sunday papers

by lboros on Apr 2, 2006 9:17 AM EDT in St. Louis Cardinals News

back home; ahhh, the comforts. some quick news items:

per this morning's post-dispatch: the junior spivey era may be about to end. jocketty's trying to trade for another 2bman; if he succeeds, spivey may be released. joe strauss's article says jocketty "continues to plumb both leagues for another infielder," suggesting that a search has been ongoing for some time; previous statements to the contrary from the front-office appear to have been mere smoke-blowing.
the phillies acquired david dellucci for robinson tejada; i doubt the cards could (nor should) have matched the offer.
anthony reyes pitched the first five innings of a combined no-hitter against norfolk -- 1 walk, 7 strikeouts. no word on how the two-seamer looked, or whether he even threw it.

add'l reading: my colleagues at Beyond the Boxscore have posted a preview of the cardinals' position players. season starts tomorrow; see you then.

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Comments

What does it mean budget-wise?

Does "absorb" Spivey's salary mean we eat his salary? Or can we get out of some of it by releasing him?

by sdrone on Apr 2, 2006 12:00 PM EDT reply actions

I hope

It means that the team literally eats Spivey. He's pretty fragile, you guys should be able to hunt him down easily.

by Marc Normandin @ Viva El Birdos on Apr 2, 2006 12:04 PM EDT up reply actions

mlb trade rumors says the deal is immenet...they add alot of rbi's but k's too...they should have a stacked offense if they can wheel prior and wood to the mound they may be decent, but its the cubs they find a way to mess it up

by punchinjudy on Apr 2, 2006 12:28 PM EDT reply actions

Hmmm?

You don't mean yesterday's April Fool post, do you?

by sdrone on Apr 2, 2006 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions

why not find a SS

and move Eck to 2b like the btbs article says? Eck would seem better suited to being a 2b, and it'd probably be easier to find an offensively useful SS, right?

by Valatan on Apr 2, 2006 1:04 PM EDT reply actions

Shortstops

V, You are probably right, but considering the defensive spectrum that makes little sense.

by Zubin on Apr 2, 2006 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions

If they were going to do that...

it probably would have been done in Spring Training, because it would be really hard to Eck to make the transition during the season.

Obsessions of a Cardinal Fan

by Quietude on Apr 2, 2006 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Actually

Wasn't Eck a second basemen before he was converted to SS? I mean I know it would a little adjustment, but he's been there before.

by Marc Normandin @ Viva El Birdos on Apr 2, 2006 9:48 PM EDT up reply actions

He's got...

14 games his rookie year at 2B, and after that it's nothing but SS.

I think he came up as a SS in the Boston organization before they traded him (since Nomar was going to be holding that spot down for years.)

Obsessions of a Cardinal Fan

by Quietude on Apr 2, 2006 10:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Eck at 2B

is not a bad idea. From the organization's perpective, there are some drawbacks to it. The coaches and trainers have done a lot to get Eckstein to throw in this non-conventional up-and-over way to first base in order to maximize his arm strength. I think the problem (again, from the organization's perspective) is that this wouldn't translate well to 2B.

(Does anybody else here remember hearing/reading something to this effect before? I swear I heard/read this somewhere.)

At any rate, I'm sure that the Cards would move Eck to 2B if an elite-level SS was acquired, but only if the SS was elite-level.

matty fred is a web log.

by matty fred on Apr 2, 2006 10:10 PM EDT up reply actions

something like that

I have read about certain shortstops with non-traditional throwing motions not being good second basemen. For instance, Garciaparra was going to play 2b for the Dodgers so that Kent could slide over to first this season. But because of Garciaparra's throwing motion the Dodgers did not believe he would be able to turn a double play quickly enough. That is probably true of Eck as well. If he were to receive a throw at second then have to turn and throw to 1st there would very little margin for err, if any.

by acr on Apr 3, 2006 9:01 AM EDT up reply actions

I still say

if the Cards aren't happy with Miles, they should consider using The Guch at second.

by Zubin on Apr 2, 2006 2:52 PM EDT reply actions

This just points once again

to the stupidity of not re-signing Gruzilanek to save $1 million a year or somesuch.

They'll probably have to spend more than what Grudzie got from Royals now anyway. I really don't understand the front office. Last year there was a story about how it was such a big deal that the shortstop and 2Bman live, eat together, swap girlfriends, etc. Eckstein and Grudzilanek obviously were a great DP pair and worked out quite well chemistry-wise.

And now here we are with opening day upon us and we don't even know who the second baseman is going to be! This is utterly preposterous, and I hold the numskull owners accountable.

by Red in Chicago on Apr 2, 2006 4:12 PM EDT reply actions

Exactly right

The penny-wise philosophy can serve any organization well but to impose budget slots to positions is absurd. Grudz indicated he wanted to stay in STL. He had a great year both offensively and defensively but because of the slot system he was too "expensive". I don't advocate a Yankees throw money at the situation solution but the slot system seems overly inflexible and creates dilemmas like Grudz. Maybe if the Spivey situation bites the front office in the collective a$$ as it appears prepared to do someone will realize how foolish of a system it really is. A case by case basis obviously makes the most sense and I get the distinct impression that that was NOT applied to this scenario.

by azruavatar on Apr 2, 2006 5:42 PM EDT up reply actions

OTOH

Using a slot system like that for certain positions helps you budget.

I'm sure they had X money allocated for BUrnett, and X money allocated for other stuff. It just so happened that they had Y allocated for 2nd base.

by sdrone on Apr 2, 2006 8:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Grudz is

old, and so valued by GMs everywhere that he ended up signing with the majors' top threat to lose 100 games annually.

God, I hope the Cardinals solve this soon, or Grudz's performance stinks, so this conversation will end very, very soon.

by MdRedbirdFreak on Apr 2, 2006 7:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Grudz is 35

I'm not saying sign him to a 4 year deal. But 2 years for 7 mil really was not going to break the bank. And it sure looks like he was better than anything else we picked up.

Is this the difference between us winning and losing the WS? Of course not. Is it a bad philosophy by the front office? Yes.

Of all the moves this offseason I think the decision to pass on Grudz could be the biggest mistake. With a groundball pitching staff why in the world would you break up two guys who set a franchise record in DPs? Up the middle defense is CRITICAL to our pitching. I'm not speaking strickly speaking offensive production but a combination of defense, offense, and team chemistry and it looks like we might suffer on all three fronts because of at most a 3 million differnce of 2 years??? That is what bothers me.

by azruavatar on Apr 2, 2006 7:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Defense up the middle...

is a consideration. But lets face it, Grudz was an average 2nd baseman, or perhaps a bit more surehanded than most. Its not going to be THAT difficult to replace his d.

by Zubin on Apr 2, 2006 11:52 PM EDT up reply actions

can you replace all of it though...he batted .294

with an unspectacular OBP. But it doesn't seem as if we have been able to fill that 2b spot as of yet.

I just think a hard cap at a position is foolish

by azruavatar on Apr 3, 2006 12:34 AM EDT up reply actions

The budget was

just an excuse not to resign Grudz. I remember that it was leaked that not resigning Grudz wasn't strictly a baseball decision.

by Zubin on Apr 2, 2006 11:49 PM EDT up reply actions

asked Goold

Said he had no idea on what 2b they may be looking at, mentioned failed prospect Brandon Phillips is on the block and there's the chance of Miguel Cairo....

If it is true that there was a "hard cap" on 2nd base as well as other positions this winter, well this is what they get.

Reverend Redbird

by erik on Apr 2, 2006 10:15 PM EDT reply actions