SB Nation User Blog: stl tyler

Per Leach - Rosters Virtually Set

stl tyler — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:29:11 -0000

Barring anything extreme happening in the next four days, Kyle McClellan and Brian Barton will both be on the team on opening day. Juan Gonzales will not be on the team. Cliff Polittle and Chris Perez were reassigned to minor league camp this morning. Hugo Castellanos hasn't been reassigned yet, but will not make the team.

The only remaining questions are the final infield spot -- if Brendan Ryan is healthy enough it will go to him, otherwise D'Angelo Jiminez -- and the final bullpen spot which will go to either Kelvin Jiminez or Anthony Reyes.

BREAKING: Rolen for Glaus Swap Pending Physical

stl tyler — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 17:39:36 -0000

Per Rosenthal:

Scott Rolen is on the verge of escaping St. Louis manager Tony La Russa. Troy Glaus is on the verge of escaping the artificial turf in Toronto.

The Cardinals and Blue Jays are closing in on an exchange of their third basemen, major-league sources say, but both former All-Stars must pass physicals before a deal is completed.

Those physicals are no small issue since Rolen is coming off surgery on his right shoulder and Glaus surgery on his left foot.

While both players have agreed to waive their no-trade clauses, the differences in their contracts also might need to be resolved, most likely through a cash payment from the Cardinals to the Blue Jays.

Update [2008-1-12 14:31:1 by lboros]: well, here's another leg for the la-russa-runs-the-club theory to stand on . . . . glaus is clearly a better hitter than rolen at this point; he has outhomered and out-rbi'd rolen in each of the last 3 seasons, outslugged and out-OBP'd him in 2 of the last 3:

	ab	hr	rbi	avg	obp	slg
glaus 07	385	20	62	.262	.366	.473
rolen 07	392	8	58	.265	.331	.398
glaus 06	540	38	104	.252	.355	.513
rolen 06	521	22	95	.296	.369	.518
glaus 05	538	37	97	.258	.363	.522
rolen 05	196	5	28	.235	.323	.383

he'd give the cardinals a true 30-hr bat (something rolen hasn't been since 2004), plus he's younger than rolen and is on a shorter contract, which is a good thing when you're discussing over-30 players with health issues.

UZR does not like glaus's glove, but all the other systems (PMR, enhanced ZR, dewan's +/-) have him as an above-average defender --- not quite as good as rolen, but within 5 runs a year or so. not sure why the blue jays would want to make this deal --- maybe glaus' foot problems are serious enough that they expect a precipitous decline --- but it looks like an advantageous move for the cards on every front. even if rolen and la russa were bosom buddies, this would be a good trade.

although i'd rather get back a young player like adam laroche . . . . . .

Update [2008-1-12 14:54:3 by lboros]: i just took a look at glaus's game log from last year. he abruptly stopped hitting in mid-july ---- went .220 / .333 / .384 over his last 44 games and then had season-ending surgery. maybe that's why the blue jays are ready to dump him.

Cardinals hire new Assistant GM

stl tyler — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:24:28 -0000

Cards name MLB exec. as assistant GM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
12/03/2007

John Abbamondi left the baseball commissioner's office on Monday and was hired as assistant general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.

He replaces John Mozeliak, who was promoted to general manager on Oct. 31.

Abbamondi spent the last four seasons working for Major League Baseball in New York, most recently as senior director of labor economics. Abbamondi with teams on salary arbitration, player contracts and negotiations, and revenue sharing.

"We are excited to add someone with a large amount of background and expertise," Mozeliak said. "John brings a lot of experience to the organization, not only in arbitration matters, but also in contract valuation and many other skills that will add greatly to our baseball operations."

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/D7A2CDEAA96F7A60862573A6006EE54C ?OpenDocument

Silver Sluggers (Again, No Cards)

stl tyler — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:29:07 -0000

AMERICAN LEAGUE AL
C     Jorge Posada, NYY
1B     Carlos Pena, TB
2B     Placido Polanco, DET
3B     Alex Rodriguez, NYY
SS     Derek Jeter, NYY
OF     Vladimir Guerrero, LAA
OF     Ichiro Suzuki, SEA
OF     Magglio Ordonez, DET
DH     David Ortiz, BOS

NATIONAL LEAGUE NL
C     Russell Martin, LAD
1B     Prince Fielder, MIL
2B     Chase Utley, PHI
3B     David Wright, NYM
SS     Jimmy Rollins, PHI
OF     Carlos Beltran, NYM
OF     Matt Holliday, COL
OF     Carlos Lee, HOU
P     Micah Owings, ARI

But hey, one former Card. Congratulations to Polanco. It's hard to be upset about these as opposed to the Gold Gloves, the only players who could really be argued for here are Pujols and Wainwright. Wainwright had a pretty great offensive year for a pitcher, but Owings was retarded good. I'd argue that Pujols was a more complete hitter than Fielder (nice sub-.300 average, chubs), but it's not called the silver SLUGGER for naught.

