I know, I know.  The Albert Pujols negotiations have been done to death.  The scraps of information in the national press are even too small for a mouse, to reference a classic Christmas tale.  So why should we talk about it again?

Well, for one thing, there’s not much else out there to talk about.  Besides, I look back over my last posts and see that I’ve not really talked much …

If the weatherman is at all accurate, many of you will be spending today looking at winter precipitation coming down outside and hopefully not getting out of the house.  Here, it’s raining hard but sitting around 43, so I don’t expect much if anything will occur save perhaps some freezing this evening.

If you are going to be inside, though, you should at least have some new stuff to read.  While there’s not …

As regular readers of this site or other Cardinal blogs know, almost every month the United Cardinal Bloggers try to do some sort of interactive project.  Some are pretty regular (you’ll always see a roundtable in February and the Cardinal Blogger Awards in November), while some are more one-time things.

This time out, we’re trying a new project, suggested to us by Tom from CardinalsGM.  We are doing a little crystal …

The biggest news in the last few days has been the signing of Nick Punto.  When that’s your biggest news, you know things are quiet.

Punto is probably fine, as far as he goes.  The problem is, he just doesn’t go that far.  As Joe Strauss not-so-obliquely implied, whenever the official press release on the signing includes the word “gritty,” you aren’t expecting much from the offensive side of things.  When …

If you are tired of the Albert Pujols negotiation discussions, I have a suggestion for you.  Turn off all devices capable of receiving news for at least a month, perhaps the entire season.  That’s the only way you are going to be able to get away from it.

Bernie Miklasz writes that both sides share a little blame in this.  I think that’s true, to a certain extent.  There’s no doubt …

It’s Saturday night after a long day and I’m yawning my head off.  Which means it’s a perfect time for a blog post!

With the Winter Warmup kicking off today, there were numerous tidbits coming out of St. Louis.  Probably the biggest in terms of play was the fact that negotiations with Albert Pujols and his agent must be completed before spring training begins.  That was pretty much understood, though I …

The beginning of January is always a dead time in baseball.  The free agents are mainly signed, with only a couple of second or third tier guys still out there.  Pitchers and catchers don’t report for another few weeks, which means the baseball writers are getting their vacations in while they can.  What exactly is there to talk about?

Well, finally the Post-Dispatch, in the form of Joe Strauss, tossed out …

Yes, I’m still alive, if any of you are still checking this site.  Between the paucity of Cardinal news and the busy Christmas season, it’s been difficult to get back to this corner of cyberspace.

There is a little news, of course.  John Mozeliak has made the baffling claim that the defense will be better in 2011, which didn’t fly with some people.  The Brewers went out and got Zack Greinke, which made …

Second baseman Roberto Alomar and starting pitcher Bert Blyleven were named today as the recommended 2011 Hall of Fame class by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.

Alomar, who is on the ballot for his second year, and Blyleven, looking at his fourteenth time, both finished just shy of the BBA’s recommendation in 2010 at just a fraction under the 75% threshold.  As was the case last year, both Alomar and Blyleven received …

Yesterday, following Twitter, there was the suggestion floated that Cliff Lee might be looking at an unnamed team in a “place he loves.”  Following on that with some discussion at this weekend’s poker table, when around a third-hand report (which, being that Lee is from Arkansas, wasn’t surprising) of Lee hoping last year that the Cardinals would trade for him made the wheels start turning.  What if St. Louis was …

My thanks to all that read and expressed such kind things about my recent foray into parody writing.  Unfortunately, one of those that did not read this (apparently) was Mr. John Mozeliak, because he completely gutted the piece by trading Brendan Ryan yesterday.

Everyone has immediately jumped all over Tony La Russa for this move, which may be the accurate reaction.  However, I find it pretty interesting that TLR had reached …

December 10, 2010 has been designated as the first ever Baseball Bloggers Alliance day.  Granted, it’s not been so designated by anyone on high, just the BBA itself, but it gives members a chance to talk about the organization and what it is doing.

The BBA started up around September of last year.  The idea was to get some bloggers from across baseball together, have some interaction, give each other some …

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Mozeliak.”The general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, John Mozeliak, looked up from the paperwork on his desk.  Running a baseball team might be enjoyable and have great perks, but it never stops.“Thank you, Molly.  I hope you have a nice holiday as well.  Are you visiting family?”Molly nodded.  ”My parents are in town and we are having a nice family gathering.  How about you, sir?”“Well, tomorrow …

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Mozeliak.”The general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, John Mozeliak, looked up from the paperwork on his desk.  Running a baseball team might be enjoyable and have great perks, but it never stops.“Thank you, Molly.  I hope you have a nice holiday as well.  Are you visiting family?”Molly nodded.  ”My parents are in town and we are having a nice family gathering.  How about you, sir?”“Well, tomorrow …

Regular reader(s) will remember that, last week, I wrote about the possibility that Lance Berkman would become a Cardinal.  My conclusion was that it wouldn’t happen and it didn’t work for the Cardinals.

Yeah, this is why I don’t bet actual money on anything.

As you know by now, the Cards came to terms with Berkman over the weekend, getting him for a one-year deal worth $8 million.  I spent a lot …

After weeks of relative inactivity, the Cardinals made a couple of moves yesterday.  One was fairly straightforward.  One will have some sort of repercussions.

First off, the Cards signed lefthanded reliever Brian Tallet away from the Blue Jays.  Tallet’s numbers last year were pretty unsightly at first blush, as he posted a 6.40 ERA and allowed 20 home runs in 77 innings.

However, Tallet’s splits are where the Cardinals find value.  He …

With the cold wind blowing and baseball’s hot stove still not heating up to a nice cozy temperature, there’s not much to talk about.  However, when three stars of the baseball firmament align in baseball heaven, well, it deserves a mention.

Bob Costas, Bill James and Joe Posnanski were in St. Louis last night, talking about sports and sports coverage, most especially baseball.  What seems to have been a major talking …

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving holiday.  If you are like me, you ate well, you got to see some family, and then just enjoyed not having to work.  Got some of the Christmas decorations up as we do the whole Advent thing.

What didn’t happen over the last few days is anything related to the Cardinals.  The front page of the Post-Dispatch looks the same, no major …

I love Cardinal Nation.  I was offline much of Saturday, but I still received texts from my good friend Josh of Pitchers Hit Eighth, keeping me in the loop on 40-man roster moves.  Not sure if other fan bases obsess like this, though I’m sure some do.  To me, though, it’s just part of being a Cardinal fan, worrying about the details, whether it’s a replacement bullpen coach or a …

The Associated Press doesn’t quite get it.

In their story about the Presidential Medal of Freedom winners, their description of Stan Musial is “a Hall of Fame first baseman/outfielder who played 22 seasons for the Cardinals.”

Stan Musial is so much more than that.

Not surprisingly, even though he is being honored on a national level, you really have to get into St. Louis to understand the special relationship Stan has with the …