Rolen sounds off against LaRussa

Scott Rolen says that he misses St. Louis, but he knows that he had to be traded. Rolen takes another snipe at LaRussa by saying,

“I think Cardinal fans deserve better than two guys airing their laundry out publicly in a private, personal matter.”

He also says that the rift between him and LaRussa was a personal rift, as well as saying that he fully expected to finish his career in STL when he signed his contract. He also says the situation was not at all like what happened in Philadelphia.

The Blue Jays could be pretty tough this year if Rolen can stay healthy. Their lineup obviously isn’t as good as the top 2 teams, but their pitching is very solid. The Blue Jays and Rays could make it so only one team gets out of the AL East this year……

The Purple Iguana

Bullpen analysis

I've done a rotation review, defensive comparison, and a lineup comparison, and the last installment of my season preview is a bullpen analysis. Here it is.....

The Cardinal’s bullpen was one of the best in the league last year. They really didn’t add anyone, though, in the off season, and Troy Percival moved on and signed with the Rays.

The bullpen was pretty young last year, and should continue to improve, especially if Cardinals farm hand Chris Perez is in the majors before September. However, Izzy is due for an injury/spurt of ineffectiveness after a very good ’07.

At best, I could see this bullpen being one of the best if not the best in the league if Chris Perez lives up to the hype this year. At worse, they could digress due to over use last year, and be completely ineffective; if that’s the case, the Cardinals could lose 100.

Overall, I expect it to come down to how many innings that starters can put up. If they throw a good amount of innings, and the bullpen can stay rested, they’ll be as good if not better than last year, even without having Percival come over at the trading deadline.

Let me know what you think,

The Purple Iguana