….definitely resign Lohse, and I’d groom McClellan as our 5th starter. I’d also go out and find a solid free agent starter to add to the group. This way I’d have Wainy, Lohse, Welly, Free Agent, and McClellan as my rotation. If Carp can come back and cowtribute then everything is coming up smelling of Holsteins. Pinero can work in the pen and be a spot-starter, or take over 5th spot if Mac can’ cut it.

As for that free agent, I’d like an upgrade over Looper or there is no point in finding someone else. It doesn’t necessarily have to be Sabathia or Burnett, he just has to be better than Looper. Obviously, we also need to address the lack of a dependable lefty in the pen this way, and possibly an impact bat as well (hopefully via trade). But we need to nail down 5 starters early, and figure on not getting much from Carp – and hope he can come back to form.

:=8)

 when was the last time the free agent market for starting pitching wasn’t considered “out of control?”

pitching is way too expensive if you have to go out and waste it on some retread that will make as much as Pujols does…i read on MLBtraderumors.com that Lowe is expected 18/year for at least 3 years…if we can use KMac as a 4-5th starter then that will benefit the Cards greatly…i wouldnt be opposed to signing Looper back if we could get him on a 2 year deal but that seems unlikely…Lohse can go, he will be way too expensive for his talents…really i wouldnt mind Zito if the Giants pick up a big chunk and it was a salary dump requiring little in return, he is very durable and pitched quite well in the 2nd half and aside from April and June wasnt as bad as most people think. his FIP was down from the last 2 years but so was his K/9 slightly which could be explained by his two bad months…it would be worth looking into, imo, esp if our righty trio in Memphis isnt ready to start the season.

I would like to see the Cards make a play for Lowe. I think that he could be signed for 3/36 maybe even a little less. Loshe has made statements that he likes it here in STL and likes working with Dunc. I am not sure that means he can get his agent to make deal that would make him signable.

 I was one maybe the only one that liked the Pineiro signing, and i am very fustrated with his performace this season. He has made a few starts (like the other day) where he pitches well. I have no personal knowledge of him, but I wonder what his problem is? Is he a head case that just can’t concentrate or is just mediocre? I would like to think that he could be a better pitcher just to make me feel better about signing him. lol. Wouldn’t this be nice:

Wainman
Lowe
Welley
Lohse
Mc

Pineiro if not traded could be a swing man and spot starter. Carp hopefully will be able to pitch some time.

We invested 2 years converting him to a starter. He is proven. He keeps the ball down. He competes. He finished this year strong and easily should have had at least 15 wins if he had some decent run support and a decent bullpen.

He is a warrior.

Why wouldn’t you wan that guy back? I know he isn’t a sexy pick like Burnett but you need pitchers like him to anchor the rotatiion who compete and throw lots of innings.

It would be a big mistake to let him slip away now.

I agree with keeping Lohse but Looper should stay also.

Could we drop the whole “wrong body type” thing? There is just no evidence to back up a claim that a smaller guy cannot be a starter. It’s just one of those old beliefs that has been around a long time. It’s like the NFL teams who draft the guy that runs a 4.3 instead of the guy who is actually good at football. For more proof that size does not matter see Lincecum, Tim. No, I am not saying that Todd is Lincecum, but Lincecum is even smaller than Todd and is a dominating starter. Yes, most pitchers are bigger than Todd, but that is mainly because you usually need to be bigger to generate a major league fastball. But if a guy is a little smaller and can get the radar gun up there, I think there is just no evidence that he has to be a bullpen pitcher because he is somehow putting more strain on his arm or whatever.

If I remember right, everyone in ST was talking about how McClellan should go to Memphis and start this year. Obviously, plans changed for 2008, but I think that with our RH relief surplus heading into 09, Kyle would potentially be a great addition to the rotation. LaRussa, Duncan and Co. have had success lately converting relievers into starters, and I see no reason why McClellan would be much different. Even though we will miss him in the bullpen, don’t forget that next year we will (knock on wood) have full seasons from Perez, Motte, and Kinney to make up for it. I say give him a chance.

You know they won’t go into the 2009 without some kind of Reclamation project. But who? Lets see our choices in no particular order

- Mike Hampton
- Pedro Martinez
- Carl Pavano
- Mark Prior
- Curt Shilling
- Bartolo Colon
- Eric Bedard (possible non-tendered)
- Freddy Garcia

Albert Pujols
515 at-bats
182 hits
.353398

Larry Jones
438 at-bats
160 hits
.3652968 batting average

Let’s assume both get 11 at-bats over these final 3 games.

If Pujols went 10 for 11, he would be at:

Albert Pujols
526 at-bats
192 hits
.365019

Now, for that to beat Chipper Jones, we need Chipper to finish at worse than that. Give Chipper the same 11 at-bats:

Larry Jones
449 at-bats
163 hits
.3630289 batting average

3 for 11.

Obviously, neither could get 11 at-bats or one of them could get more than that.

But, on a level playing field, Pujols has to be Pujols over those 11 at-bats and Larry can’t get more than 1 hit a game.

Good Luck.

that McClellan is not durable enough to be a starter. but he’s very young and it is impossible to tell if he’d be worth the risk of an injury to make him a starter. I guess you have to look at payroll savings vs. having him get too tired to pitch and thus be ineffective, or even get injured.

Ken Reitz? I can’t really find any on the intertubes of the Zamboni.

So all the talk about spending money got me to thinking about where else we are planning on spending in the off season. Obviously the shortstop situation has been discussed ad nauseam but I got interested in one particular comparison between shortstops. Here are the stats via mlb.com and the contract info via cotts. (the second guy is on a 4 year deal but I listed only his 08 salary).

G AB R 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB OBP SLG AVG ops
2008 136 497 68 21 2 10 54 37 64 6 0.317 0.38 0.27 0.697
2008 132 405 49 10 3 1 21 29 25 24 0.322 0.311 0.264 0.633

1y/9mil
1y/2.85mil

Player one has obviously better offensive stats. He is also commanding 6.15 mil more per year than player two. Player two is of course our favorite Izturis. I just wanted to pose the question. Is the gap in production worth the gap in compensation?
If Izturis could be had again for the exact same 1 year deal, would you keep him and then look to upgrade at the Keystone instead? I am of the opnion that if we can get a significant offense + defense upgrade at 2B, then we can pencil in Izturis in the nine spot as a decent OBP, excellent Fielding, and plus speed guy who fits the team quiet nicely.

BTW, Player one is Renteria who, earlier in the year, was highly coveted by people on this blog (including me) as a replacement to Izturis.
Bottom line is, an offensive upgrade is needed in the middle infield. However, I feel that 2B is really the place it could manifest most effectively because I feel that Izturis is significantly undervalued and because of this, he would represent more of a “bargain” than any of our current 2B options.

If he can get his all-star stroke back you could bat him first and Lopez second next year. That would be explosive and tough to match up with.

And keep in mind I’m not building this team with a nintendo…

1/ Lopez 2B
2/ Ludwick RF
3/ Pujols 1B
4/ Holliday LF
5/ Glaus 3B
6/ Ankiel CF
7/ Molina C
8/ P
9/Izturis SS

This line-up gives you plenty of defense, speed, and power. I’m sure I will cause a lot of groans but I got Holliday by dealing the Rocks Rasmus. I’ll take the Ricker in CF. If the Ricker does not pan out Daryl Jones will be ready soon.

McClellan will get a long look at the starting rotation in ST, and probably make the rotation.

It will be a terrible move in my opinion. Sure he has 4 solid pitches, but look at his previous history as a starter. It has never been pretty, and ultimately resulted in an elbow surgery.

I think McClellan’s career path is much different than Wainwrights. He hasn’t ever had much success as a starter, but has had success recently in both the minors and majors as a reliever.

Waino was always slated for the rotation. He only was in the pen that year because there wasn’t room in the rotation, kept his innings down, and we eventually needed his arm there more than anywhere else. The 2 really aren’t good comparisons…