Cards' Mozeliak to Address Major Concerns
Of course, all Cardinal fans heard the rumors that All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday was going to be packaged to St. Louis for Ryan Ludwick and possibly some young relief pitching. Jason Motte being the most heavily sought after by the Rockies to go along with Ryan Ludwick. GM John Mozeliak had talked to Colorado, but trade winds came to end in the last 24 hours with the Oakland A's jumping into the picture. The deal would have the Birds taking on $10 million extra payroll by adding the slugging Holliday, only leaving them somewhere in the region of 15 or 20 million dollars to work with to fill the other obvious voids on the roster. Although, a middle of the order including Ankiel, Pujols, Holliday, and Glaus is something to girn at, it won't happen.
Having a surplus in the outfield, St. Louis is looking to deal from their position of strength to achieve the slots in their roster that need to be attained. Middle infield, left-handed relief, late-inning, and possible back-end rotation help are the priorities for the Cardinals. Of course, trades can be made at anytime, but Free Agency only lasts for a short while. That having been said, the Cardinals might look to extend offers quickly to players that suit their needs.
Rumors have swirled which lead Braves second basemen, Kelly Johnson to St. Louis for Ryan Ludwick. Ludwick, an All-Star and quite possibly a low ballot MVP man would most certainly require more than just Kelly Johnson to pry him loose from St. Louis' grip. Johnson is one of the top offensive second basemen in the National League and brings a solid glove with him as well, but that wouldn't be enough in my mind. Re-signing Felipe Lopez would be a great idea for the Cardinals. Lopez expressed that he enjoyed his time in St. Louis while producing decent numbers in his short stint with the club. Edgar Renteria's name has popped up and is certainly on the radar of the Redbirds, but we'll see if management feels he's still an everyday player. Shortstop speed demon and defensive specialist in Los Angeles, Rafael Furcal is also on the market, and could draw interest from St. Louis who needs a legitimate top of the lineup man. Another bonus to Furcal is he can switch hit, which is a very big plus as a leadoff man.
Left-handed relief help is slightly harder to come by than the middle-infield positions. With Ron Villone leaving, the Cardinals desperately need some help from the left-hand side in the 'pen. Brian Fuentes, the most widely known left-hander on the market would fill two voids for the Cardinals; left-handed pitching, and late-inning work. Although, it seems very nice, I doubt it will happen. Fuentes is looking to cash in from the free agent market and will most likely get more money that the Cardinals are willing to offer. One man people might tend to forget about but had an oustanding season is Damaso Marte. Dealt from Pittsburgh to New York in the Xavier Nady deal, Marte posted 33 strikeouts in 21.3 innings pitched against lefties this season. Marte would be an ideal fit for St. Louis to help them in key situations against left-handed power hitters in late innings.
With Francisco Rodriguez breaking the saves record this season, his demand for money is $15 million a year for 5 years. Cardinal management would not throw that money at anyone, especially a closer who's stats have declined the last few years. Tony LaRussa and John Mozeliak have plenty of options within the organization to fill the need of a closer, but will still be shopping around for all the help they can get. Afterall, Cardinal pitchers did blow 30 saves last season (most in the Majors). One viable and possibly cheap option could be Rafeal Soriano, who will be leaving the Braves. The only setback with Soriano is that he's never been completely healthy during a season. Dan Wheeler, the veteran from Tampa Bay should be on the minds of Cardinal management who had closing opportunities with Troy Percival being hurt and missing action in Tampa Bay's triumph to the World Series. Hard throwing right-hander Brandon Lyon from Arizona seems to be an option as he leaves the D-backs this offesason and heads into free agency. Consistency should be the only thing on the mind of John Mozeliak when he's thinking about a closing pitcher after last years troubles.
Lastly, some help at the back-end of the starting rotation would be helpful since you can't really put all your eggs in the basket of Chris Carpenter being completely healthy and back to Cy Young form next season. The rotation would shape up like this as of now: Adam Wainwright, Kyle Lohse, Todd Wellemeyer, Joel Piniero, and Chris Carpenter. With Braden Looper filing for free agency, and Mark Mulder being a lock to leave, the Cardinals need some help in the rotation (as does any team). In my mind, you don't want to get into a bidding war with any of the big market teams, but this might be the year the Cardinals take a chance. I'm not saying that they'll be going after CC Sabathia, Ryan Dempster, or Ben Sheets, but possibly other pitchers who might fly a little more under the radar. St. Louis doesn't have the "power arm" that most dominant rotations have, which sets them back somewhat in my view. A.J. Burnett, the AL strikeout leader this year would be a great fit in St. Louis. He's expressed interest in the Cardinals and would be even more dominant in the National League where he doesn't have to face a DH. Jake Peavy is also a name being spit out by numerous people to come to St. Louis, but it looks like that's dwindled down to the Cubs, Astros, and Braves to get into a bidding war of who can give the Padres the best offer. Maybe you'll see the Cardinals pursue someone that would be a cheaper option for a starter, allowing them to spend more money on their everyday player needs. Cheaper options would include: Josh Fogg, Paul Byrd, Freddy Garcia, Randy Wolf, and Oliver Perez. Dave Duncan is a miracle worker. Just look at past examples to back it up. Kent Bottenfield is the biggest shocker to me. A 20 game winner for the Cardinals, then shipped off to Anaheim for Jim Edmonds.
