ESPN’s Karl Ravech is reporting that the Roy Oswalt sweepstakes will be a World Series rematch between the Cards and Rangers.  However, Ravech is not expecting an immediate decision from Oswalt.

“No rush for oswalt, guessing next week sometime. Gut says Texas but pitching in nl central has appeal over al west,” tweets Ravech.

The 34 year old Oswalt will be entering his 12th season in the Major Leagues this season.  He has posted a .631 winning percentage, 3.21 ERA, 1,759 strikeouts, 8 shutouts, and 20 complete games during his career.

During his 2012 season with the Phillies, the 6’0”, 190lb right hander went 9-10 with a 3.69 ERA in 139 innings in 23 games.  Oswalt threw up a 2.88 ERA against lefties and had an ERA of 2.33 in the first half of the season.  Batters hit just .209 against him in wins but averaged .356 against the now former Astro in his losses; opponents hit .258 against Oswalt in games where he did not receive a decision.

The Cardinals already have Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainright, Jamie Garcia, Kyle Lohse, and Jake Westbrook on the roster as starting pitchers.  Kyle McClellan was also used as a starter last year but is expect to return to the bullpen for the upcoming season.

Should he sign with St. Louis, Roy Oswalt would be joining Lance Berkman and Carlos Beltran as Astros turned Cardinals during the Red Birds hunt for a World Series repeat.

The 29 year old pitcher was drafted in the 19^th round by the Cardinals in 2003.  Motte made his debut with the Cardinals in 2008, racking up 188 innings pitched with 187 career strikeouts and an era of 2.92 since that time.

Despite not officially being named the Cardinals “closer” last year, Motte made 25 appearances in the ninth inning striking out 20 of a possible 86 batters.  Overall, he made 78 appearances during the 2011 season with an ERA of 2.25 in 68 innings while racking up a career high 9 saves and 63 strike outs.

Motte was a staple in the Cardinals bullpen during the teams drive to a World Series championship.  He made 5 saves in his 13 games during the postseason, including pitching the final inning of Game 7 against the Texas Rangers.

The contract helps the Cardinals and Motte avoid the arbitration process.  Newly named Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has already endorsed Jason Motte as the 2012 closer.

On the surface of this deal, the Birds appear to be getting a stellar six time All-Star outfielder who can step in and relieve stress off of young players such as Jon Jay and the injured Allen Craig.  Dig a little deeper, however, and this appears to be a rather lopsided deal in favor of Mr. Beltran.

While he hit .300 last year with 22 home runs and 84 RBI’s in 142 games, the fact of the matter is that he’s an aging, injury prone player.  The soon to be 35 year old outfielder (April 24) played just 64 games in 2010 and 81 games during his 2009 All-Star season.

There is little to no doubt that Beltran will be able to put up impressive numbers when he takes to the plate.  He’s a .283 career hitter who has averaged an extremely respectable 28 long balls and 105 RBI’s during his tenure in the big leagues.  In addition to his six all-star appearances, he was the recipient of the 1999 Rookie of the Year award, two consecutive Silver Slugger awards in 2006 and 2007, as well as demonstrating laudable fielding skills winning three straight Gold Gloves between 2006 and 2008.

The problem is keeping Beltran healthy so he can achieve these impressive numbers.

Say that Beltran repeated his 142 game day appearances last year for the course of his contract in St. Louis; that would mean out of a possible 324 games, Beltran would only appear in 284 of them (87.7 percent).

While the Cardinals may have slightly overpaid for the graying bat of Carlos Beltran at that $13 million average over two years, the disturbing item in his contract is the no-trade clause because of that injury history that has plagued him and the potential for the aforementioned probable number of appearances in 2011 and 2012.

The Cardinals could find them in a position this upcoming season with a great piece of trade bait and have the opportunity to acquire a few more talented, young players in return for Beltran just to have the potential opportunity foiled by a rather absurd no-trade clause.  The idea of placing such a stipulation into a two year contract when a player is on the downwards slope of his career is incredibly alarming.

