Offseason...
by Jumsy on Sep 27, 2008 4:03 PM EDT
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PrintAfter seeing Felipe Lopez hit extremely well (.372 avg .413 obp) in his time in St. Louis, I feel the Cardinals have found their 2nd baseman for 2009. Mo should act now and re-sign Lopez. He is 28 years old, so he should be hitting his prime right now. I feel that having him hit in the 2nd spot would give him the best chance to succeed. I don't expect him to hit .372 all of 2009, but I would expect him to hit .300+, steal 20 bases, drive in 60 runs, and be an asset to the middle infield. I could easily see him scoring 100 runs while batting ahead of Albert.
The second move Mo needs to make is to trade Ludwick while the value is high. The Cardinals have a surplus of OFs in their system. With Rasmus coming up, Jon Jay and Daryl Jones having great years, this is an area that the Cardinals need to turn into pieces to help in other areas. I would love to see the Cardinals trade Ludwick, Duncan (as a throw-in, not the centerpiece of the deal), Freese (expendable because of Glaus/Craig/Wallace in the system), and Pineiro (plus some salary relief) to the Giants for Matt Cain. The Giants need some bats in their lineup, especially on the corner infield spots. Ludwick could be the power bat they need, and Freese could be their 3B for the future. If Duncan returns to form, he could be a solid 1B option for the Giants. By including Pineiro and some salary, the Giants will have an arm to use in the rotation for cheap to help fill Cain's void. If the Giants are interested, send Kennedy and salary relief too just to get him out of STL. If this is not enough to land Cain, then throw in another prospect (Mather) just to get a good, cost controlled pitcher (and don't bring up the Mulder deal because Cain and Mulder are 2 different people).
With Josh Kinney coming back healthy, Russ Springer likely being offered arbitration, Motte, Perez, Franklin (not in the setup role), Brad Thompson (long reliever/spot starter) coming back, the Cardinals need to add a lefty in the Bullpen. Brian Fuentes is a free agent and the BOB need to spend some money to get him. He has closing experience in case Motte/Perez show they can't close, and provides a lefty the Cardinals need. If the Cards want a backup lefty option, then re-sign Villone and use him against lefties only.
The bullpen being setup this way allows for Kyle McClellan to be moved to the rotation (and if he fails, move Thompson in and K-Mac back to the pen). The rotation would be Waino, Cain, Wellemeyer, McClellan, and Carpenter (hopefully) or FA pitcher (Looper, Lohse if he accepts arb, Ben Sheets on a 1 year deal, Pavano?)/young arm from minors if Carp can't go.
These moves would minimize the money needed to spend on free agents (5-6 million for Lopez, 6-7 million for Fuentes). This also allows for the Cardinals to spend some extra money for a quality SS (Orlando Cabrera or Furcal), but if they can't, re-sign Izturis to be the SS and get him to stop being a switch hitter and just bat right handed.
By including the salary dumps, FA spending, and signing a SS, the payroll will be 5-15 million less than last season, depending on the shortstop you sign. That still leaves a nice chunk of money that can be used to make a big payroll move late in the season if need be, or to spend on draft picks in June.
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Lopez is a career .261 hitter
I’d probably be alright with resigning him for a short deal, but there’s no way he is going to hit .300. Be careful to evaluate future performance based on small sample sizes (Pineiro…).
I don’t think it would be wise to give up so much talent (including a proven MLB level all star in Ludwick) for one pitcher. I’m not saying he will be like Mulder, but just imagine him getting hurt for even a month or two. Even that would mean we got the short end of the deal. I’d rather sign a FA starter and keep Ludwick, or trade for a SS/2B.
Piñata - something children beat relentlessly with bats. Piñeiro - .858 OPS against. Some call it irony; I call it destiny.
If I were Mo (boy, would that be the dream job), I would:
- sign Burnett for 4 yrs / $52 million (assuming he’s willing to sign for a hometown discount because he’ll likely command more in free agency)
- sign Furcal (for around $13 million for 3 to 4 years)
- trade Ankiel or Ludwick, but preferably Ankiel, plus Brian Anderson and Clay Mortenson for Zack Greinke (if the Royals are willing – I think it’s a fair enough deal)
- convert McClellan to starter – he has the pitches to do it, and it is not necessarily worse on his arm than being a reliever called to pitch on multiple days back to back.
- for the most part, go with what we have in the bullpen otherwise – Kinney, Motte, Perez, Thompson and Franklin could be pretty good, and the bullpen is a crapshoot any given year. Tyler Johnson may be coming back too.
- if Tony goes, keep Kennedy – he’s good defensively and isn’t that horrible offensively.
- if Lopez is not that expensive, keep him, otherwise use Brendan Ryan. Dump Miles – he’ll get $2 to 3 million somewhere, and that’s too much.
- see if we can scrounge up a couple of lefty relievers, but if not, wait for spring training and see if some nonroster invitee does the job, or see if someone gets cut from another team. Or maybe there will be a Rule V or minor leaguer who surprises.
- give Rasmus and Freese every opportunity to win a job in Spring Training. Freese should be backing up Glaus and Pujols. Rasmus should be starting in the outfield along with Ludwick and a platoon of Mather and Schumaker.
- sign Brad Penny to an incentive laden 1-year deal.
I think that would fit into our budget and give us a good team going forward. There’s injury risk, but high reward too.
