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clement wrote:I know that Ankiel, Schumaker, and Rodriguez all have options (unless I'm mistaken)...

Can someone tell me how this works with Ankiel? He was out of options before, but then they did whatever and signed him to a minor league contract. Does he now have options again because of the new minor league contract?

G. Keenan wrote:Stuff like this is why I get up in the morning.

Clearly, the Gooch needs to confer with Steve Kline, who knows how to handle these beasts.

RC21 wrote:

Is Taguchi in danger?

It would appear to be the case.

Too funny... the only thing that would have made it better is if it were Godzilla instead of a dinosaur. Or even better, Ultraman's #1 nemesis, Baltan!

Popeye_Card wrote:

greenback44 wrote:

Popeye_Card wrote:

Go_Crazy_Folks wrote:
There is always more to player analysis than just pure numbers. Forums like these (although this is very balanced) often don't represent a lot of your old time fans, who like my father, enjoy what So represents.

Yes, and even though we like to crunch numbers and figure out how to win more games by making this and that upgrade, there's something to be said for just keeping some guys because they're popular.

Beh, Bo Hart was popular and now he's something of a joke. Taguchi will be kept around as long as TLR think he's useful (Cedeno BTW was even worse than Rodriguez as a defender).

Taguchi spent enough time in the minors from 2002 to 2004 that he is out of options.

Bo Hart was given another chance in 2004, and he proved that he wasn't MLB caliber. Plus he was in LaRussa's doghouse because while he hustled, he didn't do a lot of the little things right that LaRussa loves. Had he even been able to produce at Taguchi (or Miles) levels, he probably would have stuck around longer.

--P--

Bo Hart got 13 major league at-bats at the start of 2004 before he was shipped to Memphis, never to be seen again. That's not really another chance. I agree with the LaRussa stuff, because what I'm trying to say here is that the Cardinals won't hold a guy simply because he's a fan favorite. That guy better have some uses, which is to say, if TLR thinks So Taguchi can't hit and can't field, then he'll be gone. Of course the key here is that it's TLR not UZR (or our eyes) deciding whether So Taguchi can field.

greenback44 wrote: Bo Hart got 13 major league at-bats at the start of 2004 before he was shipped to Memphis, never to be seen again. That's not really another chance. I agree with the LaRussa stuff, because what I'm trying to say here is that the Cardinals won't hold a guy simply because he's a fan favorite. That guy better have some uses, which is to say, if TLR thinks So Taguchi can't hit and can't field, then he'll be gone. Of course the key here is that it's TLR not UZR (or our eyes) deciding whether So Taguchi can field.

He was pretty bad that spring training too, and he didn't have nearly the history that Taguchi does.

I get your point, and agree that popularity alone won't keep a guy on the roster. But it earns somebody plenty of bonus points when competing with a fairly compatable player (i.e. Taguchi vs. Schumaker). The only case I can really recall where the Cardinals chose a very similar skillset while letting a popular player go is going with Yadi vs. paying Matheny a bigger dollar FA contract. But even then, it was a larger scale of economics, and it wasn't a release.

--P--

Can someone tell me how this works with Ankiel? He was out of options before, but then they did whatever and signed him to a minor league contract. Does he now have options again because of the new minor league contract?

Yeah. If he was signed to a major league contract, he wouldn't have options anymore. But he became a free agent and signed a minor league contract.

RC21 wrote:

G. Keenan wrote:Stuff like this is why I get up in the morning.

Clearly, the Gooch needs to confer with Steve Kline, who knows how to handle these beasts.

Steve Kline is huge! He's taller than that velociraptor.

No, I don't know why Taguchi is sitting on the home dugout at old Busch...

Bama_Card_Fan wrote:

clement wrote:I know that Ankiel, Schumaker, and Rodriguez all have options (unless I'm mistaken)...

Can someone tell me how this works with Ankiel? He was out of options before, but then they did whatever and signed him to a minor league contract. Does he now have options again because of the new minor league contract?

Ankiel is out of options, but he's not on the 40-man roster so he doesn't have to pass through waivers or anything to play in the minors this year. If he gets called up later, then the Cardinals can't send him back down without passing him through waivers.

Phyrkrakr wrote:

No, I don't know why Taguchi is sitting on the home dugout at old Busch...

He was break dancing between innings.