If Beltran continues his tradition of getting hurt as he ages, despite the numbers he may put up when healthy, the signing could be looked at as nothing short of a bust considering the player he was brought into replace in Albert Pujols.

Win or lose, this is a risky deal for the Cardinals with the only guaranteed benefactor being Mr. Carlos Beltran.

Instead, the Cardinals could use the money they allotted for Carlos Beltran towards Prince Fielder, who should, realistically, dial in around the $20 to $22 million mark after the rather conservative contract signed by Pujols.  “Conservative contract” is obviously a relative term used in perspective of the ridiculous deals signed by the likes of Alex Rodriguez (10 years for $275 million, $27.5 million average) and Ryan Howard (5 years for $125 million a year, $25 million average) among others when compared to the consistent numbers achieved by the former Cardinal and his deal of 10 years for $254 million dollars.

One potential reason for the signing of Carlos Beltran, and hopefully the reason for the two year section of the contract, is that the Cincinnati Red’s Joey Votto is set to become a free agent after the 2013 season.  Votto has placed second in Rookie of the Year voting, been named to two All-Star teams, and won a Gold Glove during his short four year tenure in the majors.  While his value will certainly go up by the time the end of the 2013 season rolls around, he is certainly a legitimate long-term choice for the Cardinals.

On the pitching side of things, there have been some big names available that St. Louis has failed to tempt to the Gateway City.  CJ Wilson, Roy Oswalt, and Mark Buehrle have all been available this off-season but the Cardinals are still stuck with the over-bearing contracts of Jake Westbrook and Kyle Lohse.

Cardinals fans should have high expectations of Carlos Beltran when he is on the field or at the plate but not be disappointed when an injury finds its way to the bones of the newly named Cardinal.  They should also realize that Beltran is far from “the answer” for a nation of fans who were left with a whole in there heart after the departure of Pujols.

Beltran is simply a pawn in what is hopefully a bigger scheme for the Cardinals organization.

With so much negativity surrounding Cardinals fans right now, it might be helpful to look towards the future.

Following the initial shock of losing one of the best players in team history, St. Louisans should begin the process of looking for the new face of their hallowed organization.   Please note that the following only looks at players whom were on the Major League roster during the 2011 season potential future big leaguers like Shelby Miller and Matt Adams are left off of the list.

Matt Holliday is a .315 career hitter averaging 29 homeruns and 110 RBI’s with All-Star appearances in each of his two full seasons playing under the Arch; Holliday has played in five All-Star games in his career.  With a contract through the 2016 season and a club option with a $1 million buyout for the 2017 season guaranteed if he finishes in the top 10 of MVP voting, Holliday certainly has a “star” contract that matches his career performance.  Holliday comes under some unjust criticism from Cardinals fans because the 31 year old outfielder was acquired via trade so fans are still warming up to number seven.  Despite this

Lance Berkman has quickly gone from “Cardinal killer” to “Cardinal favorite” since his arrival in the Gateway City.  Berkman exploded onto the scene this year with 24 homeruns and 63 RBI’s in the first half of the season including 8 homeruns in April/March, 9 in June, and 8 in July.  His joyful approach to the game and his light-hearted humor in the clubhouse along with his veteran presence was just what the doctor ordered for the Cardinals this season.  While Berman jerseys could be spotted on the back of Cardinals fans throughout the ballpark this year, the Puma’s numbers in the latter part of the season began to fluctuate with a slightly negative tendency.  The soon to be 36 year old former Cardinal rival hit a lowly two homeruns in August and just one in September/October.  While Fat Elvis added a sixth All-Star appearance to his belt this season and finished seventh in MVP voting at seasons end, Berkman is not a proper portrait for the face of the franchise due simply to his age.

Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainright, and Jamie Garcia can be lumped into one basket that sits under the Dave Duncan tree of success.  While these three pitchers are individually capable of greatness, nearly all credit must go to the master of the pitch.  Since the Cardinals are hoping to sell jerseys and tickets for years to come off of a player’s success and reputation, a pitching coach like Dave Duncan is out of the question to be the face of the franchise.  At the same time, Chris Carpenter did not age gracefully this past year with his lowest win total since his 2001 season in Atlanta.  With that being said, Death Carp threw the second most innings of his career this season with a rather lackluster defensive team behind him and still managed to acquire double digits wins during the regular season; this is not even mentioning his post-season heroics.  Unfortunately, Carpenter will be going on 37 years of age come the end of April so he falls into the same boat as Berkman.  Wainright and Garcia, on the other hand, are a young one-two combination that is likely to cause teams trouble for years to come.  Wainright has already proven himself to be a yearly Cy Young Award contender and Cardinals fans can expect an incredibly versatile and crafty Garcia to be in the race as well for years to come.  m

For some unknown reason, ladies of all ages love to see a plus sized catcher hustle down the base paths at the astonishing pace of a snail.  While his powers to make the ladies swoon at his feet have many males within the Gateway City at a loss of words and rather jealous, there is no doubt that Yadier Molina is already a face of the Cardinals franchise.  Building a career as the best defensive catcher and game caller in the Major Leagues today is no easy task.  Consider the fact that not only are players bigger, faster, and stronger than ever before, but that batters now use video to review and critique every pitch that comes from the mound; this means that being a truly superb defensive catcher is more difficult than ever before yet, Yadi still reigns supreme.  He has a knack for calling the right pitch at the perfect time that throws hitters into a roller coaster of a plate appearance.  One only has to look at Molina’s caught stealing percentage of 44 percent over his career and compare that to the league average 28 percent to get true appreciation for this defensive masterpiece; as a note, Molina has finished with the third best caught stealing percentage in the league in three different years.  The defensive cannon behind the plate showed off a little with the bat this year as well, throwing up career marks across the board with a .305 batting average, 14 home runs, and 65 RBI’s with 55 runs scored.  This four time Gold Glove winner and three-time All-Star could and should be the face of the franchise, but there’s one slight problem with him.

David Freese is the hometown boy.  While it’s tough to paint a player who barely has over a full regular season of games under his belt (184 games played since his 2009 debut) as the face of such as historic franchise, this Lafayette High School graduate stole the hearts of Cardinals nation this year.  While he’s faced his fair share of injuries during his time in the big leagues, Freese has still managed to put up a career .298 average including 10 homers with 55 RBI’s and 16 doubles during the 2011 regular season.  The Wildwood, MO native astonished the world by winning both the NLCS and World Series MVP awards.  The 28 yeard old right hander tore through the Brewers swinging for a .545 average with 3 homeruns and 9 RBI’s in the NLCS.  Freese then topped off the Cardinals historic post-season run by hitting .348 in the World Series with 7 RBI’s, 5 drawn walks, 1 game tying triple, and one of the most dramatic home runs in Cardinals history.  Assuming he can stay healthy and can continue to improve or, at the very least, remain at his current level of production through the remainder of his career, he will truly be a special player.

David Freese is poised to be the next face of the Cardinals.

Albert Pujols is heading to the Los Angeles Angels.

After saying time and time again that it’s not about the money, after saying he just wants to win, after saying he wants to be the best player in not just baseball, but Cardinals history, Pujols’s deal is signing a 10 year, $250 million contract with a full no-trade clause.

With the Angels being an American League team, this appears to be a better long-term fit for Albert considering the fact that he can become a designated hitter in the later parts of his career.

The deal that the Cardinals offered Pujols was rumored to be around the $220 million mark, a difference of $30 million over the course of the contract.  The Cardinals signed Lance Berkman to a one year, $12 million extension during the regular season.  This will allow the Cardinals to keep an impact player at first base with Allen Craig patrolling right field while minor league first baseman prospect Matt Adams grows another year in Springfield and/or Memphis.  Craig has been having problems with his knees having surgery to repair his fractured right kneecap prior to Thanksgiving.

Adams hit .300 with 32 home runs and 101 RBI’s in 115 game and 463 at bats for the Springfield Redbirds last season.

Albert Pujols had the worst season of his career this past season and has been trending downward over the past three years.

