Lankford is expected to report to Memphis

[JimGinPA]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/Sports/Cardinals/story/91A92E2BBAA8299286256EF20025D105?OpenDocument&Headline=Lankford+is+expected+to+report+to+Memphis


Good news, I guess. :confused:

[The Tardis]

Raises an interesting question. What does the playoff roster look like?

We can probably get by with a shorter staff, but do we keep all five starters on? Who gets moved from the pen? Who gets dropped from the bench? Does Tony really need 3 catchers for the playoffs?

If we go with an 11 man staff (Carpenter-Williams-Marquis-Suppan-Morris-King-Kline-Izzy-Calero-Tavarez-Eldred), that leaves room for 14 position players. (This presupposes that all these guys are healthy; Calero is still out on the DL for at least another week.)

6 starters are obvious: Pujols, Womack, Renteria, Rolen, Edmonds, and Walker. Also, I'll be surprised if Matheny isn't the catcher, though I may not embrace it.

That leaves 7 spots to cover left field and the bench and the following 9 candidates: Sanders, Anderson, Lankford, Mabry, Taguchi, Cedeno, Luna, Molina, and McKay. (I'm counting out Porter, Hart, and anybody who hasn't played for the MLB Cards this season)

Tony really likes having 3 catchers, so I'll assume Molina is a lock and McKay has a very good shot. Mabry has been way too good to leave off, so he's in. Luna is the only backup shortstop, so he's in. Reggie is right handed and gives us power in left or off the bench, so he's in.

That leaves 2 spots for Anderson, Lankford, Taguchi, and Cedeno. Personally, I'd take Lankford and Cedeno. We won't be needing a defensive replacement like Taguchi, and Anderson's role, as ill-defined as it was, is covered by the other pieces. Taguchi and Anderson have been abysmal with the bat, and, if we're carrying 3 catchers and the weak hitting Luna, we need firepower on the bench. Cedeno and Sanders can provide the speed we lose from these two.

[Thorny08]

Hasn't Tony in the past taken 12 pitchers?

Why use three Catchers? With Molina and Matheney as the backstops I don't see a use for McKay. I'm sure he would see zero playing time behind the plate in the playoffs.

With the three spots left I'd use Tags, Cedeno and Lankford.

Leave Anderson off....please!

[Thorny08]

Oh how I wish that Lincoln was healthy. Eldred would probably be off the playoff rotation then.

[MemoriesDK]

Oh how I wish that Lincoln was healthy. Eldred would probably be off the playoff rotation then.
I want Eldred in, his ERA is around the 3.70's now.

[Thorny08]

He still scares me every time he takes the mound. I get the same feeling when Matty Mo takes the hill too.

I guess I wouldn't be so scared of Eldred if he kept his pitches down, but I constantly cringe during a game and I see that fastball belt high with no movement on it. I think that he's been pretty lucky as of late.

[frivolousz21]

I am more scared when Morris pitches rather than Eldred.

atleast Cal can get it up there at 93-94 consistantly

[STLCARDSFAN1]

i would only carry 11 pitchers and only 2 catchers. i think cedeno,luna,mabry,walker,pujols,rolen,womack,renteria,edmonds,sanders,matheny,molina,anderson,lankford