I used to be on the "we must keep LaRussa" bandwagon but now I'm starting to wonder about him.  It seems he thinks the Cardinals are his own personal little Fiefdom :-\

Last edited by Webstergrovesalum (7/27/2011 5:35 pm)

Reader comments from the Toronto Globe & Mail:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/jays-get-jump-on-mlb-trade-frenzy/article2111443/comments/

The ridiculousness of this deal cannot be overstated. AA is to be commended. Rasmus had an .850 OPS and 23 HRs last year as a 23 year old. Plays plus CF D. He's playing for a manager who simply didn't like him, and Toronto punced. We're talking *potential* superstar CF. In a down year, he still has a league average .753 OPS. Steal. Absolute steal.
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A lot of players involved in the trades but the Blue Jays came away with the best player - Colby Rasmus.

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Great dealing by the Jays. hope AA was nice enough to give them a cigarette afterward.
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Sorry to see Stewart and Rzepczinski go, but you have to make these deals for Rausmus if you are Toronto. Stewart may prove to be a starter in the majors, but maybe not. Bullpen arms are the easiest thing to replace. With all the kids the Jays have in the minors, let them start their careers in the bullpen at the MLB level.

The legend of AA grows.
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I would take any negative criticism of Rasmus with a grain of salt coming out of St. Louis. I remember another player who was overrated and had a "bad attitude" dealing with Tony LaRussa: Scott Rolen. Could it be a manager problem?
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Nice move by AA. To get a player with Colby's potential was awesome. Stewart is the only big loss as the rest of the guys who went are not impact players.
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Cardinal fans,meanwhile see a puzzling,maddening 24 year old enigma who's batting .203 with
a sickly .227 OBP and a ho-hum .375 slugging percentage in his last 214 plate appearances
going back to May 7.Old-school fans are fed up with the Raz's ambivalence in tracking deep
fly balls that put him in a collision course with the outfield wall
Written by Bernie Miklarz in the St.Louis Post Dispatch
Draw your own conclusions and stop drinking AA's Kool-aid
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Love it. Amounts to Rasmus for some middling relievers, cash, and a prospect we can afford to part with.
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Looks like the Jays are throwing in the towel for another season...

They needed quality relief pitching and they end up with two aged/or perennial losers, plus a young unproven question mark..
To top it off they let their best relief hope Frasor go instead of someone like Camp or Francesco who have been write offs lately.
Then they throw in Stewart, one of the keys to the Halliday deal.

Go figure ...This is a joke ..All that for Rasmus...May as well kept Vernon Wells..

The denial that confirms the accusation:

“I’ve heard if you don’t get along with the manager in St. Louis, you can’t play,† manager Tony La Russa said. “That’s ridiculous. If you get on Tony’s bad side you’re out of here, that’s wrong.â€

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AgkqA8SMdaKBsj6xDxzT_0ERvLYF?slug=ap-three-teamtrade

artie_fufkin wrote:

tkihshbt wrote:

I bought an MLB TV subscription. I doubt Rasmus will be in the Jays lineup tonight, but I can still listen to Brennaman!

Just keep one hand on the volume control knob and you'll be fine.

Joey Votto just went opposite field and Brennaman sounded as excited as someone getting a root canal.

tkihshbt wrote:

Does he always talk about teams from 1973? He won't shut up about the '73 Braves.

Wait until the '75-'76 Reds enter the discussion.

artie_fufkin wrote:

Did you just hear him say "the Cardinals acquired up to six players" including "Octovio Dotel?"

I tuned out to go get an ice cream sandwich. I can't believe you are able to sit through their games nightly.

artie_fufkin wrote:

Did you just hear him say "the Cardinals acquired up to six players" including "Octovio Dotel?"

I read somewhere that there was cash or 3 PTBNL.  So starter, lefty, and doofus + 3 makes 6.

Max wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

Did you just hear him say "the Cardinals acquired up to six players" including "Octovio Dotel?"

I read somewhere that there was cash or 3 PTBNL.  So starter, lefty, and doofus + 3 makes 6.

Right. I can add. The point of the post was an announcer in a major league television booth mispronouncing the name of a guy who's been in the major leagues for a dozen years.

Last edited by artie_fufkin (7/27/2011 10:07 pm)

Max wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

Did you just hear him say "the Cardinals acquired up to six players" including "Octovio Dotel?"

I read somewhere that there was cash or 3 PTBNL.  So starter, lefty, and doofus + 3 makes 6.

Thy better not take the cash.