NY Possibly Interested in Rolen

stl tyler — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 05:55:44 -0000

Per the Newark Star Ledger:

"[The Yankees] need a third baseman and a cleanup hitter, but there have already been discussions on those fronts. The Yankees have held internal talks about how much it would take to sign Mike Lowell away from Boston, or whether the Cardinals' Scott Rolen could be had in a trade."

Now, for such a trade to work Rolen would have to waive his no-trade clause. It's been speculated here and otherwise that he would do so to get away from TLR, but there's no way any of us know that for sure. He doesn't really strike me as a New York kind of guy, but for the purpose of this diary let's assume he'd be willing to do so.

The pros and cons, after the jump.

CONS:

For starters, we lose our gold glove third baseman. His offensive production in 07 was not very good at all, and there are concerns about his health. But if he could perform at even his somewhat unhealthy 06 level in 08, he's one of the best third basemen in the league.

There are no good internal options to replace Rolen at third. Allen Craig is a ways off and may not stick at third, Brian Barden is not a major league regular. If we traded Rolen we'd have to get a new 3B from somewhere else, or we're looking at the Speez as our everyday third baseman. On the flip side, if the Yankees would include Betemit as part of the trade, problem solved. A healthy Rolen he's not, but he's young, cheap, healthy, and capable.

PROS:

Hella salary relief. If removed, the 12m that Rolen is due in 08 would bring the payroll back down to about 88m. If DeWitt is truly open to increasing the payroll to 110-115m, that nearly doubles the money we have to play with this offseason.

Rolen may never really recover from his shoulder troubles. If he goes to NY and doesn't perform near his career levels, we'd look like wizards for getting the salary relief alone, let alone if they traded us anyone meaningful.

So what would it take for you to ok this trade? I would think a pure salary dump reasonable, but this is the Yankees here, notorious over-spenders. I don't think they're going to dangle anything like Cano, Hughes, or Chamberlain, but is it far-fetched to think we could wind up with, say, Betemit and Cabrera? Or Betemit and Kennedy? I would pull the trigger for either deal, preferably Kennedy. Kennedy isn't exactly the front of the rotation starter we're looking for, but adding him would open us up to use Looper as the meat of a deal for a right-handed corner outfielder.

It's all speculation of course, but what are everyone's thoughts?

Tigers sign Renteria

stl tyler — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:39:23 -0000

Per mlbtraderumors.com:

Big news! The Tigers made an early strike to improve the shortstop position by acquiring Edgar Renteria for youngsters Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez.

The Tigers will owe Renteria roughly $6.3MM in '08 and have a good chance of exercising his $11MM option for '09. They've added a five-win shortstop in Renteria.

More Shortstop Options

stl tyler — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 21:53:46 -0000

Let me preface this by saying I'm not at all opposed to Brendan Ryan being the starting shortstop next season. And no, I don't expect him to put up numbers as good as he did this season, but even with some regression, he'll be making league minimum and putting up numbers similar to that of this season's FA crop.

Trading for a shortstop could be one thing. Not Jack Wilson, who Ryan's like to outperform in 08. But Renteria or Tejada could be good stopgap options. Even with the organization going young, it's not as though there's a sure hit shortstop prospect they'd be blocking--barring a prospect trade, Ryan's the best this system is going to have to offer for at least the next three years. And that's if Kozma doesn't turn out to be a bust. What are the other options? Tyler Greene? Juan Lucerne? AAAA players at best. I just don't think the organization has the pieces to pull off such a trade, and if they did they should probably be trading for a pitcher anyhow.

But interesting enough to at least make note of, two new names could be entering the 2008 free agent pool.

Out of the Yomiuri Giants of Japan, Tomohiro Nioka is starting to generate a little buzz. Fellow Giant Koji Uehara is coming to the MLB this season and there's talk that Nioka might follow suit. He's 31 years old, and his stats can be found here.
In just over 500 at bats this season Nioka hit .295/.346/.457 with 20 HR. Signing a foreign player is always a gamble, as there's no way to know for sure how the numbers will translate. Still, he looks like he'd be worth a look. I have absolutely no clue what kind of salary this guy would get here, or how many years he'd want. At 31, he's not a fossil, but may not be keeping in line with our organization's plans to go young.

