Questions for the Cardinals
October 30th, 2006Here are some issues facing the Cardinals this offseason. How do you answer them?
1. What do you do with Edmonds? The Cardinals have a $10 million option to bring him back, or they’ll pay a $3 million buyout.
2. Adam Wainwright — Closer or starter?
3. Suppan, Weaver and Mulder are all free agents. Who, if any, do you attempt to re-sign?
I’m the wrong guy to ask. I wanted TLR’s head on a platter at the end of last season. I thought that Jocketty’s trade deadline decision to sign Belliard, Wilson and Weaver instead of a big-name was the death nell. And I genuinely believed that the Cardinals would get swept by the Padres.
That being said….
Is there any “value” in signing Edmonds then trading him? He may have some AL value in the free-agent market.
Can Wainwright dominate for 7-8 innings like he did as a closer this season?
Mulder just isn’t a good fit in the NL. Not sure why. But if you can’t pitch for a Dave Duncan led platoon, you ain’t gettin’ it done, dude.
Suppan and Weaver are growing on me. If we could get another guy to help out the Fredbird mascot in a trade for Marquis, I’d jump at it.
Mulder was never healthy.
I think you got more from Weaver than you’ll ever get again.
Suppan has always been a quality pitcher and now has postseason success to boot.
Wainwright looks like a closer to me.
I imagine they will buy out Edmonds and try to renegotiate with him. If they are smart they will do that and move him to Left. There are some decent leadoff CFs available that they could go get.
Edmonds - buyout.
Suppan - sign.
Wainwright - sign as closer.
Mulder, Tubbalard, Wilson - dump.
Izzy - TRY TRY TRY to unload him somehow even if he’s “healthy”.
Try to negotiate with Edmonds for maybe 2 yrs @ 12 mil
I haven’t given up on Izzy. I love Wainwright as a closer, but He may be a great starter. I would just see how this situation pans out.
Sign Weaver and Suppan. I believe Weaver has been cured of his early season flaws. He showed progress from the moment he came to the Cards. Suppan has been steady since he arrived in St. Louis and has been successful in the playoffs every year he’s been here.
I agree that Mulder hasn’t been healthy since he has been a Cardinal. I would give him an incentive laden contract that would pay him heavily if he performed like he was expected when he was signed. I thing he still can be a top pitcher.
Go after Soriano!
Slight tangent from this post….
http://brotonysblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/look-into-your-crystal-ball.html
1. Negotiate w/ Edmonds.
2. Wainwright — Closer.
3a. Suppan - Re-Sign.
3b. Weaver - Re-Sign.
3c. Mulder - Thank you very much, no thanks.
1. I doubt we would be able to sign someone as valuable as Edmonds for the $7 mil difference. I say take the option.
2. Look long term and make wainwright a starter. I think he can be a good starter.
3. Make suppan the priority. If you could get one of the other 2 cheap, go for it.
There is a great article that addresses all of these questions:
http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2006/10/st_louis_cardin.php
1. Buyout/renegotiate with Jimmy Ballgame
2. I think Wainwright has to be a starter next year. He had a terrific spring as a starter and by all rights should have cracked the rotation back in April. Doesn’t make much sense to have a $9 million setup man, either.
3. After Weaver and Suppan pitched out of their minds in the playoffs, they’re all going to command a lot of money. I’d be surprised if the Cardinals are able to bring both of them back. I’d take either one, but if I had to pick between the two, I’d take Weaver. He’s younger, has better stuff, and looks like he’s found a home in Duncan’s system. If Mulder can be signed for cheap, I’m all for bringing him back.
Wow, a World Series win and you think decisions like this are important. It really doesn’t matter what they do. The Cubs will win the “series” against the Cardinals, but the Cardinals will win the division. After that, who really cares, as long as the Yankees lose.
Waiting ’til next year….
1. I’m with Nick on #1. If we could let him walk without the buyout, I’d say do that. But considering the cost of $3 million to do that, you might as well pay the extra $7 mil to keep him.
2. It will depend on whether Isringhausen is healthy, and on whether the Cardinals are able to re-sign Weaver and/or Suppan at a reasonable salary. I think this has to be a spring training decision based on what happens over the winter. If you get a couple of decent pitchers at reasonable salaries, and if Izzy is still hurting, then he’s your closer. If the success of Suppan and Weaver in the postseason prices them out of staying in St. Louis, if other free agent pitchers prove too pricey, and if Izzy is healthy, then Wainwright goes in the rotation.
3. I have confidence that Jocketty will make the right decisions here based on the cost involved. If someone like the Yankees wants to throw $10 million a year at Suppan, then let him go. If, however, you can get Suppan for around $6 million, and/or Weaver for a tad less, then do so. I’d also support a heavy incentive-laden deal for Mulder.
So, theoretically, you could have a rotation of Carpenter, Suppan, Weaver, Mulder and Reyes in 2007, but I think that’s unlikely. I expect at least one of Suppan, Weaver and Mulder to be gone, if not two of the three.
At least Marquis will be long gone.
Ditto Nick on every point.
Did I just say that???
Is it hard to agree with me, Joel?
haha.
1) Pay Edmonds the three mill and let him go. He’s past his prime and a younger player can be picked up for less money.
2) I don’t know about Wainwright. Duncan and LaRussa can figure this out.
3) Suppan and Weaver re-sign. Mulder I don’t know; I’m inclined to let him go as well.
1. I agree with Jim, pay the 3 and toss’em. Every time he walks up to the plate with two or three baserunners and 2 outs, I just switch the channel to avoid the commercials following his strikeout.
