juan and done

by lboros on Mar 23, 2006 3:30 PM EST in St. Louis Cardinals News

the juan mateo era has ended; st louis returned the Rule V draftee to the cubs this afternoon. he only pitched to four batters all spring; got all of them out. his fate was probably sealed when he missed the first week of camp due to visa problems, but it prob'y wouldn't have changed the outcome had he showed up on time. tony/dunc just had too many other candidates to evaluate this spring; they also have too much uncertainty in the bullpen this season to carry a player who's never pitched above class A.

here's why mateo never had a fighting chance to make the team. in today's game (a 4-2 win over the dodgers), josh hancock threw another shutout frame of middle relief and has now turned in 7 1/3 innings of scoreless, 3-hit ball this spring, with 0 walks and 8 strikeouts. he may have clinched a roster spot, leaving nelson wainwright and falkenborg (who closed out today's win) to fight over the last opening. those three pitchers have an aggregate march line of:

ip	h	w	so	era	whip
24	20	5	17	0.38	1.042

that's right -- one earned run among 'em in 17 appearances. i don't care if the stats count or not; that's some kind of a 12th-man-on-the-staff battle.

edmonds started in center today and went 2 for 3 with a double; whatever is ailing him can't be too serious (knock on wood). rodriguez started in right and went 1 for 3; gall played left and went 0 for 4, dropping his spring average to .208. he's toast; it would be kind if jock could trade him to some other organization that needs a 5th outfielder/right-handed bat.

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Opening Day Roster?

molina c: $400K
pujols 1b: $14m
spivey 2b: $1.3m
eckstein ss: $3.5m
rolen 3b: $11m
bigbie lf: $900K
edmonds cf: $12m
encarnacion rf:$3.5m
taguchi of: ~ $1m
rodriguez of: $320K
bennett c: ~$600K
schumaker of: $320K
luna if: $320K
carpenter rhp: $5m
mulder lhp: $7.5m
marquis rhp: $5.1m
suppan rhp: $4m
ponson rhp: $1m
wainwright rhp: $320K
isringhausen rhp: $8.5m
looper rhp: $3.5m
rincon lhp: $1.5m
thompson rhp: $350K
flores lhp: $400k
hancock rhp: $320k

Adds up to $86M by my standards - of course we still have to pay people like Aaron Miles, etc. that aren't in there, but still.

by STLEdge on Mar 23, 2006 5:48 PM EST reply actions

RE: Opening Day Roster?

Two things here... first of all with Ponson winning that 5th starter spot his incentives are going to kick in and he is gonna get paid more than 1M. Second I think Aaron Miles makes the team instead of Schumaker. With Bigbie possibly being hurt I could see Schumaker making the team but being sent back down once Bigbie is healthy. I don't know what Devi Cruz was signed for (800k?) but add that and Aaron Mile's contract to the total... plus Ponson's incentives...

by BigMac545 on Mar 23, 2006 6:12 PM EST up reply actions

No doubt

I'm guessing that Schumaker and Luna make the roster; that's not at all certain. That's not at all certain - nor is J.Rod's spot apparently.

Same goes with the bullpen. Wainwright has looked great at ST, but so has Falkenborg.

Maybe this could be the weekend thread - project the final 3 position players and 2 relievers on the opening day. That was kinda my thought in putting that comment out there.

by STLEdge on Mar 23, 2006 6:40 PM EST up reply actions

Too many OFs on that list

There won't be more than 5 OFs. If you consider Luna a part-time OF (which TLR does), you can get away with 4 full-time OFs, thus allowing room for Spezio, and Deivi Cruz can make it under the wire.

Or, is the real battle between Cruz vs. Miles? Veteran presence (which TLR can't resist) vs. scrappy little guy who switch-hits (which TLR also can't resist)?

by MdRedbirdFreak on Mar 23, 2006 6:53 PM EST up reply actions