They could try and shoehorn a player into the SS position like they did with Allen Craig at 2B a couple of years ago, but that’s probably a poor idea.

I, for one, don’t blame anyone here. First off, Furcal can’t be blamed, cause even if he had chosen to undergo the knife last Fall, he still would be out for the whole season and at his age, that is more meaningful, especially when his contract expires at the end of 2013. Actually, if he chose to be selfish, he could have had the surgery, sat out 2013, collected his cash and then presented himself healthy and sound for the new 2014 season.

With the plethora of viable youngsters in the minors, the Cards have plenty of trade bait come June if the Kozma experiment fails, and I for one hope that the St. Louis brain trust, holds off until they know for sure what is needed.

And the Descalso option isn’t horrible. The guy certainly has the arm and range the position requires, it is just his inexperience there that shows at times. So the current trio, plus Ryan who supposedly can handle the job defensive and who probably ought to start out in Memphis, should suffice.

Offensively, the Cards should be fine even with little help from the short stop position. Lets, not forget in 2012 things were more foreboding, and that year worked out OK.

A quote from Goolds chat yesterday addressing the subject:

“Timing worked against Jackson, as did the situation he was thrown into. Let’s chart the calender. Jackson comes up to the majors and is put at second base with Jaime Garcia on the mound. He struggles with a couple groundballs from a position he had not played. Not a good game. While Jackson is in the majors, set as a back-bencher, Kozma moves into shortstop and plays there regularly. So when Furcal goes down, the Cardinals go with the player who has been playing shortstop the most regularly AT THAT MOMENT. Jackson hadn’t been. He’d been on the bench in the majors. Kozma had. Voila! The rest is September history. Kozma takes off giving the opportunity to play and Jackson slips down the depth chart. The review of Jackson’s defensive play in Memphis and his work at the plate was not as hearty as it was for Jackson coming out of Springfield. There was some thought that his range was not enough for the position in the majors and that the speed of the game was going to limit him. Seems to me he wasn’t given much of a chance to show one way or the other, and now Kozma has surpassed him. That last part of the explanation is important. Jackson may not have dropped in the Cardinals’ estimation. Kozma just surged ahead of him.”

And link to the entire chat, it’s a good read:

http://live.stltoday.com/Event/Cardinals_chat_with_Derrick_Goold_3?Page=0

I’m not sure why they won’t give Jackson a chance. Scouts say he has a plus-plus glove at SS….as long are you aren’t getting any offense out of the SS (and none of their current options can hit), they may as well play the best defensive player.

There’s really nothing out there, we all know Cedeno sucks and they apparently think Ryan Jackson sucks even worse.

(Sidenote: in this case, even though they diagnosed it as a “strain” of the elbow, it was actually a “sprain”, being that it involved a ligament rather than a tendon; that said, the terms are normally pretty interchangeable)

I understand the Cards’ and Furcal’s reluctance to opt for surgery, particularly since I figure Furcal’s motivation was to play out the last year of his contract, retire, and then perhaps ponder surgery if it was still a nagging injury. However, it’s something that often does not fully mend on its own. This is enhanced if it’s a Grade 2 instead of a Grade 1 sprain, as was the case for Raffy. I’m certain that a Google search will show that non-surgical treatments of a Grade 2 or 3 UCL injury can often result in issues such as the inability of the arm to regain its previous level of strength, as well as overarching issues with accuracy in any kind of throwing motion; stiffness in the elbow joint, and potentially issues involving the nerves of the arm, which can cause numbness and make it even harder to throw a ball.

/essay

This does open the door for the Cards to bring in Jason Bartlett, though. I don’t recall having seen anything about him getting a deal with a team. Aside from him, it’s a barren wasteland for shortstops…there’s Bartlett, Felipe Lopez (eugh), Cristian Guzman (meh), and Ryan Theriot (meh x2). I have to assume they go with Pete Kozma in the short-term…can Descalso play short?

Strains ARE tears. That is the medical definition of a strain–torn muscle or tendon tissue. So to say he had a “partial UCL tear” or a “UCL strain” is really to say the same thing.

Furcal will have PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma Replacement) done tomorrow, was told ligament is not torn and does not need surgery…—
Brian Stull (@StullySTL) September 03, 2012