Jonathan Sanchez recently gave up five runs before he could record an out. I didn’t think anyone could pitch that poorly.

But the next night, Ryan Verdugo did Sanchez one better (or worse) by surrendering six runs in just 1 2/3 innings.

The most horrifying fact of all is that both pitchers were acquired by trading Melky Cabrera to the Giants. That fact doesn’t need to be belabored, as every Royals fan is well aware of it.

So while Cabrera makes a run at an MVP award, the Royals go once again in search of starting pitching.

Dayton Moore needs no one to tell him that he must move to acquire pitching. He knows it. In fact he’s known it, and has been trying to do just that, for about three years now.

Prior to 2010, Moore made a few questionable moves to acquire position players, even trading away a few promising pitchers. But for the past three years, it’s been all about pitching, and he’s made several attempts to trade position players to get pitchers.

But while the Cabrera-for-Sanchez deal is horrifying in its result, the other attempts by Moore to trade for pitching have been nearly as disappointing. Consider the following other former Royals who were dealt for pitching since 2009:

Wilson Betemit: currently hitting .259 for Baltimore with 10 homers and 32 RBIs.

Betemit was traded for two minor leaguers, one a pitcher – Antonio Cruz, who has pitched a total of 18 games at A ball in the Royals’ organization.

Alberto Callaspo: hit .288 with 6 homers and 46 RBIs last season as the Angels’ starting third baseman. He’s still starting, with a little better power numbers this year.

Callaspo netted the Royals Will Smith and Sean O’Sullivan. The Royals have utilized Smith to save their mangled big league staff, but they gave up on O’Sullivan. They dealt him to Toronto for cash. Perhaps he needed the change of scenery. He’s been great for the Blue Jays’ Triple A club thus far.

David DeJesus: started most of the season for the A’s last year, batting .240 with 10 homers and 46 RBIs. This year he’s started full time for the Cubs.

DeJesus brought in a potential starter in Vin Mazzaro. But Mazzaro has suffered some beatings of historic proportions and isn’t trusted much at the big league level. The trade also brought Justin Marks, an average starter at Double A.

Kila Ka’aihue: has split the season between Oakland and the A’s Triple A club. His big league production has been marginal.

The trade of Ka’aihue netted a 25-year-old minor leaguer named Ethan Hollingsworth. He’s set no worlds on fire to date.

Mike Aviles: batted well at the end of 2011 for the Red Sox and continues to succeed as Boston’s starting shortstop. He’s hitting .263 with 10 homers and 47 RBIs.

Aviles supposedly brought the Royals a utility infielder – Yamaico Navarro. Aviles should have been kept in that role with the Royals. Navarro hasn’t done anything yet. The trade did bring the Royals a pitcher in Kendal Volz, who has been solid at the Single A and Double A levels.

Scott Podsednik: has played little, bouncing around with several teams.

The Royals got pitcher Elisaul Pimentel and catcher Lucas May. The Royals gave up on May, and Pimentel is 23 and still laboring along in the minors

Rick Ankiel: chipping in for the first place Washington Nationals.

Perhaps the only good move was when the Royals got Tim Collins as part of a package deal for Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth.

So Moore can’t be accused of not trying. But for seven big league position players of varying quality, the Royals have gained Tim Collins and some spare parts and minor leaguers. The return has been nothing short of disastrous.

The Royals have tried trading average position players – players who they deemed easily replaceable – and hoped to acquire quality pitchers.

But it appears the exchange rate for a quality pitcher is much higher than expected.

What the Royals have proved is that you must actually trade excellent position players to get passable starters.

They will need to think long and hard about as they attempt to improve their rotation for next year. Do they have the stomach to trade Eric Hosmer, or Wil Myers or some other potential star in hopes of finally acquiring quality starters.

Unfortunately, that may be just what it will take.

This week, the St. Louis Cardinals found out exactly what a full Major League season of Allen Craig looks like. He has now played in 156 games and collected over 500 plate appearances in the big leagues. The numbers are in…and they look pretty good.

In his time with the Cardinals during the regular season, Craig sports a .297 batting average with 25 home runs, 95 RBI, and a better than .880 OPS. He does have 100 strikeouts against only 42 walks, so perhaps his pitch selection could be a bit better. But those numbers are great. Craig is just one of those players who goes out and rakes.

The problem, of course, is that it has taken Craig parts of three seasons to get one season’s worth of stats on his résumé. Injuries have definitely taken a toll on the slugger’s playing time early in his career. The good news is, the biggest injury he sustained was a result of hustling his ass off and crashing into the wall knee first and not some muscle or tendon pull as a result of poor conditioning or other weakness. The time he missed certainly still counts, but a freak accident injury is something entirely different from being injury prone. It will take more time to see if Craig is predisposed to weird injuries or not.

