Big surprise: Cardinals get better... Astros don't

Carpenter won't be pitching for a while. The Blue Jays let him walk because they didn't think he'd pitch until at least August.

With Finley, they just resigned their own player akin to the Astros resigning Reynolds.

I wouldn't say this makes the Cards any better, it just doesn't make them any worse.

 

Finley will be so-so, at best. he is a true dog. This helps the 'stros, who are certain to finish behind the Cards, Cubs, and probably the Redsand even the Bucs. Bucs over 'stros non-bucks. Makes cents to me.

 

Im just crossing my fingers and hoping we do something.

 

Yeah, it must be pretty depressing for Bagwell to be seeing all these free agents on the market and the Astros aren't mentioned as a team that is pursuing any of them.

Oh well, with the Rockets and the Texans in town, the Astros have probably fallen off the map.

 

Even if the Cards didn't resign Finley they still would have been better than the Astros. I think the Cards can dominate the Central for another 5 years. The Pirates are terrible, Milwaukee is terrible, Chicago is terrible, and the Astros are afraid to spend money so its really no contest for St Louis.

 

Hold it! No deal just yet...

http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002/1213/1476310.html
Friday, December 13

Jocketty reportedly says talks are 'at an impasse'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESPN.com news services


Despite a previous report, it appears Chuck Finley might not be staying in St. Louis.

The free-agent pitcher agreed in principle to a one-year contract with the Cardinals, the St. Louis-Post Dispatch reported Friday.

However, St. Louis general manager Walt Jocketty told MLB.com on Friday evening that no deal is imminent, saying it's "50-50."

"I think we have gone as far as we can go," Jocketty told MLB.com on Friday. "I think they're waiting to see if we're able to do anything else to provide more flexibility in a deal for Chuck. ... We're kind of at an impasse, I would say. We're not by any means breaking off our talks, but we're at a point where we feel we have stretched as far as we can.

"They're gonna be talking to other people, and we're gonna be looking at other alternatives. Our goal all along was if we couldn't get Chuck was to find somebody to fit in the rotation behind (Matt) Morris and (Woody) Williams."

The newspaper stated that the deal will be comparable to Finley's $7.912 million salary of last season.

The Cardinals came to agreement with Chris Carpenter on a one-year, $500,000 contract Friday.


Carpenter, who was Toronto's opening day starter last season, underwent shoulder surgery in September and is not expected to be able to pitch again until at least July.


He will be guaranteed $300,000 next season. The salary would grow to $500,000 if he is put on the active roster during the year.


The Cardinals have a $2 million option for 2004, with a $200,000 buyout. Carpenter can also earn about $2 million a year in performance bonuses.


Carpenter was 4-5 with a 5.28 ERA in 13 starts last season for the Blue Jays. He had three stints on the disabled list with a sore right shoulder.


In six seasons with Toronto, Carpenter went 49-50 with a 4.83 ERA.

 

We will be relying once again on the starting pichting to carry us.
We need cy young performances from Oswalt and Miller and then we need the rest of 'em to go at least .500 to have chance. We can beat the Cardinals. They are not that much better than us.

 

Therein lies the problem. Every year the Astros management decides that the team will live and die with starting pitching. That is how injuries and fatigue occur during the season. Can we really expect Roy Oswalt to pitch as many effective innings as he did last year? It was the first time he pitched over 200 innings in his career. Miller was hurt during the beginning of last season (which I attribute to being overworked the previous season), and started to come around during the all-star break and finished strong. Hernandez is hurt and may not be ready for Spring Training. Reynolds hasn't been healthy for a while, so its hard to rely heavily on him. Redding looks like he may need mre seasoning, Lidge is hurt again. Saarloos may go back to Triple-A to get more innings and work on his stuff. The AStros need to pick up at least two more starting pitchers, and pretty much a new bullpen. Relying on the starting pitching to carry us isn' going to get us very far.

 

St. Louis is a much larger market than Houston and they play in a nicer stadium? What's that? St. Louis is smaller?

 

The people who are claiming that this makes St. Louis better...aren't they the same people who blast the Astros, saying that we don't get better by signing our own guys to new contracts?

 

I think by market he meant fan base.

 

They do have greater fans and I do wish that Houstonians have the same spirit as St. Louis. But, St. Louis does have alot more tradition. Regardless, I think Drayton can be a bit more active in the market. A big name free agent could boost ticket sales.

 

Actually the Cards have one of the most widespread fan bases in all of baseball. They have radio affiliates all over the miswest. Remember also that prior to the Astros (Colt 45s) coming into existence, the Cardinals radio network reached all the way to Houston. The Buffs were a minor league team for the Cards.

 

Exactly, fan base. I don't think they have a HUGE TV deal though.

 

Not huge like the Yankees...but pretty substantial I believe. Not only that they have a much larger radio network. A fan base that spans a much greater geographic area = more people to buy gear, etc.

 

Hmmm...but in almost any sense, Houston is a "larger market" then St. Louis. But, I guess since maybe Des Moines and cities like that broadcast the Cards, that makes them more popular? In other words, is it possible that the Stros can generate more revenue then the Cards? I think Houston is at least twice the size of St. Louis.

 

The Cardinals fan base is much larger than Houston's. Oklahoma, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa and even Illinois (not to mention all of Kansas) are all part of the Cardinals fan base.

 

Astros seem like they will always be chokers but I will watch the games next year once again.