Going to be a short night for waino

Charlie Morton plowing through this murderer's row of a lineup like he's Walter Freaking Johnson.

This change of scenery has made a huge difference for Ike Davis. I still think he would have made a better pitcher than a position player, but I'm glad things are working out for him in Pittsburgh.

Why is Morton throwing to first with two outs and the pitcher up? Does he think Jay is going to steal? Wainwright is going to sacrifice?

I feel like the Cardinals are going to have some uncomfortable decisions this winter.

Finally, a little joy in Mudville
The mighty Adams has hit one out.

tkihshbt wrote:

I feel like the Cardinals are going to have some uncomfortable decisions this winter.

As in the outflied/firstbase log jam?
 

Now that I've got time, I can type:

I feel like Holliday has started his decline. He's under contract for the next two seasons, so you have to figure that he's here to stay. Taveras is a precocious hitting talent, so I think he has to be given every opportunity and then some to succeed. 

So that leaves the infield. Peralta has been better than I expected and he has one more expensive contract year before his salary goes down to a level that might make him an attractive trading chip. He and Molina are here to stay.

When going into 2015 then, I think Holliday, Taveras, Molina and Peralta are a given. Adams seems like a given, but he's walked eight times. Matt Carpenter hasn't found a consistent doubles stroke, but he can still work pitch counts and draw walks. I'm not one who thinks a certain bat profile has to play the stereotypical position, but if the Cardinals were to add an impact player, it would most certainly be easier to do so at third base rather than second. But then there's Wong, who has his share of boneheaded mistakes, but he's also an exciting player with tremendous upside. 

To sum it up, I don't know what they should do, but I know they can't take this roster into 2015, even if it's really early to start talking about that. We thought this team was set up for another few years, but now it looks deeply flawed and needing major changes. 

But I don't know if they can deal Craig without eating a substantial portion of his salary. At that point, it might make more sense to keep him around in the same role La Russa did. The other problem is that Matheny thinks that Craig is the same guy he was from 2011-2013. That's how we go from Craig hitting a 385-foot opposite field home run off a lefty on Saturday to batting cleanup and grounding out seven times since then.