FOX Sports will carry eight St. Louis Cardinals Saturday afternoon games during the 2010 season.
Though the St. Louis Cardinals official spring training and regular season broadcast schedule may be a week or more away from announcement, we are starting to get a partial view, led by eight confirmed games on the FOX Network.
In addition, in 2010, FOX Sports’ 15th straight season as the national broadcast home of MLB, the network will cover the All-Star Game from Anaheim, California, the National League Championship Series and the World Series.
2010 MLB on FOX REGULAR SEASON BROADCAST SCHEDULE (Cardinals subset)
(Note: Schedule Subject to Change; All Times 4:00 PM Eastern Unless Noted)
Saturday, April 10, 2010 (*3:00 PM ET)
St. Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee Brewers
Saturday, April 17, 2009
New York Mets at St. Louis Cardinals
Saturday, May 29, 2010
St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals
Saturday, September 11, 2010
St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves
Click here to see the entire 2010 FOX Network MLB schedule.
Previously disclosed: In addition to opening day at Cincinnati on Monday, April 5, ESPN will carry these early-season Cardinals Sunday night games: April 11 at Milwaukee and April 18 vs. the New York Mets.
For a preliminary view of Cardinals spring training broadcasts, click here.
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BB, you were right about the AP real estate. It would also appear Muldur won’t try pitching this year.
Smoltz might not look promising for reasons that would be difficult for us fans understand.
I find the claim that Albert is in negotiations provocative. With the Adrian Gonzales story developing, I find the timing curious. If it breaks down here, I’m wondering if there might be a three team deal in the future ST Louis to Boston / Boston to SD / SD to ST Louis. Either that or BD gets his dream contract ………33% differed.
I know all I need to know about Smoltz. He was one of the best pitchers of his generation. He also turns 43 years old in about 90 days. Time for everyone to move on. Mulder just needs to retire already. Does he really think his shoulder is going to get better three years after surgery? The peek-a-boo with Milwaukee and Rick Peterson was pretty silly if the reports that Mulder hadn’t even yet taken the mound were accurate. It appears his expiration date has long since passed…
It will be interesting to see what happens with Mauer and the Twins. They might get a long term deal done yet this spring to make him a lifer. He’s got a year left on his contract so we’d see how they dealt with that. What kind of structure, how much deferred. See how the market/economy affects the numbers, etc.
Switching leagues, I’ve been thinking that Omar Teodoro Antonio Minaya y Sanchez can’t last too much longer, surely. What a mess that team is.
I read somewhere that Albert and wife are expecting any time now. One more reason to sign while the signings good.
Yes, Mauer’s deal with be interesting, but he is younger than Albert so it’s not totally apples and apples. If nothing else, it will define the floor for Albert just as A-Rod is at or near the ceiling. A Mauer signing will also put more attention on Albert’s situation, which is one reason why I projected that as the #1 story for the year. A quick signing would change that, but my guess is that won’t be happening.
If I was Albert, I might prefer to sit back and see if the market is better next year or even two years from now. Other than to stop the questions, he may be in no hurry. And he has already said nothing will happen during the season, so it won’t become a distraction again until October. Albert is in the drivers seat. The Cardinals are apparently working behind the scenes to try to sign him so they aren’t going to be viewed as the bad guy anytime soon.
The other day, I started a thread on the main TCN message board about Albert in KC. The impending childbirth is part of that story.
Why is Mauer’s deal the floor? Younger, plays a position that it is harder to fill with offensive production, only one year left on his deal — he could be more valuable than Pujols. Both are beloved and ingrained in the community. The only negative to Mauer is that you might argue he will wear down quicker because of his position and wont be able to stay there his whole career.
Good points CC. They ought to start the switch to 1B before too long.
Speaking of the main TCN site, I was distressed to see that Brendan has done away with the ‘stache. If he shows up without the stirrups too we’re doomed. I really liked that old-time look. He could have used one of those fat gloves.
