Worth of Ryan Ludwick?

mccannfan — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:26:03 -0000

I was linked to this post on Viva El Birdos through Google Alerts and the post speculates what Ryan Ludwick is worth, or what Cardinals' fans believe he is worth. It also delves into the probable teams that could be suitors for them in a trade for Ryan Ludwick and what kind of return the Cardinals would receive for him. Their thinking would be to trade Ankiel because of him being a FA next year and then trade Ludwick later.

The part that mentions the Braves:

"The Braves do not intend to trade BOTH Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar this offseason and Escobar has been rumored to be in any trade for Peavy, a deal I still think will happen. Last year Johnson was a 2.5 WAR player. He’s not yet arbitration-eligible and will be under the team’s control for 4 more years and he’ll be 27 in February. Like Zobrist, he appears to be a downgrade defensively. Isn’t Sonnastine and Zobrist then a better package? It’s not enough.

How about Escobar? Last year, Escobar was more than a 3 WAR player at a more-premium position. He just turned 26 and is under the team’s control for 5 more years. He’s liable to be a super-2 player, however, and eligible for arbitration at the end of this season. Still, doesn’t that just mean that he’s really good? It would be a nice problem to have – an excellent young SS under the team’s control for 5 more years. Is he worth Ludwick? I’d say probably yes – certainly more than Kelly Johnson is." - Viva El Birdos

But still, apparently, Cardinals' fans would rather have Escobar than KJ for Ludwick, but again, these are fans talking. They also think KJ isn't arb-eligible this year, which he is. I'm not knocking KJ, because I like KJ and think we should keep both him and Escobar, but I do realize we might have to trade one of the two to fill a need this off season. I would rather we didn't, but I digress. Cardinals' fans think Ludwick is worth a lot more than he is after one year of success. Is he really as good as they say? What do you guys think? I've read mixed thoughts on Ludwick.

According to their post, they, as fans, would rather get pitching from the Rays than to get either Escobar or KJ from us. I don't think Wren would trade Escobar for just Ludwick, and Cardinals' fans don't think KJ is enough for Ludwick. What's y'alls take on this?

Braves to finalize 40-man roster.

mccannfan — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:31:49 -0000

According to DOB, the Braves have added the following to the 40-man roster: SS Diory Hernandez and RHPs Stephen Marek and Todd Redmond, along with recent pick-up from waivers, Eric O’Flaherty.

DOB goes onto to say that three spots were cleared with the outrighting of Ruben Gotay, Corky Miller, and Vladimir Nunez, who all opted to become free agents instead of accepting minor league assignments, but the fourth spot was made vacant with the release of Scott Thorman.

I know Thorman was bad, but just a few years ago he was regarded as a highly-rated prospect and 1B; he was the starting 1B until we traded for Teixeira, not a very good one, but I digress. Should this move be considered as an accomplishment for the organization or just that the Braves finally realized that Thorman really wasn't that good?

SB Nation User Blog: mccannfan

Worth of Ryan Ludwick?

Braves to finalize 40-man roster.