Craig’s true breakout may have come in the 2011 World Series. Though he only hit .263, Craig had three home runs and an otherworldly 1.154 OPS. Pretty much every other performance in that series got overshadowed by David Freese’s heroics, and he certainly deserved the MVP award. But Craig at least had a case to be in the conversation. Many of his offensive numbers were very close to Freese, and he added some flash with the catch over the wall and go-ahead home run in Game 7. In fact, most of his RBI were of either the go-ahead or game-winning variety. Craig was clutch in that World Series. Remember the hits off Alexei Ogando in the first two games? Overall, Craig had just as big a part in the Cards winning that series as Freese, Chris Carpenter, and Albert Pujols.

Not too shabby for a player who one week will play several positions and the next week seem to be a man without a position. Under Tony LaRussa, Craig played everywhere on the field except pitcher, catcher, and shortstop. New manager Mike Matheny has thus far kept Craig in the outfield or at first base, an important position for him to excel in with Lance Berkman’s return uncertain.

But that is a great question: What happens if/when Berkman does come back? Where do the Cardinals play Craig if everyone else is healthy? He was capable playing elsewhere in the infield, but he was not great. With an outfield of Matt Holliday, Jon Jan and Carlos Beltran and everyone’s healthy and producing, who sits? It would be a nice problem to have…unless your name is Allen Craig.

Craig has proven he belongs in the big leagues; now he needs to prove he can stay off the disabled list. He is forcing management on and off the field to take notice by putting up rock-solid numbers. If they continue and his time on the field stabilizes, Craig has a fine career in front of him.

The four regions of the All Time Cardinals Team Tournament have pared their individual groups down to four teams, creating the Sweet Sixteen of this tournament.

The Musial Region is hosted on Pitchers Hit Eighth, who developed the idea for this tournament and invited us to join in.  We were joined by fellow UCB Team Blog Of The Year, Aaron Miles Fastball, who hosts the Gibson Region of the tournament.  Rounding out the group is the Godfather of the UCB himself, hosting the Smith Region over at C70 At The Bat.

The Buck region?  That’s right here on i70baseball and we are down to the last two rounds before the Final Four moves to the official UCB Site.  Head over to that site and learn how you can win an entire 2011 World Series DVD set while following along with the tournament.

There are two matches for you to decide today, and they promise to be some good ones.  Here’s a look at the Buck Region Bracket as it currently stands:

Our opening match-up features our Number One seed, and the Cardinals team that won more games than any other in history, the 1942 World Champions.  

The team featured the top two finishers in the Most Valuable Player voting.  Enos Slaughter, in his final season before serving military service for three years, would finish second in the voting after leading the team in Home Runs (13), Batting Average (.318) and Runs Batted In (98).  The offensive presence was not enough for Slaughter to beat out Mort Cooper, however.  Cooper would post a 1.78 Earned Run Average, 22 wins, ten shutouts, and a 0.987 WHIP in route to the MVP Award.  Cooper’s success did not carry over into the post season, however, as he was roughed up in two starts against the mighty Yankees, taking the team’s only loss in the Fall Classic that year.

Up against the top seeded team is the only “underdog” left in the entire tournament.  While every bracket features their first through fourth seeds, the five seed in the Buck Region is trying to fit their foot into Cinderella’s glass slipper.  The 2005 Cardinals played their way to the National League Championship Series and creating a whole bevy of memories for fans before bowing out to the Astros.

Led by their superstar Albert Pujols, the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2005, the team was an offensive juggernaut.  Pujols would post a .330/.430/.609 slash line while hitting 41 home runs, driving in 117 runs and leading the league in runs scored with 129.  Backed by names like Jim Edmonds and Larry Walker and an injured Scott Rolen, the team was a new-century’s murder’s row.

The team was not without pitching, however, as ace of the staff Chris Carpenter would win 21 games, post a 2.83 Earned Run Average, seven complete games (leading the league) and 213 strikeouts, all good enough to bring home the Cy Young Award.  Carpenter was backed by Jeff Suppan and Mark Mulder, both winning 16 games each, and a strong bullpen led by Jason Isringhausen and his 39 saves.

The choice is yours.  Does the underachieving 2005 team (100-62) continue the quest for upsets?  The 1942 team carries the best regular season record in team history (106-48) and a World Championship, is that good enough to move on?  Vote right here:

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The bottom branch of the Buck Region brought very little surprise.  The second and third seeds advanced the way most would expect and now face off for the right to compete for the Regional Title.  This game’s top seed is the number two seed of this bracket, the reason this site exists, the 1985 Cardinals.

You remember that team.  101 wins, Whitey-ball, speed on the base paths and heartbreak in the World Series.  The highest ranked non-championship team in the tournament, this team was responsible for creating a bevy of Cardinal fans.  The team built on speed had it’s bopper in Jack Clark, but it was the center fielder Willie McGee that would be the National League Most Valuable Player that year.  A .353 batting average, 82 runs batted in and 56 stolen bases will do that for a guy.  Combined with 216 hits and 114 runs scored, McGee was a big part of why this team went as far as they did before being derailed by the Kansas City Royals in seven games in the Fall Classic.

