One of the things the United Cardinal Bloggers are known for is their roundtables.  A question gets passed around via e-mail, everyone weighs in, and then the transcript gets posted on the questioner’s blog the next day.

The preseason roundtable always seems to be the biggest, and this year is no exception.  Seventeen of the UCB members–including our newest, Intangiball–(late edit: Fredbird Follys got into the game, so it’s 18!) will be discussing the Cardinals and the game of baseball for the next few weeks.  Links to the transcripts will be added here when they go up, but plan your internet browsing around these sites in the coming days!  (Date is the day the question is posed, so check a day or so after for the transcript.)

Feb. 22: Pitchers Hit Eighth
Feb. 23: La Beisbolista
Feb. 24: Bird Brained
Feb. 25: Redbird Rants
Feb. 26: Obviously, You’re Not a Golfer

Mar. 1: Whiteyball
Mar. 2: Thoughts About Cardinals
Mar. 3: The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
Mar. 4: Redbird Chatter
Mar. 5: Stan Musial’s Stance

Mar. 8: Fungoes
Mar. 9: All Cardinals, All The Time
Mar. 10: Intangiball
Mar. 11: CardinalsGM
Mar. 12: Five O’Clock Blogger

Mar. 15: Play A Hard Nine
Mar. 16: Fredbird Follys
Mar. 17: Cardinals Country
Mar. 18: C70 At The Bat

With pitchers and catchers showing up today, my excitement for the upcoming season has increased.  Here are the things to really watch for this spring:

I’m looking forward to the third base battle.  I think Freese really didn’t do himself any favors with that DWI; as a result, he’s going to have to work for the position.  Allen Craig should really get more of a look than most of the other competitors.  His defense may not be at the level of Freese, but the man has hit at every level.  He should be on the roster as a back up corner option.  Joe Mather would be a outside shot to get the position.  He looked good in his initial call up, but has been either injured or ineffective since then.  He struggled badly last year, so I think he’ll have to prove he’s back to his 2008 level before he gets a real shot.  Tyler Greene is another option.  He’s a quality fielder at short, so he should be able to handle the position well.  I’m worried about his offense; he won’t hit for much power and Tony is not one to let his players run wild on the base paths.  He’s a better option for…

Shortstop was just made interesting in the last few weeks since Brendan Ryan’s surgery.  I’m not getting into the timing of the surgery, since that’s another issue.  They say he’ll be ready for the beginning of the season, but I don’t think he’ll be in the opening day line up.  We hear the same thing every year (like Troy Glaus will be ready for the beginning of the season), so I’m not holding my breath.  I think Tyler Greene is the best option; Julio Lugo will see quite a bit of time there too.  I don’t really see too many other options within the organization.

The 5th starter will also be an interesting competition.  Personally, I like Jaime Garcia over the long run, but I can see the team being cautious with him.  You don’t want a young pitcher recently off of Tommy John surgery being thrown into something he’s not ready for.  I could see him starting the season at Memphis to see if he’s really ready.  Rich Hill was a low risk, high reward signing; if he can pitch like he did in his good season with the Cubs, he’d be a solid 5th starter.  Of course, it’s been a couple of years since he’s been effective.  Kyle McClellan is another option, but I’m not high on it.  I think he could be a great starter; I don’t like the fact that he’s had major arm problems in the past and hasn’t thrown more than 80 innings in a season since 2004.  I would have him start the season in the Memphis rotation.  That leaves Blake Hawksworth and Mitchell Boggs.  We know that the organization likes both guys in the bullpen.  Hawksworth would be my choice out of the 2.  I’d also take a flier on Evan MacLane, who pitched very well in the Memphis rotation last year.  He won’t set the world on fire, but he’d be a quality 5th starter.  I wouldn’t push Lance Lynn into the MLB rotation yet; let him start the season at Springfield and have him in Memphis by the end of the season (or in St. Louis for a September call up).

The Bench should be interesting.  First off, no Joe Thurston; it was nice having a guy that could fill in all over the infield, but his inexperience showed a lot at times last year, specifically on the base paths.  It’s nice seeing a guy like him get a chance, but they don’t always work out (ask Abraham Nunez).  This year will see Julio Lugo in the Aaron Miles role; only he can play the infield better than Miles did.  He’s also free, which is a nice addition.  LaRue is back handling the back up catching duties.  As I said before, either Freese or Craig will be on the bench for the back up corners; my guess would be Craig since he’s got more experience in the outfield and I think Freese will get the third base job.  I’d say Greene (or who ever starts the season in Brendan Ryan’s spot) will get a spot eventually.  The final spot is the question.  It’ll be an outfielder, but who?  Jon Jay is a nice player, but do you want him to continue to develop every day in Memphis?  Nick Stavinoha and Shane Robinson are both back up outfielders, but neither offer much off the bench (Robinson has a little speed, but again Tony doesn’t let his players run much).  There is Mather again, but I’ve already addressed that.  I could see the Cards making a small deal, whether it be a minor league free agent or trading for a guy who’s out of options and cheap; it won’t be an earth shattering move though.