Thoughts from the national pundits:


ESPN analyst Keith Law ripped the trade and blamed manager Tony La Russa for orchestrating it. Here is a snippet of Law’s outburst:

“The Cardinals . . . have made a terrible organizational move by allowing their aging manager to run off the best hitting prospect the team has produced since drafting Albert Pujols. Whether La Russa was mostly responsible or only shares responsibility with Rasmus and his father, it is clear that La Russa's my-way-or-the-highway mentality has hurt the organization for this year and several years to come with the Rasmus fiasco, and unfortunately the front office's decision to retain La Russa for 2011 has come back to haunt them. Rasmus has the potential to be a 5- to 6-win player at his peak, and there's no manager in baseball who can produce that kind of value.â€

Jim Bowden, ESPN.com: “The Cardinals ran out of patience and understanding with this ultra-talented player and decided that his makeup wasn’t going to work in St. Louis. Reminds me of when the Brewers gave up on Gary Sheffield too early. This deal will come back to haunt them and sooner than they think. The Cardinals better win this year, or they will really regret this one. Worst trade of the year, sorry Cardinals fans.â€

Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports: “In what could be La Russa’s and Pujols’ final seasons in St. Louis, the Cardinals struck four days before the trading deadline with a deal that by season’s end could leave them with little for Rasmus. But, the lure of a beefier pitching staff down the stretch – the Brewers bolstered their bullpen with Francisco Rodriguez earlier in the month – was enough to convince them to part with Rasmus.â€

Matthew Pouliot, NBCSports.com: “Rasmus is just 24.  He’s hit .259/.334/.444 in his three seasons, giving him 111 OPS+.  The only guys 25 or younger with better OPS+ the last three years are Evan Longoria, Carlos Gonzalez, Billy Butler, Justin Upton, Andrew McCutchen, Pablo Sandoval, Jay Bruce and Asdrubal Cabrera.  He’s a long-term answer in center field for the Blue Jays, and the biggest thing Toronto gave up to get him was Marc Rzepczynski. I just can’t believe that the Cardinals, even if they felt that they had to move him, couldn’t get more for Rasmus.  A legitimate No. 2 starter or an All-Star-caliber middle infielder.  They gave up a terrific long-term property without getting a real difference-maker in return.â€

Danny Knobler, CBSSports.com: “The stat guys will wonder how the Cardinals could ever trade Colby Rasmus, who is 24 years old and ranked just behind Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier and Ryan Braun in OPS+ last year. I'm wondering if the Cardinals just made the move that puts them in position to win the National League Central. I'm not convinced, but I do know that the Cardinals had to improve their bullpen if they were going to have any chance to top the Brewers, Reds and even the Pirates in the bunched-up NL Central race. They did that already, and . . . the Cardinals remain engaged with the Padres in an effort to acquire closer Heath Bell.â€

Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports: “This trade makes sense only if Mozeliak believes Pujols is leaving via free agency and he wants to ramp up for one last run with the man who for years has been the best player in baseball. Even if that is the case, Rasmus is the last player he should want to trade – the very sort who, if he couldn’t replace Pujols, surely could grow into a player around whom the Cardinals build. Instead, they get two months of (Edwin) Jackson and the draft picks that will come when he hits free agency. And two months of (Octavio) Dotel, plus another pick. Rzepczynski should be a serviceable left-handed reliever for the next few years. (Corey) Patterson is cannon fodder. The final equation: two months of solid pitching, three draft choices and a left-handed reliever for three years of a five-tool center fielder.â€

Cliff Corcoran, SI.com: “The Cardinals are gambling on Rasmus continuing to founder, as well as on their current team making a big push to win this year in anticipation of a difficult negotiation with superstar first baseman Albert Pujols upon his declaring free agency this fall. Jackson, who has posted a 3.66 ERA and 3.05 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 30 starts for Chicago since being dealt there at last year's deadline, could indeed represent a significant upgrade on Adam Wainwright's injury replacement Kyle McClellan, who has gone 1-4 with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.61 K/BB since returning from the disabled list in mid-June. The Cardinals also upgraded their bullpen by swapping veteran lefties Trever Miller and Brian Tallet and righty long man P.J. Walters for 25-year-old lefty Marc Rzepczynski and veteran righty Octavio Dotel, not to mention by returning McClellan to his rightful place in the 'pen. However, of the three pitchers acquired by St. Louis, only Rzepczynski will remain under their control beyond this season, and fourth outfielder Corey Patterson and the option for either three players to be named later or cash seem like mere filler that add calories to the Cardinals' end of the deal without any actual nutrition.â€

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/article_b0831274-b913-11e0-afed-001a4bcf6878.html#ixzz1TPgQBbXK

Yeah, I thought that comment was odd.

Someone should get around to praising Alex Cantspellhisname, since he traded air to get Rasmus.

To this point, Rasmus is 2-20 for a .100 Avg with his new club. He did draw a walk however, and one of those hits was a double, so it ain't all bad.

I'm so glad to be rid of his shitty ass....