The St. Louis Cardinals knew they had an old team heading into the 2012 season, and injuries or players wearing down in the course of the regular season were the team’s most likely downfall. The Cardinals have sustained injuries throughout the season, but now fatigue is doing its best to take down the team

Shortstop Rafeal Furcal tore a ligament in his right elbow Aug. 30 in Washington after dealing with back problems for weeks, outfielder Matt Holliday was sidelined much of the last week with a sore back and outfielder Carlos Beltran has flat out stopped hitting.

Beltran had been among the league leaders in homeruns and RBIs for much of the season, but he has hit .165 in the last month with two homeruns and eight RBIs. He is now fifth in the National League with 28 homeruns, 10 behind leader Ryan Braun, and eighth in RBIs with 86.

Maybe Beltran’s knee is causing him more serious issues than he lets on, but either way the Cardinals have lost a very important bat in the middle of their lineup. With Beltran’s slump, Holliday’s back problems and Berkman trying to come back from a stay on the disabled list, the Cardinals no longer have a scary heart of the order.

Unfortunately, these issues couldn’t have come at a worse time. The Cardinals were able to survive early season injuries to Berkman, Allen Craig, Skip Schumaker and Matt Carpenter without losing too much ground in the standings.

That likely won’t be possible now. The Cincinnati Reds are running away with the National League Central Division and could be headed to 100 wins. The Cardinals still hold the second wild-card spot, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates remain well within striking distance. Both teams were 1.5 games behind the Cardinals heading into play Saturday.

Manager Mike Matheny could be an easy target for a team that is wearing out near the end of the season, but there isn’t much he could do about these issues. He made sure starters got days off often at the beginning of the season, and he actually received criticism for not playing his best lineup often enough. The problem is the team just wasn’t built with much room for injuries and fatigue.

The Cardinals Opening Day lineup featured six players who are now 30 years or older. A team that old has to receive a fair amount of luck to make it through an entire season without dealing with many injury problems.

The Cardinals certainly haven’t received much luck in that department, but it also shouldn’t surprise everyone when the offense struggles. Sure, a team that leads the league in hitting shouldn’t go four straight games without scoring an earned run, as the Cardinals did Aug. 28-31 against the Pirates and Nationals, but it would also be unrealistic to think the offense would continue to churn out five or more runs a game nearly every night.

Despite the recent struggles, life is still pretty good for the Cardinals. They entered play Saturday in the second wild-card spot and 4.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the top wild-card position.

Plus, the upcoming schedule is favorable. The Cardinals have just four of their next 18 games against teams with a winning record, although all but five of those games are on the road. Still, this upcoming stretch might give the Cardinals a chance to get well for a final push toward the playoffs. They are going to need it.

LINEUPS FOR THE 83^rd ALL-STAR GAME ANNOUNCED

Aces Verlander of the Tigers and Cain of the Giants Earn Starting Honors

KANSAS CITY, MO – The 2012 All-Star Game managers, Tony La Russa and Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers, have announced their starting lineups for the 83^rd Midsummer Classic, to be played on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.  The lineups were announced at this afternoon’s 2012 All-Star Game Press Conference.

La Russa’s National League lineup will be:

Washington’s American League lineup will be:

Cain, now a three-time N.L. All-Star, threw the first perfect game in Giants franchise history and the 22^nd of all-time on June 13^th against the Houston Astros.  His 14 strikeouts were tied for the most ever in a perfect game, matching Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax.  The eighth-year hurler, who has a 3.29 career ERA, threw 21.1 innings without allowing an earned run in the 2010 Postseason, helping lift the Giants to the city of San Francisco’s first World Series Championship.  Cain became the sixth pitcher in Major League history to make three starts in a Postseason without allowing an earned run.  His streak of 21.1 innings without allowing an earned run to start his Postseason career is the sixth longest in Major League history.  The durable right-hander has made at least 31 starts in each full season of his career (2006-2011).

Verlander, now a five-time A.L. All-Star, was both the 2011 American League Most Valuable Player and the 2011 A.L. Cy Young Award winner after going 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA, becoming the 10^th pitcher of all-time to win both in the same season and the first since Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley in 1992.  The Old Dominion product was also the A.L. Rookie of the Year in 2006, when he helped Detroit reach the World Series for the first time since 1984.  Verlander becomes the first pitcher ever to win an MVP, a Cy Young, the Rookie of the Year Award and to start an All-Star Game in his career.  Don Newcombe won the three awards but never started the Midsummer Classic in his four All-Star appearances.  Verlander owns a career record of 116-62 with a 3.45 ERA and has thrown two no-hitters in his career.  The Virginia native will become the seventh different Tigers pitcher to start the All-Star Game (10^th overall).

The 2012 All-Star Game will be played at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday, July 10^th.  The 83^rd All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International’s independent feed.  Pregame ceremonies will begin at 8:00 p.m. (ET)/7:00 p.m. (CT).  ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game.  MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage.

For more information, please visit allstargame.com or royals.com/2012.

Opening Day is in the books for the defending champions, now the St. Louis Cardinals will play the remainder of the month against the Central Division and it starts with a series in Milwaukee against the Brewers.

