Adam Wainwright goes on the DL

[eburg5000]

Adam Wainwright went on the 15 day disabled list, but they say he might be out for the rest of the year, with an Achilles injury.

Knowing the Cardinals, luck who ever comes up to replace him will be this years Cy Young award winner

 

[JohnU]

They won't replace him easily but I think they have more options than some other teams do.

 

[eburg5000]

this doesn't effect the, (sorry to say) "hapless" Reds anyway. It will be a battle between us and the Brewers for last place.

 

[JohnU]

Wainright is a streak stopper, which is damned valuable in a pennant race. With him in there, the team doesn't lose 6 in a row. Without him, that's not a given. They will probably bring Tyler Lyons up. He's a lefty with some innings behind him. I don't think they can count on Garcia.
Key guy now is Lackey.

 

[Redsfan1507]

I think lower morale was showing against the Brewers. The Cards do have a knack for keeping on winning after such, but IMO, this years Cards rotation is weaker than normal. Miller is gone and Garcia can't stay healthy, Lackey is on the career downhill. Dunno what else they have on the farm either as replacement or trade bait, but in sure we'll see some move. His ironic would it be if they can stay relevant until August or so, and make an offer for lame duck Cueto ?

Unfortunately for the Cards, this is just going to give those upstart Cubs more fuel for their fire. This is the perfect opportunity for our Reds, who seem to forget how to get a runner in.

 

[JohnU]

I think the Cardinals can stay afloat for awhile with Wacha and Lynn. I don't know if Martinez has the experience to play the long season. Lackey does. They have to have him exceed his expectations. If they are in the hunt at the deadline, they might try to deal one of their outfielders for an arm. Inside the NL-C, probably nobody needs an outfielder except the Reds. I don't seriously think Cincy would deal with an intra-divisional rival at the deadline for a game-changer like Cueto or even Leake. Although ... the Reds did deal Broxton down the stretch when the Brewers were still afloat last year.
The trouble with dealing a pitcher is that most teams who actually have one will still be in the pennant race. I suppose Cole Hamels might be a snatch from the Phils.
So it depends on what sort of pitcher they need. I'd guess they tough it out with their farm arms.

 

[Redsfan1507]

To be honest, I don't buy into the Cubs yet, and doubt the Cardinals do either. What the Cardinals have may very well be plenty, but given another month or two to see how things evolve, I think the Cardinals are in a position to deal for another top dollar guy, if they need to. They have too many OF, and lots of farm, and they saved a quarter Billion by not signing Pujols just a few years ago.

As far as comparisons go, without Wainwright, there isn't much difference in them, Cubs,Pirates and Reds...well, less the Reds bullpen, and their Mendoza line OF...the Brewers pitching blows bad, thankfully.

 

[JohnU]

I guess I am comfortable with the notion of not finishing last.
When we were kids watching the Reds, we always hoped for 4th place because that was in the top half of the league.

 

[Redsfan1507]

I think there is less control now. Contracts go up faster than funds to pay them. You have to make millionaires out of kids to draft them. 3 years to arbitration and 5 to free agency. Gotta match the last record breaking contract to sign a free agent, or keep a player from being one. Gotta pay them even if they don't play, and sometimes even after you trade them. Agents and bench scrubs make more than Hall of Famers used to.

In the old days, even if your team was a perennial 4th place team, the players stayed longer. Fans got to know them, and often liked them in spite of their flaws as players. They didn't make so much money they were unapproachable, or despised because they look healthy enough to play but still make $20M and are no where to be seen. They say, before FA that owners made a ton of money and screwed the players. Now, they all make a ton of money and screw the fans.

It's not that I don't like change. Cars beat riding a horse. AC beats a fan and an open window blowing hot air. The Internet is cool. HDTV kicks rabbit ears ass. But, most of the changes in baseball don't make it better for me. Honestly, other than having more night games now, the more they mess with baseball, the worse it gets for me.

I like the Original Game...No DH or replay challenges. IMO, strategy and opportunity cost for managers considerations are important parts of the game. Considering wether or not not play the overweight hitter and suffer his bad defense, or asking a pitcher to throw a purpose pitch when he has to go to the plate himself, are/were kind of self-policing kinds of moves that serve to keep players in better skills, and encourage pitchers and managers with cooler heads. Bunts require sacrifice greater than the out-exposing your softer parts to the ball requires both bravery and the humility to respect both the pitcher and the little guys that do it more often.
I don't buy into saying they want to speed up the game, yet still allow the DH, 5 pitching changes from both teams and replay protests to add to normal game time.