when i see Pagz and Stavinoha on the list it makes me want to punch something?

Maybe we just need more Craig?

If Boggs loses out on the 5th Starter Roulette and ends up in the bullpen, it should not be in the Whipping Boy role, previously held by Thompson. Boggs has wipeout stuff, as capable (if not more so) of overpowering opposing hitters at times as any of our existing relievers. He’s much more in the mold of the 2-inning guy you bring in around the 6th inning, not the guy you pass over for a week or so just in case he needs to come in in the middle of the 4th some time.

What I’m concerned with here is the fact that our impressive seeming $30 million surplus could easily be 80% gone two players later (Lego, #4) with still plenty of shoring up to do:

- With just what’s available in house, your only LH bat off the bench is Jay. Anderson is a better option possibly than Pagnozzi, although less likely to be given the opportunity, and wouldn’t be in a position to PH for anyone other than Molina anyway. I’d rather not go back to having Thursty Joe just to have a lefty on the bench, and I’d prefer to have some thunder here, so this may be an area of spending.

- Nearly all of the other teams that made the postseason had more than one RH power arm who could actually make opposing batters look stupid. Regardless of whether they wouild be slotted in ahead of or behind Franklin in the pen, this is also an area of spending, unless one or more of our young guns can really can morph into these roles (not yet convinced).

- Different pool of money here, but some cash needs to be doled out in severance for McRae and then to get a new/different hitting coach (leave it at that for now).

All I’ve got for now; pulling into the parking lot at work. See you all on the flip side.

fifth starter material being, generally, the stuff they made my Wal-Mart TV stand out of

1. To understand whether the Cards have a shot to resign Holliday and extend Pujols, we need to know at what level the Cards will cap their payroll. If it is closer to the $90 million of the past few years (prior to the July splurge), then the team only has about $20 million to spend on free agents. If the Cards want to keep both Holliday and Pujols for the long term, the budget must consistently be over $100 million. If so, the the Cards might be able to pull off both deals ($20 million for Holliday and an extra $10 million on season for Albert).

2. Resigning DeRosa would be a waste of money, scary (coming off of writ surgery) and jeprodises the long term potential of singing both Albert and Holliday. Moving forward a majority league minimum infield should be the organization’s long term plan for addressing any potential payroll crunch. Besides, its not like there are better FA options out there.

3. The big concern at the end of the year was offensive consistency, with Ludwick being the key to taking the offense to the next level of productivity, thereby providing a second legigiment threat to take advantage of teams walking Albert (for the moment I will assume that Schu and Rasmus in the 1&2 spots offer enough OPB in front of Pujols). The difficult question for the Cardinals this offseason is deciding whether Ludwick offers the “danger” needed in the 5 hole. If the Cards decide Ludwick is a AAAA player with one great year and therefore cannot be counted on as the third amigo, then the Cards should explore other options in the outfield, including trading Ludwick if he has value, and singing a second tier FA (Andruw Jones or Mike Cameron) to fill in at the position for a year or two.

Wouldn’t say Beltre at 3B + Mike Cameron be better than Holliday + 3BPuPuPlatter?

I’m all for signing Adrian Beltre.

IMO we should sign Beltre and Placido Polanco (Pujols buddy) and sit back and enjoy the best infield defense ever. Then we could move Skip back to the OF or sign a semi cheap LF as well. With that IF defense even mediocre pitchers would look great.

Granted moving Skip again would suck for him, but he’d never be as good as Polanco and bringing back Polanco I think increases our chances of signing Pujols long term.

I contend Smoltz is actually the highest upside pitcher among the supposed “bargains”. He posted a 2.83 FIP with us last year and in theory should have his shoulder stronger going into next year. He can obviously pitch through pain (was throwing 92.5 MPH in ‘08 when his shoulder was already shredded, still at 91.4 last year) so really I’d be less concerned about him blowing up than say Harden when Harden’s upside is 140 innings. Plus he brings all the intangibles you could possibly want.

Also what’s the guess on a Tim Hudson contract? Seems like his GBing tendencies would fit right into DuncTheory, especially if we go with a +defense 3B to field a dirty defensive infield.

Gabe Kapler for the 4th OFer. His career against LHP is .844 OPS with it being .931 OPS against LHP last year. Can play any of the three OF positions including CF with an average or plus glove. Would be cheap to sign at around only $1M.

I am also hoping the Cardinals make a bold move this year in backup C. Draft someone from the Rule V draft. Seems like an easy place to stash a player with some upside. Worst thing you drop him and bring up Pagz. I doubt it would be hard to find a backup C mid season.

http://twitter.com/SI_JonHeyman/status/5020621989

why is this informative La Russa article in the SF Chronicle and not the P-D? Oh yeah.

meanwhile, this post has been linked to MLB trade rumors. mmm I love me some roster matrix.

He’s probably got the arm for it and Tony’s got to be getting bored of him at 2B.