It’s time to grab a cold frosty one (heh, heh, heh), make some nachos and settle in on the couch, the season is starting.  Don’t get any cheese on the keyboard and I will tell you the three things you should be watching for during this series.

Ryan Braun
The reigning Most Valuable Player had quite the tumultuous offseason.   Follow that up with a decidedly uncharacteristic Spring Training, and many wonder whether or not it is all weighing on his mind too much to focus on the game.

When faced with a scandal that will get a player ridiculed around the league, there always seems to be an over-enthusiastic level of support at home.  Braun will certainly get some home cooking and be focused in the dome of Miller Park.  With the weight of a scandal, and a franchise, on his shoulders, it may be time that fans learn what Ryan Braun is really made of.  The team will be relying heavily on him to help with the transition away from the Prince Fielder years.

Adam Wainwright vs Zack Greinke
If you are like me and love a good pitching match-up, Saturday’s game is tailor made for you.  Adam Wainwright toes the rubber for the good guys while Zack Greinke is on the bump for the Brew-Crew.

Greinke is in a contract year, which is part of the business of the game that he does not feel we should discuss, and is establishing himself as one of the premier arms on the market this offseason, if not a prime candidate for an extension.  Wainwright took notice this week of Matt Cain‘s deal and will pitch in his first regular season game since 2010.

This setting may feature two hurlers that are in the discussion for the league Cy Young Award before all is said and done.

Matt Holliday
I’m not sure you can take much away from a one game series against the Marlins in a lime green ballpark, but one thing stood out more than anything else to me.   Matt Holliday seemed frustrated.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a guy to make a big deal out of the statistics for one game.  It will take more than that to convince me that a player is struggling or on a hot streak.  What I did notice, is that Matt Holliday was visibly upset at the call made by the umpire and at himself when he missed a few pitches.  A player that is that upset this early is one that seems to be pressing, to me at least.  Keep an eye on how the Cardinals’ outfielder not only performs in Milwaukee, but how he reacts if he is not performing well to determine if he truly is struggling.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.
Follow him on Twitter here.

The winter chill has come and gone in much of the country, and it has given way to one of the greatest weeks on the sporting calendar. The teams of Major League Baseball will return to 30 palaces of green grass spread throughout the land to play a game, a game that makes the summer magical.

When we last saw this game, St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese was holding one finger in the air as he rounded first base to end Game 6 of the World Series at Busch Stadium after hitting one of the greatest homeruns in baseball history.

Freese’s 11th-inning homer that October night tied the Cardinals at three games apiece before they finished off the Texas Rangers with a 6-2 win the following night.

Those heroics and magical moments have faded into memories during the winter, and the day-to-day news of Major League Baseball constantly reminds us that this is a business, and that such a huge operation is never as innocent as we all want to believe.

The National League’s Most Valuable Player, Ryan Braun, battled a steroid scandal. The greatest hitter in the game, Albert Pujols, left the Midwest to play in Los Angeles for more money than each of the three lottery winners won this week. Commissioner Bud Selig instituted another wild-card team into the playoffs and helped move the Houston Astros to the American League next year.

All of those issues take the game farther away from its traditional roots, but come the first week of April all of that fades to the background and fans will return to the ballpark for the pure joy of watching a classic American tradition play out before them.

The pageantry of baseball’s first week is fantastic. In many places, Opening Day is a day that feels unlike any other on the calendar. It’s not exactly a holiday, but there is an excitement throughout the city that life is good again. The weather will become increasingly warmer and fans can look forward to enjoying a game each day for the next six months. Some games will be frustrating, but that’s what makes the good games all the more special.

Other sports are great and each one has its special qualities. But, no sport plays every single day the way baseball does. Others have big beginning-of-the season parties, but then they play games once every couple of days or once a week. Their schedules are choppy; baseball is soothingly dependable.

A baseball season has almost the perfect balance. There is always another game following a disappointing loss, but at the same time that statement doesn’t carry enough wait to make the current game meaningless.

So, come Wednesday evening the six bad months of the year will be over and baseball fans everywhere will be able to tune in and watch the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals play the Miami Marlins in the opening of the Marlins’ brand new ballpark.

That night will likely be filled with plenty of joy and excitement because a real baseball game will be played after more than a month of exhibition games in Florida and Arizona, but the night will also be a chance for fans to take a deep breath and say, “Boy, life feels a little better now because the baseball season is back.”

There will be plenty of time to discuss all of the particulars of the game, the teams and the players. This week, however, please take a moment to step back and simply enjoy the fact that there is baseball being played.

There are a lot of issues in each of our lives, but a game of baseball is a chance to forget about everything else and enjoy life for nine innings. Don’t forget that.

Happy Opening Week, everybody.

It’s been an interesting major league career for Alex Gordon. The player proclaimed as the next George Brett, a can’t miss prospect, almost became the next Clint Hurdle, the Royals late 70′s can’t miss prospect who did miss.

It started out so well. After a stellar collegiate career at the University of Nebraska, the Royals selected Gordon as the second overall pick of the 2005 draft, part of a class that included Justin Upton, Ryan Braun and Troy Tulowitzki. In 2006, Gordon debuted in AA Wichita, with a .325/.427/.588 line with 23 home runs and 101 RBI. With no real third base options at the major league level, the Royals proclaimed Alex Gordon as their starting third baseman in 2007.

