St.louis

Ok, I have been a fan since Everett was our quarterback but sadly I have never been to a game. Well this year is the year, I have booked plane ticket, car rental and hotel for the Thursday night game. The tickets are a bit harder to get. The Rams ticket office called me after signing up for info but he wants to sell me a minimum of 10 tickets, I only need two. Stubhub and ticketmaster have tickets but I hate their outrageous fees. Is stubhub or ticketmaster my only options at this point? Help a brother out Rams nation! Ok, I have been a fan since Everett was our quarterback but sadly I have never been to a game. Well this year is the year, I have booked plane ticket, car rental and hotel for the Thursday night game. The tickets are a bit harder to get. The Rams ticket office called me after signing up for info but he wants to sell me a minimum of 10 tickets, I only need two. Stubhub and ticketmaster have tickets but I hate their outrageous fees. Is stubhub or ticketmaster my only options at this point? Help a brother out Rams nation!

The St. Louis Rams made a roster addition Monday, bringing in former Jacksonville Jaguar TE Zach Potter. I want to say Thank You to all of Jacksonville & all the #Jaguars fans for a great last 4 years. Looking forward to being w/ the #Rams now! — Zach Potter (@ZachPotterTE) May 20, 2013 Potter spent the last 4 seasons playing with the Jaguars before they let him become a free agent. Potter wasn't a receiving threat with the Jaguars, only catching 11 passes for 83 yards during his 4 year career. His role with the Jaguars and with the Rams will revolve around special teams play and his blocking skills. So If Potter makes the team it will be as the third or 4th tight end. The Rams brought Potter in to potential be the replacement for former tight end Matthew Mulligan. Information on the contract isn't known at this time.

May 18, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Lay it down Koz! Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports Yesterday’s matchup with the Brew Crew showed a new weapon in the Redbirds offensive arsenal, the Suicide Squeeze. The most revealing part about the tiny play that had a huge impression on the game, was that is didn’t fail.  What shocked Kyle Lohse was also surprising to fans and it illustrates the early success of the 2013 Boys of Busch.  If they made this play look routine, then there could be more to come. Pete Kozma has been over achieving offensively and more than fulfilling his ZIPS projections through late May, which is fan-fricken-tastic to see.  His defense is Ford tough in addition, as he has only committed a single error (knocking on something that I hope is wood next to the desk). Back to Sunday… Kozzie’s poker face when standing in the box yesterday in the fourth frame was perfect, as it usually is.  He looked like an old pitcher, cool as the breeze in August.  When Lohse delivered the pitch, Pete was ready and bent showing what was hidden before, the dragging advance that can slice up and infield if it isn’t expected.  The bunt towards third was too much for the Brewers, and  it looked like Whiteyball in the 82′ Fall Classic.  At least what I imagine it looked like minus the powder blues. Former good guy Kyle Lohse couldn’t believe the fourth inning had become a small ball exposition.  He attemped to retaliate by throwing high and tight to John Gast, who proceeded to nearly plop down another jab.  Lohse was steaming and cursing at The Secret Weapon while fanatics in red rejoiced with the resurrection of a smaller but in no way less effective form of Cardinals baseball. What is key to remember is that the Suicide Squeeze is not easy to pull off.  But, when it works like it did yesterday, defenses have another reason to fear the Birds on the Bat.  Another glimpse into that relm of quickness was a stolen base by Allen Craig in the eighth inning.  Although he didn’t score, he did move into scoring position for another potential insurance run.  For a team that is still last in MLB for thefts with a mere 13, every bag counts. What may be the most encouraging piece of yesterdays puzzle is that the shortened swing, in Pete Kozma’s case, the bunt, is still a hit, and small ball is the solution when the power isn’t successful.  Right now the homers are rare, in fact Birdinals have only cleared the wall 33 times, and that is also in the MLB cellar.  But St. Louis ranks ninth in hits, and as the winning percentage demonstrates, whatever gets it done. Yes, it isn’t a misprint, Jason Marquis is still pitching!  Tip your cap to him for balling after all of these years.  Go Birds!