CC, I would be amazed if Albert accepts a deal for a lower AAV than Mauer. Amazed.
bb, we knew from WWU that Brendan’s stache was gone, and I guessed right that there was an amusing story behind it. He is definitely a throw-back in many ways…
Brian, I too would be surprised but it has more to do with the fact that STL is perceived to have more money than Minn. Just as it would be surprising that Albert would expect STL to pay as much as NY or BOS would.
Well, I wasn’t amused. I’m telling you it’s a bad sign. And the ‘Albert’ stance? I’m willing to wait and see. If he starts launchin em I’ll be a believer. He’ll be entitled to start lolly-gaging his way down the first base line.
CC, not surprised, amazed. I would personally stump for Mo getting the Exec of the Year award – unless the Twins give Mauer a stupid deal. The rumors in the press of seven to eight years at $21M to $23M seem to me to be in the ballpark.
bb, here is hoping your fears will prove to be unfounded. If any of the hitters struggle, which is certainly likely no matter who the coach is, McGwire-driven adjustments will be the first areas probed, then beaten to death. Questions will be asked to player, manager and coach over and over because Mac is who he is – questions that would not be asked if a lower-profile coach like McRae was there. Not saying it is fair, just what I think could easily happen. More people getting defensive and angry. Not looking forward to that possibility at all.
I’m thinking in terms of what’s going on in Brendan’s head. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. I hope he doesn’t think he has to re-make himself now that he’s had some success. Sophomore slump would be bad news.
Fox is having two Saturday night prime time dates this year, with various games depending on region, I guess. May 22 they passed on STL v LAA and June 26 passed on STL v KC, taking the Cubs game in both cases for the midwest game. They must not read the NYT. ESPN has those two early season Sunday prime time games. Depending on how much buzz comes out of Jupiter, maybe Fox and MLB will look into shuffling things around on those dates. If the Cards are smart, they will have Ari down there to work some more magic. Stay tuned.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Avy.3OjZw7OxG4wVNMgRx50RvLYF?slug=ap-saturdaynightgames&prov=ap&type=lgns
I’m not sure Mac will get questioned a lot more because of who he is if the Cardinal players who changed their stances. etc. fail to hit. It will be more because these changes have become high profile due to the Steroids controversy. Add in the fact that TLR changed hitting coaches despite one of the best offensive performances in the league. That would get any hitting coach questioned.
As far as bad publicity goes though, the Cards offense tanking is not the worst thing that could happen. Ryan, Shu, and Molina starting to hit double digit HR totals would bring steroids directly into the conversation. Of course long term, if Mac can turn a large group of players into power hitters in the era of roids testing it might actually prove to people that he knew a little about power hitting and that his own power didn’t come from just roids.
bb, I think you missed near the bottom of the initial post where I linked to the entire FOX 2010 schedule.You may want to check it out as it calls out the Saturday night games in some detail and more.
CC, where we can probably agree is that there are a lot of ways it could be spun. My contention is that without a celebrity coach who carries considerable baggage, there would be less spinning – period. I would rather see games played and won than sorting though spin. 2010 has the potential to be fraught with distraction. By his comments, TLR seems concerned as well.
Well, looks like Ball State university could care less about roids accusations.
Larry Bigbie to their hall of fame.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bal-sp.digest031feb03,0,1738604.column
Everyone in baseball is watching Albert Pujols. Everyone in baseball is watching the evolving collusion.
There is no question DeWitt has an idea about what he might be willing pay. What he would like to differ. Thats not going to surprise Albert’s agent. If they aren’t close in expectations, thats moves Albert closer to being traded. It isn’t in either partys interest to have their position divulged least it endanger any number of possible future transactions by either.
Considering the unusual questions surrounding the Holiday negotiation, there are signs that the commissioner is involved in this somehow. One might speculate that the expansion of all salaries do to another record contract isn’t in baseball best interest at this point. The NY / Boston restraint this year suggests a mediator is at work.