In 2009 Pujols hit .327 with 47 homeruns, 135 RBI’s, .443 on-base percentage, and a .658 slugging percentage with 124 runs scored.  In 2010 those numbers dropped to a .312 batting average, 42 homeruns, 188 RBI’s, .414 OBP, and a .596 slugging percentage with 115 runs scored.  This past season, those numbers went to an even lower level with a .299 average with 37 homeruns, 99 RBI’s, .366 OBP, and a .541 slugging percentage with 105 runs scored.

The 2011 season will mark the first year that Pujols hit less than 100 RBI’s, hit under .299, just the second time he had an on-base percentage under .400,  and his third lowest runs scored total in his career.

This deal will place Pujols as the highest paid first baseman in baseball today.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, who stated in a Tweet earlier Tuesday, the Marlins have offered Pujols a 10 year deal in excess of $200 million dollars; various new reports have placed this number around the $220 million plus mark.  Joe Struass of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and STLToday.com says that the proposed deal between Pujols and the Marlins does not include a full no-trade clause.  Strauss also says that Miami, according to an unnamed club executive, is giving themselves a 50-50 chance of signing the ten time All-Star first baseman.

The Miami Marlins are considering themselves to be a serious player for the King Albert, but Cardinals fans should not worry too deeply about LeBron’s town.

The Marlins simply cannot afford the same luxuries that the Heat were able to afford this past off-season.

After unveiling a new team name, uniform, and logo, the Marlins announced that they would also raise their payroll from a mockable $57 million to during the 2011 season to a speculated semi-respectable range in the area of $80 million.

There was one closer on the tips of every baseball tongue during the trade deadline this past season; Heath Bell.  While the 43 save All-Star was nearly unstoppable this year prior, his three year, $27 million ($9 million average) deal will put a dent in the Fish’s wallet.

Add into that an injury prone shortstop named Jose Reyes who signed with the Marlins for six years for $106 million ($17.6 million average).  The four time All-Star shortstop is an undeniably skilled player when he is healthy, averaging .292 at the plate with 57 stolen bases, and 113 runs scored a season.  The problem is that Reyes has missed 191 of 486 (39.3%) possible games in the past three years.

These two players alone combine for $26.6 million a year, or 33.3% of the Marlins predicted $80 million dollar payroll.  If they were to add in Pujols at, say, $26 million a year that would make these three players worth almost as much as their entire 2011 roster; the three players would combine for $52.6 million a year or 65.8% of that projected $80 million payroll.

The fact of the matter is that the Marlins have to exceed the triple digit mark if they wish to successfully put players on the field around this dream team.  This would be a risky move considering the waters around Miami are still murky when it comes to fan support of the Marlins.

There are a few other factors that will cause the over-sized fish to miss out on the potentially best player in baseball history.

Albert Pujols is looking to finish his career in one place.  He appears to be a simple man at heart who does not wish to bounce around from city to city, something that the Marlins have apparently over-looked.  The reported proposal given to Albert’s camp from Miami does not include a full no-trade clause, something the Cardinals have surely offered.

The last item is this “pressure cooker” situation that Miami has placed Pujols in.  Albert is a man who wants to take his time and make the correct decision for not only himself, but his family.  There are undoubtedly countless conversations occurring between ‘Ol Number 5 and his wife and family in regards to this potential life-altering move; this is a decision that the Pujols family would love to take their time with.

The St. Louis Cardinals organization knows how to deal with Pujols; they have done so, after all, for his entire career.  They understand that he is a man who wishes to be respected while realizing that a plus-sized contract could damage the organization beyond repair for years to come.

With the rumors of a final decision coming today from the Pujols camp floating around, Cardinals fans should take a breath and relax.  The King will not be going to Miami.

Perron, who suffered a season-ending concussion on November 4, 2010 in a game against the San Jose Sharks, will make take to the ice Saturday against a familiar foe and bitter rival of the Blues, the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Blues forward scored 5 goals and had 2 helpers (7 points) in his only 10 games of the 2010-2011 season.  Perron has a total of 53 goals, 78 assist, and 131 points in 235 career games with career highs in 2009-2010 in goals (20) and 2008-2009 in assist (35) and points (50).

