Three months until Opening Day, but the natives are restless:

Q: Dear Commish, I know it’s still rather early , as there are still many free agents available, but…
We’ve lost Miles, Izturis, Lopez, Springer, Looper, Villone, not to mention others. And so far, after re-signing Lohse, we’ve added Miller, a left-handed reliever with a diagnosed left shoulder problem; Ring, another lefthanded specialist with a 8.46 ERA last year (yikes!), and Green, a ..213 hitting shortstop last year (mind you, I do believe he has a good upside, but the fact remains - he hit .213 last year).

There are lots of wild cards on this team – Ludwick with a career year last year, Carpenter and Duncan with their health, and Rasmus  (will he finally break into the starting lineup this year?  Really?), just to mention a few.  And, so far, we’ve only got 4 (healthy) starting pitchers – including Pineiro who constantly coughed up leads, and Wellemeyer, who went past 6.1 innings a mere 6 times out of 32 starts (an issue that doesn’t seem to be brought up enough in my opinion)

Last year, the team won 86 games and finished in 4th, with the Cubs winning 97.  So, as the team stands today, it sure seems to have lost ground.  How many wins do you see in this team as is, what minor leaguers do you think will be promoted and honestly succeed with the Cardinals this year, and what players, specifically, do you think the Cardinals can and should go get in order to get the Cardinals into the playoffs?

Thank you!!

Gavin Lorelle

Sunnyvale, CA

A: I don’t know that the team has lost ground, but it probably hasn’t gained any yet either, pending the health of such players as Carpenter, Ankiel and Duncan this spring. A healthy Ankiel and Duncan, with the projected arrival of Rasmus, will create a logjam in the outfield and surely, from that position of strength, the Cardinals can make a trade this spring. Before then, they may or may not sign a free-agent pitcher, but that doesn’t mean they won’t do something in March. There will be plenty of pitching available. Lohse was there  last year and I think there will be others of his ilk available this time. As for the next closer. . . well, I don’t know about that. As for yourg players besides Rasmus, I thin Boggs will get a chance to win a starting job this spring and Brendan Ryan will get another chance to be either a utiilityman or perhaps a quasi regular at second base.

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Q: Commish, this isn’t necessarily for the mailbag, but I was wondering what the status of Tyler Johnson is. I know the Cardinals have non-tendered him, but I haven’t heard anything since. The kid has a sick slider and is devastating on lefthanded hitters. I know he’s recovering from shoulder surgery, but are the Cardinals trying to resign him to any kind of contract?
Joel

A: The Cardinals appear to have little interest in Johnson, who had elbow surgery last spring and probably won’t be ready to pitch until sometime into the season.

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Q: Commish, why all the love for Oliver Perez? Sure, he has “potential.” He’s also had seven years to play up to it but only really has in one of them. I don’t care that he’s a lefty. You don’t need a lefty starter; we had a rotation of five righties in ‘04 and did just fine. Being a lefty is only an advantage if you’re actually good, which Perez usually hasn’t been. I see this guy being an average pitcher at best over a three-year deal; he has the “potential” to be great but based on his history he’s more likely to be awful.
I want Jon Garland. At least you’re fairly sure of what you’re getting, and what you’re getting is pretty good–200 solid innings a year (for the record, Perez has NEVER pitched over 200 innings in a season.) Reminds me of Suppan, in a good way; not flashy, but he’d get the job done. And I think his price will come down once Lowe, et al, sign. I wouldn’t mind having Looper back either; he seemed to be getting comfortable with starting. Still wonder why they didn’t offer him arbitration…

PMR

A:I’ve always been partial to lefthanders, especially when the Cardinals really don’t have any real lefthanded presence in their bullpen. In 2004, they had Kline and King and they don’t have relievers of that caliber here now. I’d like the Garland of years past, not the one who allowed opponents to hit .303 off him last year. That’s awful for a starter. And, yes, I would be OK with Looper back. They didn’t want to offer him arbitration because they felt, if he accepted it, that might put him at $8 million, more than they wanted to pay him for a season.

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Q: I thought that the Cardinals were supposed to be entering a new era of marketing. Is this it? Do nothing and ignore a fan base clamoring for activity. It is abundantly clear that the organization does not realize that many Cardinals fans pay attention during the offseason. Yeah, Miles going to Chicago stinks, but that’s business. Many of us realize that. But it is January and this team has done virtually nothing to improve itself. They took about four weeks to sign a lefthanded reliever with a “slightly” torn labrium and they picked up a pretty decent SS coming off the worst year of his career. Don’t get me wrong, I like the Greene move. If he plays hard, he should fit in well. But, come on let’s get something done. I realize that the Cardinals don’t want to make bad deals or give away the future - NO ONE DOES. Mo is getting paid. This is his job. It’s time to make some good deals and improve this team!!

Jim

A: I sense some anxiety here. But I do think the Cardinals will get something substantial done before the season starts. They don’t play any meaningful games for 90 days yet.

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Q: Commish, as I see it, the Cards are caught in a trap of their own making. They are so contradictory. They are aggressive and creative, yet they are pursuing low-hanging fruit. That fruit statement was really stupid. It makes the club and any players they sign look cheap. But their trap is that they don’t want to trade almost any decent prospect, yet they will not compete to sign free agents. You can’t have both as those are the only ways to immediately improve the club. Their signing of Ring is consistent with their low-hanging fruit statement. But I see nothing that improves the club this season. It is very possible that the Cards may have to pay a premium to draw top free agents to St. Louis. I saw a commentator  wondering why players may not want to sign with the Cards. I think it is predominately due to weather: heat, humidity, tornadoes, and rainouts. We who are from Missouri are not bothered too much by it, but those not used to it are often uncomfortable. So the team may  need to provide added incentive to those players. My question after this long rant is, how do the Cards recover from their unfortunate public relations dilemma?

Thanks. Mr. Hummel.

Roger

A: When the Cardinals said they were going to be aggressive in the off-season, they meant in “pursuit” of players, not necessarily to mean acquring a ton of them. If the public feels misled by that, so be it. I agree that there haven’t been any bombshells yet, but I would offer a word of caution that there is much time _ and many players _ available yet. Weather will not be a factor.

Q: With all this crazy money being thrown around to free agency (Tex,CC,etc) and with Pujols contract on the horizon, what do you think he will be asking for? I find it hard to believe he would command more then $200 million (even though he’s earned it) i don’t see him being that greedy. What do ya think?

Eddie

A: If Pujols and his agents don’t ask for $20 to $25 million a year, they’re doing him a disservice. He is worth more than Teixeira.

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Q: I don’t see the problem with trading Rasmus for a guy like Peavy.  Peavy is fairly young, has a power arm and is one of the top pitchers in baseball.  Rasmus is unproven and, sure, he could end up being a great outfielder but we have solid depth there and we don’t in the rotation.
Do the deal and get one of the lefty starters to balance the rotation.
Why not throw Motte or Perez to the wolves, but I do like the idea of having T. Hoffman tutor them for a year.

Bill

A: The Cardinals’ farm system has been so bereft of prospects for so many years, it needs to hang onto to its top prospect and that is Rasmus. Peavy would be great, but he has been injured before, too. Yes, he makes an OK rotation a really good one, but then you’ve traded probably your best prospect since Pujols and I’m not ready to do that. Besides, the Padres will want some young starting pitching, which the Cardinals don’t really have. The Cardinals think Hoffman’s changeup and fastball are about the same speed now, which isn’t good.