Keep your eyes on SD/Boston/SL. The two years grace period on Gonzales and Pujols contracts mean an extension guarantee isn’t that important in both cases at this time. BE honest. If it was bound to happen do to reasons beyond the obvious, wouldn’t now be the time. If Albert has a hot first half, its going to cost DeWitt. If he continues to slump, its going to cost him. If he wants to try the big market anyway, it going to be Boston in all likelihood, so why not now?
The announcement of talks with a media blackout is kind of like a sorority girls announcing her “drunkenness” to all concerned GM’s.
Carl Pohlad would never have been in this position with Mauer. He would have been gone. The family holds the team now and have a very different business plan. The new stadium is a conditional experiment. There isn’t a way in the world that the league is going to be playing there in 5 yrs without the roof being added. It was always intended to have a roof, they just couldn’t get the city and the state to pay for it. They went ahead and built it without. Selig knows that its going to create a cancellation meltdown, with all clubs claiming unfair playing conditions. When the new commissioner threatens to allow the team to move, they will start in on the roof.
Ah, my guitar hero returns!
When do we find out when Skip’s arb hearing is scheduled?
Those games April 2 & 3 at Target Field should be worth watching. If i’m not going to be able to get it on cable, I might just drive up there. Might just go anyway.
bb, I have inquiries out about that very question (Skip).
All I know so far about the two exhibition games in Minny is that they will probably be on FS North. I wonder why FS Midwest wouldn’t pick up the feed too? I have thought about going out there in person myself, but I don’t know if the press box is heated.
I probably won’t be in that neck of the woods again until June, aka the start of the mosquito season.
An interesting question has come up regarding the two FOX Saturday night games as to whether the idiotic national blackouts will follow. No clear answer yet, but if the answer is “yes”, there are going to be a lot of angry fans.
I think both teams play the day before in Florida. Jeez.
Does MLB have a set rule about calling a game for low temperature or wind chill, or is it crew chief’s call or what? I know those are just exhibitions, but just wondering.
With any luck they’ll be rained out BB. Take a SWEATER if you go.
I have some battery powered underwear Westy, but I won’t go into it!!
Cards play Twins in FL on 3/29, four days prior to the pair in Minneapolis. I suggest a parka over the sweater.
Update on Skip and arbitration. MLB has embargoed release of individual hearing dates this year. All hearings are supposed to be completed by the 21st.
MLB has embargoed release of individual hearing dates this year……Why would they deny some sort of lottery ordering……….could effect last second agreements. Oh well.
BB, I have electric underwear too. If I can figure out how to detach the blowup doll, I’ll loan them to you.
In comment 9, Brian mentions Mo as an Exec of the Year candidate.
How about a few essays comparing the strategies of Mo versus Walt in Cinci? Walt favored vets in StLouis, but is charting a very different course with the Reds.
Mo is assistant GM.
In StL, Walt was deemed insufficiently effective in Latin America. It Cinci, he has signed Yorman Rodriguez, Doran, and spent 25 percent of what the Cards spent on Holliday on Arnoldis Chapman. While he may have inherited a better Latin program, its still a reversal of image.
Walt moved veterans Griffey and Dunn, added the vet Rolen for defense and leadership. Added a catcher and CF, though now has moved Taveras elsewhere and added a SS.
Operating with a lower budget, Walt is investing boldly in amateurs, defense, and pitching.
The only guy on the roster that Mo has signed off the street for big bucks is Penny. Everybody else who is making some money played here at least for a little while before getting the contract. In that way it is out of character for Mo. Having pretty much run out of prospects to trade, Mo has little choice now but to commit to a guy like Penny without having the chance to try it out like with Holiday, DeRosa, Smotz. The ‘one year’ focus limits the risk. Looking at a guy who has been here before, like Lopez, also limits the risk. In this way, the Cards are a lot different from almost every other team, including Walt’s Reds. Commiting big bucks for multiple years is not Mo’s way. Lohse was a good lesson. No dead money on the books is result of Mo’s strategy.