John Gast got his second career major league win this season as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2. (more…)

SHELBY MILLER STATS (2013) GS IP K K% BB BB% HR/9 HR/FB LOB% BABIP ERA FIP xFIP fWAR 8 51.1 57 29.1% 12 6.1% 0.53 6.0% 86.5% .246 1.40 2.39 3.03 1.5

May 23, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar (58) and guard Harvey Dahl (62) scuffle as teammates attempt to break it up during an OTA at ContinuityX Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports With minicamp and the NFLPA Rookie Premier out of the way, the next mark on the St. Louis Rams schedule’ are the Organized Team Activities, more commonly referred to as OTAs. This year, the Rams will hold their OTAs on: Tuesday, May 21 Thursday, May 23 through Friday, May 24 Monday, June 3 through Tuesday, June 4 Thursday, June 6 through Friday, June 7 Tuesday, June 11 Thursday, June 13 through Friday, June 14 For those who are wondering “What are OTAs”? These are essentially glorified walkthroughs, a practice in which there is no live contact allowed. However, there are two keys functions of the OTAs. First, this is where some decisions will be made on the final roster, as the coaching staff periodically widdles the team down to 53 players. Secondly, and more importantly, this is where a bulk of the offensive and defensive playbook gets installed. This year, for the first time since 2010, the Rams will be working under the same offensive coordinator, which means no “new” playbook to digest. However, with the addition of Tim Walton as the defensive coordinator, there will be some new verbiage for James Laurinaitis and Co. So, if they players can’t hit, what exactly can they do? Well according to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)… All coaches shall be allowed on the field. No live contact is permitted. No one-on-one offense vs. defense drills are permitted (i.e., no offensive linemen vs. defensive linemen pass rush or pass protection drills, no wide receivers vs. defensive backs bump-and-run drills, and no one-on-one special teams drills involving both offense and defense are permitted). Special teams drills (e.g., kicking team vs. return team) are permitted, provided no live contact occurs. Team offense vs. team defense drills… provided no live contact occurs. Clubs may require players to wear helmets; no shells are permitted. Essentially, the St. Louis Rams will be on the field in helmets running through their playbook from start to finish. The CBA also allows 7-on-7 drills, 9-on-7 drills, and 11-on-11 drills, under the presumption that there will be no live contact in the drills. This will be the first chance the staff to test out their new toys on both offense and defense. For offensive coordinator, Marty Schottenheimer, and quarterback, Sam Bradford, the Rams’ will see how they can best use Jared Cook and Tavon Austin in the offense. On the other side of the ball, the team will get a feel for Alec Ogletree and T.J. McDonald in the new-look, youth-filled defense. For us fans, there it will still be a while before football season officially begins. However, for the players and coaches, the NFL season starts now, with minicamps and the OTAs.