A pair of 21 game winners would finish second and fourth in the league’s Cy Young Award voting, but gave the Cardinals a one-two punch that was formidable all season long.  John Tudor would post a 1.93 Earned Run Average, 14 complete games, 10 shut outs, and strike out 169 hitters as the ace of the staff.  Meanwhile Joaquin Andujar would keep pace in wins while posting a 3.40 Earned Run Average, 10 complete games, 2 shutouts and strike out 112 in support.

The namesake has it’s work cut out for it against the 1944 Cardinals, however.  Holding the number three seed based solely off of their draft position in the layout of the tournament, this group was a virtual mirror image of the 1942 crew that sits as our number one selection.

The team would bounce back from it’s 1943 World Series loss to post 105 wins and another World Championship.  Stan Musial would continue his meteoric rise onto the scene in the 40′s with an impressive slash line of .347/.440/.549 and hit 51 doubles, 12 home runs, drive in 94 runs and finish fourth in the league Most Valuable Player voting.  The following season would see Musial spend a year in the Army fighting for his country, but 1944 he fought for his team and proved why he would later be called “The Man”.

Mort Cooper continued his dominance from the mound, winning 22 games and posting a 2.46 earned run average, throwing 252.1 innings over 34 games.  This time, Cooper had the support of Max Lanier (17 wins), Ted Wilks (17 wins) and Harry Brecheen (16 wins).

Do the 1944 World Champions advance to face off for the Regional Title?  Can 1985 cause fans to continue to “Go Crazy, Folks!”?  It’s up to you, our fans.  Vote below for your favorite.

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Share it with your friends, pile up the votes, it’s time to name the teams for the Regional Title game on the path to deciding the All Time Cardinal Team.

Thursday morning the BBWAA official Twitter feed announced which Hall of Fame candidates the Veterans Committee will consider. The complete list: Buzzie Bavasi, Ken Boyer, Charlie Finley, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Minoso, Tony Oliva, Allie Reynolds, Ron Santo, and Luis Tiant.

Of the men on the list, two stand out to me: Ken Boyer and Jim Kaat. Kaat played for the Cardinals, but it was the last 3 years of his career. He was a member of the 1982 World Champs, but played the majority of his career in Minnesota.

Ken Boyer, on the other hand, played the majority of his career in St Louis, and was one of the key members of the 1964 World Champs. He happens to be the only Cardinal with a retired number who is not in the Hall of Fame. Boyer should be in the Hall, not solely to clear that historical footnote, but because he was really good.

How good was Ken Boyer? He finished in the MVP top 20 every year from 1958 through 1964. Four of those years (1959-1961, 1964) he finished in the top ten, and won the MVP in 1964. Boyer’s 119 OPS+ from 1955 to 1965 is seventh best among me with at least 5500 at bats during those years, and the men ahead of him on that list are all in the Hall of Fame. A third baseman, he won five Gold Gloves while with the Cardinals.

That 1964 season was definitely his best. His MVP award was the first one one by a NL third baseman in almost 50 years. After leading the Cardinals to an improbable NL pennant, he won Game 4 of the Series with a Grand Slam, and contributed 3 hits to the Cardinals Game 7 triumph, the last Fall Classic ever played at Sportsman’s Park.

Like Ted Simmons, another Cardinal who didn’t get much HOF consideration five years after he retired, Boyer’s HOF case may have been hurt by hanging around too long. He won that MVP at age 33 with a 130 OPS+. In the years that followed, plagued by back problems, he never again cracked 110. Boyer played one more season with St Louis, then bounced around the majors for several seasons, playing for the Mets, White Sox, and Dodgers.

He retired following the 1969 season. At the time of his retirement, only Eddie Mathews had hit more HR as a third baseman.

The problem guys like Boyer face is the dwindling number of people who were alive to see him play. Those of us at this end of the timeline are reliant on what we read, what we see World Series highlight DVDs, and whatever we can cull from his statistical record. Boyer has never had a lot of support amongst the BBWAA vote – he peaked with 25.5% of the vote in 1986 – but the peers he played with clearly perceived him to be one of the elite players in baseball.

There are several men on this year’s list who have good cases for election. Ken Boyer is one of those men.

Mike Metzger is an I-70 contributor. He maintains a blog about the San Diego Padres. Follow him on Twitter.

…at least that’s my opinion. The Cardinals finished the unofficial first half of the season with a 49-43 record and in a tie for first in the NL Central. While this might not seem very remarkable to most baseball fans, to those of us who have followed this team since losing to the division to the Reds last October, it is.