Lopez has sure moved around a lot for a guy who is versatile and productive. And the Cards declined to buck up to keep him once before. And he’s still on the shelf now. If there is anything to be made of that, Mo will be on top of it.
Now that Hudson and Kennedy have signed Lopez should find out pretty quick he’s not going to get starter bucks or multiple years. But there is the Boras factor. He will be saying Lopez should be closer to Hudson’s $5M than to Kennedy’s $1.25M. I would think something in the middle would be a good deal for the Cards. The main problem would be he could out play Freese and Schu in the field and all the infield except Albert at the plate. Tony would have him in there somewhere all the time. Chinese fire drill.
The embargo must be leaky. I came across this tweet on one of the Dbacks arb hearings.
No movement on #dbacks negotiations with Edwin Jackson to avoid Feb. 17 arb date.
about 3 hours ago from web
dbackswriter
Steve Gilbert
Walt has had less budget with in Cinci, but is making over that team.
One way is defence. He added Hernandez as catcher, Rolen at 3B, now Orlando Cabrera at SS, and Drew Stubbs in CF.
The starting pitching has Arroyo, Harang, Cueto, Owings, Bailey. Volquez was a star, before hurt and he will not be back until late in 2010. Now the Reds have boldly spent $30MM to land 100 mph southpaw Arnoldis Chapman.
Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, and Stubbs give building blocks. The pipeline includes 1b Alonso and last Junes top pick RHP Leake.
One reason Walt got removed was an inadequate Latin recruitment program. He inherited a good one in Cinci. The Reds landed a couple of bonus babies in 2008 with Yorman Rod and Doran.
The Reds should be better in 2010 and improve thereafter.
What has Mo done differently, after taking over from Walt?
Mo likes to sign a few vets early rather than hope a bargain can be found later. This explains signing Pineiro in October 2007, Izturis in December 2007 and Penny in Dec 2009.
Mo focused on landing Holliday. He wooed the Rockies, swung a deal with the As, and paid the piper to sign Holliday to a long term deal.
Whereas the Cards used to be an older team, under Mo they make more room for inexperienced players (Schumaker, Rasmus, Ryan, Freese).
Mo will add a player late, during spring training (Lohse in 2008). He is talking about it again for 2010.
You forgot Mo’s biggest and possibly owrst early vet signing – Lohse Sept 29 2008.
The Lohse deal was somewhat like the Holliday one. When the Cards want to sign a guy to forego free agency, they have to pay a strong price.
Lohse has been durable for years, but got hit by a pitch during 2009. If he feels better in 2010, he should give them what they want. Lohse is a little cheaper and younger than the 4 year deal Jeff Suppan got from the Brewers.
I consider Lohse and Holliday’s situations to have been far more different than similar.
A comparison to Suppan’s Milwaukee deal is hardly a favorable one to make unless you are from the “misery loves company” school of thinking. As a pitcher with just one winning season in his last six, Lohse still hasn’t earned his money as a Cardinal. He ended up being underpaid his first season and overpaid in his second. Granted, Lohse was injured in 2009. He has three more years ahead to make his point.
Edit: I am currently trying to decide whether or not to pay to continue to sponsor Lohse’s page on baseball-reference.com. Didn’t drive many clicks, but maybe 2010 would be better…
Edit #2: They cut the price in half from last season, so I am backing Kyle with my wallet for another year!
I would not think of Lohse as underpaid in 08 and overpaid in 09.
Lohse got paid what he could command in 08. It was not as much as Boras hoped. Did he get underpaid? He made millions, I spare no tears for Kyle.
Lohse played well and the Cards wanted to retain him and solidify a rotation spot. To do this, they had to bestow a 4 year deal. Multi-year deals for pitchers can be risky, as evidenced by injury woes for Carpenter in 07/8. Lohse had an injury in 09. If it heals, there is no reason Lohse cannot be the same as in 08, just as Carp bounced back in 09. Many 6+ year vets are extremely well remunerated.