Historically, December is a stellar month for Perron.  His overall points in December (21) are second only to November (28) in his career.   The 23 year old also has a career mark in assist the last month of the year with 15 helpers.

St. Louis has won 28 of the 45 games when Perron has scored at least one goal; that is a winning percentage of 62.2%.  The Blues have also won six of the seven games (87.7%) when he’s snuck two shots past the opposing team’s goalie.

The Sherbrooke, Canada native is certainly no stranger when it comes to finding an open man who can sink one into the back of the net.  Of the 68 games that have included a Perron insist, the ‘Notes have won 38 of them (55.9%).  The Blues have won five of the nine games (55.6%) when he’s has at least two helpers.

The Blackhawks should be alert of where Perron is at all times during Saturday’s game.  The 26^th overall draft pick by the Blues in 2007 has more success scoring goals against the Chicago boys than any other team with eight career goals in 19 games.

Saturday’s game against the Blackhawks at the Scottrade Center will be aired on Fox Sports Midwest with a 7:00pm CST puck drop.  The Blues are on the road tonight to take on the Colorado Avalanche with an 8:00pm CST start and can also be found on FSMW.

Jason Motte was on the mound in the ninth to close, or, as Tony LaRussa would say, “pitch” the ninth inning.  With 2 outs and a 6-2 Cardinals lead, David Murphy was at the plate on an 0-1 count.  The powerful arm of Motte threw a pitch to Murphy that was hit solidly out to right field; right to Allen Craig.

A roar was let out from Cardinals Nation.

The St. Louis Cardinals, my dear friends, are World Series Champions for 2011 beating the Texas Rangers 6-2 in Game 7!

Call them every cliché in the book, the comeback kids, the heartbreakers, the cardiac kids, down but not out, they all work.  This team somehow, someway, reached down deep into their souls to pull out an unbelievable Game 6 win on Thursday night; the fact that they had the energy to play, let alone be victorious in Game 7 of the World Series is simply exceptional.

Placing the Cardinals Game 7 victory squarely on the shoulders of one individual is a nearly impossible task, but a World Series MVP had to be named.

David Freese made an incredible catch over the Rangers dugout with Hamilton at the plate.  Freese received the World Series MVP honors for his performance during the Fall Classic.  Besides having a game-tying triple and game-winning homerun in Game 6 to force Friday’s match-up, he went 1-2 with 2 RBI’s and drew 2 walks during the Cardinals championship.  He found himself in Pujols-like situations, with the Rangers choosing to send him a pass during potential game changing situations late in the game.

Allen Craig stole a Nelson Cruz homerun in left field that would have reduced the Rangers deficit to just 2 in the 5^th inning and to top it off, Craig had what ended up being the game winning homerun in the 3^rd inning that put the Red Birds up 3-2 over the Rangers.  It almost seemed fitting that the last pitch of the 2011 season resulted in a fly ball to Craig to give the Cardinals their 11^th World Series.  Craig’s performance is made even more amazing when one considers the fact that the only reason the young outfielder started is due to a Matt Holliday wrist sprain.

Ron Washington promised that he would not pitch to Pujols after the Machine’s historic Game 3 performance and he stuck true to his word.  While Pujols did not record a hit, the walks he received allowed the face of the Cardinals organization to score 2 runs.

Chris Carpenter had a solid performance during Game 7.  The only runs on the night came during the 1^st inning where the Rangers through 2 up on the board, but, after a quick visit from pitching coach Dave Duncan, Carpenter straightened out and threw up 0’s across the board until the 7^th inning when the bullpen took over.

Lance Berkman continued his top-notch post-season performance, scoring 2 runs and drawing a walk on Friday night.  Keep in mind that Berkman was almost on the wrong side of this series as a member of the Texas Rangers.

The Cardinals have done it.  So, Go Crazy Folks and praise the baseball gods named Torty and Rally Squirrel, the Cards are 2011 World Series Champions!