In the nearly ten months that have passed so much has taken place. Adam Wainwright finished in the top five of yet another Cy Young vote, while Albert Pujols just missed out on his 4^th MVP award. On top of that Jaime Garcia had put up a strong rookie campaign winning 13 games with a sub 3.0 ERA and Matt Holliday put together a great first full season as a Cardinal. Then…

The offseason came. What should have been an exciting few months waiting for Pitchers & Catchers to report turned in to the Pujols contract watch. In addition to that was the annual TLR mulling-over-returning-contract-situation. What joy it was. Finally it was time for the Cardinals to head down to Jupiter and we could get back to baseball. Then… (time elapsed for story purposes)

Adam Wainwright felt a twinge in his elbow, nuff said, Freese broke a bone in his hand, Holliday missed nearly a month of games, Kyle McClellan landed on the DL and Ryan Franklin forgot how to pitch and Pujols had the micro-fracture. Suddenly (or not so suddenly) a season of promise was headed the wrong way. Then…

In the midst of it all Lance Berkman re-discovered his Astro-MYP type form; Lohse & Garcia combine to win 17 games, Holliday, Freese and the rest got healthy, Fernando Salas pitched his way to 16 saves and of course there was Pujols’ super-human recovery. Most importantly the Cardinals kept finding a way to win. Yes it was back and forth, up and down first half full of streaks but the team survived and did more than stay afloat. They sit atop the NL Central as we enjoy the All Star break.

The old saying goes, “what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger.” This is the case in St. Louis. Tony’s guys did not pack it in or give up any of the numerous times they could have. Without the injuries, Daniel Descalso, Jon Jay, Tony Cruz, etc would not have had the chance to show their value and add depth to a bench that was initially seen as a weakness. Salas, Lance Lynn and others have found important roles as well. The Cards head in to Cincinnati to start the second half with nearly all their pieces intact. Most importantly they can look forward to Carpenter and Pujols both averaging out to their career norms. That means a lot more production from your two most important players.

The Cardinals and TLR have been here before and know how to win. Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh will fade off as the summer heats up…quote me and St. Louis will once again rise up. All NL Central teams be warned the Cardinals are getting healthy and coming back to claim what is rightfully theirs..the NL Central crown.

As usual these are just my thoughts…if you’re smart you’ll most likely agree. If not keep on reading and you’ll get up to speed.

Follow me on Twitter @SportsbyWeeze or check out my thoughts on the Rams at RamsHerd.com

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I woke up this morning with an upbeat feeling about the start the Royals had this season. They went 3-1 against a solid ball club. This is some evidence that the Royals front office knew what they were doing when they let go some of the veteran players that were already proven.

Then this morning I found out the Royals made another quality move, resigning Jeff Suppan to a minor league deal. This move gives the Royals yet another option to their quality pitching staff in Omaha, but also gives the Royals an option to bring up a veteran pitcher that has experienced both the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows as a major league pitcher.

Jim Breen from Bernie’s Crew had this to say about Suppan in the past:

Suppan benefited from a few solid seasons at the hands of Dave Duncan in St. Louis, but was never able to rediscover that magic in Milwaukee. At that time, it was the biggest contract in the history of the organization. When Suppan began to struggle, Brewers fans felt cheated and that Suppan was not delivering his side of the bargain — which is not exactly fair, as Suppan was never exactly a good pitcher.

He experienced moderate success while pitching for the Royals, with 3 consecutive 10-win seasons. However, his high point came when he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. He ended up wining forty-four games in his three-year stint with the Cardinals (2004-2006), in addition to making nine post-season starts as well. He won the NLCS MVP award in 2006. He also pitched very well in the World Series that year.

Another thing going for Suppan coming back to the Royals is the familiarity he and current manager Ned Yost have with each other. (Yost was his manger while Suppan was in Milwaukee.) If the Royals need a pitcher called up during the course of this season, Jeff Suppan is more than likely going to be on Yost’s short list.

Once again, Breen had some thoughts on Suppan’s time in Kansas City:

For the Royals, very little risk exists on a minor league deal. He will always be known for being one of the “failed contracts” that came out of the 2006-2007 offseason. Forgiveness can come quickly in the game of baseball, but a fanbase that feels fleeced by a bad contract will not forgive easily. To Brewers fans, he will always be a disappointment, a pitcher that collected a huge paycheck, but never delivered.

That is too bad, as Suppan was a model citizen in the community and was actually a Roberto Clemente nominee for the Brewers — an award given to a player who emulates exemplary community engagement and community service. He was a great influence in the Brewers’ clubhouse and an all-around nice guy. That is almost always overshadowed by his underwhelming performance on the mound.

Even if he spends most of the year in Omaha, the Royals will see the dividends of bringing in a quality veteran to help the plethora of young pitchers the Royals having coming up through their farm system. Having a guy like Suppan is like adding another pitching coach to the staff but also having the benefit of having him play every four or five days.

This is one of my favorite stories ever.

There is NO tradition quite like Opening Day in St. Louis. None. If you’ve never been in the ballpark for this St. Louis holiday, it’s like missing the orange pie from your trivial pursuit gamepiece–you simply can’t have the complete “Cardinals fan” experience without it. Opening Day is my Christmas…I’m like a kid that just can-not-fall-asleep on Christmas Eve, overtaken with excitement for what I know is in store the next day–the begining of a new baseball season!

