Musings from an Optimistic Redbird Fan

Schumaker situation – Skip Schumaker, the St. Louis Cardinals’ versatile utility player, will most likely be traded before spring. And I have to say, I think it’s a mistake and I’m also a little tired of some of the critics that have emerged and think he should be traded. This is a player who has done everything the team has asked of him during his time in St. Louis. Do you realize that if you look at his batting average and compare, he would be in the top 10 for second basemen for batting average in MLB; not just the National League. And, he would be in the top 15 for fielding percentage. And I’m convinced these numbers would have been better had he had more playing time and played just one position. But, Skip also offers a team the flexibility of playing any outfield position. Are there better offensive and defensive second basemen in the MLB? Sure there are but, not many, if any, offer the flexibility of being the ultimate utility player who can play second base and any outfield position.  This Redbird fan only hopes he’s traded to get more playing time. But, if there are no takers, the Cardinals should make the best and keep Skip. It would be nice to see a team loyal to a player for a change.

New Lefty in bullpen – The Cardinals have signed a new lefty for the bullpen in Randy Choate. He will most likely be used as a specialist; much like Marc Rzepczynski was used last season. Choate split time last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins. He comes with a 3.03 ERA from the Dodgers; where he appeared in 80 games. I think this was a good pickup and economical one for the Cardinals. I am surprised they’re sticking with Rzepczynski so far but, he did do well during the latter part of the season. If he “Scrabble” continues to pitch the way he ended last season, he and Choate will be a potent force in the Cardinal bullpen.

Molina wins award – Yadier Molina won the Greatness in Baseball Yearly Award (GIBBY) for Defensive Player of the year in 2012. With the awards Molina has won this year; including another Golden Glove, the NL’s Platinum Glove award, a Fielding Bible award and Wilson Sporting Goods defensive award, there has been talk of he being the best defensive catcher ever. With apologies to Johnny Bench, I think Molina is in a class by himself and is the best ML Catcher to ever play the game. And if Molina continues to improve offensively, he may be the best catcher to ever play the game.

Another Molina? – It is very likely that the Cardinals new Assistant Hitting Coach will be Yadi’s brother, Bengie Molina. The Cards have made an offer to the retired catcher, who is older than Yadi.  Hopefully, he will accept and by the time I do my blog next weekend, he could be a Redbird.

Thanks for reading…have a good weekend.