Chambers quickly became a fan favorite as his exuberant personality and timely hitting provided an extra burst of energy to the Cardinals lineup.  During his short, 18 game stretch in the majors during the regular season Chambers only made 8 plate appearances but he made them shine.  The Pensacola, Florida native recorded 2 runs and 4 RBI’s with a triple on 3 hits for a .375 batting average.

The left handed batter only found himself picking up a bat twice against the Phillies in the NLDS, but recorded a hit, an RBI, and a run during one of those at bats.

The Brewers were not as kind to Chambers, who struck out 3 times and was not able to get on base during his 4 plate appearances in the NLCS.  He did, however, score an RBI and score during a pinch-running situation.

Holliday, who could be seen stretching out his right hand with a look of pain on his face after being picked off at third base, has been struggling during the World Series.

The Cardinals power hitting left fielder was hitting .158 during the Fall Classic, only recording a total of 3 hits and striking out 4 times during 19 at-bats.  Including last night’s historic Game 6, Holliday did draw a total of 7 walks  to balance out his on base percentage at .385.

Allen Craig is the probable replacement for Holliday in the outfield.  Craig was a pinch-hitting specialist for the Red Birds during the NLCS swinging for a .375 batting average with 3 RBI’s and a run scored on 3 hits in 8 just 8 at-bats.  He’s recorded a .267 average with 2 homeruns, including his longball last night, 4 RBI’s, and 3 runs scored on 4 hits in 15 at-bats with an additional 3 drawn walks for a .421 on-base percentage.

Game 7 has a 7:05pm CST first pitch and can be seen on Fox or heard locally on 101 ESPN-WXOS and KMOX 1120.

Jamie Garcia is on the mound for the Red Birds while the Rangers have plucked Colby Lewis out of their arsenal.

It’s a do or die scenario in Game 6 of the World Series.  Here are your quick hitters for tonight’s game.

Jamie Garcia: The young Cardinals left hander had a stellar Game 2 in which he went 7 innings allowing only 3 hits and recording 7 strikeouts.  Garcia, who had been struggling prior to these games in the post-season, is still searching for his first post-season win.  While his previous outing was an exceptional one he did allow 10 earned runs and 19 hits in just 15.2 innings of work.

Colby Lewis: Lewis had positioned himself into one of the premiere postseason pitchers of the season.  While he is 1-1 in 3 starts this October, he has a 2.95 ERA.  In his 18.1 innings of work he has allowed just 13 hits and 6 runs but has also let 3 homeruns leave the park under his watch.

Albert Pujols: Ron Washington has been very public about his opinions on Albert Pujols.  After being burned by The Machine in Game 3, Washington’s made it well known to the St. Louis Cardinals fans, players, and manager that Pujols will not have a good pitch to hit the rest of the Series.  Pujols walked a total of 3 times during Game 5.

Batting Clean-up:  The alternating clean-up hitters, Lance Berkman and Matt Holliday, have been struggling greatly this series.  While Berkman is hitting .389 during the Fall Classic, he has only driven 2 runs in and has yet to record a home run.  Holliday is in a similar boat with a slightly bigger hole in the bottom of it.  He’s batting just .167 while searching for that first RBI and long ball.  Tony LaRussa has switched Berkman and Holliday to the 4 and 5 spots within the line-up respectively.

Skip Schumaker:  Skip is finding himself starting in centerfield.  While Schumaker has the better arm, Jay is certainly the better defender yet he is still searching for his first World Series hit.  This is the sole reason for the Red Bird utility veteran finding himself playing centerfield in this evenings game; there is a huge need for offensive production in this series, a spark that Schumaker hopes to provide.

Back against the Wall:  Cardinals fans should not be too weary of tonight’s game.  The Red Birds were calling upon the powers of a tortoise long before they knew of the sacred squirrel while they were 10.5 games out of the playoffs.  Back against the wall?  Do or die?  Win or go home?  These are the Cardinals.  This is Cardinals Nation.  There is no going home!

It’s a 7:05pm CST first pitch with the game appearing on Fox and on the radio dial locally on 101.1 ESPN – WXOS and KMOX 1120.