I’ve been to several throughout the years, including memorable ones like the opening of new (current) Busch stadium in 2006. Pujols received his MVP award, Carpenter received his Cy Young award, and they both throw out ceremonial first pitches to Bob Gibson & Bruce Sutter to christen the brand new ballpark. The Cardinals won behind Mark Mulder, and I’m there with my brother to open what would be a World Championship season–it really doesn’t get much better than that.

But, perhaps my most memorable Opening Day of all time was 1998. And by “most memorable” I mean that many of the details are fuzzy now, but the important things are crystal clear. The weather was beautiful, especially for the rare March Home Opener, and my buddy Mike had 4 tickets to opening day, section 254-ish, in hand. It was Mike, his brother Steve, myself and one other guy. The fourth guy, who I always mis-remember as Stu, had to work that morning, and didn’t get off work until 1:00. The plan was for Mike, Steve & I to head downtown, and drop Steve off. He was going to meet up with a couple other guys, be there when the gates opened…etc. Meanwhile, Mike & I were supposed to meet “Stu” at a gas station roughly halfway between the ballpark and Stu’s house at 1:30. Stu was going to leave his car there, and ride with Mike & I to the game. Afterwards all four of us would ride home together, drop Stu off at his car, and go on about our day.

The first part of the plan went fine. I drove to Mike & Steve’s house, we grabbed the envelope with the tickets in it, hopped in the car, and off we went. Any radio station in St. Louis worth its salt was doing a live remote from Kiener plaza, broadcasting the pre-game Opening Day festivities, and we listened in the whole way there. Finally, we turned down 7th street, and stopped at the ballpark to let Steve out. He grabbed his ticket from the envelope, and then quickly faded into the sea of red surrounding the stadium. Without so much as putting the car in “park”, Mike & I turned down a couple of one-way streets, crossed a bridge, and were headed to meet Stu at the gas station.

So, we’re driving along our merry way, on IL route 3 at about 65 mph, in the best of moods, as a new season was less than two hours from starting! As I mentioned, it was a beautiful day, probably near 60 degrees. The sun was shining, and amidst the radio scanning, we’d come across Fogerty’s classic, Centerfield. Naturally, the radio went up, the windows went down, and with all that newfound breeze in the car, the envelope with the tickets went right out the window! But if you think that’s unbelievable, let me break down the next 6 seconds or so in slow motion…

As we’re driving along, without warning and with ninja-like quickness, Mike’s left arm goes flying out the window, reaching behind him, in the direction of the gas tank. This totally caught me by surprise, and I had no idea what would posses him to just throw his arm out the window while speeding down the road. I look over, and as he slowly brings his hand back toward the front of the vehicle, I see what’s in his hand: the envelope that (at least at one point in the day) had the tickets in it. From the passenger seat, I can see only his thumb on the near side of the envelope. What I know for sure is that his four fingers are on the other side of that envelope. What neither one of us know is: the location of the 3 tickets we’re supposed to have. He turns his hand over, and reveals (to us both) his four fingers, and half as many tickets…on the OUTSIDE of the envelope. I kid you not. While driving 65 mph down the road with the radio up & the windows down, the tickets (along with the envelope that formerly housed them) flew out the window, but Mike reached out & caught the envelope and two of the three tickets.

I swear to you, that happened.

As soon as possible, we pulled over and searched the entire car for the third ticket…which, we didn’t find–it was gone. So, here we are, a few miles from the gas station, where Stu is expecting to meet us in five or ten minutes so he can get his ticket and head to Opening Day with us. Two problems now exist: First (and most obvious), we only have two tickets. By the way, I think it’s worth noting at this point in the story that I reached into my wallet and paid Mike for my ticket right there on the spot. I then asked him if Stu had paid him for his ticket yet–mama didn’t raise no fool! Second: There is NO WAY we can tell Stu the truth in this situation. “Yeah, Stu. We were driving down the road with the windows down when the tickets flew out the window. Fortunately, Mike was able to reach out the window and catch two of the three tickets. Sorry ‘bout your luck, man.”

Let me just say two quick things about my buddy Mike. Luck like this is really par for his course. This guy could fall out of a 12-story window, land in a pile of horse manuer, and not only escape uninjured and smelling like a rose–he’d find a hundred dollar bill in the pile. That’s just how this guy’s luck is. And yes, he regularly makes a few (profitable) trips to Vegas each year. The other thing about Mike is that he’s very, um, creative. If you’re in need of a good story, he’s your man. I’ll leave it at that.

Bear in mind, this was 1998. More people had pagers than cellphones, and few had either. We couldn’t just text Stu, “Something came up, no tix 4 U. Will explain more L8r-Sorry, kthxbai”, we had to meet him. A few minutes later, we pulled in to the gas station where Stu was already waiting for us. I sunk down into the passenger seat, pulled my cap down low over my eyes & face, and let Mike walk over to Stu’s truck & break the news. To this day, I still have no idea what was said. All I know is that Mike came back to the car, we headed downtown and met up with Steve, and even got back in time to get our schedule magnets for the fridge.

