Could Pujols or Wallace play second base?
Who’s on second? Who’s the closer? What’s going on in the front office? Cardinals fans have some opinions and I have some, as well.
Q: Mr. Hummel, has there ever at any point over the last few years been any consideration of moving Albert Pujols to second base? I guess I’m not really asking if it is a possibility–I’m pretty sure the answer is a solid “it’ll never happen”–as much as I’d like to know if it was ever considered and if so what the thinking was. Personally, I don’t think it is a crazy idea. Looking at his glove work and range at first I think he could be not only adequate but above average at second. My guess is the deal breaker would be his arm, and if it really would significantly increase his chance of a serious injury I can’t argue with that. But I suspect he throws to third more than any other first baseman in the game and he’s very aggressive on cutoff throws down the line, both of which are longer than a second baseman would throw. And of course a third big question is what Albert would think about it. If he’s not interested that’s answer enough, but his entire career he has enthusiastically embraced the challenge of improving his defense wherever he plays. Any thoughts?
Lloyd Haines
A: A novel concept, but no thoughts in that direction. Pujols’ arm would be under more stress with all the snap throws a second baseman has to make and, if you’ll notice, he wasn’t throwing to the bases as much last year when he fielded bunts and the like. The safest place for him is first base, where he quite good anyway.
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Q: Commish, I would like to know your thoughts about some of the youngsters down on the farm. Would if seem feasible to move Brett Wallace/Allen Craig/David Freese/Bryan Anderson to second base, or to the OF? I know that we’re grooming Wallace as the heir to Glaus at third, and Anderson has value as a trade chip at catcher. But the reports on Wallace tend to make me think that while he is a strong hitter, he might suffer at the hot corner in the bigs. We have a glut of third basemen in the system for once, and any catcher is going to be blocked by Yadi. One final thought - the Red Sox have been looking high and low for a young catcher. Why haven’t we tried to trade Mr. Anderson for one of their young starting pitchers? Once again, belated congrats on the Hall of Fame induction!
Toby
A: Thanks, Toby. I talked to an official in the organization who told me he didn’t think Wallace, Freese or Craig translated to second base because of their body types, etc. Anderson hasn’t played anywhere but catcher either. Keep an eye on Joe Thurston, a solid lefthanded hitter signed from the Boston organization as some insurance at second, short or the outfield. Anderson’s trade value seems limited now because other teams really aren’t sure how good a defensive catcher he is, nor does he have much power.
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LeadDog6
Q: I agree with John Mozeliak when he saye he should choose his words more wisely. They could also pertain to the quotes I read in your most article. It appears that Mozeliak is attempting to lower fans’ expectations for the remainder of the off-season by citing “revelations” about salary arbitrations made at his desk on Tuesday. is it true that the increase in pay for Ankiel and the others could have been anticipated before the last game of the season? Is Mo being a bit insincere?
Cheers,
Dan
A: Mo was just responding to a question about how much payroll had to be accounted for internally. The organization has anticipated these increases. He was merely trying to come up with a figure which, you must admit, isn’t insignificant. But, of course, fans can have whatever expectations they want. That’s why baseball is the best game going. Everybody has an opinion and usually everybody is right. If anybody was lowering expectations, it was me, because I thought people should know where some of the money is going and that there wasn’t going to be that much left. .
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Q: I have no idea why no one is talking about Ben Sheets. The guy can easily step in and be a #1-#2 starter. We can probably get him for a 2-year deal and for under the going rate for a #1 arm. Why is he flying under the radar? The cards need to snatch him up before someone else wises up.
A: Sheets is flying under the radar because he is injury-prone. The Cardinals, having been burned by Clement, Mulder and, perhaps Carpenter, are reluctant to dive into this pool.
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Q: Hi Mr. H, thanks for answering our questions. There seems to be a debate raging about TLR and what people see as his fear/distrust/dislike for using rookies and young players. I think Tony prefers even marginally talented veterans to using the less proven, though very talented rookies. When he uses a rookie it seems to be because he has no other options (Wainwright, McClellan) or because the player didn’t give him a choice (Albert, Ludwick after Duncan failing for the umpteenth time). LaRussa is a good manager but others sure seem a lot better at using and developing young talent at the major league level.
Your thoughts?
Thanks, Commish
Doodah
A: I think La Russa isn’t much different than most managers. I refer you to Lou Piniella and Felix Pie in Chicago, for instance. Piniella basically has given up on Pie two seasons in a row. Managers tend to use players who have a track record, but I think La Russa has been more flexible in his use of young players in recent years. McClellan and Perez were given many opportunities in crunch-time situations last year.
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Q: Hello Mr. Hummel. Am I missing something here? There is a lot of talk going around that the reason the Cardinal ownership is being rather thrifty is that they intend to sell the Cardinals. Is there any truth to that or am I just reading some fans’ frustration concerning ownership’s, so-called, lack of efforts to sign some ball players? What is your take on this subject, Mr. Hummel? Thank you!
Dave
A: Every team is sold at one point or another and this one won’t be any different. But I don’t see this happening for a while, especially with the club’s tie-in with Ballpark Village and the general state of the economy. Who has the money to buy a ball team?
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Q: I have been following Cardinals baseball since 1957 when my parents moved to Paducah, Ky. I can still remember the day that Mr Augie Busch decided not pay to keep ” Lefty ” and traded him for Rick Wise.
Is this the start of more of that ” stinkin thinkin? “
By the way, Wise didn’t last more than one season with the Cardinals.
