But since I can’t come up with a rational explanation of the deal myself, it makes me think that Mo knows something I don’t. When faced with interpreting this move as an incredibly incompetent failure or a precursor to something better, I’ll give Mo the benefit of the doubt. (at least for now, based on his limited – but good – track record).

maybe the goal is to sneak in and sign AJ Burnett while big-spending GMs are distracted talking to Sabathia and Sheets. If they get Burnett, they probably don’t have much need for Loop, except maybe as a reliever

when reading Gant’s quote that “I think of myself as a disciplined hitter.”

His post-1996 performance didn’t give me much to smile about, but that quote plus ’96 leave me some pleasant memories.

I really can’t find much fault in Mo’s decision. The chances of Looper accepting arbitration would’ve been next to nil, so the front office’s decision not to offer Looper arb says a) they value a little more payroll flexibility higher than a supplemental pick, and b) they aren’t any more interested in bringing Looper back as a FA than any other pitcher on the market.

They’re everywhere.

Do you think he will make Beyond the Box Score’s Ray Lankford Wing of the Hall of Fame?

wouldn’t that be some form of collusion?

This reason might be a bit far-fetched. What if the Cards actually respect the FAs, especially Loop and Springer, and declined to offer arb so that they can be more marketable, i.e. get them better deals? So the Cards wanted Springer to get a good last contract? Maybe I think too highly of the Cards managment, but I can’t come up with examples where the Cards purposely screwed any veteran players (minor leaguers excepted).
Also, I forget about BOB"s track record in FA situations. How were Matty Mo and Mattheny treated when they left? Did we get picks from their departure?

Joker makes a good point, they have some loose change in the pocket and the rotation is anything but set in stone at this point. I think it’s a bit of a gamble, though…

1) I highly doubt anyone would give up their first round pick to sign Springer for one year. So Springer would have a high chance of accepting it.

or

2) The only team that would sign him is a team that already signed a Type A free agent and already lost their pick. In that situation we wouldn’t even get their first round pick just a supplemental.

in yesterday’s thread.

My reasoning is I think there’s ZERO chance Springer turns down arbitration, and in arbitration he gets $.5 – $1.5 million more than what it would take to sign him on a negotiated one year deal. I don’t see it as low risk…but rather no upside.

that seems to be the only thing that I can think of as well….just doesn’t make sense otherwise

then they’re not very bright. The value of a sandwich pick is about $3.5 M. The Cards should know this and should care. That can’t be the reason they declined to offer Springer.

With this economy, we (i.e., us fans who observe baseball from the outside) ought to be sure we’re not interpreting things while wearing our pre-recession glasses. I think we’ll see a lot of surprising moves throughout baseball this offseason.

The ONLY reason not to offer someone arbitration is the fear that they will accept when you don’t want them to.

The Cards might have looked at the FA market, seen a lot of guys like Looper, and figured that his market would not be so rosy. Then they had to think that Looper saw that too, and would figure that another year building his value with the team would be a better bet than casting about as maybe the 18th best SP available this winter. (just pulled that rank out of the air, don’t go making lists on me…)

Think about it tihs way – if Looper were a FA from another team, would you want him for one year at $7M? I think if the team did that there would be a lot of complaining around here about those funds being better spent in other areas. Just a guess.

that the contracts that players like Looper, and all free agents (maybe save the Sebathia’s, Texeira’s and Ramirez’s of the world) receive will be way below market value from last year’s free agent market. And they’re probably right. I think arbitration is a big question mark this year. Are the arbitrators going to take prevailing economic problems into account? Are they only going to rely on past deals and trends?

The Birds (and the Yankees and others) are betting that by the end of the offseason they can sign a comparable player to those they’ve declined (if not the very same player) for less than the salary an arbitrator would have agreed on. If and when this does turn out to be a frugal offseason, player demands will be less in March than they would be during the arbitration process. In this cynical, but realistic view of the economic situation teams face, I think the move makes sense. And I think there could be some very interesting players (much more so than Lohse was last year, and he turned out alright) available unusually late in the offseason- and for cheap. At least I hope so, for our sake and for Mo’s.

I read that over in azru’s rec’d fanpost

Soooooooo bad. Needs to DH

not only is he a horrible defender, he is in decline as a hitter

+1

I’m guessing no one values him as much as the Cardinals.

Always good to hear (vs read sanitized quotes) the person. Springer expected and likes the move. He knows the business side of baseball well. Family is in Monroe LA for the last year so he isn’t “tied” to STL like he was in 2007 or in the future.

Get a #3 and a LOOGY

he seemingly wants this contract to be his golden parachute towards retirement.

I’ve been saying that since he signed in Toronto. I won’t be able to advocate him much longer. That day will make me sad.