Category Archives: st. louis cardinals

Buehrle’s Perfect Game Puts Pressure On Cubs

Mark Buehrle has been a workhorse for the Chicago White Sox. He is a feast or famine type of pitcher, but when he has his control, the guy is non-stop. The White Sox are now tied for the AL Central lead with the Tigers, but the momentum is on their side. On the other side of town, the Cubs are struggling to score runs and put together a consistent line-up card. Buehrle’s perfect game has put added pressure on the Cubs to make a move. The White Sox and the Cubs aren’t in the same league, but they always feel the heat when the other team is controlling the headlines. When you add in that St. Louis is trying to get Roy Halladay from Toronto and Matt Holliday from Oakland, the North Side of Chicago is starting to feel like a sauna.

The Cubs need a few more pieces to compete in the NL Central. They only have the salary flexibility to add a middle reliever. There are rumors that they are trying to pry away Freddy Sanchez from Pittsburgh and George Sherrill from Baltimore. I’m okay with acquiring Sanchez, since he is a consistent .300 hitter and can get on base. I am not okay with acquiring Sherrill. If they get the Baltimore reliever, the Cubs would have three former closers in charge of the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings. That normally would be a good thing, but it seems like the only club that the Cubs trade with is Baltimore. Andy MacPhail, Baltimore’s president of baseball operations, used to be the president of the Chicago Cubs. He was GM Jim Hendry’s boss in Chicago and they seem to be buddies. I am okay with having friends on other teams, but Hendry needs to call a few different numbers. Unless they want to trade us Brian Roberts or Adam Jones, don’t answer the phone with MacPhail calls you. Sherrill would be a better option than Chad Qualls or Juan Cruz, but I just don’t like how the Cubs conduct business with Baltimore.

If Milwaukee or St. Louis get Roy Halladay, I’m throwing in the towel as a Cubs fan. The Brewers obtained C.C. Sabathia last season and they could barely hold them off. This season, every team, except the Pirates, are in this race and we won’t be able to keep pace with everyone. The Chicago Tribune really screwed the Cubs over. The newspaper business has been in the toilet for the last decade and they should have sold off the club years ago. The uncertainty of the owner situation, made the Cubs stagnant this off-season. They had to trade away Mark DeRosa for table scraps and it barely saved them any money. They have had to rely on picking up guys like Ryan Freel and Jeff Baker on the cheap, just to fill out the batting order. I am not even going to discuss the Cardinals possibly getting Matt Holliday from Oakland for Brett Wallace. I am just praying that that doesn’t happen. They will only have him for the rest of the season, but this season could be won before the July 31st trade deadline. Unfortunately for the Cubs, they will be doing very little.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Mark DeRosa’s Wrist Hates St. Louis

I can finally write about Mark DeRosa again. I wrote a post about a week ago and I banned him and his hot wife (Heidi Miller DeRosa) from this blog. DeRosa injured himself late last week and it looks like he tore his tendon sheath and will be out for quite some time. I shouldn’t be happy about someone’s misfortune, I’m not, but as everyone knows, I’m a Cubs fan. I am happy that the Cardinals will be down a hitter when they play this weekend, but I am a fan of DeRosa and his time in Chicago.

DeRosa’s injury can be an ugly one. To put his injury in perspective, David Ortiz had the same injury last year and he was out about 7 weeks. That doesn’t seem like long of time, but his power and bat speed took about a whole calendar year to come back. Wrists injuries are scary things and very unpredictable how the player will bounce back. Derrek Lee and Nomar Garciaparra both had nasty wrist injuries, Lee bounced back in about a year and Nomar never really did. I wish DeRosa the best and I hope he signs with a team this off-season that is either the Cubs or not in the NL Central.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Mark Derosa Goes To The Dark Side

Mark DeRosa was a marginal baseball player with the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers. The Cubs GM, Jim Hendry, saw something in him that he liked and signed him to a 3-year/$13 million dollar contract. The signing was panned as a “bad signing” by many sports writers. They thought that the Cubs were just throwing around money to any player that they owned a glove. DeRosa soon changed the mind of many writers by have two solid seasons for the Cubs. In 2008, you could argue that he was the team’s most-valuable player. He was so versatile and could play six positions, plus hit for average and power. The Cubs needed to shed salary, so unfortunately DeRosa was the victim. They traded him to the Cleveland Indians for three minor-league pitchers. The Cubs have missed his versatility all season with injuries to both corner infield positions have cost them games.

The Indians were trying to build to win this season, but with injuries to Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner and a bullpen collapse, the Indians have been near the bottom of the Central Division all season. DeRosa has been great this season and with the Indians out of the race, nearly every contending team called about trading for him. The Indians needed bullpen help and with the St. Louis Cardinals having a surplus of relievers, the Cardinals and Indians pulled a deal that will send DeRosa to St. Louis. The Indians will receive reliever Chris Perez and the infamous “player to be named later.”

As you all know, I’m a huge Cubs fan. It’s common with Cubs fans to hate the St. Louis Cardinals, so I’m not alone. I have to be somewhat cautious with my hate these days, since my girlfriend is from St. Louis, but I have to scream from the rooftops on this one. The Cubs should have stuck with DeRosa’s salary and used him as trade bait in the middle of the season. I know if the Cubs were in the playoff hunt, the fanbase wouldn’t have accepted a DeRosa trade, but it could have helped land a cheap, young starting pitcher. I think it was a huge mistake to trade DeRosa for three mid-level, mid-ceiling, minor-league pitchers. I know their farm system is a joke and they need prospects, but they got squat in return.

I like Mark DeRosa, but I am going to have a hard time seeing him in a Cardinals jersey. I went to a Cleveland Indians game a couple weeks ago and I clapped for him when he went to bat. It’s a respect thing, but when you play for the “dark side,” the St. Louis Cardinals, you’re going to get booed from now and until you have another jersey on.

I’m sorry Mr. DeRosa, it may not be your call to go to St. Louis, but I know somewhere down the line this year, you are going to kill the Cubs. I would even boo Mrs. DeRosa, aka Heidi Miller, if I saw her on the street.

I’m sorry Mrs. DeRosa, but it has to be done.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.