The only thing I remember from the actual game is that McGwire came to bat in the home half of the 5th with the bases juiced (as well as other things), and hit a grand slam. I know it was a grand slam because of the sound of the ball coming off the bat, and the fireworks & the 4 on the scoreboard later. The ball went up & I was smothered in a bro hug until Mac rounded 3rd base in his first of 70 HR that season…I never saw it land.

So while Opening Day always bring about thoughts of what’s in store for the Cardinals that year, and hopeful optimism as I look towards the future, I always take a few minutes to remember the past. Happy Opening Day everyone…and to all a good night!

When people ask for my opinion about Mark McGwire, his record-breaking season, and his steroid use, I simply put it this way:

“Watching Mark McGwire was like believing in Santa Claus as a kid. That moment I found out that everything I thought was real actually wasn’t was tough and changed my perspective on things. But it doesn’t change how I felt on Christmas morning.”

It took me almost a decade to come to settle on that analysis. To be honest, I was not one of the many who “knew” he was on something and turned a blind-eye to the issue. I was aware he was taking “Andro,” and accepted the explanation from McGwire and the media that it did nothing other than help him get a more efficient workout — the effect of a Gatorade, if you will. I honestly did not know any better.

When the steroid allegations came out, and McGwire made his infamous “I’m not here to talk about the past” statement, I felt sick. For years, I was a major McGwire hater, just sick to my stomach that I stood up for this guy who cheated the game and lied to fans everywhere, both young and old. But I’ve found my peace with the issue now and hopefully you have, too.

I don’t want to talk about whether or not McGwire “deserves” to get into the Hall of Fame. By now, you’ve probably made up your own mind. The numbers haven’t changed over the past 5 years. The supporters will cite his 583 homeruns, 70 HR season, gold glove award and his contributions to saving baseball. Detractors will cite his .263 career average, his failure to win an MVP award, and his steroid use.

The bottom line is: McGwire is better off without the Hall of Fame.

Think about it. How many casual fans across the country have heard of the likes of Josh Gibson, Joe Kelley, Rollie Fingers, Leon Day, and even Bruce Sutter? Those are all Hall of Famers. I’d say far more have heard of, say, Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and Mark McGwire. They might as well be the chairmen of the “We don’t need no stinkin’ Hall of Fame” club.

As someone who didn’t watch the playing careers of Pete Rose or Shoeless Joe, I can tell you this much: I know more about those 2 players than 99% of the players in the Hall of Fame. It works in other areas of the game, too. For instance, there have been 20 pitchers to throw a perfect game in baseball history, including 2 just this year. I remembered Roy Halladay threw one, but had to look up that Dallas Braden threw the other.

But I did NOT have to look up Armando Gallaraga’s name. He was the pitcher who will go down in history as the one we all know had a perfect game, got robbed by a bad call, and handled the situation marvelously.

And let’s face it; the 1985 Cardinals still get tons of love from sports fans around the countries who know the team got robbed of a championship by a blown call. Had they won, they’d probably be a forgotten team on a long list of past champions. Instead, it’s “oh my gosh, those ’85 Cardinals, they got ROBBED!” The same will be said for Gallaraga, Rose, and perhaps McGwire for decades, if not centuries, to come.

Obviously it’s not a bad thing to be on a list of champions, Hall of Famers, or perfect pitchers. But in the long run, it’s not so bad to be on the short list of “should’ve been.”

If newly acquired Alcides Escobar becomes the greatest shortstop in Royals history, it will be a major coup for Dayton Moore, who recently dealt Zack Greinke to get Escobar and other prospects. However, it won’t be like the bar was set that high to begin with.

The Royals have swung and missed on a series of shortstops during this long rebuilding phase. But a look back at the entire team’s history reveals that the shortstop position has never been a strength for the team, particularly on the offensive side.

Now that may sound sacrilegious to those old enough to remember Freddie Patek, and I certainly don’t want to dishonor those memories. Patek played in a day when light-hitting shortstops were commonplace and solid defense was the only job requirement. How else can you explain Luis Aparicio finishing second in the MVP Award in 1959 while hitting .257? How else could Mark Belanger keep his job as the Orioles shortstop for nearly 15 years while only hitting .228?

How else could Patek be voted an All-Star in 1972 while hitting a measly .212 while Yuniesky Betancourt was reviled as the “worst player in baseball” for hitting .259 and leading the team with 16 homers last season?

Patek fit the old shortstop mold perfectly, giving the team great leadership and personality while doing the things at the plate that don’t make the highlight reel – bunting, moving runners, drawing walks, etc. He never won a Gold Glove, but the grit and stability he provided in the middle of the infield in their glory days of 1975 to 1979 have made him a KC legend.

