the missouri breaks

by lboros on Jul 18, 2005 1:56 AM EDT in News Comment 13 comments

well, here's just what stl's struggling offense needs. reggie should be back in time to get some september at-bats and sharpen up for the postseason; meantime (barring a trade) we'll be seeing john mabry (.725 ops) and so taguchi (.724) on a more or less daily basis.

time to dust off the trade-for-outfielder discussion threads. lot of teams shopping, including the cubs astros dodgers braves and yankees. for which reason i continue to favor a cheap pickup, preserving the bulk of the talent expense-budget for my boy billy wagner. the cards don't need a star, just somebody who can perform at an average level while reggie recuperates and then pinch-hit / spot start down the stretch and into october. there's apparently no market for randy winn, whose bat is punchless this season; but he can still get on base, he's fast, he switch hits -- useful bench player if/when all the starters come back healthy. i would not even mind (altho i'm guessing a lot of you would) if they brought in somebody like rondell white (though he apparently has had shoulder problems lately) or matt stairs to hold a finger in the dike; neither acquisition would significantly deplete the organization's already thin minor-league talent base, nor stretch its payroll. it's a limited assignment and requires nothing more than basic service -- happy opportunity for some seen-it-all mlb veteran wasting away on a last-place roster.

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The advantage

the Cardinals have is they don't have to do anything right away. They've got a 13-game freakin' lead in the division, and the pitching is still healthy.

Rolen's supposed to have a strength test of his shoulder Monday... if that comes out OK (and he did take the Rocket into the gap Sunday,) why not let some combination of Mabes-So-J-Rod play left field, and see wha' hoppens? Walker looks like he can play at least five out of seven games a week. I don't see where Stairs or White is much (if any) improvement on what the Cardinals already have.

Austin Kearns, now... let's talk! (Or has Kearns been completely ruined by mishandling in Cincy?)

by The Ol Goaler on Jul 18, 2005 2:17 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

randy winn

first, i agree with the ol goaler that the cards don't have to make any moves too soon.

but if the cards do make some sort band-aid move, i think randy winn would be the best, er, band-aid. my reasons are more "hunch" than anything: he seems like the type of veteran player who would flourish in a 4th outfielder-type role in stl. the cardinals have a good recent history in acquiring a veteran player like winn and getting the most out of him. (i'm thinking players like bonilla, will clark, perez, etc.) like i said, more of a hunch than anything.

matty fred is a weblog, too!

by matty fred on Jul 18, 2005 2:32 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ken Griffey, Jr?

He's old, he's super-injury prone, Cinci fans have seemed to tire of him, but he's finally having a productive season this year. It'd require eating some cash, and we'd have to figure out what to do with him at the end of the season. If I was Cinci, it'd make more sense to me to move him than to move Pena, kearns or dunn

by Valatan on Jul 18, 2005 2:52 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

he has a no-trade

and apparently isn't interested in going anywhere. i admire his skills but not his personality --- he's a selfish player.

by lboros on Jul 18, 2005 8:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No reason

to freak--ol goaler's right. it sucks hard, but reggie'll be back. till then, unless a trade of some magnitude happens, our present guys are good enough--look how everybody stepped up with Rolen out. it's a different situation, of course, but hey, they just swept houston without reggie and yadi (and yadi will be back soon). as long as the pitching and defense holds true, they'll be fine with a few blasts now and then from larry, albert, scotty, grudz, and whoever else steps up.

by rockin redbird on Jul 18, 2005 3:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

if we could count

on good health from edmonds and walker, i would feel comfortable going with a patchwork outfield until reggie's return. but walker's taking every 3d game off and is a cortisone junkie, and edmonds is notoriously ding-prone. they both need regular days off. so absent a trade, we'll be seeing a lot of outfield combinations like mabry-taguchi-walker and luna-edmonds-rodriguez --- and that's assuming both edmonds and walker stay off the dl. given their ages and injury histories, it behooves the cards to have a viable plan B. trading for a reserve outfielder hardly constitutes panic; it would have been a sensible move even if reggie hadn't gone on the dl. even with all the ofs healthy, one untimely october hammy pull leaves taguchi/mabry as stl's regular lf in the postseason. need another option.

by lboros on Jul 18, 2005 8:32 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah

that "if" is a big one--heck, I thought Jed was gonna be hauled out with Reggie after that collision. I do hold my breath every time he makes a diving catch or runs back toward the wall.

Larry's looking a lot better, but as that collision showed, a bad luck play and we could lose two in one fell swoop.

by rockin redbird on Jul 18, 2005 4:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Byrnes victim

I'd be in favor of talking to the Rockies again to give up a minor prospect for Eric Byrnes. From most accounts he isn't part of any longterm plans for them and he can play left field (not center field as Yankee hopefuls were saying). And when Reggie comes back, he'd be very good right-handed pop off the bench -- he kills lefties -- and maybe pinchrunning (as long as there isn't a play at the plate with Varitek involved).

"You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time." - Jim Bouton

by WillieMcGeeModelingCompany on Jul 18, 2005 9:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

that's a really good suggestion

byrnes vs lefties 2002-04: .542 slugging, .904 ops. byrnes vs lefties 2005: 612 slugging, .999 ops

by lboros on Jul 18, 2005 10:11 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Depends...

What we looking at here? A stop gap measure and better bench role player or are we looking into next season as well? I would prefer to go the second route and spend the additional capital if the price is right to setup for next year and the retirement or seriously reduced role of Larry Walker. I'm still trumpting Aubrey Huff on that front, though the rumors are the Devil Rays GM is out of his mind and asking outlandish prices for his players.

I'm just glad Sanders will hopefully be back a few weeks before the NLCS, like Boros said to get his swings in before we have to go full tilt.

I've tried to think about the Cards success in a different way, because I worry. Let's assume that the Cards play one game below .500 for the rest of the season. The Cubs would have to play .676 play to overtake us by one game. Is that possible? Yes. Is that likely...ahhhhhhhhh no. Essentially, the Cubs would have to go on a 71 game tear that would eclipse what the Cards have done so far for 91 games.

Even with trotting out the pieces we have now, this club is better than .500.

Incidentally, the Reds would have to play .788 ball to do the same.

by Brock20 on Jul 18, 2005 11:09 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

that's the big question

i think they gotta focus on this year now, worry about next year after the season.

by lboros on Jul 18, 2005 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Asst. GM

John Mozeliak was just on KFNS, and said that, even with Reggie going down, there's not a pressing need to make a move for an OF. I'm not sure if he was being truthful or just throwing up a smokescreen, but I found it interesting. He did say that Rodriguez will be given a good look, though.

by cardsrul on Jul 18, 2005 12:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs