The cards have reinforced their two strikeouts and a home run modus operandi. I don’t particularly disagree with this philosophy, I just think that one of our goals was a better on base percentage in the middle infield. This just illustrates my mixed feelings about this trade because I heartily approve of Greene. He was one of the best out there. The shortstop market among free agents was flawed by injury and attitude. Though Kahlil has exhibited attitude problems, playing in St. Louis should fix that. I think he’ll have a good contract year but he’ll still strike out a ton. Cards can offset this by finding a good second baseman with a high on base percentage and good defensive ability moving to his right. Kelly Johnson? Jose Lopez?

ho hum…at least they’re not sitting on their hands and doing nothing. I still think this was the spot that needed the least attention this year. As long as this isn’t the “big” move of the offseason. Greene is a rehab project with a big name is all.

THANK YOU BERNIE! I agree. I like the trade. He is moving into his prime years so he should be inspired with motivation coming to St. Louis in the last year of his contract. Trading for ball players is always a gamble really. Kudos to Mo for getting this done before the winter meetings. I’ve thought highly of Mo since observing his work of last winter. I think the Cards have a plan and are following it close two the script for however the river tends to unwind. I don’t think the currents were in their favor to travel last July and that is why they did not make that summer trip to trade for help. It should be an interesting week next week to see what else Mo can get done. Thanks again for burning the early morning oil to provide us fans with the details Bernie! Much appreciated!

Bernie- good morning .I’d say gamble was the key word in your piece. As in “big gamble”!!
6.5 million in a contract year? The Cardinals don’t like to pay over 2 million!
Isn’t that why we dumped Edgar and traded Mark G to K.C.?
You mean, the Cards have decided to pay real money to a SS?
Let’s assume he has a real good year next year. Do you really think the Cards will pay him 6.5 to 8 mil a year for 3 to 4 years?

So with that being said, why would we “rent” a SS for one year, coming off a terrible year, AND give up pitching to do it?
What’s the point?

Not only do we not know the players the Cards are sending out, we also don’t know if the Pads are picking up some of his salary. My guess is that they are paying 3 mil of that 6.5 mil. Regardless, as Bernie said, we shouldn’t judge the trade fully until all the details are known. I like it right now though, the move from Petco will help him.

I’m not sure what to think about this. I’m puzzled that they picked him up with one year on his contract. If we had a good SS coming up in the minors ready to take his place next year I’d understand. I’m also shocked we got someone with with a worse batting average than Izturis. That’s what I couldn’t stand about Isturis last year. I couldn’t figure out why we kept playing him. I like Greene’s power, but if he can’t do much else with the bat, it’s a bad move. I hoped we’d work hard to get Furcal. I guess it’s too late now, but I’m willing to wait and see. Greene has much more potential than Izturis.

Greene would not have been my first choice, but he is a good choice. Personally, I preferred Furcal, but he was probably out of the money the Cards were willing to pay for a SS.

The biggest challenge now is to find a very good second baseman to compliment Greene, both on and off the field. Johnson and Lopez are possibilities, but I personally like Orlando Hudson over those two. He is experienced, hits for average, commits fewer than 10 errors a season (1 error every 12.92 games), and is a true 2nd baseman, unlike Kelly Johnson (3 yrs exp) who was a OF converted to 2B (28 errors @ 2B over past 2 seasons). Jose Lopez is also a very good hitter and fielder (1 error every 11.57 games) but only 5 yrs MLB exp. My thought is, if you want youth, Lopez; experience, Hudson.

Miller is signed, but do we really need a 39 yr old reliever? Yes, Rhodes is a lefty and is tough on RH batters, but I question this offer because of the age issue, and no batting experience at the MLB level.

Please feel free to chime in on my thoughts.

Greene would not have been my first choice, but he is a good choice. Personally, I preferred Furcal, but he was probably out of the money the Cards were willing to pay for a SS.

The biggest challenge now is to find a very good second baseman to compliment Greene, both on and off the field. Johnson and Lopez are possibilities, but I personally like Orlando Hudson over those two. He is experienced, hits for average, commits fewer than 10 errors a season (1 error every 12.92 games), and is a true 2nd baseman, unlike Kelly Johnson (3 yrs exp) who was a OF converted to 2B (28 errors @ 2B over past 2 seasons). Jose Lopez is also a very good hitter and fielder (1 error every 11.57 games) but only 5 yrs MLB exp. My thought is, if you want youth, Lopez; experience, Hudson.

Miller is signed, but do we really need a 39 yr old reliever? Yes, Rhodes is a lefty and is tough on RH batters, but I question this offer because of the age issue, and no batting experience at the MLB level.

Please feel free to chime in on my thoughts.

sorry for the double post

I was hoping to see Greene in a Cardinals uniform a few years ago….but I’m hopeful that he will return to his old form. Maybe coming to a winning tradition in STL will give him a better perspective and the change of scenery will help his mental game, ie NO MORE PUNCHING STATIONARY ITEMS!!!!