But another player possibly entering the MLB this year out of Cuba, Alexei Ramirez, is a mere 26 years old. Ramirez played on the 2004 gold medal team in Athens, and was the star of last year's Cuban World Baseball Classic team that finished second to Japan. He hit .335 with 20 home runs this season for his Cuban team. Gaudy numbers, though I believe the Cuban league is comparable to low A ball as far as the level of competition is concerned. He's primarily a shortstop, but has spent time at center field.

Maybe it's just the mystery behind these guys that's appealing. I know that Caesar Izturis sucks, whereas these two players are new and interesting. I think Ramirez at least would be worth a look by the team.

Preheating the Stove

stl tyler — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 09:56:21 -0000

What does everyone hope for the Cardinals to accomplish this offseason? Obviously the biggest need is pitching, but perhaps some other upgrades are possible.

Try to keep the moves at least quasi-realistic. Here's what I'd like to see:

Infield:

Most of the infield is locked in. As far as shortstop is concerned, I don't think we can get Renteria. He's likely the best available shortstop this off-season, and several teams have already inquired about him. I'm totally ok with Brendan Ryan as my everyday shortstop.

If there were a way to get rid of Kennedy, I'd do it and sign Kaz Matsui. It's not happening though.

Outfield:

With the uninspiring shortstop market, if we're adding any bats it's going to have to be in the outfield. I like the idea of an Anthony Reyes/Carlos Quentin trade. If the D'backs won't go for it straight up, throw in a Joe Mather type or a reliever. With Rasmus coming up, this would leave us with a good core of young outfielders for years to come.

Quentin or another outfielder becomes necessary when you consider the platoon splits. If we throw out an outfield of Ludwick/Ankiel/Schumaker against every lefty we face (Duncan and Edmonds sit) then we won't be playing October baseball period.

This is assuming Juan Encarnacion doesn't return next year. I hope the best for him and his continued career, I'm just assuming he won't be with us for at least the majority of next year.

Bench:

First, no new contracts for Aaron Miles and So Taguchi. Taguchi's always been a favorite of mine, but Skip Schumaker has made him a redundant part. The guy's getting on up there, I wouldn't be entirely shocked if he retired at the end of the season.

Re-sign Gary Bennett to a one-year deal, or don't and get some other warm body to back up Yadi.

I'm not entirely sure about Ludwick's contract. I know he would have been a minor league FA at the end of this year but I'm not sure how that translates to the majors... In any event I hope and expect him to be our 4th outfielder in 08.

Schumaker takes over the full-time Taguchi role.

Spiezio and Barden will be back, offering insurance for Rolen at 3rd and the middle infield. Call up Jarret Hoffpauir if any more help is necessary.

Goodbye Miguel Cairo.

Goodbye Russell Branyan.

Pitching:

Sign FA Curt Schilling to a one-year deal, perhaps with an 09 option. I'd be willing to spend some money here if I were the Cards, maybe even guarantee him a second year. Shilling offers a veteran presence in the rotation and takes a lot of pressure off of Adam Wainwright. He's not going to win 20 games, but if he stays healthy should manage a good 15 or so with an ERA in the 3.60-3.90 range.

The ChiSox have listed the asking price for Jon Garland as two relievers. I'm a little hazy on what relievers we still have control over next year, but we've got a lot of them. If an offer of some combination of Johnson or Flores and one of our righties can get it done, do it. We have Josh Kinney coming back next year, and would just need to find another left hander somewhere.

Exercise the club option on Joel Piniero.

Other options include Bronson Arroyo and Joe Blanton. I don't think we have what it takes for Blaton, but Cincy could be interested in Duncan if they lose Adam Dunn.

That leaves a rotation of Wainwright, Schilling, Looper, Garland, and Piniero. Note that I'm not including Mulder. That's because I don't expect him to contribute anything in 2008. If anyone falters, Thompson can take their place, and when Carp returns the low performer can shore up the bullpen.

Bullpen:

Re-sign Springer.

Re-sign Percival.

Wellemeyer can stay or go. He wouldn't be bad to have as an insurance policy, especially if we aren't able to sign at least two capable starters.

