In yesterday’s St. Louis Post Dispatch, Derrick Goold quotes Cardinals manager Tony La Russa confirming that despite closer Ryan Franklin’s recent struggles, that no change in the bullpen hierarchy was going to happen:

“When Franklin is fresh, he’s going to get the ninth inning. He’s the best guy we have for that role.”

Today, ESPN is reporting that La Russa has given the closer’s role back to Jason Israinghausen and that both Izzy and Franklin were notified of this decision yesterday afternoon - probably a couple hours after Cardinals fans would have read that Goold article supporting Franklin.

Throw in the fact that La Russa let Jason Isringhausen bat in the sixth inning with runners on second and third with two outs in Saturday’s game against the Mets and then didn’t let Izzy come out to pitch the bottom of the inning despite the fact that the Cards had plenty of pinch hitters left on their bench at that point, and I give up. I have no idea what that guy is thinking anymore. Not that I nor anyone else ever did.

Sunday night is a bittersweet time. You’re all nice and relaxed from the weekend…but then…what’s that noise?! Did you hear something lurking in the shadows? GAAAH! It’s MONDAY MORNING! RUUUNNN!!! So here’s a few links to lull you back into a false sense of security:

Fire Brand of the American League on the Roy Oswalt - to - Boston - at - the - deadline rumors.

The Kansas City Star on all the stuff you can get with a Royals ticket stub (warning: you may need an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of it all).

The Bleacher Report on what the Rangers could do to become contenders—this season.

The Other Fifteen made a heat map to compare Tulo’s range with Jeter’s. Guess who wins!

View from the Cheap Seats is piiiiiiiissed at Tony LaRussa for letting Adam Wainwright chuck 130 pitches when he’s the Cards’ only good, healthy starter. Viva El Birdos is also concerned.

Phil Hughes lets Morgan Ensberg guest blog. The results are sort of like a Jackson Pollock painting.

Keith Law went to a wedding. The DJ played “Sweet Caroline”….and paused for the fans guests to shout BAHM BAHM BAAAHM and SO GOOD! SO GOOD! SO GOOD! How odd.

River Ave Blues gulps and delivers the bad news: Jorge Posada’s shoulder is still not better. Will the Yanks have to bite the bullet and get a backup for their backup? Doug Mirabelli’s available… (DOUGIE’S GOING DEEP!)

Baseball Prospectus on just how insane Cliff Lee has been to start the season.

High Cheese notes that Tom Gorzelanny’s bobblehead is making an obscene gesture.

And finally, Sox and Dawgs has the latest crop of Red Sox charity wines. Last year, we had Schilling Schardonnay, Caberknuckle, and my personal favorite, Manny Being Merlot. I was hoping the Sox would branch out into beer and hard liquor (“Coco’s Crisp IPA: Packed with good hops” or “Varitek Vodka: Intangibly Smooth”) but no such luck. This year’s puns are Sauvignyoouuk (witty), Captain’s Cabernet (yawn), and Vintage Papi (super-yawn). I’m disappointed, quite frankly. What about the Papi Pinot I requested? The Matsu-sake?! Pedroia’s Petite Sirah? Buchholztraminer?!?

What else should I be reading? Email me!

Maybe it’s because I’m getting a bit tired of hearing so many trade rumors, but I’m feeling mighty childish/punchy today (more so than usual, anyway).

And maybe that’s why I find this this headline on ESPN to be hysterical:

“Rolen seeks trade; LaRussa won’t ‘please Scott’”

Now Scott, you knew very well going into this relationship that Tony had the reputation of being a bit stingy in that department. There’s a long line of guys that couldn’t convince LaRussa to please them. And trust me, they’ve tried everything. A box of Ferrero Roche chocolates, a pocket full of posies, won an MVP Award, posted his bail, and all were denied.

I don’t blame you for trying, though.

There are three inevitabilities in life: death, taxes, and an unsatisfactory roster of MLB All-Stars. Sure, it may be trite to even bother blogging about such a clichéd topic. But this year, there seems to be a new reason to be unhappy – Closers. 

NL Manager Tony LaRussa has decided to carry six Closers out of the eleven slots he made available to pitchers, having tabbed Trevor Hoffman, Billy Wagner, Brian Fuentes, Francisco Cordero, Jose Valverde and Takashi Saito. In previous years, the majority of pitchers named to be All-Stars have been Starters and generally speaking, each team would carry four or five relievers.  

Has this been a banner year for Closers in the NL?  Did these six pitchers really warrant increasing the number of relief pitchers from 4 in 2006 to 6 this year? Or have the NL Starting Pitchers been so terrible that only five among them could be considered All-Stars?  

Out of the six Closers on the NL roster, you could at least try to make a case (with varying degrees of success) for five of them – and none of their last names end in “uentes”. In an ironic twist, Brian Fuentes of  Colorado was deposed of his Closer role the very same day he was named an All Star for the third time in his career. To be fair, you could easily make the case that this is simply poor timing. Fuentes has allowed eight earned runs over his last four outings (during which he only managed to record a total of 7 outs). Not only is this true, he was tagged with a blown save AND a loss in each of these four outings. Brutal.

On the Starting Pitchers front, the easy call for inclusion is Brad Penny. The criminally underappreciated Jake Peavy is certainly worthy, and you figure that Smoltzie’s resume and worthy numbers thus far in 2007 made him all but a lock.   

