Cardinals hunting relievers

Bring shoemacher to infield and play second base, trade for
peavy and green for short.sign lefthander will ohman for bullpen

Ok seriously, open up you check book and make the moves to be a serious contender. You pass on CC and Harden last season. You pass on Holiday already. If your not going to put wainwright in the bullpen and leave him as a starter then go after fuentes or wood, especially if you dont re sign izzy.
For the left batters their are plenty of great options Manny, Burrell, Ibanez, short stop players bring edgar or eckstien
back. Now for starting pitching to complete the strong rotation. You have dempster, burnett, johnson, Lowe, Mussina, sheets, peavy and re sign looper. Now open up your check book and i say get Sheets, Fuentes, or Wood, Burrell, and go for eckstien or keep lopez. Make these offer amounts all good offers now make the moves you moron's in the office.

Fuentes 3yrs 6mil
Wood 3yrs 8mil
Sheets 4 8mil
Peavy 6 10mil
Dempster 3 4.5 mil
Burnett 4 7mil
Johnson 1 5 mil
Eckstien 3 6.5 mil
Lopez 4 3mil
Burrell 5 12 mil

i see every one who have great fan base try exept the cardinals . the fansare there. you guys need to quit being passive and get aggresive

The second of the three posts should be discarded immediately. It is a joke and anyone who knows baseball should realize it. Everyone that you mentioned to put in the bullpen is going to command more money than the Cardinals will shell out. Instead of Fuentes and Wood, they should look at Brandon Lyon or Juan Cruz. Neither will cost an arm and a leg, and both were effective and a cheap source of saves in 2008. As for the middle infield, I say that they should contact San Diego about Khalil Greene, whose value is extremely lower due to his weak performance last season. They do not need any outfield help unless they trade someone, i.e Ludwick. But the pitchers you said to look at are rediculous. Sheets is one pitch away from the DL, Dempster threw 3x the number of innings he was used to last season and everyone else minus Braden Looper is looking for monster contracts. They need to look at the second tier starters like Jon Garland or even Brad Penny. I think Garland could dominate in the NL and Penny is coming off an injury plagued, dissappointing season. If you really want to make a trade and make a splash they should get into the Peavy sweepstakes. Offer the Padres Rick Ankiel, Mitchell Boggs, Bryan Anderson, and another fringe prospect if Greene were to be thrown into the deal. I realize San Diego is looking for middle infield help, but they also need a catcher and Bryan Anderson happens to be expendable because we currently have a gold glover behind the dish who hit extremely well last year.

the 2nd comment is ridiculous those offers r a joke burnett turned down 4yrs and 54mill from the jays and dempster is gona get way more than 5mill a yr the cards need 2 sign free agents and not trade away our young talent but if we do make a trade it needs 2 be 4 peavy and greene 4 ankiel anderson boggs thompson or todd or something like that we have so many outfielders and ankiel is in the last yr of arbitration

We don't need Peavy or any other top-tier starter. We already have 5 starters: Carpenter, Wainwright, Lohse, Wellemeyer, and Piñiero. We only possible need a low-tier starter for depth in case Capenter has trouble recovering from his nerve issue. Even if Capenter misses a lot of time again, Wainwright and Lohse proved last year that they're an effective 1, 2 punch on their own.

We also won't get a top-tier closer, as they will command more years than the 1-2 year stopgap that we possibly need until Perez or Motte is ready to close, and it's foolish to spend so much money on a position for which we might not need anybody new, anyway. We should sign Trevor Hoffman to a 1 year deal.

There're reasons why our biggest priorities are middle infield and left-handed relief.

that 2nd comment is pretty ridiculous, those guys will get twice the amount shown there........ i would love it if the cardinals got peavy, but i doubt it will happen, especially if the yankees offer phil hughes and ian kennedy. a middle of the road pitcher like jon garland would be nice. for the middle infield, the cardinals should get renteria at short and orlando hudson at 2nd, if you cant get hudson, then retain felipe lopez and have him play second. signing david eckstein would completely go against what the cards are trying to do. they want an offensive upgrade over cesar izturis at short, which eckstein is not. he is also very so-so at short defensively. i loved eckstein when he was in st. louis, but his time has come and gone. renteria would be the wise choice. for the bullpen, as we all know, the cards seriously need a lefty. go out and get brian fuentes to be a set-up man, or possibly close. if you cant sign fuentes, or you make him the closer, go for a lower cost option like joe beimel, or a veteran like arthur rhodes. doing those things would shore up all their needs and keep them in their budget.

Well, we definitely all agree the second comment is idiotic. On with my comments, just to let you all know Eckstein's defensive stats are only 1 percent point worse than Cesar's and his batting is 30 point higher, that is lifetime. I would rather see JJ Hardy or Yunel Escobar in trades. At second base I would like to see Orlando Hudson from Arizona and sign Lopez to be our infield utility with Miles. Hoffman would be the perfect choice for a stopper, til one of our young guns matures. We need at least a second tier starter, I would love to trade for Peavy and I wouldn't have a problem with Greene also, I would trade one of our outfielders, either Ludwick or Schumacher or Rasmus, but not Ankiel. That is all I have for now. Have a good offseason Cards fans.

Wait, the funniest part of that second comment is that you would have the cardinals offer a 5 year deal worth 12 million per year for Pat Burrell. But only a 4 year deal worth 7 million per year for A.J. Burnett.

Would you rather have, a potential 18 game winner with down right nasty stuff? or an aging 32 year old outfielder with waning power and looks like he's runnig on egg shells in the outfield? oh and you wanna pay him more than 2 times what your paying Burnett.
Lets keep you as far away from the Cardinal front office as possible.