Hey guys, looks like the Cards are making some moves. I like this deal if Greene stays healthy. Furcal is commanding more money and has a history of injuries. That being said, Greene comes in as low risk, high reward type of player. With him hitting in a more batter-friendly ballpark and in a better lineup, I think that he will have some success here in St. Louis. By the way, the last time the Cardinals picked up a shortstop from the Padres, it worked out pretty well. GO CARDS!

For me, my opinion of this deal, really will be formed when we learn what the Cards gave to San Diego in exchange for Greene. Hopefully, Mark Worrell, Fernando Salas, or somebody like Brad Thompson is the mysterious “Minor League RHRP” traded for Greene. We shall see…

Greene career home/road splits:

Home OPS: .658

Road OPS: .802

Home SLG: .369

Road SLG: .484

You can’t deny the big difference in these home/road splits. There is just a huge difference…

In the end, however, my opinion of this deal will be formed when we learn what the Cards gave up to acquire Greene.

Knowing the details of the deal is vital. Padres must be paying some salary after we paid them so much to take Edmunds last year. Greene will look and perform better in a Cardinal uniform.

1) Well that’s a relief. I was so disgusted with the idea of Renteria. Now I need to find out what the Card’s gave up. 2) Still need the Lopez thing worked out. How do you think this will play out. I would be OK with him as the 2nd baseman. 3) The starting pitcher. I guess that will be a reclaimation kind of thing where Duncan will be supposed to resurect a career. 4) I wonder if Ankiel will heal as slow as Duncan with the same hernia surg. I know they say he will be healed out but to come back always takes a year.

As long as one of the pitchers we are giving up is not Jess Todd, I would consider this a good deal. Greene has a very high upside and not much of a downside unless he gets injured. Most of the other available middle infield
candidates have even greater injury/age concerns than Greene and would probably cost much more, leaving less money to fill our other holes this off-season. I think people who expect that the Padres are picking up a significant amount of Greene’s salary are overly optimistic.

I like Greene and always have. I am hoping that last season was the anomoly season for him. He has always had great potential and just never found his groove. Hopefully we didn’t have to give up any important players for this experiment, but he wouldn’t be the first guy to come here and get his game together. I don’t think you can judge him from last year, there were alot of issues on that Padres team and it seems a majority of the players were unhappy. Now about 2B?

This guy has way too many strikeouts but they still have Franklin. This seems a waste of time to me. Someone tell me how this helps to increase this club’s chances to overtake the Cubs? After all, that HAS to be the focus, at least if they expect to see any of my money in the near future. Being a little feisty and competitive for a few months wont cut it for me MO! Times are too hard now and money and jobs too tight. Put up or shut up but don’t try and sell me a pigs ear and try and disquise it as a silk purse.

One of my best friends is a lifelong Padres fan. Lives and breathes the Pads. I asked for his thoughts. Might be interesting to see how the other half sees this move … Here they are:

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My guess (and I preface this by saying I’m happy he is gone - even without a MLB-ready SS in the system) is he will be a decent pickup and might even do really well with guys like Pujols, Ludwick and Glaus in the same order.

He still can’t hit anything but a fastball, but I see them having to pitch to him more there than they did in SD.

If they can stick him at No. 7 or No. 9 (if La Russa is still doing that pitcher bats 8th thing) he could thrive.

He was done in SD. The front office was sick of his fragile *** and his bizarre personality. They wanted him gone and they were lucky to do it without having to pick up someone else’s contract. So it’s a win-win situation for the Pads. Lose Greene and his $6.5M and get a couple of spare parts in return.

He doesn’t take instruction well and looks asleep half the time, but will play good defense.

This is his contract year, but this dude isn’t motivated by money or cheering or winning - so who knows if it will make him play better.

The way STL fans go ga-ga over players, just because they have a Cards uniform on, they will love this guy - even though he sucks.

Cardinals_99…

Renteria wasn’t “dumped” and Mark G. was not traded. Both left via free agency. The cardinals went pretty hard after Renteria only to be outbid by Boston, who has twice the payroll of the cards, mind you. Both of those guys have only had one good season since. If Renteria would have accepted the Cards offer, this blog would be filled with comments about how horrible that contract was.

Obviously the details are not fully known, but I would be willing to bet that SD picked up part of Greene’s salary. Sometimes I think we should give Mo and the front office guys credit for being more educated than we are when it comes to baseball. They live it everyday. It is their jobs on the line when they make these deals. Let’s wait to see all the details before we start bad mouthing Mo. He’s done a pretty good job so far in my opinion.

The Cardinals have a high success rate w/ long blonde haired hoosier looking guys. I feel good about this one. I still remember Weaver’s hoosier locks blowing in the cold October air in 06. Greene could be our new weird hoosier savior at shortstop.

HOLY SPICOLI!!!!
Anybody else think that greene looks like Jeff Spicoli?
I say they should have signed Rentaria.

What about taking a look at Wille Bloomquist (Seattle Mariners utility player).
He has speed and can play almost any position.
A very true Blue collar player.
He would do well in the National League.