second half. Jay is solid in center and Grichuk will eventually move from right to center or left I think. The guy's got some wheels. and some pop in his bat.

The infield is solid but I think the weakness might be Peralta. He had a great year, and next year will be a critical test for him. He's a batter that goes on tears and then is silent for a lot of games. He's had one clutch hit in this playoff series. We could have used him to come through in the clutch last night for sure. Instead he hit into two double plays. I think Kozma is a good bench player and can play anywhere in the infield so I think he's in next year.

The starting five are pretty solid with a big chance to be great next year. they're pretty damned solid right now if you ask me. All of them are showing wear and tear and all of them have been seen plenty of times by these major league hitters. Wacha, Martinez, and Gonzales will be pushing the envelope to get one of those spots. I think Lackey is a goner. why carry a pitcher who only shines in the post season? Besides, I don't think he's a fit for that clubhouse.

The pen needs to lose Choate and Motte. Not sure about the others yet. they might come into camp and come into their own, who knows?

As far as Yadi goes, he's good on defense for the next year or so. I don't know when of if they'll attempt to move him to first but I doubt they do. I'd keep him behind the plate. He was having a terrific offensive year before he got hurt and showed no signs of fatigue or decline to me.

So I don't see a great need to change much. I look for a couple of winter trades, we've got some to give, but why fix something that ain't broke? Doing that last year didn't help much did it?

We ain't done with this year yet though.

Cheer up.

BKB

[Buckrub]

I'm cheery! Except for the fact I ain't gonna get to leave for camp till tomorrow morning now, long story.

And........it amazes me that it amazes you that we're amazed, I swear. I do the above, and you lambast me to the equator. Now you do it.

And you actually did it very well. Good synopsis.

See......the way I enjoy sports is to analyze, view what shoulda been, what ought to have been, what could have been better. I'd have made a great coach. I guess it's the teacher training in me. Then when I see a play like Wong made on the double play last night, I just ...... am WOW'ed.

AND....I didn't suggest changing much, but you need to go back and look at the October roster for the last 10 years, and look ONLY at the pitchers. I think you'll be amazed (which you are so good at!! :)) at how big a percentage of it changes EVERY year.

Heck, look at the opening day roster THIS year and look now............look who is here that wasn't then..........Gonzales, Taveras, Pierzensky, Lackey......and even Wong was sent down twice for poor performance (the performance that you were negatively amazed at, at the time!!), and look at him now.

Baseball is a microcosm of life. It changes where you don't expect it, it is constant where you do, and no two games are the same. No clock, play till you win or lose, and the coaches get to be called managers and wear neat uniforms.