That would give us (if everything works out):
C: Molina
1B: Pujols
2b: Kennedy
ss: [Furcal]
3b: Glaus
OF: Ludwick, Rasmus, Schumaker
Bench: [Lopez], Ryan, Freese, Mather, Duncan
SP: Wainwright, [Greinke], Wellemeyer, Pineiro, McClellan, [Carpenter], [Penny]
RP: Perez, Motte, Kinney, Franklin, Thompson
Fill that out with a backup catcher, some more bullpen arms and I think that’s a pretty good team.
looking at that again, the outfield would be thin, but I think could still be competitive. if we had a bit more money to spend, a short term upgrade there could make sense. But we have Jones and Jay in the minors, so I wouldn’t want to lock up the outfield long term with an average player.
AAA?
I don’t think Tony will play him much here, and he’s getting a bit too old
probably needs to go elsewhere, and playing in AAA everyday is probably best for his trade value.
The Padres were looking to take him in the Rule 5 draft too.
They have a bullpen pitcher I think is really swell named Mike Adams. Perhaps a Barton for Adams swap would work for both sides?
There’s no sense to keep him in AAA. I desperately want them to stop keeping players that might have some value to another team stashed at AAA. It’s a waste of resources. Barton is not in the plans. Set him free.
She isn't crazy, she's just not impressed.
Players at AAA
The last five weeks of injuries have shown that having depth at AAA does help. Injuries to Duncan, Barton, Ankiel, Rasmus, and Mather left us with options like Lopez, Kennedy, Miles, Phelps and Stravinoha for the stretch run. There will be injuries in 2009, so getting rid of the surplus OF is, imo, not prudent. Keep Barton at AAA in 09 until the DL starts coming into play.
Someone else. Not Barton.
Did you notice that several games Barton sat while the infielders played outfield? It’s pretty obvious they don’t see him as much of an outfielder. Why stash someone at AAA that you don’t even want around? It is okay, even preferable, to trade players that don’t suit your needs.
She isn't crazy, she's just not impressed.
Ever think he isn't completely healthy?
Because he sure hasn’t looked healthy in the AB’s I’ve seen of late.
If this fanpost is true...
Then the Cardinals should resign Cesar Izturis.
Felipe Lopez has put up those #s in the last 46 games. That’s a great stretch of baseball, but only about 1/4 of the season.
Over the past 51 games, Izturis is hitting .321 with a .360 OBP and over .700 OPS. He is playing MUCH better defense than Lopez has ever played in his career.
no no no no no no no no
a 1000000000000000000000000 times no on Floppy. how someone can’t see he’s just on a hot streak is beyond me. the guy isn’t this good of a player. he never has been & he never will be.
I'm going to go try to find a puppy and kick it. - Brad Thompson AND THAT'S A WINNER!
.437 BABIP
Lopez has been a welcome addition, but he’s been lucky, lucky, lucky. And he is a crummy defender. I’d be open to it for 1 year deal for cheap, but wouldn’t go much beyond that.
Amaury translates into "Punisher of Spheroids" in the lost tongue of Atlantis. Marti means "Belgian Waffle." www.futureredbirds.net
yikes....
you know what, Im going to be an optimist and say he keeps that up next year despite all odds…and all logic.
Id still bring him in and hope he can be a Spezio type
www.GriffinandtheGargoyles.com
www.myspace.com/GriffinandtheGargoyles
Dont take me seriously :-D
by jealousblues on Sep 28, 2008 5:20 AM EDT up reply actions
Now that the season is over
and we all look back on what has to be a surprisingly good season , I just have one thing to wish for for the offseason: A few new good players that will allow us to come up with some awesome new nicknames (and help the team get back to the top of the division).
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
I’d like to see Furcal and/or Hudson. Since Burnett will have a lot tied up in the Jays , I would like to se us make a move for Roy Halliday.
by from First to Third on Sep 28, 2008 11:46 PM EDT reply actions
i cant understand why the Jay would chose to keep Burnett over Halliday though
id love to have him but that seems so 10 years ago when deals like that were possible
www.GriffinandtheGargoyles.com
www.myspace.com/GriffinandtheGargoyles
Dont take me seriously :-D
by jealousblues on Sep 29, 2008 12:13 AM EDT up reply actions
im lookin foreward to the nickname we are going to give Furcal next year
www.GriffinandtheGargoyles.com
www.myspace.com/GriffinandtheGargoyles
Dont take me seriously :-D
Lopez? No, thank you.
Look. It was wonderful fun watching him hit in those last few games. But this guy just is not fundamentally sound. He always ends up on losing teams and that’s no accident. There is simply no way he will hit anywhere close to .300 for an entire season. He’s a career .262 hitter. And we will also have to endure small mental errors from him that inevitably contribute to L’s on Cardinal scoreboard. There is a reason he’s been let go by Toronto, Cincinnati and Washington. He’s not that good. Let him walk.
Lopez was let go...
only from Washington. He was traded from Toronto to Cinci (4 team trade involving prospects) and then Cinci to Washington because the Nats GM wanted him (and the Reds were looking to improve their bullpen for a stretch run so they added a veteran ss to replace lopez in royce clayton, and a slew of bullpen arms), and he was let go from Washington because he was wanting to play everyday, but the Nats wouldn’t do it (ron belliard at 2b, Guzman at SS). He came to St. Louis to make the most of his opportunity and he did. I believe that Oquendo will have a major impact on him in the field and he will hit .300 just by seeing pitches in the #2 spot in the lineup. Just because a player was waived by a team, doesn’t mean that he does not have talent/value to another organization. I seem to remember Preston Wilson was helpful in a World Series not too long ago and he was picked up off waivers for nothing. In most cases, letting a player go is due to a combination of the contract and the player who is blocked and they are wanting to open a roster spot for him.
because of preston wilson
ryan ludwick didn’t make the team out of spring training in 2007.
(he also had a .540ish postseason OPS and a .585 in the WS)
"All I am saying is give Freese a chance!" -- nmstar
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