So, we're here again. Hi. Now that the 2013 draft is in the books, I'm looking ahead to 2014. A couple things on this three-round mock: - The order is just the SB Nation power rankings inverted. That's how Dan did it for his 2014 mock at Mocking the Draft; if it's good enough for Kadar, it's good enough for me. - I really tried to shed the conventional wisdom this year. In my first 2013 mock, I had Matt Barkley going first overall just like everyone else. It made sense. This year? I'm sticking with my early analyses. They're all going to be really, really wrong. - I've included the current trades that affect the first three rounds. St. Louis gets Washington's 1st. Cleveland gets Pittsburgh's 3rd as does Minnesota with Seattle's and San Francisco with Tennessee's. - I assumed that all draft-eligible players will declare for the draft. This won't happen. Don't get your hunch all in a bunch about it. - I've only got FBS prospects in the mock (save for one little RB), since ya boy doesn't watch FCS. Yet again, this mock is filled with wrongness on so many levels. That doesn't detract from the discussions it should inspire. Let's get to it. Round 1 1.) Jacksonville Jaguars - Aaron Murray: QB, Georgia Oh hell yes I did. I'm a big fan of Murray's skills, and he's got it all to play for this year. He nearly led the Bulldogs to knock off Alabama in the SEC Championship last year (which was easily one of the best games of the year if you've forgotten) after an up and down performance to be nice. He's got the mentality of an NFL QB though and has elevated the play of his WRs after A.J. Green's departure. So mark me down as the only guy on Earth calling Murray #1 overall...so that when it doesn't happen, you can bring this up. 2.) Oakland Raiders - Jadeveon Clowney: DE, South Carolina 3.) New York Jets - Marqise Lee: WR, USC 4.) Buffalo Bills - Jake Matthews: OT, Texas A&M 5.) Arizona Cardinals - Teddy Bridgewater: QB, Louisville It's not hard to see Bridgewater going to any of the above teams. I just think this scenario makes more sense to me. Geno gets a legit target in New York (Jeremy Kerley's not gonna cut it...), and new Bills HC Doug Marrone upgrades his blindside coverage of new signal caller E.J. Manuel. 6.) Tennessee Titans - Tajh Boyd: QB, Clemson 7.) Cleveland Browns - Bryn Renner: QB, UNC I'm higher on Renner than most, but we'll get a great early test to see how much he's grown from 2012 to this season when the Tarheels open the season against South Carolina. I think Clowney already has two sacks. 8.) Kansas City - Timmy Jernigan: DT, Florida St. 9.) Philadelphia Eagles - Bradley Roby: CB, Ohio St. 10.) San Diego Chargers - Taylor Lewan: OT, Michigan 11.) Carolina Panthers - Jason Verrett: CB, TCU 12.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Aaron Lynch: DE, South Florida Lynch had a wonderful freshman campaign with Notre Dame before sitting out last season while transferring to USF. Have Sept. 28 marked on your draft calendars -- UCF takes on Miami and two NFL tackle prospects in Seantrel Henderson and Malcolm Bunche. 13.) Detroit Lions - Louchiez Purifoy: CB, Florida 14.) Miami Dolphins - Daniel McCullers: DT, Tennessee 15.) St. Louis Rams - Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix: S, Alabama Putting Haha in the back of the Rams' defense would give them some additional coverage skills they've been lacking from the safety position, as evidenced by his three-game interception streak to close out Bama's season 16.) Minnesota Vikings - Cody Fajardo: QB, Nevada No, Fajardo's not showing up on many boards or mocks. No, I'm not entirely sure why. 17.) Dallas Cowboys - Johnny Manziel: QB, Texas A&M Oh, this has to happen. Is there any way this doesn't happen? 18.) Pittsburgh Steelers - Sammy Watkins: WR, Clemson 19.) Chicago Bears - David Yankey: OT, Stanford 20.) New Orleans - Jackson Jeffcoat: DE, Texas 21.) St. Louis (via Washington Redskins) - C.J. Mosley: OLB, Alabama Jo-Lonn Dunbar is a free agent after this season

First, Ryan Jackson was the best defensive infielder in the Cardinals' farm system. Then he was exiled when Pete Kozma, who was behind Jackson on Memphis' depth chart, surpassed him on St. Louis' depth chart, presumably because Kozma had a short-lived career as a warlock. But now that the date on the bottle of Pete Kozma's magic potion has expired, people are clamoring for Ryan Jackson again. Keith Law may have had something to do with this: #FreeRyanJackson — keithlaw (@keithlaw) May 12, 2013 I'm all for Ryan Jackson getting another chance, but I get the sense that his promotion is being demanded for all of the wrong reasons. Jackson's batting average (.384), on-base percentage (.465), and slugging percentage (.518) are unrecognizable from previous seasons. It's easy to get excited when a player suddenly starts performing at a higher level, but we need to look beyond those numbers for confirmation that what we're seeing is really as impressive as it seems. Often, it isn't. The more impressive numbers that differ so much from Ryan Jackson's minor league career to date quickly gain perspective when we consider how fortunate he has been on balls in play. Sure, Jackson has created some of his own luck by generating an impressive amount of line drives (23%) but even that cannot explain nearly half of his balls in play falling for base hits. Isolated power (ISO), a statistic that basically removes singles from the equation, is actually a few points lower this season than it has been in Jackson's minor league career. That Jackson's isolated power has remained unchanged since 2011 (his year in double-A) exposes him as a player who is relying on a ton of singles to inflate his offensive value. His numbers will take a hit once more of those singles start finding gloves. That's not to say Jackson will be worthless offensively. According to FanGraphs' wRC+, he was an average batsman (99 wRC+) in 2011 for Springfield and slightly worse (89 wRC+) in his first year playing for Memphis in 2012. Translating that sort of performance to St. Louis would make him an adequate shortstop, especially considering his defensive reputation. Some pundits remain high on Ryan Jackson's defense. At Minor League Ball, John Sickels wrote the following in January: He's got a solid defensive reputation, featuring decent range and arm strength, excellent instincts, and outstanding reliabiilty: he made just 12 errors in 102 games at shortstop for Memphis and zero errors in 13 games at second base. Although he doesn't have super-amazing range, he makes the plays he needs to make and there's no doubt about his ability to play shortstop regularly from a defensive perspective. I don't mean to completely disregard Ryan Jackson's surprising start to 2013. He deserves some credit for making better contact (23% line drives) and walking more often (11%), especially when considering how he could have reacted after being displaced on the depth chart by Pete Kozma and possibly Greg Garcia. Billed as Memphis utility infielder to start the season, Jackson has appeared at shortstop in almost half of Memphis' games and could get even more playing time there with Greg Garcia landing on the disabled list on May 11th. So go ahead and ask for Ryan Jackson. I'm with you. Just realize that an argument for Jackson has more to do with his glove and less to do with offensive potential. Objectively, I'm wondering if he shouldn't be more of a threat to Daniel Descalso than Pete Kozma. Descalso can't really play shortstop and has only been out-hitting Ty Wigginton, Tony Cruz, and the pitchers. And then again, even having to engage in this conversation might just be Ty Wigginton's fault, as Dan reminded us on Saturday.