After Patek was dealt away, the Royals moved on with probably the second-best shortstop in team history – UL Washington. Washington played well enough behind Patek from 1977 to 1979 that the Royals handed him the position just before the magical AL championship season of 1980. While overshadowed by the unforgettable exploits of George Brett, Washington played a huge role in the playoff run, often providing a spark at the bottom of the batting order. Washington batted .273 with 6 homers and 53 RBIs.

Teaming with Frank White could make any shortstop look good, but a list compiled by The Bleacher Roprt of great up-the-middle combos is at least interesting. While Patek is renowned for defense, Washington actually ranked higher on the Bleacher Report list, coming in at #38 to Patek’s #39.

To see the whole list of the top 50 middle infield duos, go to: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/544779-mlb-ground-ball-up-the-middle-the-top-50-ss-2b-combos-since-1960.

Washington’s best season came in 1982. He batted .286, with 10 homers and 60RBI’s in just 119 games. Unfortunately, Washingtong couldn’t prolong that kind of output and was fazed out in the 1984 season in favor of Onix Concepcion and Buddy Biancalana.

Incredibly, in the World Series season of 1985, the Royals got absolutely no offensive production from the shortstop position. Concepcion and Biancalana accounted for just 3 home runs and 26 RBIs in 509 combined at-bats. Biancalana “hit” .188, while Concepcion batted a whopping .204.

Bianacalana started all the playoff games of 1985 and played error-free defense throughout, but he was such a terrible hitter David Letterman actually installed a nightly segment of his show in which he counted down the number of hits Biancalana needed to reach Pete Rose on the all-time hit list. (For the record, Biancalana came up 4,143 hits short of Rose.)

In 1986 and 19987, the Royals installed possibly the best fielding shortstop they’ve ever had – Angel Salazar. He fielded .978 and .981 in his two seasons in KC, good enough to be ranked with White at #24 on the Bleacher Report list of middle infield tandems. But Salazar didn’t hit much better than his predecessors, and the way the position was viewed began to change.

The expectation that shortstops had to be small, wiry fielders who couldn’t hit was already being challenged by the likes of Robin Yount and Garry Templeton. But in the 1980s along came Cal Ripken, Jr., and suddenly a big, tall hard-hitting athlete showed a new way to play the position.

Trying to find more pop from the shortstop, Kurt Stillwell was imported for the price of Danny Jackson and Salazar. Stillwell had four mildly productive seasons at the plate, hitting .251, .261, .249 and .265 from 1988 to 1991. He was even an all-star in 1988 when he added 10 homers and 53 RBIs. But as would become the norm for good players during the era, Stillwell departed KC via free agency before the 1992 season.

After a dismal season of David Howard and Rico Rossy at short, The Royals entered the free agent market themselves to sign Greg Gagne, making him their second-highest-paid position player. Gagne had never been especially productive in eight years with the Twins, but he actually produced relatively well for the Royals between 1993 and 1995. His best season in KC was his first, when he hit .280 with 10 homers and 57 RBIs.

After another season with Howard as the primary shortstop, the Royals went after their own version of Ripken, bringing in Jay Bell for one season in a blockbuster trade. Bell gave the Royals their best offensive season ever for a shortstop. He batted .291 with 21 homers and 92 RBIs – numbers from a shortstop that are otherwise unheard of in KC – and posted a WAR of 5.3. Like Stillwell, Bell went the route of the free agent following the season.

Rey Sanchez was the next shortstop of significance, holding the spot from 1999 to 2001 and batting for decent average with no power.

It was in 2001, however, that the Royals fell for the Neifi Perez mirage. They dealt Sanchez for next to nothing, then traded Jermaine Dye for Perez even up. Perez had won a gold glove and hit well for Colorado, but he proved to be a complete disaster in KC. For 4 million dollars he accounted for a -1.9 WAR in 2002. (That’s right – that’s a negative 1.9!) He was released following the season.

A rookie, Angel Berroa, provided one of the best offensive seasons any Royal shortstop has ever had in 2003. Berroa won the Rookie of the Year award by hitting .287 with 17 homers and 73 RBIs and posted a 4.0 WAR that year. But unfortunately Berroa couldn’t duplicate that performance, which proved to be a huge setback to the Royals. They had to look elsewhere once again for a shortstop in 2007.

A trend was definitely developing – shortstops would come in for one good season only to disappoint thereafter, and Tony Pena, Jr. kept to the script. He batted .267 in 2007 and appeared to be solid defensively. But like Perez and Berroa before him, that proved be fool’s gold.

Mike Aviles had his one season in the sun in 2008, only this time the numbers were off the charts. In barely half a season, Aviles slugged .325 with 10 homers and 51 RBIs. But Aviles didn’t look like a true shortstop and was plagued by injuries – causing the Royals to view him as a second/third-baseman or utility player. There are still some high hopes for Aviles in KC.

