spare parts?

Starting pitchers 1. 29 Carpenter 2. 50 Wainwright 3. 26 Lohse 4. 37 Wellemeyer 5. 35 Piñeiro Bullpen 31 Franklin 52 Kinney 46 McClellan 43 Miller 60 Motte 36 Reyes 48 Thompson 44 Isringhausen Catchers 21 LaRue 4 Molina

Infielders 23 Barden 3 K. Greene 5 Pujols 13 Ryan 55 Schumaker Outfielders 24 Ankiel 16 Duncan 47 Ludwick 7 Mather 28 Rasmus

15-day DL 64 García 8 Glaus 60-day DL 40-man Roster 54 Barton 68 Boggs 67 T. Greene 77 Hawksworth 70 Hoffpauir 56 Manning 34 Pérez 78 Scherer 61 Stavinoha

So I'm waiting. Yep. Just sitting idly, twiddling my thumbs, thinking about the word "twiddle" (and smiling), and hoping to hear soon who #25 is going to be. Well, not #25 strictly speaking, but the 25th person to occupy the 25-man roster. You see, by my count, there are 24 able bodies on said roster, and I find it hard to imagine Moze and TLR (or either individually) saying to themselves (or himself), "Ehh. Maybe 24's enough." Right?

12 pitchers. 2 catchers. 5 infielders. 5 outfielders. 2 infielders who could be outfielders. 2 outfielders who could be infielders. One outfielder who used to be a pitcher. One pitcher who used to be a catcher. 2 starters who used to be relievers. 2 relievers who want to be starters. One catcher who shaves his legs. One outfielder who has titanium parts.

Whew. (The word "fielder" has lost all meaning for me.)

ML put up the rotation, and it looks like Wainwright will get the start on opening day. Carp is being saved for the fourth spot in the order, and I heard somewhere (sorry, if it was from you) that it had something to do with the upcoming series against the Cubs.

I can definitely feel the excitement in the air. We're in the final stretch here, sports fans! 6 days until opening day. Seems like it's been forever.

my kinda numbers

I have zero comment on the HoF voting. If anything more needs to be said, someone else can cover it. I'm not sure I agree with the way a lot of awards are determined in MLB, and this is no exception. Take that for what it's worth. I'm also very disappointed with the Mets. Have you seen the patch? Wow. You should see it.

Impressive, no?

Mets spokesperson: "It's a very understated design. Eloquent in its simplicity, even. Asymmetrical yet balanced. As inspirational as a blank page."

Fan: "It looks like the Domino's pizza logo."

Spokesperson: "Yes, but navy and orange."

The Sports Hernia shows us some of the rejected options. And finally, in an effort to avoid thinking about this article (which is so conveniently posted on STLtoday.com and which is truly and deeply ticking me off), I decided to take a cue from another article (from DG) and have a look at the jersey numbers that will be available for all our big signings this season. (Did you pick up on the sarcasm there? Yeah.)

1 - OOC 2 - OOC 3 - Greene (Izturis) 4 - Molina 5 - Pujols 6 - OOC 7 - Kennedy 8 - Glaus 9 - OOC 10 - TLR 11 - Oquendo 12 ______ (Miles) 13 - Ryan 14 - OOC 15 - OOC / (McRae) 16 - C. Duncan 17 - OOC 18 - D. Duncan 19______ (T. Johnson) 20 - OOC 21 - LaRue 22______ (López) 23 - Barden 24 - Ankiel 25 - OOC

26 - Lohse 27______ (Villone) 28______ 29 - Carpenter 30______ (Mulder) 31 - Franklin 32 - OOC 33______ (Clement) 34 - Ring* (Flores) 35 - Piñeiro 36 - Manning* (Springer) 37 - Wellemeyer 38 - (Mason) 39 - (McKay) 40______ 41______ (Looper) 42 - OOC 43 - Miller 44º 45 - OOC 46 - McClellan 47 - Ludwick 48 - Thompson 49 - (Pettini) 50 - Wainwright

51 - OOC 52 - Kinney 53 - M. Johnson? 54 - Barton 55 - Schumaker 56______ (Jiménez) 57 - OOC 58______ 59______ 60 - Motte 61 - Stavinoha 62 - Mather 63 - Pérez 64 - García 65______ 66______ 67______ 68 - Boggs 69______ 70 - Hoffpauir 71-76______ 77 - Hawksworth 78-84______ 85 - OOC 86-99______

OOC = Out Of Commission 

* According to Yahoo!Sports 

º I will be forced to completely ignore any player who dares wear this number

Let me know if I missed any. 

