Posting a day early here. In case you haven't heard, the Springer Show is coming to St. Louis. While we endured hearing Dan Kolb's name being bandied about at the P-D, Jocketty quietly scooped up the worthier Russ Springer for a a 1 year, $1.75 mil deal. A few things of interest regarding Springer-
For one, his lefty/righty splits stand out. He held right-handed batters last year to a .187/.257/.317 line, but struggled somewhat against lefties.-.253/.314 /.532. The Juicebox was no friend of his, evidenced by the opponent's OPS of .753 at home, .599 on the road. Springer's real problem is the grisly amount of homeruns he allows, 19 bombs in 118 innings the past 2 seasons. Some of that I'm sure is that dang park again, but still that ain't good. You can bet it's gonna lead to some "SUNUVA!" moments next season. But, overall I think the pick up is ok.
The real story about this signing is it's another step closer to having Wainwright in the rotation. Or um, uh, um...Looper.
Jocketty recently said "we've had zero conversations about trades. The clubs that we've talked to aren't interested in doing anything." So unless he's flat out lying, the missing piece of the rotation is going to have to come via free agency, and that list has thinned out considerably. Here's a half-arsed, 'random stat of my choosing' look at what's left-
- Miguel Batista-The Cards have reportedly upped their offer for his services. He's a decent league average innings muncher (LAIM) who makes his hay via the ground-out and keeping the ball in the park. His K/BB ratio of 1.3 suggest he could be volatile.
- Jeff Weaver-I'd like the dream Weaver to come back, but word is he's seeking a 4 year deal. Apparently he's thinking GM's will judge him by his postseason. I don't think that even in a market this insane he can come off a 5.76 ERA season and get that sorta deal.
- Jeff Suppan-I suppose we can hold out the hope that he really, really, really likes St. Louis.
- Mark Mulder-He creates a need for a stop gap, and I'm not sure he'll ever return to glory. I'd much rather have the compensation pick at this point.
- Tomo Ohka-He's had a hard time staying healthy over his career, averaging just 22 starts per season, but has a career ERA of 4.04. If Kip Wells is worth a one year shot, so also may Ohka.
- Mark Redman-Hey, he was an All Star! That means something, right? Oh, wait...it doesn't anymore.
-
Jason Marquis- Property of Chicago Cubs. Te-hee! - Ramon Ortiz-Hey, he nearly one hit the Cardinals!
I'll say nothing further, the list doesn't get much better from there. If trade options aren't there, I don't think the Cardinals have much of a choice but to sign Batista.
2007 ROSTER MATRIX
Making Due w/Batista SCENARIO
STARTING 8 | BENCH | ROTATION | PEN |
---|---|---|---|
molina c $600K |
taguchi of $1m |
carpenter rhp $8.5m |
is'hausen rhp $9M |
pujols 1b $15m |
spiezio ut $2.3m |
reyes rhp $350K |
looper rhp $4.5m |
kennedy 2b $2.5m |
bennett c $900K |
k wells rhp $4m |
kinney rhp $350K |
rolen 3b $12m |
miles if $400K |
batista rhp $7.5M |
johnson lhp $350K |
eckstein ss $4.5m |
j-rod of $400K |
Wainwright rhp 350K |
flores lhp $500K |
duncan lf $350K |
schumaker of memphis |
narveson lhp memphis |
hancock rhp $350k |
edmonds cf $8m |
marrero ut memphis |
--- --- |
thompson rhp $400k |
en'cion rf $5m |
ryan 2b memphis |
--- --- |
rincon lhp $1.5m |
--- |
--- --- |
--- |
springer rhp $1.75 |
TOTAL $48.0m |
TOTAL $5.0m |
TOTAL $20.2 |
TOTAL $18.75 |
OVERALL | PAYROLL: | $92M |
That's not the $100 million roster we heard it would be, but just because they have the money doesn't mean they should be foolish now that things have shriveled up. (Side thought: someone in that pen is gonna get moved.) If anything, they're in a position to add salary via a blockbuster trade come July. I suppose there could be something still out there this winter, I actually have a gut feeling about a possible Bartolo Colon deal. I don't know what the reports are on him coming off his rotator cuff surgery, but I think the Halos would be willing to move him for about anything. Maybe they'd even be willing to eat some of his salary. Ah, nevermind.