Buy Low

by stlfan on Jun 21, 2008 6:04 PM EDT

I was reading a few past blogs and also have been thinking about this post for a while. Many people are in favor of getting rid of players who are not currently performing on our favorite team. Some favorite targets of these posters are: Kennedy, Duncan, Izzy, Flores (of the Randy variety), Villone, and more.

One thing that I have read consistently, and believe to be true myself (mainly because it just flat out makes sense) is that it is difficult to trade a player who is very much underperforming for a valuable asset, or one that is overperforming. This is the "sell low" or "buy low" philosophy, depending on from which angle you are looking at the trade.

One of my favorite "help both teams" trades over the past few years was one in which the Cardinals traded an aging outfielder hitting .235 with 15 homers and 39 rbi in 91 games and, in return, received an aging pitcher who had posted a 4.97 ERA in 145 games with San Diego before becoming a Cardinal. Ray Lankford went on to hit .288 with 4 homers, 16 rbi, and 6 steals (0 caught) in the final 40 games with San Diego and Woody Williams pitched 75 innings over the next 11 starts with St. Louis with a 2.28 ERA and a .973 WHIP.

My questions to VEB posters is this:

What players out there would be good for the "rebuilding for the future" approach (that most of us would like the Cardinals to take) that are also performing below expectations that we could trade for?

Would the Cardinals hvae a player that is a good fit for that team (Duncan, Kennedy, Izzy, Villone, Flores, etc)?

0 recs | Comment 11 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Players I know of that are under performing...

I am going to mention players I think are under performing (that I might want as a Cardinal fan, possibly), but I do not know well enough who those teams would want back in return. I also have no idea what the contracts look like for these players moving forward and how they might affect the Cardinals. I know that, after this season, the Cards have some room to work with.

Cleveland: Jhonny Peralta and Jeremy Sowers
Texas: CJ Wilson
Seattle: Carlos Silva, JJ Putz (probably couldn’t swing this one), Mark Lowe (injury prone?)
Toronto: Jeremy Accardo, Brandon League
Atlanta: Chuck James, Chris Resop
Washington: Felipe Lopez, Lastings Milledge, Matt Chico (dunno on this one)
Pittsburgh: Ronny Paulino, Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny, Franquelis Osoria, Sean Burnett
Houston: Michael Bourn (although, the defense is where they want it, I think), Wesley Wright, Oscar Villareal (dunno…)
Cincinnati: Corey Patterson (dunno…), Matt Belisle, Todd Coffey
LA Dodgers: Chin-Lung Hu, Ramon Troncoso
San Fran: Eugeno Velez, Brian Bocock, Patrick Misch, Kevin Correia, Brad Hennessey
San Diego: Khalil Greene, Chris Young, Joe Thatcher, Cla Meredith, Justin Germano, Wilfredo Ledezma
Colorado: Omar Quintanilla (defense is there, I think…), Jonathan Herrera, Greg Reynolds, Jorge de la Rosa, Franklin Morales, Manny Corpas, Josh Newman

by stlfan on Jun 21, 2008 6:30 PM EDT 0 recs

Justin Germano and Wilfredo Ledezma, I'm almost certain, have been released.

Wesley Wright is interesting…....he’s another rule 5 pick up that the Dodgers left out there. He certainly has a live arm though….I would think Colorado would be smart enough to hang on to both Greg Reynolds and Franklin Morales a while longer. A target might be Brent Lillibridge—he’s having a terrible time in AAA this year, and no real place to play in Atlanta.

She isn't crazy, she's just not impressed.

by jillsinmo on Jun 21, 2008 9:53 PM EDT up 0 recs

Addendum...

San Diego: Everyone but Maddux, Peavy, Giles, and Gonzalez…

"I just wish that the late Harry Caray were still around so I could hear him mispronounce 'Kosuke Fukudome' every fukun' night" -- Dennis Miller

by fourstick on Jun 23, 2008 10:38 AM EDT up 0 recs

ha

funny

by stlfan on Jun 23, 2008 10:50 AM EDT up 0 recs

out of the box

I wonder what the Reds did with veteran Juan Castro… if he was DFA’d or sent to Louisville (if that was even possible) or what.
People will laugh. He’s 37 years old and a career .230 hitter. But he has one of the sweetest gloves and arm and footwork as I have seen. If he joined the Cardinals, he would immediately be the best defensive infielder on the roster, at THREE positions.

by the Tewk on Jun 21, 2008 10:21 PM EDT 0 recs

Buy low means someone is willing to sell low......

Most general managers out there are too smart to do that.

It’s wonderful to find a gem when sorting through lumps of coal. I’d rather hope someday the Cardinals will be in a position to trade quality for quality instead of pushing off discards on to other teams, waiting for their discards to be pushed to us.

This past season the D’Backs/A’s, Twins/Tampa Bay, Braves/Detroit, Marlins/Detroit were all able to trade quality players for quality players. A few seasons ago it was RedSox/Marlins who made such a trade.

I guess what I’m saying is that I hope the organization is looking beyond scrap heap…..go ahead and look on the scrap heap, but aim higher too…...

She isn't crazy, she's just not impressed.

by jillsinmo on Jun 22, 2008 11:04 AM EDT 0 recs

I agree

I hope that the Cards are aiming higher than scrap heapers, but I believe that it could be a good idea to look there, too. I was just looking for ideas that individuals on this site might have. As far as the list I put together above, I believe that Peralta (CLE) could be a good addition at SS…maybe even as the shortstop of the future if he can hit like he once did and also field decently. CJ Wilson (TEX) has shown he can close out games. Adding another young arm to the back of the bullpen could be a good thing. I don’t know if they’d do it, but Tom Gorzelanny or Ian Snell (PIT) would be insteresting to get, if possible. Chin-Lung Hu…isn’t he one of the young SS for the Dodgers that people were clamoring for a couple of winters ago? Kevin Correia (SF) was talked about last summer. Chris Young and Cla Meredith (SD) are also good, young arms.

The problem is that I have no idea what these teams would want in return for all of these underperforming players.

Any ideas?

by stlfan on Jun 23, 2008 10:56 AM EDT up 0 recs

Well, Ian Snell is being examined in Pittsburgh for elbow pain "that won't go away."

I’d wait on him. Their GM said he had no interest in dealing Tom Gorzelanny just yet because he has no idea of his true value. He’s not pitching well, but he’s coming off a season in 2007 where he really increased his innings-what is it-the Verducci rule? So who knows….I think the Pirates have some of the most attractive pieces to deal to a contending team—they have a chance to get some good farm stock back in return. Would they deal with a team in the division? Hmmmm…

She isn't crazy, she's just not impressed.

by jillsinmo on Jun 23, 2008 11:29 AM EDT up 0 recs

PIrates trade within the division?

Didn’t the Cubs win the Central one season with major contributions from Pirates they traded for (Lofton, Ramirez, and Randall Simon)? i’m pretty sure the Pirates got fleeced in those deals getting back one “prospect” who was a MI named Hill? I don’t recall him ever being that good but the Pirates wanted him for some odd reason.

by Jumsy on Jun 23, 2008 4:26 PM EDT up 0 recs

That was a while back....a very bad deal for the Pirates.

But I just wonder if it’s okay to trade within the division if the team is the Pirates. Everyone kind of freaks when I suggest deals with the Cubs, Brewers, or Astros.

She isn't crazy, she's just not impressed.

by jillsinmo on Jun 23, 2008 5:30 PM EDT up 0 recs