2009 Cardinals All-Prospect Team

Our annual ranking of the top prospects in the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system by position.

The Birdhouse

How About Some Relief Around Here?

As every St. Louis Cardinals fan already knows so well, one of the major disappointments of the 2008 club was its relief corps.

The Cardinal Nation

Dozen Sure Signs That Spring Is Near

Here are 12 sure signs of spring:

MLB

Choi Hyang-Nam Sees Hope In Monthly Deal With Cardinals

Choi Hyang-nam on Sunday officially became a Saint Louis Cardinal at the advanced age of 38. However, his contract with the Major League club is a little unorthodox. Brought to him on Saturday by his agent, is not a yearly but a monthly contract with a salary of US$7,500, meaning the team can drop him any time he gets injured or is deemed incompetent. That is very different from the one-year contract with a signing bonus he was given by the Cleveland Indians three years ago.
Chosunibo

Choi Hyang-Nam: Korean Pitcher Signs With Cardinals

Orioles Still Might Make Play For Braden Looper

It's possible that Andy MacPhail is waiting to see if he can sign free agent Braden Looper. They may be willing to acquire both pitchers, but there is the small matter of moving players off the 40-man roster to make room, so maybe Andy is just going to take one of the other.

Baltimore Sun

Eduardo Perez, Ponce Set For Caribbean Series

Eduardo Perez's voicemail is full. His inbox is so loaded it sometimes kicks back e-mails, and his cell phone battery is barely hanging on.

MLB

All Over The Outfield

So I'm sitting here on this very melty first of febrero, sipping my coffee-hot chocolate blend (you should try it--it's really the only way to drink coffee), ignoring the pre-Superbowl festivities, and trying to decide which direction to take the John Mozeliak/shoe shopping story, and it occurred to me that there hasn't been much news regarding Ankiel and Ludwick and their arbitration issues.

la Beisbolista

Farm Aid: Tusked-Mammal Escapes St. Louis Zoo, Could Start At Third For Cardinals

Move over Craig Stadler. There's a new "Walrus" in professional sports.

Yahoo

Kevin House Shipped To Edmonton Of The Golden Baseball League

The Southern Illinois Miners have traded outfielder Kevin House and infielder Andrew Bennett to the Edmonton Cracker-Cats of the Golden League for a player to be named later.

Southern Illinois Miners Official Site

House played at Johnson City in 2003 and New Jersey in 2004.

What Might Have Been

I wanted to take a look today at the degree to which the Cards’ hitters were lucky last year after being inspired by Rich Lederer’s page over at Baseball Analysts a couple of days ago. He uses data from THT to tell us that the groundball out rate in 2008 was 74%, the fly ball (non-homer variety) out rate was 84%, and the line drive out rate was 29%. It should surprise no one that most grounders and fly balls (that don’t leave the park) ended up as outs and that most line drives didn’t. In any case, I decided to take a look at the number of groundballs, fly balls, and line drives each Cardinal hit last season to see if we ended up w/ more, or fewer, hits than average. How lucky were they based on their GB%, FB%, and LD%.

Viva El Birdos

Every Given Sunday: So Many Questions, So Little Time

With spring training so close, let's take a look at the key questions for each of the 14 American League teams. We'll take a look at the National League next Sunday.

Baseball Prospectus

Sunday Morning Coffee With Ray Mileur

It's Super Bowl Sunday with the Pittsburg Steelers and Arizona Cardinals facing off in Super Bowl XLIII, meanwhile the St. Louis Cardinals begin preparing for their own journey that could end with a championship game.

The Birdhouse

Going Beyond Three Years Just Feels Wrong

At the end of September, negotiations between the St. Louis Cardinals and right-handed pitcher Kyle Lohse culminated in an announcement that the then-29-year-old would remain a member of the club for four more seasons. The price, negotiated by agent Scott Boras, was $41 million.

The Cardinal Nation

Players Out Of Options & Possibly On The Trading Block

Some other notables out of options? The Brewers have outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr., while the Indians must stick with pitcher Anthony Reyes and third baseman Andy Marte or ship them out. The Twins have decisions with Boof Bonser and Philip Humber, as do the Orioles with former Red Sox righthander David Pauley and young center fielder Felix Pie, acquired from the Cubs. The Rays have no options on one of their former No. 1 picks - righthander Jeff Niemann, who should interest a lot of teams.

Boston Globe

Dan O'Dowd (Colorado Rockies): GM Trade History

MLB Trade Rumors

Cardinals Winter League Notebook 2-1-09

*Nicaraguan National Championship*

Boer-Managua lost to Esteli 9-8. Esteli came from behind, scoring eight runs in the ninth to win: Post Game
Former DSL Cardinals Walter Santos and Edgard Montiel play for Boer-Managua.

Boer-Managua (0-1) face off against Boaco (0-1) on Febuary 6.

*Caribbean Series*

Opening Day February 2:
Venezuela (Aragua) vs. Dominican Republic (Licey)
Puerto Rico (Ponce) vs. Mexican Pacific (Mazatlan)

Amaury Marti (Memphis) and others met with the President of the Dominican Republic: Link

Former Memphis Redbird Orber Moreno will accompany Aragua to Mexico for the series: Link He pitched for Caracas in the Venezuelan League during the winter season.

Ponce released their roster which includes former Cardinals Bill Pulsipher, Robinson Cancel, Eli Marrero, Raul Gonzalez, and Eduardo Perez as managing: Link
Joe Thurston (Memphis?) is not listed.

Rick Ankiel's Chief Concern To Stay Healthy

Awaiting the outcome of his arbitration case with the St. Louis Cardinals, outfielder Rick Ankiel was all smiles Saturday as he reunited with former teammates, coaches and friends at Port St. Lucie High School's 20th anniversary alumni game.

TC Palm

Cardinals Keep Prospects On The Move

When the Cardinals promoted first-round pick Brett Wallace to Class AA Springfield, they planned for his stay to be brief. He'd make a few spot starts, take a few swings, get a taste for the league and then ship back to the preferred level.

STL Today

Cardinals Aggresive In Minor Leagues

A look at how five minor-leaguers have been moved quickly through the Cardinals system.

STL Today