But there are some notable snubs among the NL pitching corps this year, starting with Brandon Webb. The Diamondback with the devastating sinker is a curious omission given that he is on pace to record over 200 Ks and sports a sparkling 3.05 ERA pitching in the bandbox that is Chase Field (aka the B.O.B.). Other missing notables are Derek Lowe, Chris Young, Ian Snell, and – dare I say it – John Maine of the New York Mets.

Compare these four snubs with say, Cole Hamels, who was selected.  While it’s true that Hamels has won 9 already, so has Maine – and Maine’s ERA is over a full run lower than Hamels. It’s incredibly peculiar. In fact, among NL pitchers who have thrown at least 80 innings this year, Hamels’ 3.87 ERA doesn’t even crack the top 20. While it’s true that Hamels has put up these numbers in a hitter’s park while Maine’s blemishes are covered by the expanses of Shea Stadium, but if we’re rewarding Hamels for this, what about Webb? 

It simply is not the case that NL starting pitchers were undeserving. In fact, I feel that this has been a very strong year for the top arms, as 22 starters are currently sporting an ERA under 4.  

Clearly, LaRussa has constructed a pitching staff that more closely mirrors a real National League team – eleven pitchers, five starters. He chose six relievers so he could manage as if this were a real game. Deserving pitchers be damned. LaRussa wants to win and he wants home field advantage. Then it’s a shame his Cardinals are 8 games under .500. 

Other Notable Snubs: 

Jimmy Rollins (PHI), Hanley Ramirez (FLA), Edgar Renteria (ATL) 

Shortstop in the National League is a hotbed of talent. Starting SS Jose Reyes is on pace to steal over 80 bases, rack up over 200 hits, and is currently getting on base at a .399 clip, a feat unfathomable for Reyes only two years ago. The Brewers’ J.J. Hardy has been in the early discussions for NL MVP, coming out of virtually nowhere to enter the top-5 in homeruns to go along with 51 RBIs. But his numbers in June were certainly unimpressive, hitting a mere .233 AVG with a .327 OBP and .384 SLG. Not quite All Star status. Rollins, Ramirez, and Renteria were all better candidates if you wanted to select guys who you knew were the best. Besides, LaRussa could find spots for Freddy Sanchez and Aaron Rowand but couldn’t put in one of these SS? That’s downright criminal (NOTE: Yes, I know Sanchez is Pittsburgh’s lone rep. Which is another reason why I find Ian Snell’s omission puzzling). 

Orlando Cabrera (ANA) 

What’s up with omitting deserving shortstops? As of this writing, Cabrera and Jeter are neck-and-neck in terms of numbers, having hit the same number of extra-base-hits (29 a piece), same number of runs scored (53) and are a mere .001 apart on batting average (Jeter has the edge with .338). But Cabrera has nine more RBIs, more steals (at a much better success rate), and thirteen fewer strikeouts in more at-bats. How does Michael Young get the nod over Cabrera?  

Kevin Youkilis (BOS) 

Sorry. I’m dry heaving as I write this. But did you know that Youk is currently in the top-10 in the AL in OPS? Did you know that he’s tied for 10^th in AL Win Shares – more than any other Red Sox? While it’s true that his power numbers don’t jump out at you, who would you say is having the better year – Youk or Manny Ramirez? With Mark Teixeira injured, Justin Morneau’s the only true first baseman on the roster. Youk could have been the second.

And of course, let us know who you think got the screw treatment in the comments page!

Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa was busted for DUI last night by the Jupiter PD. But something about this story seems awfully fishy. From the AP:

Undercover officers saw La Russa’s SUV partly in an intersection around midnight and not moving despite two green lights, police said. Officers knocked on the vehicle’s window and La Russa did not initially respond.

The SUV was in drive and running, with La Russa’s foot on the brake, police said. When he eventually woke up, the officers asked him to get out of the car.

He was arrested and booked at the Palm Beach County jail on the misdemeanor, according to police and jail records. He was released about 8:30 a.m. after posting $500 cash bond, said Paul Miller, a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

Okay, first of all, LaRussa was barely over the legal limit. Here’s a list of the different blood alcohol levels and the behavior that is associated with them, courtesy of habitsmart.com:

02 MELLOW FEELING. SLIGHT BODY WARMTH. LESS INHIBITED.

05 NOTICEABLE RELAXATION. LESS ALERT. LESS SELF-FOCUSED. COORDINATION IMPAIRMENT BEGINS.

.08 DRUNK DRIVING LIMIT. DEFINITE IMPAIRMENT IN COORDINATION AND JUDGMENT.

.10 NOISY. POSSIBLE EMBARRASSING BEHAVIOR. MOOD SWINGS. REDUCTION IN REACTION TIME.

.15 IMPAIRED BALANCE AND MOVEMENT. CLEARLY DRUNK.

.30 MANY LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS

.40 MOST LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS; SOME DIE.

.50 BREATHING STOPS. MANY DIE.

LaRussa was passed out, behavior you’d expect from somebody with three times the booze he had in his system. According to his blood/alcohol level, he should have been somewhere between “impaired” and “embarrassing”.

Maybe LaRussa got too much sun Wednesday afternoon. Or maybe he’s been having trouble sleeping. But I think there’s more to this story than has been reported. You don’t pass out at the wheel after only a couple of drinks — unless you’re a total wuss. And Tony LaRussa is no wuss.