2. I thought Wainright had a couple of great performances in the post season…make him a starter!
3. Definitely keep Suppan and Weaver. I instilled a lot of faith in them during the WS.
- Add on - What about Duncan? Never play outfield again? I dont just blame a bad game on his mistakes, that was just terrible. He would have been lynched had the Cards lost by 1 run in game 5.
- Add on 2 - Encarnacion. Another guaranteed out every time he walks up to the plate. Terrible in the post-season.
1. I think health is an issue with Jim Edmonds. IF he’s healthy, he’s still one of the best center fielders in the game, and he also seems to be an emotional leader for this team; if he’s not healthy, then $10 million seems like a lot of money to pay him if he’s going to be unavailable for most of the season.
(… said the girl whose team pays COUNTLESS millions to pitchers who are NEVER available to pitch, health-wise!)
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2. Adam Wainright looks like he’s got some really good stuff; guess it depends on how many innings he can go? Gotta like his “nerves” in the closer role, but with his abilities, seems like he will definitely be capable of starting.
3. Seems like Mark Mulder is a finished player. If he weren’t a lefty, I doubt ANYONE would be considering keeping him, AT ALL. In fact, he and Jeff Weaver seem to be at opposite extremes: the last few times Mulder pitched for the Cards this season, he looked worse and worse, while Weaver really seemed to blossom with each game. And even so, who could have predicted he’d have the performance he did in Game 5? Plus, honestly, he pitched well enough to win every game he started in the postseason.
I like Jeff Suppan. I’d like to see the Cards sign him and Weaver, if they can. Chris Carpenter, Suppan, Weaver, Wainright and Anthony Reyes: Sounds like a pretty solid rotation … except for the lack of left-handedness.
Tough call on Weaver vs. Suppan. Suppan is steady as they come. Weaver is erratic as a pitcher and supposedly as a teammate too. I would fear giving him long term money. But he also has great ability.
Interesting that people think the NL Central stinks yet the NL has been represented by the Cards and Astros in the World Series the last 2 years.
Zoner,
Try the last three WS have had a NL Central team represents the NL. Don’t forget the Cards in ‘04.
Zoner good point, but it’s been the last three years: Cards, Astros, Cards.
The question is…how bad to do the Cards want to stay on top? If they want to try to repeat this year by having a team that barely makes the playoffs and then gets hot at the right time, then just shuffle the deck and try to make some wise choices.
However, the ownership promised that they would use the new stadium to generate more income to spend more money on talent. Now is the time to pony up.
1. Examine Edmonds’ health. Consider bringing him back if he’s healthy enough, just for his defense alone. But plan on moving him down in the batting order and replacing his bat with a bigger one.
You can really go for it all by trying to sign Soriano. You’d have to pay him in the neighborhood of $15 mil per year, but even then you wouldn’t be close to the Yanks, who in 2006 had 10 players earning 8-figure incomes (the Cards had 3, the Tigers had 2).
You could also not resign Belliard and pick up Ray Durham for a 1-2 year contract at about $7 mil a year
2. Izzy is surely gone. If he somehow returns to form, move Wainright to starting rotation. Or if you can resign Weaver and Suppan, keep Wainright as the close, especially if you can sign Zito (see below).
3. Let Mulder go and do whatever it takes to sign Barry Zito. The Mets don’t need another stud pitcher and the Cardinals need more than one ace. This year was a rare occurance to have a team with only one ace win the series, and it’s only cause a young kid (reyes) and a comeback kid (Weaver) pitched beyond themselves. Zito also solves the Lefty absence with Mulder gone.
How’s this for the 2006-07 starting lineup:
Durham 2B
Soriano CF
Pujols 1B
Rolen 3B
Encarnacion RF
Wilson LF
Eckstein SS
Molina C
P
Starting Rotation:
Carpenter
Zito
Suppan
Weaver
Reyes
Closer:
Wainright
The payroll would go up into the $100s, but how bad do you want to make a run at a repeat?
Brett,
After looking at your lineup I am certain that it would be impossible for you to pass a field sobriety test at this moment.
Paul,
And your proposed lineup is…
Brett- The only changes I would want to make to your plan would be replacing Encarnacion with Edmonds in the lineup and Puting Edmonds in CF, Soriano in LF and Wilson in RF. I would go for that.
Chuck,
Yeah, I thought about that and would love that! But I was assuming that to go after both Soriano and Zito we would need to free up that $7 Mill. After all, we don’t exactly have Steinbrenner at the helm.
If the Cardinals wouldn’t pay $3 million for Grudzielanek, there’s no way in the world they’re going to pay $7 million for Ray Durham. Dream on.
Do I think the Cards ownership will open their wallets and go for this kind of lineup? No.
Here’s a more likely scenario:
Instead of Zito, they’ll go after Mark Redman.
Instead of Soriano, they’ll try to re-sign Spezio and Wilson, and they’ll keep Edmonds.
In other words, they’ll sit on their wallets and just ride the wave of this year’s success through another sold-out season (with even higher ticket prices).
The reality is that Jocketty is a genius and LaRussa had the year of his career. If the Cards ownership would be willing to part with some cash and get up into the $115 payroll realm, imagine what Jocketty and LaRussa could do? Can you say DYNASTY??
Now you’re talking, Brett. I fully expect the mentality to be more of the same.
Not that that’s always a bad thing. I think the Cardinals have been wise in some of the moves they haven’t made.
I know that the Cards were in WS in ‘04. But they were actually a good team.