Todd Wellemeyer, Chris Duncan agree to one-year deals
DOWNTOWN — Cardinals starter Todd Wellemeyer has said a few times this offseason that his goal for 2009 — if really pressed to come clean about it — is to pitch in a certain July game at Busch Stadium.
“I’d like to be in that midsummer classic,” Wellemeyer said. “It’s here. That would be neat. An All-Star.”
First thing’s first. Now, at least, he has a contract for 2009 finalized.
Wellemeyer and outfielder Chris Duncan agreed to terms Monday morning on one-year deals for 2009, avoiding arbitration. Wellemeyer got a raise fitting for his role, scoring a $4.05-million deal for 2009. Duncan signed a one-year deal worth $825,000.
The Cardinals have three arbitration-eligible players yet to sign before Tuesday’s deadline to exchange salary figures. GM John Mozeliak expected to talk with representatives for outfielders Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick – the trickiest two cases — sometime today. Brad Thompson is the other player yet unsigned and when asked if he expected to leave town and the Winter Warm-up weekend with a deal Thompson joked: “I live in St. Louis now.”
Wellemeyer, 30, set career highs with his first complete season as a starter. He went 13-9 with a 3.71 ERA, and he won the NL’s pitcher of the month honor in May with a 4-0 turn and a 2.19 ERA. Duncan, 27, spent most of the 2008 season hobbled by injuries — rather it was spent getting his feel back after surgery to repair the hernias that ended his 2007 season and then a degenerative disc that required a titanium replacement. Duncan had the surgery August 4, and he has completed his rehab in preparation for spring training. Duncan hit .248 with a six home runs and 27 RBIs in 76 games in 2008.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
I am excited to see if Wellemeyer can continue to build on his success in a starting role. 13 wins a 3.71 era over nearly 200 innings makes me hopeful he’s going to do just that!
Best of luck to Todd, he could have had a better year in 2008 if not for the elbow problems that slowed him down. I hope he has a great year.
Good Luck Todd, with our sorry a_ _ bullpen!!!
Fantastic deals.. Wellemeyer is being paid less than Kevin Gregg who will pitch far less.. great stuff..
Before he starts thinking All-Star Game, I want to see what he can do in a full season without having to battle injuries. Remember how good this guy was pitching in the first couple months of the season? He was great. Hopefully he can avoid injuries, and build on his 13-win 2008 season.
Best of luck this coming year, Todd.
Have always been a fan of Wellmeyer but we need him to go deeper into games. Our bullpen will settle in nicely if our starters give us 7+ innings each time out, or close to that. No bullpen can survive having to come in the 5th or 6th every game.
Actually, Wellemeyer, as the season progressed, *was* going deeper into games, especially after he got over that little bump in the road in mid season and got his second wind.
Checking the game logs:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/gl.cgi?n1=welleto01&t=p&year=2008
We see that he only went 5 innings in his first three appearances after the brief shutdown, but in his 15 appearances from that point (July 12) till the end of the season, he went six or more innings in 12 of the 15 appearances, allowing just 80 hits and 39 runs (36 earned) in 95 1/3 IP (a 3.40 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP), with 61 strikeouts and 32 walks.
I think that he’ll do just fine for us, and I’m happy for him.
is wellemeyer really worth only 1 million less than brad penny. dumb signing for a scrap heap player. no one else would give this guy that much. arbitration or no, i would have just spent my money smarter. Todd “superfluke” wellemeyer, just a little better than pinero. pathetic.
Bizzy 15 says “Fantastic deals.. Wellemeyer is being paid less than Kevin Gregg who will pitch far less.. great stuff..”
Well I hope he would pitch more innings gregg is a closer! 4 million for Todd “the bullpen taxer” wellemeyer is garbage
Go Todd hope we are locking you up for multiyear deal next winter! To me he when healthy was just as good as anyone else we had!!! Big fan. Go MO you did something to complete this team!!! Hopefully more to come.
P.S. Duncan could be a steal if he is healthy! Dont forget he carried us for 3 months in 07! Never underestimate this guy He is a winner!!!