Cards sign Encarnacion
December 23rd, 2005The St. Louis Cardinals signed outfielder Juan Encarnacion to a three-year, $15 million deal. Last year with the Marlins, Encarnacion hit .287 with 16 HR and 67 RBI.
I like this signing by the Cardinals. Encarnacion will be the starting right fielder for the team, and he should contribute nicely.
It also looks like the Cards are on the verge of signing Junior Spivey to be their second baseman. That would also be a decent pickup for St. Louis.
The team is shaping up nicely. I’d like to add another big bat in left field, but I haven’t checked lately to see where the team’s payroll is. Another slugger might be out of the question.
Let’s hope that Juan can fit in better with Tony LaRussa than he seemed to with Jack McKeon. He has shown that he can field and hit; let’s see how he works out with his new teammates.
I like this pickup too, but a lot of the Cardinals bloggers don’t like this one at all, founded on the belief that even at Reggie’s age, he would have been a better deal. I believe that the Cardinals are projecting a payroll of around $90 million, and I believe that the Encarnacion signing puts them somewhere around $86-87 million. From what I have been able to gather, the Cards might be close to signing Spivey for one year around $1.5 million; good bargain for a player with upside. I imagine whatever is left in the budget would go toward one more solid bullpen arm like Felix Rodriguez. Overall, I’m happy with most of these moves; some of these replacements aren’t the solid, proven players I was hoping for, but I can’t complain much.
The team is shaping up nicely? Thats looking half full. The loss of Morris hurts. The loss of Grudz hurts and getting Bigbie and Juan arent an upgrade from losing Sanders and Walker. This team is slipping.
Happy New Year Peter.
Spivey replacing Grudz is a wash. Losing Morris may be a blessing, because he was terribly inconsistent and prone to give up the long ball — and I think Anthony Reyes is going to be almost as good, if not better. Encarnacion is an upgrade over Walker, who was hurt most of the time. On paper I’d agree that Bigbie is a downgrade to Sanders, but Reggie’s getting old.
And, I’m not convinced Jocketty is done yet. He’s proven his ability to field a tough team, and I have every confidence in him.
A lot of people predicted the sky was falling when we lost Renteria and replaced him with Eckstein. Look how that worked out.
Thats fine that you have faith in the GM Tim, but to say the team is shaping up nicely based on your faith in Walt is a bit pie in the sky IMO. At this point, its a team that doesnt look as good as last year was. While Reyes is going to be a good one, to think he will be as good in 2006 as Morris was in 2005 seems like a lot to ask of the youngster. Take those rose colored glasses off. Its 2006, the year of the Reds.
“Shaping up” doesn’t indicate finality, Peter. It means it’s a work in progress, as the present progressive tense of the verb indicates. As of right now, the progress looks fine IMO.
Is there still room for improvement? Always.
Did I ever say that the 2006 team would be as good as the 2005 team? No.
Does the team look better today than it did a week ago? Absolutely.
Do the Reds have a snowball’s chance in you-know-where of competing in 2006? I don’t even need to answer that.
It’s almost 2006, the year of the Cubs. Psyche!
Enjoy the Kool Aid Timmy.
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