And what a debut it was! Opening day at Kauffman Stadium against the Boston Red Sox with Curt Schilling on the mound. Bottom of the first inning, bases loaded and Alex Gordon, the Kansas City Royals savior, the next George Brett, was at bat. Wouldn’t it be great if he hit a grand slam, or at least got a hit? Instead, he struck out swinging after seven pitches.

After a while, the rumblings began. Gordon strikes out a lot. He has poor plate discipline. There’s holes in his swing. He has trouble against left-handed pitching. He doesn’t look comfortable at third. While Gordon had a solid 2007 and 2008, He didn’t look like the superstar player the Royals and their fans expected.

In 2009, a hip injury limited Gordon to 49 games on the majors and 30 games in the minors. Gordon hit .232/.324/.378 in the majors, while averaging .327/.427/.588 in the minors.

Then in 2010, it became worse. Gordon broke his thumb in spring training, which started a disastrous season. Gordon played in 74 games in the majors, with a career low .215/.315/.355 line. Another hot third base prospect was on his way, Mike Moustakas. Billy Butler was firmly at DH and Eric Hosmer was on his way as the future first baseman. It appeared Gordon’s career was fading away, with nowhere to go.

So the Royals did what a baseball manager does when a kid can’t play: send him to the outfield. After recovering from his thumb injury and playing 12 major league games, the Royals sent Gordon to AAA Omaha to learn how to play the outfield. He eventually came back to KC, playing 55 games in left and three games in right. It was a last ditch effort to salvage what was a disappointing career. Maybe Gordon wouldn’t be a superstar, but maybe he could be a solid, if not spectacular outfielder.

Everything clicked in 2011. Gordon played in 151 games, 148 of them in left field. He didn’t get hurt and batted .303/.376/.502, hit 23 home runs and lead the American League in outfield assists with 20. He also led the league in fielding percentage with .911, winning an AL Gold Glove his first year as an outfielder. The improvements were dramatic.

So what happened to make 2011 Gordon’s breakout season? Gordon worked with hitting coach Kevin Seitzer after the 2010 season to rebuild his swing, changing his batting stance, his swing path and his approach to the plate. These adjustments improved his average against left-handed pitchers to .278/.358/.471 in 2011 compared to his previous high of .234/.312/.317 in 2008. Gordon hit well and got on base enough for manager Ned Yost to make him the lead-off hitter. Gordon also worked on his outfield skills, like fielding balls hit to the outfield during batting practice. This led to Gordon being more comfortable in left field, having more time for the ball to come to him and make plays.

But will Gordon’s performance carry over to 2012? Seitzer worked with Gordon during the off-season and wants him to cut down on strikeouts. Gordon’s 2012 spring training numbers are .426/.476/.685, which are good, but it’s the regular season that matters. It does appear Gordon has found his stride and if he stays healthy, 2012 could be like 2011.

Another question is will he stay with the Royals? Gordon recently signed a one-year deal for $4.775 million, avoiding arbitration. The Royals made a long-term offer to Gordon’s agent, Casey Close, but the discussions are on hold. Gordon becomes a free agent in 2014 and with Gordon’s breakout 2011 season, the Royals would like to sign Gordon to a long-term deal. But if Gordon continues to play well, will the lure of free agency be too much? If the Royals can’t sign Gordon to a long-term contract in 2013, he’s likely to become a free agent.

Alex Gordon has become the player the Royals and their fans expected him to be. It just took a few years, a position change and hard work by Gordon and the coaches to get there. Gordon will not be the next George Brett. He’s going to be the next Alex Gordon.

A mostly predictable storyline in Major League Baseball has been emphatically turned upside down. Milwaukee Brewers outfield and reigning National League MVP Ryan Braun has become the first player in MLB history to win an appeal following a failed drug test. It’s a shocking ending to a story we’ve heard time and time again over the past decade. Player “A” is accused, or tests positive for, taking substance “B.” Player A denies taking substance B, the fans and media roll their eyes, and in the end, player A is found guilty (Manny Ramirez and Rafael Palmeiro), admits guilt (Mark McGwire), or at the very least looks really bad in a court of law (Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds).

Obviously, this is great news for Braun. The last thing he wanted to do coming off an MVP season was to have it tainted by a 50-game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs. For the time being, it’s unclear whether or not his successful appeal will fully repair his reputation. ESPN is citing sources who say the appeal was granted not because the positive test results were inaccurate, but rather because the process of shipping the test to the lab was delayed. We’ll have to wait and hear both sides of the story, but for now, Braun will at least have the stain of a steroids-related suspension removed from his resume’ and will not have to sit out the first 50 games of the 2012 season.