Not everyone will agree with me, but I believe it is time that the St. Louis Blues traded Patrik Berglund.  As a restricted free agent this offseason, Berglund is going to command more than the Blues should be willing to spend on him and that signals a time for change. The St. Louis Blues have lacked offensive power for far too long, but one of the glaring issues on the team is a lack of a true number one center.  Patrik Berglund was once thought to be able to develop into such a role, but with streaky play and the inability to develop chemistry with the team’s top players have pushed him down in the lineup.  Although Berglund’s value is not at an all time high, he did just have a great season and could possibly be used as a piece in a bigger trade. Apr 25, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues center Patrik Berglund (21) and Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman (26) battle for the puck during the second period at the Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports While centers will be at a premium this offseason, most of everyone available is nearing the twilight of their career.  For the Blues to make an impact on their depth chart, they need to make a trade.  Blues’ GM Doug Armstrong will surely work to lock up Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk, and most likely Chris Stewart before making any trades in order to know his budget, but there doesn’t seem to be enough money left to keep everyone around.  If the Blues wanted to package fellow restricted agent Ian Cole and Patrik Berglund, they could try to make a run at a player like Paul Stastny who also seems to be in need of a change in scenery.  Stastny’s salary could be a tough one to swallow for the Blues, but if they can re-sign their other RFA’s at a reasonable price, they could make it work. If not for Stastny, the Blues could look to trade Berglund, Cole, or other pieces for a top draft pick and make a push to sign Tyler Bozak in the offseason.  While Bozak is not increidbly young, he seems to be hitting his stride and could add some punch to the Blues offense. No matter what Armstrong chooses to do, it seems to be time that the Blues would want to part with Berglund.  While many have criticized players like Stewart for not putting forth a full effort, Berglund has failed to get in better shape and turn his game around.  Stewart’s work ethic has been tremendous and he seems to push to become a better player.  Berglund just does not seem to fit in with this club and it is time to send him packing. Let’s us know what you think in the comments below.  Should the Blues be looking to move Berglund?  If so, who/what would you want in return. LET’S GO BLUES! -Alex Hodschayan

The St. Louis Cardinals will need to drop a player from its 25-man active roster when adding Wednesday’s starting pitcher Tyler Lyons. He will be taking the place of Jaime Garcia, placed on the 15-day disabled list over the weekend, with reliever Mitchell Boggs re-called from Memphis. The purpose of this poll is to allow you to speculate as to who will be moved off the active roster. It seems almost a certainty that it will be a member of the current bullpen. I am leaving off Edward Mujica and Randy Choate, but listing the other six relievers. It could be a bullpen-to-bullpen move or it could be a pitcher who had been a starter before advancing to the majors returning to that role. The intent could be to get him tuned up for a potential return to St. Louis when another rotation opening presents itself. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. Follow me on Twitter. Follow The Cardinal Nation Blog on Facebook. Tweet This Post