And that brings us to Betancourt – reviled for poor fundamentals, poor effort and erratic offense. Betancourt was expensive and posted low WAR numbers, but was he really as bad as he was made out to be? He did lead the team with 16 homers last season, when the team had almost no spark offensively. His horrible on base percentages and poor fielding finally wore out his welcome in KC.

Looking back, the best shortstop in KC history is still probably Patek, followed by Washington, Stillwell, and Gagne, for longevity if nothing else.

Thus we enter the Escobar era. Can he finally bring some stability to the shortstop position that’s been lacking for more than 20 years? He’s under the Royals’ control through 2015. No player since UL Washington has manned the shortstop position in KC for five seasons. So if Escobar is in the lineup for five years he’ll already have exceeded his predecessors in that respect.

To be a success, Escobar must first play excellent defense – something the Royals had in Patek, Washington and Salazar. Leadership and maturity would be nice – intangibles go a long way when it comes to the team’s success.

And offensively? KC has never been the place for great offensive production from the position. The best offensive seasons from KC shortstops are probably:

1) Bell in 1997

2) Aviles in an abbreviated 2008

3) Berroa in 2003

4) Washington in an abbreviated 1982

5) Gagne in 1993

With the proper expectations, Escobar has a great chance of being one of the best in team history. If Escobar could hit .250 with 10 homers and 30-plus stolen bases in a season, he’d fall right in with the best offensive shortstops the Royals have ever had. If he plays excellent defense, it would be first time in a decade the team had that at short.

If he performs any better than that, he could go down as the greatest shortstop in Royals history. Of course then he’d also have to be traded or lost in free agency, right?

Winter has officially begun, and Spring Training is still a good month and a half away. Around the league, the hot stove is keeping hot. The Phillies landed Cliff Lee, The Red Sox added Adrian Gonzales, and even the Milwaukee Brewers made a big splash by acquiring 2009 AL Cy Young winner Zack Greinke.

The Cardinals have thrown a few logs in the hot stove to keep the fire going this winter. The biggest signing to this point has been Lance Berkman. But the elephant in the room remains: “Will the Cardinals re-sign Albert Pujols?” And the silence on the contract talks is worrisome. The Cardinals essentially have about 8 weeks left to lock in Albert before he hits the free agent market: 6 weeks until spring training, and anywhere from 2-6 weeks after the 2011 season ends depending on how deep the Cards go in the playoffs (Pujols says he won’t negotiate during the season).

It’s in the Cardinals’ best interest to get this deal done as soon as possible. The longer they’ve waited to address Pujols’ contract, the more it has cost them. Last winter, they raised the price on themselves by giving Matt Holliday a $120 million, 7 year contract. Holliday helped the Cardinals take over the Central Division in his brief two months in St. Louis before abruptly having a horrendous Division Series vs the Dodgers. He failed to take his bat off his shoulders with the bases loaded and no outs in Game 1, then dropped what would’ve been the 27th and winning out in game 2. The Cardinals got swept in large part to Holliday’s anti-clutch performance. But for that, he was rewarded with $17 million per season through 2017.

Pujols’ price went up again when the Phillies signed Ryan Howard to a $125 million, 5 year contract over the summer. Howard’s a fellow first baseman in the National League, and has a championship ring and an MVP award. It’s a good starting point (yes, starting point) for negotiating a contract for Pujols. Prince Fielder, another big name first-baseman in the National League, will likely also get an enormous contract at the end of next season. The Scott Boras Client will be looking to at least out-do Holliday (another Boras client) if not Howard.

So essentially, a bargain-basement price for Pujols would be in the neighborhood of 5-7 years at $27-30 million per year. Again, that’s assuming Prince Fielder doesn’t somehow get a contract like that, which would drive the price for Pujols even higher.

And as Cardinals fans, you have to begin to ask yourself: “Is he worth it?” I know, I know, what a blasphemous thing to say! Of course he’s worth it, he’s Albert Pujols! Look, I’m not saying Albert isn’t worth that kind of crazy jack. Based on what Ryan Howard got and what Pujols has done in his career, I think it’s fair to say he should become the game’s highest paid player. The question is: “Can the Cardinals field a competitive team with Holliday and Pujols making close to a third of a billion dollars?”

I say no.

You’d be looking at a team with one, maybe two good starters, a low-paid infield, no Yadier Molina, and at least one if not two holes in the outfield. You couldn’t afford a big money closer, and you’d basically be hoping to strike gold in your farm system at multiple positions. Of course, the Brewers and Reds can tell you that only works out once or twice every quarter-century. The Royals and Pirates are still waiting for it to work.

The success of the Cardinals’ franchise has been cyclical. They were good in the late 20s/early 30s, they were good in the 40s, the 60s, the 80s, and this past decade. The team has been in the playoffs in ’00-’02. ’04-’06, and ’09. I wrote last week that perhaps the Cardinals were looking to play for 2011 only, leaving the future of the franchise up in the air.

And maybe that’s the case.

Losing Pujols would be crippling, but keeping him might be crippling as well.