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Let's see if we can upset Michael, because I see three former Cardinals to watch this year. Albert Pujols shouldn't need a lot of explanation. Colby Rasmus was the most-hyped Cardinals prospect in the last ten years, and he was traded for a reliever and rentals, so the competence of the front office is at question. Dan Haren can add to the argument that the Mulder trade was the worst in franchise history.

Pujols is hitting 407/460/870 in spring training. Small sample sizes and all that, but there aren't a whole lot of people who can slug .870 in 50 ABs against high minors pitching. Pujols has a habit of losing weight during the offseason, and gaining it back during the season, but in the bit of video I've seen, he looks heavier than I remember last April.

Rasmus is hitting 184/268/224 with 15 strikeouts in 49 AB this spring. IOW throw another 49 straws onto the camel's back.

B-R has Haren pegged at 30-WAR through his age-31 season (no, I'm not using FIP-based WAR for a career measure), so he's still got an outside shot at a Hall of Fame career. Apparently he's still reasonably healthy, as he's registered 20K, 2BB, 0HR in 20 innings in spring training. But the average speed on Haren's fastball dipped slightly below 90.0 last year, according to FanGraphs, so the clock is ticking.


I went looking for information on Anthony Reyes, but couldn't find anything. The Indians released him last August, and he seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. Sometimes Tommy John surgery doesn't work out so well. Daric Barton is ailing again, only getting 17 ABs in spring training, and skipping the A's weird trip to Japan. Joe Mather has hit 400/446/717 in 60 AB for the Cubs -- sample size caveats always apply.

Dan Haren, Hall of Famer? Um, ok.

Seriously, I don't see how that trade could have been worse than Carlton-for-Wise.

greenback44 wrote:Colby Rasmus was the most-hyped Cardinals prospect in the last ten years, and he was traded for a reliever and rentals, so the competence of the front office is at question.

Jmodene wrote:Dan Haren, Hall of Famer? Um, ok.

Seriously, I don't see how that trade could have been worse than Carlton-for-Wise.

To me, that was the worst. Not having Carlton in the 70s might have cost the Cardinals the eastern division crown in '73 and '74.

Wallace was optioned to AAA today by a bad Astros team.

planet puma wrote:Wallace was optioned to AAA today by a bad Astros team.

The GRB Interview Kiss of Death strikes again...

greenback44 wrote:Rasmus is hitting 184/268/224 with 15 strikeouts in 49 AB this spring. IOW throw another 49 straws onto the camel's back.

Tack on 3 more ABs and he's 173/254/212 with 16 K's. Picked up right where he left off.

planet puma wrote:Wallace was optioned to AAA today by a bad Astros team.

Allegedly he was sent down to work on his D at 3B and should be back soon. Good luck with that.

Jmodene wrote:Dan Haren, Hall of Famer? Um, ok.

Seriously, I don't see how that trade could have been worse than Carlton-for-Wise.

Rick Wise was pretty good. So was Reggie Smith. Actually Smith's 1974 season was more valuable than Carlton's.

WARs in the five years after the trade, and I'll be generous and zero out Mulder's 2006 season:
Bernie Carbo was also part of the Wise-Smith trade, so the net is really something like (11.0). Carbo probably deserves a Looking Back thread, but for whatever reason, he's not going to push the needle that much.

Haren was responsible for 22.5 of that 28.4 WAR, which is to say he was not quite as good as Carlton, but if that 1972 season had been "merely" a 10-win season, the two of them would be interchangeable. That's how good Haren was from 2005 to 2009.

Alex Castellanos made some noise in Dodger camp before being sent down. I think there's a decent chance we'll see him in September.