John M
A: Actually, John, Wise won 16 games twice in his two seasons with the Cardinals and then was part of a trade that netted the club Reggie Smith. No, Wise wasn’t Carlton. But that move was made because Mr. Busch got mad at Carlton for what, in retrospect, was an insignificant amount of money. It was not necessarily a sign of the times.
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Q: I can not believe that we have not signed Will Ohman. In my opion, he is a better fit than Fuentes. If Ohman was a Cardinal last year, we would have
been in the postseason. What about Jon Garland? If you don’t want to re-sign
Looper, Garland or Wolf are our bet options. I personally, am very weary
of our continous salivation over players that we have no chance to sign. I
would love to see Mulder in spring training with a chance to make the team,
along with Izzy, Johnson, Freddy Garcia, etc. I feel that Mr DeWitt has
failed to live up to the promises that he made when he was lobbying for a
new stadium. Garland and Ohman would likely make us a post season favorite!
Howard
A: Garland is a 200-innings man, a good thing. Opponents hit .303 against him last year, a bad thing. As for Ohman, he has turned down a two-year deal with Atlanta and is waiting for something that hasn’t happened yet. While he would be a nice get, he doesn’t help the closer’s situation and the Cardinals seeme satisfied with the lefthanded presence they have added.
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Q: Commish, hope you are enjoying a Happy New Year. I appreciate your answering our questions. Have you heard anything about whether (and how) Jason Isringhausen is progressing in his rehab program? Does he still want to pitch, and are any teams interested in him? I would love to see him back with an incentive contract with the Cardinals but I don’t think it is in his best interest as long as La Russa is around. His return would, however, meet a lot of needs: low cost, 1-year bridge and mentor the two heirs apparent. The last thing I want to see this year is Franklin on the mound again in the 9th inning!
Jalyn
A: We won’t be seeing Franklin in the ninth and probably not Izzy here either. He may want to continue playing, but not in a situation where he is going to be booed _ in basically his hometown _ if he doesn’t get a save his first time out.
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Q: Hi, Rick. I’d like to know what the Cardinals’ offers were to Fuentes and Miles. How much more would they have had to offer to get/keep them? I don’t blame the GM for the loss of these two; I blame ownership. Now, on to two areas where I do question Mo’s skills. How much of Kennedy’s salary would we have had to eat? I can’t believe that there isn’t some team out there that would have taken him if we agreed to assume a portion of that salary. Secondly, did anyone ask Lopez’ agent what it would take to sign him to a one-year deal?
I have been a Redbird fan since I moved here in 1967. I’ve seen some years where the team didn’t make moves that the fans would have liked to see them make. But this combination of ownership and GM scares me.
Denny
A: Denny, don’t jump off any bridges until April 6 when the season starts. There will be a lot of veteran players getting let go this spring when teams decide they can’t afford them and there will be some bargains. To my knowledge, the Cardinals offered Fuentes $500,000 more than the Angels did, but didn’t want to to three years. Fuentes didn’t want to play here anyway. The belated offer to Miles was about $600,000 less than the Cubs gave him. As for Lopez, when the Cardinals first approached him, the one-year deal wasn’t in play for him. It became a reality later but by then the Cardinals had re-commited to Kennedy.
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Q: Wow! Baseball fans get to question a Hall of Famer and baseball legend. Even better, in this on-line forum, the answers aren’t full of endless self-promotion, bad comedy and constant gambling references. Anyway, my question is not of the Cardinals’ future (who to sign, who to trade) but of their past. I feel the outfield wall and the Plaza of Champions is incomplee without a former Redbird Hall of Famer who won the first NL MVP Award as given under the current format, who hit .312 in 11 seasons as a Cardinal out of a 19-year career, who played in the first three All-Star Games, was a tremendous fielder and baserunner and led the NL in stolen bases three times, drove in 114 runs in 1930 and was an admired clubhouse leader. If I have read you corrrectly in the past, Commish, I think winning trumps all with you. And this man certainly did that, playing a major role on four NL pennant winners, two of which were teams that won the World Series. And he not only won two world championships as a Cardinal but he was the player-manager, making him one of four people in team history to win a Series as both as a player and a manager (Hornsby, Southworth, Schoendienst) Of course, I am talking about the Fordham Flash, Frankie Frisch. Why he is not on the outfield wall or doesn’t have a statue is a mystery to me. I know numbers are getting scarce, especially the single digits (Frisch wore 3), so his being retired is probably out of the question. I don’t mean to denigrate any great Cardinal players, but if you compare his numbers to some of those who have been honored previously, well. . .
Anyway, I know he was a favorite of your mentor, the great Mr. Broeg. Can you bang the drums for the Flash?
P.S. Anyone who managed a team with both Deans, Pepper Martin, Leo Durocher and Joe Medwick to a World Series title as Frisch did in 1934 (maybe the most storied team in Cardinal history) deserves extra credit. Seriously.
Paul Turner
A: Thanks, Paul, for your kind words. I couldn’t agree more with your well-presented thesis. I’ll see what I can do.
(12 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)
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Hey Rick,
I just want to say I am happy with the job Mo has done in the last year and a half. I think you have to be patient in this situation. Let other teams’ signings grab headlines. There are some good pitchers out there, Mo is biding his time, I feel.
The Cards remind me of the Patriots. LaRussa has built a culture of consistency, winning. Also similar to the Patriots, the Cards have a budget (cap). That’s why the Pat’s didn’t resign Branch, Samuels. If you put all of your money in a couple of players (Sabathia, Peavy, Roberts, Holiday), you are going to be really weak in other positions.
Thanks Rick, I would like to know your thoughts on the Pats analogy, and the chances of The Cards scoring Petitte for a 1-year deal.