Why the ruling is bad for baseball

Major League Baseball released an angry statement Thursday night in response to the Braun ruling, and it’s easy to understand why. With this breakthrough, much of the progress MLB has made to change the public perception has been undone. Though the testing isn’t perfect, and has yet to include a way to test for HGH (human growth hormones), the public perception is that the game has been significantly cleaned up. Players don’t appear to be as “juiced” anymore, and home run totals have been in decline throughout the league. Gone are the days when 4+ players reached the 50+ homerun mark in the same season. Players, including Braun himself, publicly encouraged other players who tested positive for a banned substance to come clean, be honest, and ask for forgiveness in lieu of denying their steroid use. But now that Braun has broken the mold with his appeal, players will no longer be apologetic, and can hide behind the shield of a potentially “inaccurate” drug testing system.

Here’s the statement from MLB:

“Major League Baseball considers the obligations of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program essential to the integrity of our game, our Clubs and all of the players who take the field. It has always been Major League Baseball’s position that no matter who tests positive, we will exhaust all avenues in pursuit of the appropriate discipline. We have been true to that position in every instance, because baseball fans deserve nothing less.

“As a part of our drug testing program, the Commissioner’s Office and the Players Association agreed to a neutral third party review for instances that are under dispute.  While we have always respected that process, Major League Baseball vehemently disagrees with the decision rendered today by arbitrator Shyam Das.”

If Braun really is innocent and didn’t take any performance-enhancing substance, this situation really is a shame for him. But regardless of whether he’s clean or not, this is an absolute disaster for baseball.

Why the ruling shouldn’t bother the St. Louis Cardinals

You might be familiar with a term that’s tossed around from time to time by players and management within the Cardinals organization: “The Cardinal Way.” It’s a term that embodies a number of things, from playing hard and battling until the final strike (or in some cases, the final strike…twice) to simply playing the game the right way. And it’s that simple philosophy that will help them stay focused and driven to overcome the Milwaukee Brewers this year despite an unprecedented ruling that will allow their best player, a person who tested positive for a banned substance, to avoid a 50-game suspension.

During the 2006 World Series, the Cardinals were faced with a moral dilemma in the early stages of Game 2. Detroit Tigers pitch, Kenny Rogers, was caught red-handed with pine tar illegally placed on the palm of his hand. Baseball rules call for pitchers who use pine tar to be automatically ejected from the game, the same way batters are ejected for using a corked bat. Now how much of an advantage Rogers was really getting from that pine tar is unclear, but instead of asking the umpire to inspect (and eject) the Tigers’ starting pitcher, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa simply asked the umpire to have Rogers remove whatever was on his hand and continue on.

Talk about taking the high road.

Rogers went on to pitch 8 innings of shutout baseball, and the Cardinals lost Game 2 to the Tigers. The Cardinals then went on to win the next three games straight to claim the 2006 World Series.

If you believe in the WAR statistic (wins above replacement), that’s essentially a decision that will net the Brewers 2-3 wins the Brewers otherwise would not have had while Braun was out of the lineup (Braun’s WAR was 7.8 in 2011). Now consider that Braun would’ve missed six games against the Cardinals during his 50 game suspension.

Again, the Cardinals will be taking the high road. You shouldn’t expect to hear any whining from their side during Spring Training or during the first two months of the season. But don’t be surprised if the Cardinals privately use it as a little extra motivation.

The Brewers better be ready come April 6^th.

National League MVP, Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers won his appeal on Thursday, and avoided what would’ve been a 50-game suspension to start the 2012 season.  After much speculation, a unique case with no shortage of twists, turns, and thickenings of plots (is that a phrase?) came to a close.  Mostly.  There is still a little dust that has yet to settle, like Braun addressing the media live (scheduled for 11am Friday from Brewers camp), to compliment a statement he released.

Personally, I found it interesting, and frankly a bit offensive that Braun’s statement included terms like “innocent”, and phrases like “The process worked” (clearly a reference to the appeal process, not the other process being discussed here).  My personal favorite is probably the portion of his statement that reads, “I’ve always loved and had so much respect for the game of baseball.  Everything I’ve done in my career has been with that respect and appreciation in mind.”

Here’s the problem with that: According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and numerous other credible sources, Braun won his appeal case based on a flaw in the process (presumably not the one that “worked”).  He challenged the integrity of the chain of custody of his urine sample, and it turns out he had a point–a point legitimate enough to have the suspension thrown out.  So, it’s not that Braun’s positive test results didn’t result in a level of synthetic testosterone-to-epitestosterone level of nearly 30:1, because according to at least one source, they did.  (A ratio of 4:1 is the threshold for a positive test result)  It’s because some dude didn’t follow protocol when handling Braun’s urine sample.  Braun didn’t argue the evidence, the results, or the science.  He argued that protocol wasn’t followed.

That’s “innocence”?  That’s “love and respect for the game of baseball”?

Dude. I seriously had, like, this much in my system. Not even kidding.

Early on, there were talks that Braun should be stripped of his NL MVP honors.  Some folks still believe it should be taken from him, and given to Matt Kemp (who went on record saying he doesn’t want it–he’d rather earn it outright.  Good for him.).  I couldn’t disagree more.  The voters voted, and awarded him the Most Valuable Player award.  If his testosterone was more than that of the entire outfield of the team the Brewers were playing on any given day, so be it.  (As it turns out “any given day” just happened to come along in the postseason.)  But the logistics are pretty complicated, and it’s a very slippery slope–if you take Braun’s MVP from him, you’ve got to take a couple MVPs from Bonds, take this from Clemens, take that from A-Rod, and take something from Palmeiro.  Period.