One similarity between Kyle and Matt: Boras agreed to long term deals with the Cardinals. This was once thought nigh impossible, but lightning struck in the same place.
My interest, btw, returning to post 25, is the master/student relationship. How has Mo changed from Walt’s ways of doing business? How has Walt adapted and changed, in Cinci? There are interesting contrasts.
Lohse will need 3 years as good as 08 for his contrct to be worth it. Aint happening.
I ran across the Cardinal Halo 3# team in combat recently. Izzy and Joel are still members of that platoon by the looks of it. I killed them all………
CC, baseball economics may not be your forte.
Lohse’s salary for 2009-2012 was defined during 2008 and his earlier years. He could excel during 2009-12 or he could spend the entire time on the DL. Regardless of performance, his salary will be the same.
The Cards made a decision circa August 2008 to retain Lohse for 4 more years at his going value. It is a bet about how to allocate money and how to allocate business risk.
Since it is DeWitt’s money, he gets to decide how he wants to allocate it.
IIRC, you disliked signing Pineiro, Springer, Izturis in 2007. Vets are relatively expensive. When the team has cheaper homegrown players available, it can use them and save money for 6 years. When you do not have a cheaper homegrown asset, you have to spend more on Pineiro, Penny, Lohse, etc.
Brian, I can see where Lohse for a year was a good move. Smart to wait until the price came down. Now, you have Brendan this year for cheap, so you should look at re-upping on a multi-year sponsorship, as his price will skyrocket after this year.
On another note, who knew the Cards organization had a guy named Ruben Gotay once before? What are the odds of that.
Barring an unforeseen meltdown, Ryan will become arbitration eligible next year. That is the source of another upcoming article here or there.
The current Ruben (b. 1982) is a nephew of former Cardinal Julio Gotay (b. 1939). The earlier Ruben (b. 1959) appears to be from the same town. I now have something to ask him when I meet him next month in Jupiter.
Sorry Jumbo, It is obviously you that needs to go back to school. Of course Lohse will earn the same no matter what he does – that has nothing to do with whether it was worth giving him that amount of money (talk about lack of economics understanding!) How do you know that we paid Lohse “his going value”? He hadn’t even declared free agency yet so not even him or Boras could tell what his going value was. In hindsight, we obviously paid way over his going value (look at the other pitcher contracts signed that off season). Btw, my criticism of the Lohse contract was more length and the no trade clause than the AAV. I thought we overpaid in AAV but only slightly.
DeWitt and Mo can spend however they want. I will feel free to criticize however I want. My complaints with the veteran signings was that we paid over market — both relative to what homegrown assets could have provided us and also compared to what other veterans on the market received but mostly to what I think these guys could have gotten from other teams. I stand by that even in hindsight.
To criticize the Lohse signing, you would need to argue the availability of better alternatives following the 2008 season. The Cards decided to invest about $10.5MM a year for four seasons to retain Lohse as a starting pitcher. Veteran starting pitchers tend to be pricey and to command multi year deals.
The Cards and agents have lots of number crunchers. They can calculate appropriate wages based on the combination of career and recent season performances.
When you sign someone in September-Dec, you are going to pay top of the market. The labor market is not steady-state across all 12 months and these are peak price months.
Alternatives to Lohse have included Reyes, Wellemeyer, and Thompson. They were cheaper certainly, but not very good either.
Another alternative is to go into the spot market every winter and look for an underpriced asset. But low priced guys generally have drawbacks.
Mo probably likes roster stability a bit more than Walt. Mo may prefer to pay Lohse more money and have a more stable roster than trust to the free agent market (Clement, Mulder, etc). There are pluses and minuses to this, but if DeWitt is willing to pay Lohse $10.5MM to be the third starter, its his call. Its not that the guy is “overpriced.” Rather its a willing gamble to invest in a costly asset.