Andrew Cashner Relieving Now, But Hopes to Start and Other Bullets

The Cardinals took it to the Brewers last night to even the NLCS (of doom) at 1-1, and Nelson Cruz blasted a walk-off grand slam to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead over the Tigers in the ALCS. The latter was a thing of beauty.

  • Andrew Cashner isn’t thrilled about being in Arizona right now, but not because he’s got a beef with the Arizona Fall League, where he made his debut this weekend. “It’s definitely tough coming back out here,” he said. “I spent almost four months here this year [rehabbing], so it’s not a place I enjoy coming to, just because of what happened here this year. But it’s the Fall League, it’s a fun time, a lot of good guys, and I’m looking forward to facing some of the best hitters.” Cashner is pitching in relief in the AFL, and is on a pitch count, but he still hopes to be a starter in 2012. He recognizes that the decision won’t be made until a new GM is in place, at the earliest.
  • Keith Law discussed Chris Carpenter’s most recent outing in the AFL, wherein Carpenter was once again hitting triple digits, as he did last year in Arizona. Law points out that Carpenter is successful in Arizona because he can overpower everyone, but, in the bigs, he’ll need to master his control and hit his spots, something he didn’t do last year.
  • Emperor Selig and prospective Astros owner Jim Crane had a “productive” meeting late last week, and it sounds like all issues are resolved save the big one: the Astros’ move to the American League. The purchase agreement between Crane and current Astros’ ownership expires November 30, so it seems like the November 15-16 owners’ meetings would be the right time to approve the purchase. That’s when we could learn for certain that, as of 2013, the Astros will be playing in the AL West.
  • That decision would be a part of the next collective bargaining agreement, which is still being negotiated. The old agreement is set to expire in December, but no one is yet concerned that there will be any kind of serious labor fight. Selig says that just because we don’t hear much about the negotiations doesn’t mean they aren’t happening.
  • Reds’ GM Walt Jocketty denies that the team will listen to offers to Joey Votto, but something in his denial rings hollow to me. “We haven’t talked about it. I wish that people would stop writing it,” said Jocketty. “Why would we trade one of the best players in the game? We’re trying to win.” I guess the hollow part is that he never technically said the Reds won’t listen to offers on Votto.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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