Back In the Saddle

Been a while, hasn’t it?  I’ve been out of the office, been busy with the Baseball Bloggers Alliance award work, and there’s not been just a ton of Cardinal news to talk about.  There are a few stories today, though, that I thought I’d touch on.

First off, the top story is, of course, that Albert Pujols will need more surgery .  There was a link out there last night indicating that Pujols would need Tommy John surgery, which would keep him out until June or so.  (Well, normal people would be out that long.  We know AP tends to heal faster than regular mortals.)  Thankfully, that’s not the case.

In fact, apparently, things went great today in the surgery.  Here’s the official press release:

ST. LOUIS , October 20, 2009 – St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols this morning underwent arthroscopy of the right elbow with debridement of bone spurs and removal of bone chips. 

During the procedure, doctors determined that Pujols did not require ligament reconstruction.  The arthroscopy was not related to the previous nerve transposition surgery that Pujols underwent last year.  This morning’s procedure was performed in Birmingham, Alabama by Dr. James Andrews. 

Pujols will begin his rehabilitation next week in St. Louis. Pujols is expected to fully recover. No timetable for his return has been set.

So the Cardinals dodge a pretty big bullet there.  Hopefully this surgery will work out a little better than last year’s, at least in how long the effects last.  There’s doesn’t seem to be any doubt that it started to mess with him as the season wore on.

Next up is the fact that David Freese is the leader in the clubhouse for the third base slot for the 2010 Redbirds.  I think this is good news, not only because Mark DeRosa wasn’t the offensive wunderkind that we thought he was going to be when the deal with Cleveland was made but also because it indicates this organization is going to be clear-headed about moves.

Jess Todd and Chris Perez are sunk costs–they are gone no matter what happens with DeRosa.  Freese proved he was ready for a shot at the job, and that should help also with the financial aspects of pursuing Matt Holliday.  Holliday is the one guy this organization really wants to keep, I think.  All the other free agents can walk (though hopefully after they’ve accepted arbitration).

Finally, the club is starting to look into the backup catcher slot and try to decide what they want to do with it, since resting Yadier Molina more might be a good thing.  If so, that means Jason LaRue will be gone, since he probably can’t play much more than he’s playing now.  Will that mean that Bryan Anderson finally gets a shot?  I don’t think that many people in Cardinal Nation would be that excited about Matt Pagnozzi if the idea is for the backup to play more often.

It’s a small decision and it doesn’t necessarily indicate anything, but it’s interesting nonetheless.  At this time of the year, you take what you can get!

The United Cardinal Bloggers are working on their annual year-end roundtables.  Whiteyball has the first transcript up , looking at the Holliday issue.  More are on the way throughout the next couple of weeks.

And be sure to tune in to Josh and Nick tonight on the thirty-minute UCB Radio Hour !

Daniel Shoptaw is the founder of “C70 At The Bat,” where he regularly writes about his beloved St. Louis Cardinals.  You can find more of his work here