betting on the brokedown

ok, i'll admit that though i'm not his biggest fan, i would like to have at least one more healthy, "vintage" season out of the guy (considering what we gave up for him). he is a good pitcher when on top of his game.

that said, if the contract walt offered him is not incentive laden to the point of near-ridiculousness, i may have to kill someone. maybe something like this

base yr 1: $500,000
>50 innings: $500,000
>100 innings: $1,000,000
>150 innings: $1,000,000
>10 wins: $1,000,000
>15 wins: $1,000,000
no dl time after returning: $500,000
not frosting his hair in '07: $500,000
no interviews until return: $500,000
not sounding like a douche when he does do interviews after return: $500,000
total with all incentives: 7mm

base yr 2: $1,500,000
>50 innings: $500,000
>100 innings: $1,000,000
>150 innings: $1,000,000
>200 innings: $1,500,000
>10 wins: $1,000,000
>15 wins: $2,000,000
1 or more home runs hit: $50,000 each
not frosting his hair in '08: $500,000
not beating redbird brass at golf: $500,000
not sounding like a douche in interviews: $500,000
not wearing a "sounds of the game" mic: $500,000
total with all incentives: 11mm + hr (hit) bonuses

for the "not sounding like a douche" incentives, i offer my services to the cardinals for a mere 50k per year.

i should write contracts for the cards. think of how much we could have saved on marquis if we'd had a "not sounding like a douche" clause...

the sky is falling

ok, so i'm most concerned about albert and his work ethic right now. he's going to be itching to come back, and could end up making this injury a lifetime problem if he comes back too soon. for the love of god, dierdre, keep him at the house!

but seriously, let's think about this rationally.

the last two years, the cardinals have breezed through the season, running away with the division, only to be beaten inthe playoffs by the team with something to prove who had come from behind with an amazing september/october hot streak. we've played like we were tired from playing a long winning season in these games. this probably won't be the case this year, now will it? i think we'll maintain a winning percentage even without el hombre (call me a kool-aid drinker if you will), especially if we go ahead and make some kind of net positive trade. i mean, despite his ups and (scary) downs, i'm a jason marquis fan, but right now he's tied for first place in wins in the major leagues, and that can't hurt his trade value. someone is blind enough to trade a decent bat for him, right? (maybe not...)

jack really will be headed to his first cardinals game on wednesday. i'll post baby at the game pictures when i have them.

before jack was born, i would have taken great pride in staying up to hear every minute of these west coast games on the radio, 9:15 starts be damned. these days, i'm just glad it's a day game today so i can hear all the way to the end.

that first one was ugly, and i'm kind of glad i slept through the six run inning. last night was good, so i wish i had made it for the last couple of innings, but it all worked out for the best.

the first inning last night made my argument for me again, though. short rest marquis! make him pitch three simulated innings before taking the mound! tire out the sinkerballer! (especially since we might not have him next year...)

and i must say, i'm really pleased that neither marquis or mulder gave that toltec-headed slugger his record setter, aren't you? keep the flame alive, carp.

disappointment

so last night turned out not to be jack's first ever cardinals game, as he had just come from a doctor's appointment and was too fussy to go to the park. siouxs! and i missed the game as well, but we did listen to it on the radio. i'll still stick with my cries for a short rest, but marquis just looked (sounded?) bad last night. this guy is having a mental meltdown that is ending up worse than a physical issue. his consistency is horrendous, his record with a full count is ridiculous, and he doesn't seem to be taking the whole thing hard enough to make the necessary changes.

jason, we like you, but listen to dave and figure it the hell out.

marquistone

remember last year, when marquis took that slide for the middle of the season, how he just snapped out of it? do you also remember that it was on a short rest (i think only three days, if memory serves) subbing for an ailing mulder? and finally do you remember that mike shannon and other broadcasters pointed out that for a sinkerballer, sometimes a short rest was better, as a well rested arm was more likely to overpitch and stay up in the zone due to velocity?

i'm starting the campaign to tire out jason marquis.

make him throw another bullpen session of 100% sinkers. short rest him. give him a bullpen appearance. something, anything, just get that sinker down in the zone!

that said, i actually thought that last night's game was pretty good. we don't have cable, so i couldn't watch it, but it sounded like a solid game, except for the bottom of the first. solo dingers from speizio, albert, and luna aren't ideal (capitalize on the baserunners, damn it!), but kept us in the game, and once again, the eccentricities (read: architectural cheats) of minute maid park probably cost us the game, via the would-be multi home run night that tal's hill/willy taveras gobbled up . the astros 13-4 home record versus a 5-5 away record would indicate to me that they certainly know how to use minute maid to it's fullest, but aren't necessarily as hot as their current numbers might indicate. houston is currently in second in the division, but that can be reversed tonight. the reds, also playing in a less than fair to pitchers ballpark (just ask the reds pitching staff) are in first, but god knows they can't possibly stay as hot as they are right now.

if we maintain this kind of play (which we can do easily, barring major injury), we will still take the division. my money's still on the redbirds.