It’s worth noting that MLB released a statement in which Rob Manfred says Major League Baseball “vehemently disagrees” with the decision that was rendered by third-party arbitrator, Shyam Das.  If you weren’t aware, there was a neutral, third-party arbitrator who heard the case, and handed down a decision–a neutral party that MLB and the MLBPA agreed upon.

I’m very interested in this whole “vehemently disagrees” language.  I want to know exactly why MLB feels so strongly about this judgement.  The way I see it, “letting Braun off” (if you want to call it that) isn’t good, but having said that, there’s a process in place, and rules to follow.  There’s a system, and from what we’ve seen so far, it’s a pretty good system.  There’s a lot of hype about how this is the first time in professional sports an appeal has been upheld, I’m not necessarily buying that.  Is it the first time that the general public has been aware of?  Yes.  Does that necessarily make it the first time in history?  Doubtful.

Nonetheless, there is a protocol to follow.  A right way to go about things, and when Ryan Braun’s pee pee sat over the weekend, that broke protocol, invalidating the process, and by proxy, the results and subsequent suspension.  Consider it an error significant enough to leave some “reasonable doubt”.

i70 Baseball Quiz

What will Ryan Braun use as his inspiration for comments to reporters on Friday?

• “I was young, and stupid.”
• “I’m not here to talk about the past.”
• “I have never used steriods.  Period.”
• Perjery/Obstruction of Justice/Clear cream
• McNamee’s needle

Humor me for a minute.

Let’s say police find the dead body of a person who’d been missing for 67 years in the basement of a house somewhere in Oklahoma.  We’ll say the victim’s name is Adolf Hitler, and the house belonged to a guy named Chuck Norris.  (Total hypothetical here)  If they find the body without proper authorization, such as a search warrant, then the evidence was obtained improperly, and wouldn’t be admissible in court*–because protocol was not followed.  That’s gonna make it awfully tough to pin the crime on (and convict) Norris of the crime!  That’s pretty much what happened here.  But, while people could and would assume that Norris was guilty of killing the person, the system in place dictates that such a conclusion would have to be reached without the aid of the evidence found by inappropriate means…whether he actually did or didn’t.

I can’t help but wonder: Would that mean Norris would be “innocent”, and have “love and respect for the life of Hitler”?

I digress.  One question I’d have for MLB would be, “Can you please explain to me why you vehemently disagree with this decision, but were willing to bend the rules for Manny, and reduce his 2nd offense, which by CBA, should be 100 games, down to 50?”  I understand that he missed time, but to me, that’s different–it’s not time served as punishment for a 2nd failed PED test.  To me, the latter is far more harmful to the game’s reputation and integrity than the former.

As a fan of the game of baseball, I’m disappointed.

I’m disappointed in Ryan Braun, whose talents I’m now skeptical of.  I’m also disappointed in the jackwagon who fouled up the chain of custody, and cost the game some (more) integrity.  I’m further disappointed that “being exonerated” has nothing to do with the amount of synthetic testosterone in Braun’s system found that October 1st test following a 3-for-4 day at the plate in the playoffs.

Bottom line for me?  Ryan Braun’s exoneration proves that he’s just as innocent as O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony – in the court of public opinion, at the very least.  So, yeah, maybe I’d be pissed off too, if I were Major League Baseball.  Here’s a guy who did the crime (failed a test), but won’t do the time.  When the story first broke several weeks ago, the Braun camp assured everyone that the truth would come out, and everyone would see that he is, in fact, innocent of the allegations against him.  Well, the truth is out it seems, and I’ve drawn a different conclusion.

…And I love and respect this game.

*I’m totally not an attorney, and that statement may lean a little more to the “What I saw on Law & Order SVU” side of things than the actual, you know, “legal” side of things.  Just sayin

Left Field may not be a power position in the National League Central, but with Matt Holiday, it is shaping up to be one of the key positions for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Matt Holliday is a great player.  After his first season in 2004, when he batted .290, he has failed to hit .300 only once, and that was last year at .296 which was plagued by injury. His average stats over a 162 game season are .315 with 29 home runs and 110 RBI. He has been incredible consistent. He hit .319 with Colorado, and has hit .314 with St. Louis over the last three seasons.  Oh yeah, and he’s a five time All-Star. Not bad.

The National League Central is shaping up for the Cardinals to take. The Brewers will be weakened, are about to part with Prince Fielder and will lose MVP Ryan Braun for 50 games.  Cincinnati looked like a rudderless ship last year. Houston and Pittsburgh are terrible, and Chicago is rebuilding.  A 2012 return to the postseason will surely ease St. Louis’ collective minds about the future of the team. Which brings the conversation back to Matt Holliday.

Holliday seems as good as any to fill in the third spot in the order where Pujols used to reside.  And if 100%, which he looks and claims to be, with Carlos Beltran in place forms, in my opinion, the best outfield in the National League Central and one of the top in all of MLB.

Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano smacked 26 long balls in 2011, to go along with a pair of steals, 88 RBIs, 50 runs scored and a .244 batting average.  Soriano drove collected his highest RBI total since 2006 and highest home run total since 2008. However, the 35-year-old hasn’t hit over .260 in any of the past three seasons and 17 of those homers came in two months (April & August). At his age, it’s more likely that Soriano’s power drops off than his average rises in future campaigns.

Reds outfielder Chris Heisey made the most of his 279 at-bats in 2011, swatting 18 homers and hitting .254 with six steals, 50 RBIs and 44 runs scored.  Heisey smacked three homers in one game against the Yankees on June 22 and pushed for more playing time all season.  His 30-homer potential is hard to ignore with power hitting on the decline these days. The 26-year-old needs to cut down on the K’s (78 in 279 at-bats) but his power and defensive skills are an enticing package for manager Dusty Baker.

Astros rookie outfielder J.D. Martinez went deep six times, drove in 35 runs, scored 29 times and hit .274 in his initial Major League action during 2011.  After the departure of Hunter Pence, somebody had to step up and knock some run for the Astros. That somebody was Martinez.   With 35 RBIs in 208 at-bats, Martinez drove in more than his share of runs in the second half. The 24-year-old flashed enough power to earn a full-time job in 2012.

Ryan Braun had an outstanding five-category season in 2011, hitting .332 with 33 homers, 33 steals, 111 RBIs and 109 runs scored. He nearly won the NL batting title, hit over .400 in the postseason and at age 27; it’s likely that Braun will be among the top hitters for several seasons. Testing positive for steroids puts a dark cloud over Braun and his MVP campaign but perhaps more damaging to his and the Brewers 2012 is the possibility of him missing 50 games.

The 26-year-old Alex Presley put together a 2011 season that would warrant the chance to start in left. In 87 games with Triple-A Indianapolis, Presley batted .333 with 31 extra-base hits, 41 RBIs, 58 runs scored and 22 stolen bases. That earned him a midseason call up, an opportunity Presley also seized. Plugged into the starting lineup immediately, Presley posted a .298 batting average and .339 on-base percentage. He swiped another nine bases and scored 27 runs in 52 games.

Matt Holliday hit 22 homers, with 75 RBIs, 83 runs scored, a pair of steals and a .296 batting average in an injury-plagued 2011 regular season. A strange season for Holliday who had two DL stints in 2011, as an April appendectomy a June quadriceps injury hurt his at-bat total. A wrist injury ended his postseason run one game early.  He was off to an MVP pace coming out of the gate until injuries like these and freak other occurrences like a moth flying into his year stalled his season. He’s expected to be fine for Spring Training and when healthy is one of the best outfielders in all of baseball.

My Rankings

1. Matt Holliday
2. Ryan Braun
3. Alfonso Soriano
4. Chris Heisey
5. Alex Presley
6. J.D. Martinez

This year looks to be different for Holliday. He will now be playing in the key spot in the lineup for the defending World Series champions. Holliday, who usually flies below the baseball radar, will be front-and-center in 2012 to see how he and the Cardinals respond to Pujols’ departure.

Still, if the Cardinals can get one of those patented .315/29/110 RBI seasons I don’t think anyone will be too upset.

KEMP UNANIMOUS PICK FOR NL Stan Musial AWARD
Bautista holds off Ellsbury in American League

There were some outstanding performances this year in Major League Baseball. However, one clearly stood out from the pack.

Los Angeles Dodger outfielder Matt Kemp was named the National League Stan Musial Award winner for 2011 in voting held by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance. Kemp received all 15 first place votes and completely dominated the rest of the voting field like he did in putting up almost a 40 HR/40 SB season for the Dodgers this year.

Coming in a distant second was Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun, who garnered most of the second place votes from the group. Braun’s teammate, first baseman Prince Fielder, came in third.

Interestingly enough, even though Los Angeles pitcher Clayton Kershaw outpointed Philadelphia hurler Roy Halladay in the BBA’s Walter Johnson Award voting for best pitcher, Halladay received more points for the Stan Musial Award.

Over in the American League, there were more ballots cast, perhaps due to a more intriguing race. When the dust had settled, though, Toronto’s Jose Bautista had held off Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury by a handful of points.

Bautista received eleven of the 22 first place votes and 225 total points, while Ellsbury received five first place selections and 200 points overall. Detroit Tiger first baseman Miguel Cabrera came in third with 183 points and three first place nods. He was followed by two of his Detroit teammates, including Walter Johnson Award winner Justin Verlander.

