Last night's devastating loss has a lot of Cardinals fans up in arms this morning. I could start ranting on how Ryan Franklin has the composure of a little school girl or how the offense disappeared over the past four games, but I don't think I have anything to add on those fronts. Sometimes baseball goes awry, just like how Ryan Ludwick didn't decide to have a breakout season and Kyle Lohse didn't decide he would pitch like a number 2 pitcher this season. It just happens. You have to take the bad with the good, and there has been a lot of good to write about this season.

The Cardinals' pursuit of a reliever has taken on an even greater importance if they wish to stay in the race, which they most certainly do. Yesterday, I discussed how Kyle Lohse will most likely be a Type A free agent after the season, netting us two draft picks in the first two rounds. That leaves the Cards a lot of room to ride Lohse's hot streak for the rest of the year. There may be some that are more open to trading him now due to the sweep, but that would be a reactionary move in a situation that doesn't merit one. Carpenter is on the fast-track to the rotation (we'll see tonight how he fares in Triple-A Memphis), and Wainwright has had nothing but good news coming his way. The players are certainly ready for those two to return. So am I. Lohse gives you stability and is a good complement to those two. Keep Lohse.

Solving the bullpen problems is a bit more complicated. Cutting Jason Isringhausen will only deteriorate clubhouse chemistry even more. Putting him on the 15-day DL makes a lot more sense if you're going to get rid of him. The fact of the matter is he's allowed 6 earned runs, 3 walks, and 7 hits in his last 3.2 innings pitched. Give him some time to get control of his cutter, which didn't look too bad last time out. If he has to stay on the team, at least keep him out of two-inning appearances.

Chris Perez was demoted because he needed to work on adding his slider to his repertoire, which is certainly true. Give him a week. I'm sure Kelvin Jimenez is a good guy, but his stuff doesn't translate to the major league level. Perez had actually improved his control at the time of the demotion, enough to convince me he still should be with the major league team. Bring Chris Perez back up as soon as you can.

Then there's the lefthanded reliever/middle infield upgrade problem. The Cardinals have expressed a strong interest in George Sherrill of the O's, and he could potentially be paired up with Brian Roberts. That's not going to happen, unless we care to trade off all our trading chips in one fell swoop. The Pirates have the interesting combination of Jack Wilson and one of Damaso Marte or John Grabow. I contacted Brian McElhinny of Raise the Jolly Roger to comment for his opinion of such a trade:

Your question is a good one and we've been wondering about this here in Pittsburgh as well. I actually have heard that we are looking at Duncan and Reyes (how seriously, I don't know), though I personally wouldn't pull the trigger on either of those (Reyes--correct me if I'm wrong--is just awful, and Duncan is an OF--which is not our need--and a bad one at that). I can tell you that the reason the price on Marte is so high is that he is likely going to be a Type-A free agent, meaning we'd get 2 1st rounders if he leaves this offseason--so any return for him would have to be better than two first round picks (unlikely). Nobody really knows how willing we are to part with Jack or Grabow, but I can tell you that they are staying here unless the Pirates can get significantly more than they are worth. Management has stressed that they won't deal unless the Pirates clearly win out on the trade (something that hasn't happened around here in quite a while). Should be an interesting trade deadline.

The Pirates have been reportedly shopping all three guys for exorbitantly high prices, with one need in mind:

Pitchers, pitchers, and more pitchers. Management has said any good players will do, but pitching is a blatantly obvious need at all levels.

The Cardinals are lucky enough to have a surplus of pitching, but it's to be determined whether they would deem guys like Mitch Boggs or Anthony Reyes worthy of inclusion in a trade. My best trade proposal? Reyes, Boggs, Joe Mather, and Tyler Greene. Three guys that can help them right now and a project to work on in the future.

There's Mark Ellis and Alan Embree of the A's, which should only be done if we can get away keeping Bryan Anderson, Jaime Garcia, and Jess Todd. (Remember: Colby Rasmus is injured and unavailable for trade, as is Chris Duncan).

There's also Mark Grudzielanek and Ron Mahay of the Royals. Chris Duncan would be a good fit to go there, but that's not likely to happen. A trade for Grudz and Mahay wouldn't put us over the top by any means, but it would make our team that much better for when Carp and Wainer come back.

And then there's my favorite dark horse: Jhonny Peralta of the Indians. Batting .267/.311/.488 with 17 home runs, he would be a great addition to the fearsome foursome - Ankiel, Pujols, Ludwick, and Glaus. I would gladly offer them Bryan Anderson and even Jess Todd in a package for Peralta and Rafael Perez, a lefthanded reliever with a 9.13 career K/9. It's the longest shot from happening, but you never know.

We're only 3 games out of the wild card lead and 4 games out of first. I have a feeling we still have a wild ride ahead of us.