THE WATERCOOLER
Question: The Cardinals have offered closer Brian Fuentes a two-year deal believed worth $16-$18 million. Is it fiscally responsible for the Cards to give Fuentes the three-year, $30 million-plus deal he’s seeking, or are there other options the team should be exploring right now, perhaps even handing over closer duties to Chris Perez or Jason Motte to pursue starting pitching?
JOE STRAUSS
Money and term are secondary as long as the Cardinals don’t include no-trade language in any deal. The Cardinals likely will have to reach a $10 million annual average value if another team such as the Los Angeles Angels becomes involved. Kerry Wood’s 2-year, $21 million deal with the Cleveland Indians raised the floor for Fuentes, but the Cardinals are ill-advised to raise their offer before another team enters the fray. Shorter term, less costly solutions are still available (Takashi Saito, Izzy), but there is a strong preference for Fuentes among several corners of the organization. Pace for a deal will accellerate once Mark Teixeira signs somewhere. I frankly don’t think dollars are the most significant element of a deal.
JEFF GORDON
The Cardinals should buck up and pay $33 million over three years, if necessary, to fill their most glaring need. That is not an enormous jump over the per-year dollars paid to Jason Isringhausen in his twilight years as the closer. Fuentes might be no more than an above-average closer, but strong left-handed relievers are scarce. The Cards farm system has no such commodity on the horizon. If Tony La Russa had Fuentes to mix in with Perez, Franklin, Kinney and Motte at the end of games, he could move Kyle McClellan to the rotation and lessen the need to sign another expensive starting pitcher. There is your win-win scenario.
RICK HUMMEL
I don’t think it’s fiscally prudent for the Cardinals to go to $30 million for three years for Fuentes as their closer. I don’t want to push Perez/Motte back that many years. But is either ready to assume that role now? Probably not.
DERRICK GOOLD
For several years, the Cardinals have held a hardline stance that they dictate the market for the players they sign. Once the bidding for a player sweeps him out of their preferred price range (i.e., A.J. Burnett, Alfonso Soriano), the Cardinals then take the following stance: We tried. We gave them our best offer. Other teams put a higher value on the player. … That’s swell, and they have hit more than they’ve missed (see: Kyle Lohse, Mark Grudzielanek, David Eckstein). But when it comes to a luxury item — like a lockdown closer — the Cardinals cannot afford to be handcuffed by their refusal to play the market. It’s arrogant to believe that the price the club attaches to a player is the price the club should pay. Sorry, this isn’t Priceline. This is eBay. Demand dictates. There is ample evidence that the Cardinals could have been a legit contender with a lockdown closer last season. Tony La Russa called Fuentes and the ninth inning a “No. 1 priority.” If they believe the Kid Closers aren’t ready, then they should be prepared to pay for the best (and healthiest!) option available. Three years, $30 million? If closer is the priority, that may be the pricetag of contending.
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MIDDAY NEWS AND THOUGHTS
SO YOU THINK IT’S BAD NOW: Decimated by injuries, the Blues have lost four in a row and fallen into the cellar in the Western Conference with a 12-15-3 record. I hate to say it, but it can — and likely will — get worse. In fact, with the Blues’ remaining December schedule this team could be looking toward next season as soon as Jan. 1. Take a look at what’s coming and tell me you don’t see a Blue Christmas:
Dec. 18 @ Washington: The Capitals are 19-10-3, good enough for third place in the East.
Dec. 20 vs. Minnesota: At 15-13-1, the Wild is the only remaining December opponent that would not make the playoffs today. They are one point out of 8th place in the West.
Dec. 21 vs. Boston: The Bruins are steamrolling teams. They are 21-5-4 and in first place in the East.
Dec. 23 @ Detroit: Hey, it’s the Wings. 20-6-4 puts them in second place in the West.
Dec. 27 vs. San Jose: The best record in hockey at 25-3-2 is good enough for best in the West.
Dec. 28 vs. Anaheim: Cheese and quackers, the playoff contenders keep coming. The Ducks are in sixth place in the West at 17-12-3.
Dec. 30 vs. New Jersey: The Blues close out 2008 against the 16-9-3 Devils, who hold the seventh spot in the East.
That, my friends, is a tough row to hoe. You could bring back Paul Kariya, Andy McDonald, T.J. Oshie AND Erik Johnson and be lucky to get more than a handful of points in a stretch like that. Here’s hoping the team can get healthy soon and stay competitive enough that we’re not discussing the 2009 draft by New Year’s day.
PATERNO NOT DONE YET: 81-year-old Penn State coach Joe Paterno (he turns 82 Sunday) received a contract extension this week that runs through 2011. That means the Rams can scratch JoePa off their list of potential head coaching candidates as he’ll still be stalking the sidelines (or be seated comfortably in the coach’s booth) in Happy Valley until he’s 84 or 85 years old. Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer had a funny take on Paterno’s extension, saying, “Sometime in 2019, the holographic Inquirer that beams directly onto the tabletop in your breakfast nook will feature a story about Joe Paterno’s frozen head coaching Penn State football from a cryogenics lab in Phoenix. … Joe Paterno is going to coach Penn State football for as long as he lives, if not longer.”
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THINGS TO PONDER
DON’T BELIEVE IT, GIBBY: A bit of satire from the folks at eTrueSports.com, where they say that The Detroit Tigers have signed Iraqi right-handed pitcher Muntader al-Zaidi, 29, to a minor league contract. Zaidi, is the Baghdad television reporter who recently threw his shoes at President Bush. The Web site sources a scout who compares al-Zaidi to former Cardinal Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson, saying, “He throws angry. There won’t be any comfortable at-bats against him, I guarantee that.”
RIGHT FROM THE HORSES’ MOUTHS: According to the Associated Press, a commission has begun work to review drug controls in equestrian in response to six horses testing positive at the Beijing Olympic Games.
The riders couldn’t explain the positive tests for their mounts, but a few of the horses spoke out, with comments ranging from “I’m not here to talk about the past” to “The ‘roids weren’t for me, they were for my wife” to one horse who brazenly waved a hoof at the press while shouting, “I have never used steroids, period.” Reportedly another of the horses simply said, “No habla” and dismissed questions on the grounds they were not in his native tongue … which is “horse,” of course.
No word yet on whether or not the U.S. Senate will get involved.
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STATS OF THE DAY
44-61-21 — That’s the punting average (44 yards), longest punt (61 yards) and punts inside the 20-yard-line (21) for Giants punter Jeff Feagles, who was named to the NFC Pro Bowl team yesterday.
50.2-68-18 — That’s the punting average, longest punt and punts inside the 20 for Rams punter Donnie Jones.
Other than landing three less punts inside the 20, Donnie Jones was clearly the better punter this year. And even that stat seems easily explained, as one would assume much better field position for the Giants this year over the Rams. Jones got the shaft.