The complete voting results are as follows (first place votes in parenthesis):

American League
Jose Bautista, Toronto (11) 225
Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston (5) 200
Miguel Cabrera, Detroit (3) 183
Curtis Granderson, Detroit (1) 135
Justin Verlander, Detroit (2) 126
Adrian Gonzalez, Boston 109
Dustin Pedroia, Boston 68
Robinson Cano, New York 55
Ian Kinsler, Texas 35
Michael Young, Texas 28
Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay 25
Alex Gordon, Kansas City 20
CC Sabathia, New York 13
Paul Konerko, Chicago 12
Adrian Beltre, Texas 10
Alex Avila, Detroit 8
Jered Weaver, Los Angeles of Anaheim 6
Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay 6
Mike Napoli, Texas 4
James Shields, Tampa Bay 3
Victor Martinez, Cleveland 2
David Oritz, Boston 2
Melky Cabrera, Kansas City 1

National League
Matt Kemp, Los Angeles (15) 195
Ryan Braun, Milwaukee 134
Prince Fielder, Milwaukee 83
Joey Votto, Cincinnati 79
Justin Upton, Arizona 77
Roy Halladay, Philadelphia 49
Troy Tulowitski, Colorado 49
Albert Pujols, St. Louis 46
Jose Reyes, New York 42
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles 31
Lance Berkman, St. Louis 28
Dan Uggla, Atlanta 14
Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco 13
Cliff Lee, Philadelphia 11
Hunter Pence, Philadelphia 6
Michael Morse, Washington 5
Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati 3
Ian Kennedy, Arizona 2
Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh 2
Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado 1

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was formed in the fall of 2009 to encourage cooperation and collaboration between baseball bloggers of all major league teams as well as those that follow baseball more generally. As of this writing, the organization consists of 316 blogs spanning all 30 major league squads as well as general baseball writing.

The BBA is organized under a similar structure as the Baseball Writers of America, where blogs that follow the same team are combined into “chapters” and only two votes from the chapter on an award are counted. The blog chapters that are focused on general baseball were allowed two votes as well, which they could use both on the same league or split between the two leagues.

Chapters generally followed one of two methods when casting their ballot. Either representatives of the chapter were given the ballots for voting or a “group ballot” was posted, accounting for both of their votes.

Notably, though the Alliance’s awards come out well before their official counterparts, the BBA selections have matched those of the Baseball Writers of America in all but two instances in the past two years. This, of course, does not include the Goose Gossage Award that is exclusive to the BBA.

Ballots are posted on the respective blogs and for this award, were tabulated on a 13-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 point scale for first through tenth place. In the interest of transparency, links are given below for the ballots. Chapter affiliation is in parenthesis. Those chapters that decided on the group method are noted with an asterisk.

American League
Advanced Fantasy Baseball (Fantasy)
Baltimore Life and Sports (Baltimore)
The Bat Shatters (Minnesota)
The Blue Jay Hunter (Toronto)
Boston Red Thoughts (Boston)*
Camden Crazies (Baltimore)
Contract Year (Oakland)*
Detroit Tigers Scorecard Blog (Detroit)
The Flagrant Fan (General)
Kings of Kauffman (Kansas City)*
Lady At The Bat (New York)
Misc. Baseball (History)
The Next Level Ballplayer (Other)
Seattle Mariners Musings (Seattle)
Some Thoughts On Baseball (Toronto)
Tigers Amateur Analysis (Detroit)
The Tribe Daily (Cleveland)*
Twins On Twins (Minnesota)

National League
Advanced Fantasy Baseball (Fantasy)
Appy Astros (Houston)
Blog Red Machine (Cincinnati)
Cincinnati Reds Blog (Cincinnati)
Dugger Sports (Philadelphia)
The Flagrant Fan (General)
Fungoes (St. Louis)
Misc. Baseball (History)
The Next Level Ballplayer (Other)
North Side Notch (Pittsburgh)
Phils Baseball (Philadelphia)
Rockies Woman (Colorado)
22 Gigantes (San Francisco)
Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? (Pittsburgh)

Prior Winners: 2010: Josh Hamilton, Texas; Joey Votto, Cincinnati
2009: Joe Mauer, Minnesota; Albert Pujols, St. Louis

The official website of the BBA is located atbaseballbloggersalliance.wordpress.com. The BBA can be found on Twitter by the handle @baseballblogs and by the hashmark #bbba. For more information, contact Daniel Shoptaw at founder@baseballbloggersalliance.com.

The fans who actually study the statistics and don’t just automatically punch out the boxes next to all of the players on their favorite team on the All-Star ballot are facing some tough choices this season.

With a couple of weeks left in the balloting for this year’s game in Phoenix, no position seems harder to pick than who deserves to be the three starting outfielders in the National League.

Consider that going into Sunday’s games, there were 11 NL outfielders who had played more than 40 games who were hitting better than .300; there also were 18 NL outfielders with more than 30 RBI, and 10 had 10 or more home runs — and you kind of get the idea.

The only outfielder who currently is ranked among the top three players in the league in all of the Triple Crown categories, and thus the only easy choice, is Matt Kemp of the Dodgers. He is tied with Prince Fielder for a league-high 19 homers, is third in the league with a .331 batting average and is second in RBI with 55.

Behind him, however, fans could build a case for any of six other outfielders who all rank in the top 10 in at least one of the three categories.

Cardinals fans, of course, are pulling for Lance Berkman, easily the top choice as the first-half comeback player of the year, and his credentials certainly are worthy of selection – 16 homers, tied for fourth in the league; a .317 batting average, seventh in the league, and 46 RBI, tied for sixth in the league.

Berkman’s competition, however, includes Jay Bruce of the Reds (17 HRs, .318 average and 48 RBI); Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun (14 homers, .309 average and 48 RBI) LA’s Andre Ethier (a .321 average, fourth best in the league), Houston’s Hunter Pence (.318 average and 48 RBI) and Florida’s Mike Stanton (16 home runs).

