The gap between Wellemeyer (8R) and Miles (0R) was bridged by Villone (6R), Worrell(3R), Springer (1R) and Franklin (2R)

re-signing Lopez at second, and going outside for the shortstop. They can’t go outside for both unless a trade is involved. The question is, Do you believe Lopez’s numbers from the second half of 2008 (.385/.426/.538) are the norm, or the his other 7 1/2 seasons at .262/.330/.395?

I would think they should look for a glove man at short, whether it be Izturis, Everett or whoever, and trade for a smacker at second since those guys are easier to come by. Trying to sign a free agent or trade for a slugging shortstop is a tall damn order.

I think that whether the Cardinals find need for an “established closer” or not, that Perez and Motte should be on the team in late inning roles. I would like to sign Springer to a 1 year deal again, as long as he will take a pay cut. If for no other reason, it would be great to have his experience being shared with the two youngsters. I think Tyler Johnson has to be given a shot to prove himself to be the lefty and Kyle McClellan can be used against lefties a lot, as well. I do not believe we need to carry two lefties unless the closer is one.

but I certainly haven’t seen any indication from TLR that he is going to hang it up. At the end of 2009 he will probably be about 210 or so wins behind John McGraw for second place all time. I think he has enough awareness of his place in baseball history that he will want to keep coaching. If retiring was on his mind 2006 would have been the perfect time for it.

There are important outs for Perez to get, even if they aren’t in the 9th. We’re in no position short term, or especially longterm, to trade him away unless the return is amazing.

on Kinney’s injuries which have led to his lack of innings. Motte, to my knowledge, has never been injured.

that LaRussa doesn’t want closing. Getting him to use one guy is hard enough.

I’m not sure if you’re trying to include guys to pull from the minors, but Motte, Perez, McClellan, Kinney, Franklin, Springer, Lefty #1, Lefty #2, Thompson, & Worrell are more guys (10) than I think even Tony is willing to have in a bullpen April-to-August.

Assuming we re-sing Springer, here is next year’s optimal La Russa-style (7-man) bullpen:

Long-man (Franklin)
Multi-inning righty (Kinney/McClellan*)
Lefty #2
1-inning/setup righty (Springer)
Lefty #1
Setup/Closer (Motte)
Setup/Closer (Perez)

Without even including Thompson (out of options) or Worrell (not much more than replacement level), we already have one too many guys for the 5 RH roles. Options to alleviate the problem:

1. A trade – Perez or Motte, maybe even McClellan, could fetch something pretty decent. Kinney won’t get you anything (injury history), Springer realistically can’t be traded (age / family situation), and trading Franklin just means that Thompson fills in the gap for jack-of-all-trades pitcher.
2. Moving McClellan to the rotation – Assuming Carpenter is not added to the equation (he adds many interesting wrinkles), the team needs a #5 starter, Kyle has done it before and has the pitches to get it done, and our only readily-available options are Boggs (who probably needs a little more seasoning) & Thompson (no amount of spice is going to improve him).
3. Utilize McClellan as the other lefty – Kyle was equally (even slightly more) effective versus lefties than righties, and our LHP options are few & less-than-quality. Plus he has the advantage over the LOOGY’s in that he can be used for more than 1 or 2 batters.

As noted before, if Carpenter is used a reliever in preparation for starter work or thrown directly into the rotation, it scrambles the whole thing. But it’s never really a bad thing to have more options.

Carp as closer, with an insane setup from the right of Motte, Perez or Kinney. who knows who will be from the left.

but then again, izzy was pretty effective for a while

his average fastball was never higher than 91.7. He may have hit 95 occasionally on a fast gun, but his FB averaged around 91 or so before falling to 90 last season.

but only because i have more faith in Boggs than most and am still hoping they change their mind about McClellan…i also think Pineiro can be close to a league average pitcher in most years and that is all you can ask of a 5th starter…maybe Todd or Mort will be ready by mid-season and i am sure we will pick at least one starter off the scrap heap before the end of the off-season… there are a lot of possibilities if you throw all at the wall some are bound to stick, right?

I think we’re kinda stuck with pineiro as our 5th starter.

I think they are easing him back form his injuries. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just aren’t sure yet out durable he is as a starter.

are those code words for motor oil and electrons?

but are you saying that if Toronto was willing to trade Hallady for Rasmus straight up that you would ask for more?

The lefty submariner?

I disagree with the first part of your post. If Fuentes is signed (because it will be 8-10 million dollars per season) he needs to be the closer. If that is the case, he does NOT take care of the Loogy problem.

I agree with the second part, though. If Lopez is going to be resigned to start at 2nd base for the Cardinals this season, then they desperately need to sign a SS with a good glove. Both of them can be one year deals, if that is the case. Kennedy makes a great backup on the infield because at the end of the game, he can come in for Lopez on D. If Izturis (or someone else with defense at SS) needs a break, then the right side of the infield will be good at D that day and Lopez can run around like a chicken with his head cut off at SS instead (OK, slight exaggeration as to his defensive liability).

He has the fourth best numbers in RP last year based upon tRA+ of 149 and has a great tRA* of 3.21 which is a good predictor of future numbers.

TLR would likely just use Fuentes as a 9th inning closer which wouldn’t do much good in the way of upgrading Villone/Flores.

I don’t think they are willing to pay the cost of fuentes

I think Carp should be closer (if he can’t start obviously)

that they are looking right at greene when they talk about trading for a SS. the pads are looking to salary dump and getting greene wouldn’t cost us much at all.

as bad as Izturis was offensively, he may have been worth more than the contract we paid him because of his defense. I’m not a huge fan of his but if he’s available for pennies on the dollar (think $2M) the Cards should serious consider signing him and going after an offense oriented 2B (Roberts, Uggla).

By some valuations, Iztuirs may have been an $8M dollar player this past year.

They could just slide Wood to 3B

We appreciate that you were good when you were us but don’t think we are paying you like that. We picked you out of the trash and will only get a modest raise past that.

if they think he will pitch then they won’t go after another SP and will use some of the salary to sign better players to fill the other holes on the team.

if they think carp won’t pitch then they will go after an above average SP and fill in the rest of the holes with average to below average players.

that’s the way i took the comments.