Sign a decent lefty to take the place of Flores or Johnson from the Garland trade. Josh Kinney will be back to replace the second arm.

Wishful Thinking:

I think Scott Rolen will have a much better year in 08, but I'd still trade him if there were a good option and he'd waive his clause. Apparently the Dodgers are still interested in him. It would be worth Matt Kemp and the salary relief. Also, according to the Sun Sentinel, Miguel Cabrera will be made available this off-season. Trade Rolen for Kemp and then flip Kemp with Duncan and Bryan Anderson and anyone not named Rasmus for Cabrera. Okay, that's a pipe dream, but it would sure be nice.

No reclamation projects. That means no Dontrelle Willis, no Bartolo Colon, etc.

So who do we call up?

stl tyler — Fri, 04 May 2007 16:35:22 -0000

(Long time reader here, just registered and started posting recently.. first attempt at a diary so bear with me)

I don't normally follow our minor league affiliates too closely, at least not since moving to St. Louis from Memphis, where I regularly attended Redbirds games during the Stubby Clapp era (in doing research for this diary I was pleased to see the Redbirds retired his jersey!), but with all of our recent problems it seems inevitable that someone be given a chance at a major league level.

Thanks to azruavatar over at Future Redbirds, an excellent little blog for these kinds of purposes.

I think it's obvious to everyone that the Cardinal's needs lay in the outfield. Duncan has established himself as an everyday LF, but Edmonds needs a platoon partner until he can(?) prove he's healthy, and we simply must have a RF who is more of an everday player than Schumaker/So/P-Dub. Schumaker and Taguchi are bench players, and not so terrible in that respect, but they shouldn't be thrust into starting roles. Plus their status on the team is redundant. The real question is if we have a homegrown alternative better than Wilson. It doesn't appear Encarnacion is going to be back anytime soon, as his current average most resembles a good golf score.

Outfielders potentially worth a call up:

RICK ANKIEL
It's hard to be impartial when reviewing Rick Ankiel's case. We all want to see him succeed in a Cardinals jersey. Over 94 at bats, Rick is averaging .266 with 7 home runs, 4 doubles, a triple, and 27 at bats. In yesterdays Memphis game against Omaha he stole his first base of the season, going 1-for-3 with a walk in the game. The obvious downside is that it's only his 5th walk of the season. His splits versus left handed pitching aren't that stellar either, and with even the most mediocre of left handers looking like Cy Young against our Cardinals, this could be a problem. Only 1 of his 7 homeruns have come against a lefty, and he's batting .222 against them. I want to see Rick in a Cardinals uni as much as the next guy, but I don't think he's the answer right now. If he can up his walks he would bear a look, but I don't think his "park it or strike out trying" approach is going to help us.

RYAN LUDWICK
My question after reviewing Ludwick is why hasn't he been called up already? He hasn't had much success in the majors in the past, and I don't necessarily think of him as a permanent solution, but the guy's on a tare right now. .323 average, 7 homeruns, 7 doubles, 8 walks. I'm of the opinion that a single streaking hitter could improve all of the bats around him. And perhaps more importantly, he MASHES lefties. He has a .357 average against left handed pitching. Again, I don't think he's a permanent solution, but if I were the Cardinal's brain trust he'd be on a Greyhound to St. Louis today.

JOHN RODRIGUEZ
He's a familiar face to us, and has quite a fan following here on VEB. The fact is he's playing pretty miserably in Memphis. Batting .190 with 14 strikeouts in 58 at bats. He stays in Memphis for the time being, for sure.

AMUARY MARTI
Currently playing for the Petroleros de Minatitlan, Marti is batting .326 with 5 dingers. The 16 strikeouts is a turn off, but is balanced out by 14 walks. I'm not entirely sure how Mexican League pitching stacks up against AAA, but Marti could be worth a look as well. He doesn't hit lefties as well as Ludwick, but they don't baffle him either.

NICK STAVINOHA
Rounding out our selection of Memphis outfielders if Stavinoha. Looking at the splits he absolutely crushes lefties (.458 average!) and is miserable against righties (.167 average) He's young, and is a prospect I'd certainly like us to keep. He still needs a lot of time to develop, but could be a starting outfielder of the future.

JOE MATHER
Where did this guy come from? Playing for AA Springfield, he's hitting .326 (including .400 against lhp) with 11(!) home runs, with a 1.151 OPS. Doesn't have an excellent track record, but I'd clear a spot for him on the Memphis roster and fast to see if he hits AAA as well as he's been mashing AA.

Poll