So, what changes do we need to make for next year?

[Jmodene]

The pic didn't display on my screen, but I assume it's Tom Lawless' famous bat-flip.

FWIW, it was one of only two hits he had all postseason (I think he was 1-for-14 otherwise) but it was his defense that hurt us; in game 7 against the Twins, he simply didn't have a strong enough arm to throw Greg Gagne out at first base, which allowed Gaetti to score what proved to be the winning run. Pendleton makes that play easily - but he was hurt - and Oquendo makes that play, but he was in right field.

[PaintItRed]

How about Mike Lowell? http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/10/d ... owell.html

I really like Lowell as a person and a ballplayer. I would love to see him in a Cardinal uniform. This guy crushes lefties which is just what we need. He holds an .866 OPS against southpaws. I think what we could do is resign Derosa and put him at 2nd base where he played with the Cubs, and have Lowell at third. Some people may disagree with me with this, but I think we should try and trade Skippy. We can get some pretty good value off of him for what he did in 2009. There is a lot of teams that lack a productive leadoff hitter. Schumaker is young, has decent speed, and gets on base a lot. If we get Lowell and resign Derosa do we really need Schumaker? We need guys who can hit lefties well and Skip can't do that. Even if Lugo or Derosa get hurt we can always plug Lugo in. And i'm sure we can work something out with Boston to have them pay some of Lowell's salary. The only concern is Lowell is getting older and is injury prone, but he can certainly still hit. IMO it's a risk worth taking. Would give us another great leader in the clubhouse and more production against southpaws.

[InvincibleCakeEater]

I don't really buy into the "we can't hit lefties" thing. Yeah, had trouble against them last year, but I think that's just what happens when you're trotting Ankiel/Thurman/Rasmus out there against them for a majority of games. Considering they had a .740+ OPS against lefties in 08 and the team was largely unchanged I think it was just flukey. Next year I wouldn't expect Rasmus to be as bad. He had a terrible year, but he's shown the ability to hit them in the minors. I think being sheltered from them hurt his numbers and possibly his development, but who knows. God willing, Ankiel and Thurman won't be on the team next year. That should be a boost.

[Jmodene]

Lowell is indeed too old, and has had injury issues of his own. And if we trade Skip, who bats leadoff? Ryan? Lugo? Rasmus?

[InvincibleCakeEater]

Lowell is indeed too old, and has had injury issues of his own. And if we trade Skip, who bats leadoff? Ryan? Lugo? Rasmus?

Doesn't really matter. Compile the best players that you can at each position. Leadoff hitter isn't a position.

[Richie Allen]

Lowell is indeed too old, and has had injury issues of his own. And if we trade Skip, who bats leadoff? Ryan? Lugo? Rasmus?

Compile the best players that you can at each position. Leadoff hitter isn't a position.

You guys really need to find some new material. It's almost Hraboskian the way the same lines get used over and over, year after year.

[InvincibleCakeEater]

Lowell is indeed too old, and has had injury issues of his own. And if we trade Skip, who bats leadoff? Ryan? Lugo? Rasmus?

Compile the best players that you can at each position. Leadoff hitter isn't a position.

You guys really need to find some new material. It's almost Hraboskian the way the same lines get used over and over, year after year.

I guess I just hope that one of these days it gets through the skull.

[Eephus Speed]

Lowell is indeed too old, and has had injury issues of his own. And if we trade Skip, who bats leadoff? Ryan? Lugo? Rasmus?

Compile the best players that you can at each position. Leadoff hitter isn't a position.

You guys really need to find some new material. It's almost Hraboskian the way the same lines get used over and over, year after year.

Sadly, it's clear that the old material is still necessary.

[Richie Allen]

Lowell is indeed too old, and has had injury issues of his own. And if we trade Skip, who bats leadoff? Ryan? Lugo? Rasmus?

Compile the best players that you can at each position. Leadoff hitter isn't a position.

You guys really need to find some new material. It's almost Hraboskian the way the same lines get used over and over, year after year.

Sadly, it's clear that the old material is still necessary.

Sadly, there are people that think there is only one right answer for everything.

So as long as there are those that are equipped with the line, "leadoff isn't a position," there should never be another discussion about who should bat leadoff?

[InvincibleCakeEater]

So as long as there are those that are equipped with the line, "leadoff isn't a position," there should never be another discussion about who should bat leadoff?

Answer that when the season starts. Don't construct a team with the thought "But who's going to bat leadoff."