Check out Inside Pulse Sports for more of my baseball writing.

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Join Nick from Pitchers Hit Eighth and Daniel from C70 at the Bat, as we talk ball (among other things) with Kyle McClellan on the UCB Radio Hour podcast.

The Cardinal pitcher will be joining us from Jupiter, FL where he is already gearing up for Spring Training.

We’ll be sticking to a finite set of questions with Kyle and not taking callers until he hangs up with us, so if you’ve got something you’d like us to ask, post it below!

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From the UCB release:

United Cardinal Bloggers To Interview Kyle McClellan

The United Cardinal Bloggers will be interviewing St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle McClellan on Saturday, February 6, at 4:30 pm Central for a special edition of the UCB Radio Hour.

McClellan, a Missouri native who has spent two years with the Cardinals, was 4-4 with a 3.38 ERA coming out of the pen last year.  He has been a solid part of the bullpen since his debut in 2008 and has been conditioning himself to challenge for the fifth spot in the St. Louis rotation this spring.

The United Cardinal Bloggers were formed in 2007 to foster communication and collaboration between those that blog about St. Louis.  The UCB Radio Hour began late in 2008 and now is a weekly staple, airing Wednesdays at 9:30 pm Central at Blog Talk Radio and available for download as a podcast from that site and from iTunes.

No callers will be taken for the McClellan interview, though callers are encouraged on the regular Wednesday show.

The McClellan interview can be heard here, and the show page at Blog Talk Radio can be found here.

For our first project of 2010, we take a look back at the last decade, picking out who the top Cardinals were at each position.  While many picks may be the same, there should be just enough differences to make it easily worth your while to click on all the below.

C70 At The Bat
Cards Cove
Five O’Clock Blogger
Fungoes
Inside Pulse
la beisbolista
The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
Pitchers Hit Eighth
Whiteyball

Wednesday night, on the UCB Radio Hour, Dan; and I talked a little bit about Jim Edmonds’ potential return to the majors. I said I found the idea intriguing. Currently the Cardinals have Tyler Greene, Julio Lugo, and Jason LaRue as their bench. Not a lot of pop there, and nary a left-handed bat among them. Daryl Jones and Daniel Desalsco, ranked in the top ten of Cardinal prospects by Derrick Goold, both hit left-handed, but probably aren’t major league ready, and also probably would be better served by playing every day in the minors vice sitting on the bench in St Louis.

So Edmonds is an intriguing, low-cost option, that the Cardinals know, that LaRussa will vouch for, and that could mentor Colby Rasmus on how to play CF. Should they sign Edmonds for the league minimum?

To read the rest of this article, please visit Stan Musial’s Stance

(Kansas City, MO) In a recent interview, former Cardinals pitcher turned outfielder Rick Ankiel expressed frustration over being signed to the Minor League Kansas City Royals. See the entire post at http://fredbirdfollys.wordpress.com/

Anytime Number 5 makes an appearance, it’s news.  Even when he doesn’t say much of anything.

Albert Pujols met the media yesterday on the closing day of the Winter Warm-Up and talked about his contract, his hitting coach, and his health.

Albert seems fine with Mark McGwire, saying that the big redhead will have to answer to a higher power someday but that basically we should move on.  I think there’s something to that–continuing to hound on it won’t resolve the issue or wipe it away, but it could hurt the focus of the ‘10 team.

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The Winter Warm-Up got underway this weekend (and continues today) which means that there is usually quite a bit of news generated, even if it’s just what the players say.  This year was no exception.

Of course, you knew that was going to happen when Mark McGwire was added to the appearance list.  Mac didn’t stick around long, and his post-appearance press conference didn’t win him any fans with the local scribes, but the fan base appears to have accepted his apology and are glad to have him back in uniform.  I know it’s going to be a while, but I do hope that some of this steroid stuff will start to recede in the coming weeks.  Let’s see how he does as a hitting coach, OK?  That’s the important thing now.

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The United Cardinal Bloggers gather for the last time this decade (whatever you want to call this decade) with their top stories of the year.  2009 had a lot of great story lines to choose from, so be sure to read through the contributing blog posts.

Busch Birds
C70 At The Bat
Cardinal Nation Globe
Fredbird Follies
Inside Pulse
The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
Stan Musial’s Stance