St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The year is coming to a close, but the Cardinals still don’t have a closer. Some of you have some thoughts on that matter .
Q: Happy Holidays, Commish. I was wondering where the Cardinals are on the starting pitcher and closer front. Is Fuentes now out of reach? Will it be by committee? If not one of those options, than who will be the closer? Also, are than any free agent bargains for the starting rotation out there? Thanks very much.
Dan
A: Thanks, Dan. So far, the closers are Perez and Motte although I feel certain one veteran ultimately will be brought in. Haven’t heard much talk about Isringhausen lately, but I wouldn’t eliminate his getting at least an invite to camp if he can’t hammer out something else. I think there will be plenty of starters out there after the first of the year and even closer to spring training. There seems to be a logjam at the Derek Lowe level (the Cardinals are not in this one) and on down and there are pitchers like Ben Sheets, Jon Garland, Randy Wolf, Oliver Perez, Braden Looper, etc. who still are out there. But until Lowe signs or one of the others, nobody quite knows the market and what to offer.
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Q: Commish, with the Fuentes deal apparently dead in the water, there seems to be some increasing mention of Trevor Hoffman as a possibility for a one-year deal. Why on earth would we want to do that? He’s slipped a lot in the last couple of years, I’d much rather have Perez and/or Motte in there and take my chances, rather than have Hoffman try to soft- toss his way to a save. I envision the same Mylanta resistant heartburn that Izzy’s appearances gave me. Tell me we’re not going to waste our money on a has been. One other question, on the Miles front, any chance he’s back, or do you think after two years of the same treatment, he says “see ya,” no matter what we might offer. Thanks and happy holidays.
Monty
A: Monty, thanks. The club does not appear to be high on Hoffman. As for Miles, the Cardinals would like to sign him to a one-year deal closer to the $1.4 million he last season, rather than giving him a multiple-year deal or letting him possibly go to arbitration. Don’t eliminate Walt Jocketty in Cincinnati. Jocketty brought Miles to the Cardinals in the first place.
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Q: Thanks, Commish, for having such a reasoned view. Yes, Duncan could very well be a 40 HR per year guy when healthy. Yes, Duncan may look silly trying to judge a fly ball from time to time. These descriptions could be said about Adam Dunn and Manny Ramirez as well. At this point, I don’t see much return for trading him now. It would almost be giving him away. If he hits 280 with 30+ HRs this year, I see much more returning in a trade next year. This decision is easy, Mo. What do you think his trade value would be now versus if he had just completed a 280 average with 30+ HR year?
Bill
A: Much higher, Bill. But it also should be higher next spring when other teams see Duncan play after he missed considerable time in 2008 because of a disc problem in his neck which required surgery.
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Q: I think second base is one of the most underrated positions. Second base defense is invaluable because most first basemen are lumbering power hitters with limited defensive range. Albert is the exception to the rule, so we tend to undervalue second base defense. Just look at how many suggest moving Skip. But the idea of moving some of our draftees to second has merit. Most good hitters tend to gravitate to the outfield in high school, but some surely posses the attributes to play second. Commish, is this done very often? Thanks.
Roger
A: I think you see more players moved from position to position these days because of the tendency of big-league clubs to carry 11 or even 12 pitchers. That leaves only five or six bench players and one-position bench players are rare, especially in the National League.That being said, second base is a position that not just anybody could just be switched to. Kelly Johnson of Atlanta was a rare switch from outfield to second base but most players shifted to second have come from shortstop.
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Q: Commish, Merry Christmas. The Florida Marlins have a SS prospect blocked behind Ramirez at AAA that they want to trade because he is out of options and can’t be sent back to AAA without going through wavers. His name is Robert Andino. I think he would a very good pickup for the Cardinals at 2nd or SS. After all, we lose both Kennedy and Greene to free agency after the 2009 season. What do you think??
Thank you.
Bryan
A: Merry Christmas, Bryan, and the same to all of you. Robert Andino, while a nice glove man, batted only .206 in 63 at-bats for the Marlins last season, so I’m thinking the Cardinals are looking for a bit more sock.
(9 votes, average: 4.78 out of 5)
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Merry Christmas. I am wondering about the truth of the rumor that the current OF Skip Schumacker could play/attempt 2B. That would help us greatly in reducing our excess outfield and lower our 2B demand. Is there any chance this might happen?