This group does not include other players having solid seasons who will get a lot of support among their team’s fans – Houston’s Michael Bourne (leading the NL with 26 stolen bases); Cincinnati’s Drew Stubbs (tied for the league lead with 48 runs), New York’s Carlos Beltran, having a good comeback season of his own), Pittsburgh’s young star Andrew McCutcheon; San Diego’s Ryan Ludwick; Arizona’s Chris Young and B.J. Upton, and don’t forget last year’s batting champion, Carlos Gonzalez of Colorado, who is coming on after a tough start.

The group also does not include the Cardinals’ Matt Holliday, who appeared headed to a spot on the team before his latest injury landed him on the disabled list, which will keep his numbers below those of the other top contenders.

That’s a total of 15 players for two spots, which doesn’t add up. At least three more, and perhaps four or five, will be added as reserves, but there will be at least six deserving candidates who are not going to be able to find a spot on the team.

If the only tough choice on the NL ballot was in the outfield that would be one thing, but the competition is just as tough, if not even tougher, at first base.

That group of candidates, where only one player can start, includes the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols; Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder; Cincinnati’s Joey Votto, and Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard. Not to be excluded from the discussion, but most likely to find themselves on the outside looking in, will be Florida’s Gaby Sanchez, Colorado’s Todd Helton and Houston’s Brett Wallace.

The perennial choices, Pujols and Howard, might lose out to Fielder this year, who is tied for the league lead in homers with 19, leads in RBI with 58 and has raised his average to .305 – 31 points higher than Pujols and 67 points higher than Howard.

Votto, the reigning MVP, has hit only eight homers but has driven in 39 runs and posted a .339 average. Sanchez, the most unknown player in the group, has 11 homers, 41 RBI and a .312 average.

It is not likely that any more than three out of this group, or perhaps four at the most, can earn a spot on the team.

At catcher, second base and shortstop, there is a clear-cut leader at each position, with a strong runnerup choice too. The Cardinals’ Yadier Molina, combining his defensive skills with a better offensive output this season, would appear to be the choice ahead of Atlanta’s Brian McCann, thanks to the injury to Buster Posey. At second base, Milwaukee’s Rickie Weeks should come out ahead of the Reds’ Brandon Phillips, and at shortstop, the choice should be the Mets’ Jose Reyes with Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki as the backup.

The lost position in the NL is third base, where there really is nobody having an All-Star caliber season, thanks in part to injuries to players like Ryan Zimmerman and Pablo Sandoval. Only seven third basemen have more than 200 at-bats. Ryan Roberts of Arizona is the only third baseman with more than six home runs, and the only two with more than 28 RBI are the Phillies’ Placido Polanco and Atlanta’s Chipper Jones. Polanco is the only one hitting better than ,283.

There is a chance, of course, that somebody will got hot in the next two weeks and put some distance between themselves and other candidates, at any of the positions, but if not, good luck to the voters.

When it comes to picking the pitchers, some might not want to go to the game after what has happened since last year. Six of the nine pitchers who worked in last year’s game for the NL have been on the disabled list during this season – Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Johnson, Hong-Chih Kuo, Adam Wainwright, Brian Wilson and Jonathon Broxton. The only three who have managed to avoid the DL are Heath Bell, Roy Halladay and Matt Capps, but he was traded to Minnesota.

Changes in the draft coming?

There is a belief around the major leagues that some changes will be made to the amateur baseball draft when the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is approved. Proposals include making the draft worldwide, having a much more rigid pay scale for draft picks, and the possibility that a team could trade its picks, as happens in the NFL and NBA.

What should be discussed, however, is a plan to come up with some other way to compensate teams for losing free agent players other than awarding them extra picks between the first and second rounds of the draft.

This year, there were 27 extra choices between the first and second rounds. The Pirates were “rewarded” with the top overall pick in the draft for finishing last in 2010 but did not get to choose their second player until the 61^st overall pick. It does make sense to give teams an extra pick if they don’t sign their first-round pick the previous year, but all of those extra picks totally affect the spirit of the draft.

Tampa Bay, for example, received the 42^nd overall pick in the draft for losing free agent Grant Balfour. Arizona got the 43^rd overall pick for losing Adam LaRoche. The Orioles, who finished with the second worst record in the AL, got the fourth pick in the draft – and then didn’t pick again until the 64^th pick. In between those two picks, their division rivals Tampa, Boston and Toronto picked a total of 19 players, 10 by the Rays, four by the Red Sox and five by the Blue Jays, all for having lost free agents to other teams.

While teams that lose premium free agents such as Carl Crawford, Adrian Beltre, Victor Martinez and Rafael Soriano should be entitled to compensation, it hardly seems fair that teams which lost players such as Octavio Dotel, Jesse Crain, Randy Choate or Chad Qualls should be rewarded with one of the first 60 picks in the draft.

Head on over to RobRains.com and read the rest of Rob’s Inside Baseball this week as he talks about a connection to a past St. Louis Browns famous player and takes a look around MLB and MiLB.