Kelly Johnson

I read this morning that the Cubs and DB's are in discussions about a trade of Ryan Theriot and Kelly Johnson.  I don't understand the logic here for the Cubs, but it appears that the DB's are looking to get a long term solution at 2B.  Surely the Cards could come up with something more valuable to get Kelly Johnson.

Johnson hit is 17th homerun last night against the Mets and now has more than 50 RBI's.  He looks to be a poor man's version of Dan Uggla except that his defense may be better than Uggla.  Uggla has 22 dingers so far after a hot streak where he hit 6 in 6 games.  Kelly Johnson has not produced consistently at 2B year after year like Uggla, but he is putting up those numbers right now.

Johnson offers another powerful bat like many have been suggesting, and he is not a lateral move.  The Cards have been absolutely horrible at 2B, defensively and offensively, and even though Lopez offers some improvement when he most surely will slide over from 3B, he does not provide the improvement that Kelly Johnson would provide.  Lopez has some power and he and Johnson will probably hit for a similar average, but 17 dingers from a 2B is HUGE, particularily for the Cards who get nothing from the SS, 2B and C positions.

A SS upgrade would also be nice, but there is no one out there who upgrades significantly over Ryan or Greene.  Drew is a better player offensively, but he is not better defensively and there is minimum upgrade offensively.  On the other hand Kelly Johnson is like adding a legit number 5 or 6 hitter at the bottom of the line-up where power is non-existent.

What would it take to get Johnson?  There has been proposals of Rasmus going to the DB's for Drew and there was a suggestion yesterday of Drew for Jon Jay and AAA pitcher.  As good as Jon Jay looks right now a Jay for Drew, or a Jay for Kelly Johnson straight up might work, but is Jay really the guy that the Cards need to move.

Jay has been starting practically every game and after going 3 for 4 Friday night he will most certainly be in the line-up for Rasmus today.  Ludwick and Rasmus sitting may not be ideal, but right now Jay has forced his way into the lineup and he seems to want to stay there.  Competition is a good thing, but can you really afford to have Jay, Rasmus, or Ludwick sitting on the bench when either of the three could probably be traded for a Kelly Johnson.  Rasmus and some combination of Ryan/Greene and prospects might even net you Drew and Johnson.  If you don't want to trade Rasmus then move Ludwick for pitching or a middle infield bat to a team in contention needing an outfield bat .  Don't want to trade Ludwick or Rasmus then move Jon Jay while he is playing lights out.  My point is that one of them needs to be moved because of what they can bring in return - starting pitching or a middle infield bat.

I like Rasmus, Ludwick, and Jay and do not want to see any of them go - but my dislike for what is going on at 2B / SS far outweights everything else.  If we were to take a poll I would guess that most fans would be evenly split between four categories:  Keep all four and play the hot hand, move Jay while he is hot, move Ludwick because his contract will eventually force him out, or move Rasmus because he has the most value and can net the most in return.

Cards seem to have a decision to make and even choosing to not move any of the three may be the most important decision of all.