As far as the unofficially retired numbers, I don't think 57 will ever be back on the table (at least not for many, many years). 32 needs a couple more seasons, and should be worn first either by someone who shared the field with Josh or whom other players have deemed worthy. 15 could go back into circulation this season, as far as I'm concerned (although McRae's wearing it now). 51 will be officially retired someday, so that's not an issue. I won't say anything else about 44. I think you know how I feel.

in mid-air

Can we not figure out some way to compromise with Lopez on the length/price of his contract? I'd really like to see him stay with the Cardinals. I'd also like someone to explore the option of using Miles and Ryan in a platoon situation at short. I suppose the only problem with that is their not-quite extraordinary offensive numbers, right? And what would be so bad about bringing back Edgar Rentería? He played well in STL, and while he was mildly disappointing in Detroit, it's been pretty strongly argued that he's better in the NL than the AL (which is true for a lot of players). He's only 33. He has incentive to do well. Of course, there's still the issue of Kennedy and where his future will lead him. If he stays in STL, he won't get the playing time he wants, but if he goes somewhere else, will that be the case there as well? Does anyone need him? Poor guy. Here's the roster as I see it:

Starting pitchers
1. 29 Chris Carpenter
2. 50 Adam Wainwright
3. 26 Kyle Lohse
4. 37 Todd Wellemeyer
5. 35 Joel Piñeiro
....41 Braden Looper FA

If we need another fifth starter, I vote for Looper. He was a good fit, and I think he's probably as good as any other pitcher out there that we have a realistic shot at landing. That being said, I sincerely hope Carp can come back and pitch like he used to.

Bullpen
34 Randy Flores
31 Ryan Franklin
44 Jason Isringhausen FA
52 Josh Kinney
46 Kyle McClellan
68 Chris Pérez
36 Russ Springer FA
48 Brad Thompson
27 Ron Villone FA

I wouldn't mind letting Villone go. I know not all his ugly stats are his fault, and he did have some pretty rough assignments, but as far as overall impressions go, I wasn't struck by his stuff.
I think if Johnson is healthy and Flores can figure out what the heck happened to him last year, one more lefty would finish the balance nicely. (Not Fuentes.) Someone like Shouse or Ohman would fit the bill without breaking the bank. As far as the closer situation, bringing in someone to share closing duties with Perez would take some of the pressure off Perez (and Tony). I know we're probably not likely to look at Gagne or Wood or Hoffman, but maybe we should. Especially someone like Hoffman, who is maybe a little past his prime (no offense, Trevor), would be able to mentor Perez and the other young guys, while at the same time not having to shoulder the entire closing responsibility.

Catchers
21 Jason LaRue
4 Yadier Molina

Nothing to say here. I think we've got this area all locked up.

Infielders
8 Troy Glaus
7 Adam Kennedy ???
22 Felipe López FA
12 Aaron Miles
5 Albert Pujols
13 Brendan Ryan

Bring back Lopez, sign Rentería, let Miles continue to be the phenomenal utility player he is, and find someone to take Kennedy. At this point, I'd be comfortable covering $3 million of his salary just so that he's not taking up space on the bench. Ryan is either going to find his big league rhythm this year or he's going to end up somewhere else. I really hope it's the former.

Outfielders
24 Rick Ankiel
47 Ryan Ludwick
55 Skip Schumaker

I see Barton at Memphis next year, and I see him staying there unless he does something worth noticing. I think that Tony would have sent him to Memphis last year if his hands hadn't been tied with the Rule 5 and whatnot, because I don't think he was ever really comfortable with him anywhere in the outfield (and neither was I). If Duncan can play (fingers crossed), this area is pretty well cemented also. At least I'm happy with it. If, however, Duncan is done, left field could very easily be a good place to bring in a big bat. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Barry Bonds. Now I'm just going to walk away.

15-day DL

60-day DL
16 Chris Duncan
19 Tyler Johnson

40-man Roster
-- Brian Barden
-- Brian Barton
-- Mitchell Boggs
-- Jaime García
-- Blake Hawksworth
-- Jarrett Hoffpauir
-- Charlie Manning
-- Joe Mather
-- Jason Motte
-- Mike Parisi
-- Nick Stavinoha
-- Mark Worrell