I don’t know how a rumor like Schumaker-to-second-base ever got started; it reminds me of the fan who told me, in the center field seats in 1982, that the Cards needed to get rid of the .248-hitting Tom Herr and move Willie McGee to second base. Kelly Johnson notwithstanding, you just don’t see outfielders moving to the middle infield (remember when Tim Raines tried to move there, or how Ron Gant tried to play middle infield in the early 1990’s?).
As for the Cards’ new patient approach, I think that while there’s certainly a risk that we could miss out on some badly-needed players, it makes sense from a financial standpoint, given the uncertainty of the market. There’s a very good chance we’ll be able to get the players we need for half the price - maybe even less - if we wait another month or so; we’re already hearing, for instance, that Derek Lowe may only get half of the $90 million deal he wanted. And why pay Aaron Miles $4 million after arbitration when we could get him back for $1.5 million?
As I say, there is a risk that we could miss out on the players we want with this approach, but there are always other guys out there, and I think it’s a risk that’s worth taking as I doubt we’ll see any sort of bidding war for the rank-and-file FA’s out there.
Commish, happy new year! It seems that every off season the Cardinals say they are getting into the free agent market to address some of their problem areas. But we never do. Management is unwilling to pay the price that other clubs are willing to pay to get the better players.It’s okay if other teams in your division do the same but that isn’t the case, the Cubs, Brewers and Astros to some extent are getting the cream of the crop. We end up with pitchers coming off arm surgery or second liners, hoping Duncan can make winners out of them. It’s strictly a money problem. We need a closer in the worse way but we go out and get a Greene to play SS after a terrible year, hoping he will return to respectability. We could have kept the SS we had just as well. If Greene does play well we probably will only have him for a year. If he doesn’t then we wouldn’t want him. It doesn’t look like we will get a closer anytime soon and we will go into next season with the same problem!
It is getting more difficult to be a Cardinal fan. I really miss Walt and he is making Cincy into a better team. I really do not think DeWitt wants to spend money. They seem to want to be competitive, and that to me is to trot Mo out with these “wer’e kicking the tires” crap, while serious teams like the cubsm brewers and mets are signing people. It makes me sad but I believe the program is to just be good enough to have us come out and spend the money, but I do not think this team has any attention of winning. If you did, sign Derek Lowe Monday and Fuentes Tuesday. We do not have five potchers ready to go. The Yankees will have six when they sign Pettitte, They want to WIN>
Merry Christmas Commish. What about going back to Springer as someone to close. He wants to be here is good in the clubhouse and mentored the young guys last year. He has the stuff to close until one of the kids steps up. I would really like to see Perez or Wolf signed this year and a bat.
They better bring back miles. If you are going to sign the cheap players this year like last year. The dude is a gamer-plays all infield positions including pitching. I bet he would catch too if asked.
#1 aaron miles fan!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree with Gene wholeheartedly. I’m getting so tired of this “… we’re watching the market, being patient, not going to overspend…” philosophy that Mo is forced to toss out.
We (and MANAGEMENT) know what the needs are, and they have the money:
Sign Fuentes.
Sign Lowe.
Sign Looper
Sign a bat.
And do it today (or yesterday, if management has access to a time machine).
Enough already.
Is there any thought of trying Carpenter as the closer? Example John Smoltz. We all know Chris’s arm may not make a full season as starter again. Closer could be perfect. And what are possibilities of moving Wainright back to closer? I think we can all say a shaky closer spot cost us the playoffs last year.
Tracy,
Why move the ace of the staff out of rotation? We’re talking about Adam Wainwright, the best starting pitcher we have in the organization that is somewhat depleted in quality SP for next season. If we had five pitchers of Adam’s quality to fill the rotation, then you could think about moving him to the bullpen…but to do so with a poor rotation that we have currently would not make any sense at all. I’d rather have Wainwright starting 32 games and pitching 200+ innings than only pitching the 9th inning and getting 60 innings.
This shouldn’t even be an issue. Chris Perez has been groomed as the closer role since he was in college. He is still considered the heir to the closer’s role here in St. Louis. Why not let him start closing now? We have plenty of back up options already signed cheap in Motte, McClellan, and Kinney. Lets focus more on getting another SP and a good lefty middle reliever.
Commish, I think I see a good trade possibility. The mariners need offensive help. They also need a center fielder and a first baseman. I can see a trade of Ankiel, Skip, Duncan and a prospect to get Brandon Morrow. He can close or start and has great stuff. The problem is that he is Seattle’s best pitching prospect. Do you see any personnel that would entice Seattle to give up Morrow? Thanks Mr. Hummel.