The market is open for making deals on Friday, November 14th. Mozeliak is in somewhat of a situation to bring in some players this year as Cardinal Nation has seemingly been upset with management in the past few offseasons by not pursuing players. Let the festivities begin, and hopefully, end well with the Cardinals filling the voids in their roster, and maybe even an extra power bat to go in the lineup.
Having a surplus in the outfield, St. Louis is looking to deal from their position of strength to achieve the slots in their roster that need to be attained. Middle infield, left-handed relief, late-inning, and possible back-end rotation help are the priorities for the Cardinals. Of course, trades can be made at anytime, but Free Agency only lasts for a short while. That having been said, the Cardinals might look to extend offers quickly to players that suit their needs.
Rumors have swirled which lead Braves second basemen, Kelly Johnson to St. Louis for Ryan Ludwick. Ludwick, an All-Star and quite possibly a low ballot MVP man would most certainly require more than just Kelly Johnson to pry him loose from St. Louis' grip. Johnson is one of the top offensive second basemen in the National League and brings a solid glove with him as well, but that wouldn't be enough in my mind. Re-signing Felipe Lopez would be a great idea for the Cardinals. Lopez expressed that he enjoyed his time in St. Louis while producing decent numbers in his short stint with the club. Edgar Renteria's name has popped up and is certainly on the radar of the Redbirds, but we'll see if management feels he's still an everyday player. Shortstop speed demon and defensive specialist in Los Angeles, Rafael Furcal is also on the market, and could draw interest from St. Louis who needs a legitimate top of the lineup man. Another bonus to Furcal is he can switch hit, which is a very big plus as a leadoff man. Left-handed relief help is slightly harder to come by than the middle-infield positions. With Ron Villone leaving, the Cardinals desperately need some help from the left-hand side in the 'pen. Brian Fuentes, the most widely known left-hander on the market would fill two voids for the Cardinals; left-handed pitching, and late-inning work. Although, it seems very nice, I doubt it will happen. Fuentes is looking to cash in from the free agent market and will most likely get more money that the Cardinals are willing to offer. One man people might tend to forget about but had an oustanding season is Damaso Marte. Dealt from Pittsburgh to New York in the Xavier Nady deal, Marte posted 33 strikeouts in 21.3 innings pitched against lefties this season. Marte would be an ideal fit for St. Louis to help them in key situations against left-handed power hitters in late innings.
With Francisco Rodriguez breaking the saves record this season, his demand for money is $15 million a year for 5 years. Cardinal management would not throw that money at anyone, especially a closer who's stats have declined the last few years. Tony LaRussa and John Mozeliak have plenty of options within the organization to fill the need of a closer, but will still be shopping around for all the help they can get. Afterall, Cardinal pitchers did blow 30 saves last season (most in the Majors). One viable and possibly cheap option could be Rafeal Soriano, who will be leaving the Braves. The only setback with Soriano is that he's never been completely healthy during a season. Dan Wheeler, the veteran from Tampa Bay should be on the minds of Cardinal management who had closing opportunities with Troy Percival being hurt and missing action in Tampa Bay's triumph to the World Series. Hard throwing right-hander Brandon Lyon from Arizona seems to be an option as he leaves the D-backs this offesason and heads into free agency. Consistency should be the only thing on the mind of John Mozeliak when he's thinking about a closing pitcher after last years troubles.
Lastly, some help at the back-end of the starting rotation would be helpful since you can't really put all your eggs in the basket of Chris Carpenter being completely healthy and back to Cy Young form next season. The rotation would shape up like this as of now: Adam Wainwright, Kyle Lohse, Todd Wellemeyer, Joel Piniero, and Chris Carpenter. With Braden Looper filing for free agency, and Mark Mulder being a lock to leave, the Cardinals need some help in the rotation (as does any team). In my mind, you don't want to get into a bidding war with any of the big market teams, but this might be the year the Cardinals take a chance. I'm not saying that they'll be going after CC Sabathia, Ryan Dempster, or Ben Sheets, but possibly other pitchers who might fly a little more under the radar. St. Louis doesn't have the "power arm" that most dominant rotations have, which sets them back somewhat in my view. A.J. Burnett, the AL strikeout leader this year would be a great fit in St. Louis. He's expressed interest in the Cardinals and would be even more dominant in the National League where he doesn't have to face a DH. Jake Peavy is also a name being spit out by numerous people to come to St. Louis, but it looks like that's dwindled down to the Cubs, Astros, and Braves to get into a bidding war of who can give the Padres the best offer. Maybe you'll see the Cardinals pursue someone that would be a cheaper option for a starter, allowing them to spend more money on their everyday player needs. Cheaper options would include: Josh Fogg, Paul Byrd, Freddy Garcia, Randy Wolf, and Oliver Perez. Dave Duncan is a miracle worker. Just look at past examples to back it up. Kent Bottenfield is the biggest shocker to me. A 20 game winner for the Cardinals, then shipped off to Anaheim for Jim Edmonds. The market is open for making deals on Friday, November 14th. Mozeliak is in somewhat of a situation to bring in some players this year as Cardinal Nation has seemingly been upset with management in the past few offseasons by not pursuing players. Let the festivities begin, and hopefully, end well with the Cardinals filling the voids in their roster, and maybe even an extra power bat to go in the lineup.
Leave a comment