I agree we do need to go and get some pen help BAD, but i see it as we get Fuentes (although probably alittle out of our pocketbooks), if not i liked how Motte threw there at the end of year sure, not a closer but he'll help in the late innings. And as for another bat im a huge fan of Manny although he to is out of reach so lets go after a guy like Holiday, oh wait were too cheap for him to. I just love how all these moves are being made around us and our Owner and GM are to cheap to pull the trigger on anyone. This is just me and probably is out of reach, but i say we get in the Burnett and Manny sweepstakes

You know what, I think Sheets would be a good fit for St. Louis. They are a little experienced with ailing pitchers (unfortunately), and I think that'd be a good fit. Also, the don't NEED to go out and get a closer. Chris Perez payed dividends last year when Isringhausen went down and Ryan Franklin turned into a pumpkin. They could do what the Indians might do and just go for set-up help. Finally, Pat Burrell would work wonders behind Albert Pujols and take pressure off of Troy Glaus. Wainwright should be a starter because that's where he's needed most and their rotation is looking better and better since 2007.

i like the idea of Peavy and Green. i think that it would work out very much to the cardinals advantage, but i also think that some of their current starters could be brought to the bullpen (joel piniero in mind) to make room not only for possibly Peavy, but also Randy Johnson would make a great starter for the Cards. He brings VERY MUCH heat, a killer splitter, and, what do ya know, .....he's a lefty. plus, you don't want the Cubs to get him. They have too much pitching for the Cardinals as it is now. So i say definately go for Johnson. It works all to the Cardinals advantage. i agree with Burrel. He would make a nice addition, but you have to remember that this isn't some New York or Boston organization. The Cards don't have the money to deal and buy that many all-star players at once. So, knowing the Cardinals Organization, they'll probably find some cheap deal and get themselves into a mess.

another consideration for them is that there are a few players on the market that they recognize. Edgar Renteria and David Eckstein. Cardinal officials have already stated that they are looking for middle infield help. there ya go. Edgar and David are already quite familiar with what this team's standards are and what is required from a person that is in their field position. They both have decent averages for a shortstop. Why not? I think that David hit and played a lot better when he was with the Cards organization (making World Series MVP in his last year with them), so he might find the spark that he once had. Oh, and we can't forget that Orlando Hudson is out on the market! That's a prime 2nd baseman. He's hard to pass up. Jim Edmonds is back on the market! He was great in the time he spent with the Cards. Defensively and offensively. He's great outfield material. Go get him back!!!!!!!!!

so,........here is your possibilities:

Starting Pitching:
1)Randy Johnson
2)Jake Peavy

Shortstop:
1)David Eckstein
2)Edgar Renteria

2nd Base:
1)Orlando Hudson
2)(Move Skip Schumaker down to the infield)

Outfield:
1)Pat Burrell
2)Jim Edmonds
3)(Keep Ludwick on the team)

Some of these posts make no sense. Realize, that the Cards front office generally doesn't spend money in the free-agent market, and a lot of the teams salary is tied up among Pujols, Glaus, and Carpenter. That being said, I think for closer the Cards realistically have 3 options: sign Trevor Hoffman to a 1 year deal to be your closer, sign Randy Johnson and move Wainright back to closer, or use some of your outfield depth, Ankiel would be great for this trade actually, along with a pitching prospect for Huston Street. The Rockies already have a closer in Corpas, and are looking to spin off Street, and Ankiel could step in and play center field allowing them to then trade Willy Tavaras who they are also looking to move. For your infield, sign a low risk guy who performed very well for your team in the past in Renteria, and make a splash either by using the prospects you could have traded for Street in trying to pry Uggla from the Marlins or sign Orlando Hudson.

If those options fail, however there are some other ways to go:
SS - sign a big name free agent in Orlando Cabrera, trade for Julio Lugo (Boston is looking for a young catcher) or Pittsburgh's Jack Wilson who can be had cheap.
2B - Cleveland's Josh Barfield had a great Rookie season in San Diego before going downhill in Cleveland, and is now the back up and could be had with a modest package of prospects, or a player like Mark Grudzielanek
SP - Randy Wolf, Paul Byrd, Mike Hampton
Closer -Chad Cordero, Eric Gagne, Eddie Guardado, Derrick Turnbow

gsanson, that is freaking awesome i have found another uggla supporter. the way the marlins r letting guys go i say lets talk and see what happens. ludwick or maybe even rasmus. id do rasmus, anderson, motte and boggs for uggla and volstad. volstad is a cheap #4 with #2 potential. uggla is exactly what we need. we wont sign a type a so no hudson, fuehtes, krod, or wood. i also like your idea of trading ank for street but not if we get uggla and lose an outfielder. 09 roster

1b pujols
2b uggla
ss izturis/renteria
3b glaus
of ludwick
of ankiel
of skip
of mather
of duncan
c molina
c larue
inf miles
ut freese/greene/barton

sp carp
sp waino
sp lohse
sp welley
sp volstad
sp piniero
rp mclellan
rp franklin
rp affeldt/ohman
rp perez
rp springer
cp hoffman/cordero

we win with those 25 guys. the money fits and we dont lose the draft picks either. the trade would thin out our system but getting uggla and volstad would be great.

To be honest I would rather have Jorge Cantu from the Marlins than Dan Uggla. Cantu can play numerous positions and could actually play Uggla's position better than he can and he does not strike as often. He also drove in 95 runs last year and hit 29 homeruns. But neither one of them will wind up in a Cardinals uniform come 2009. Where we really need to look is at the Braves. They are potentially dangling both of their starting middle infielders. I personally would rather have Yunel Escobar over Kelly Johnson, but we need both positions anyway. Escobar might cost a little bit more, but you could get either at a fairly reasonable price. And to the poster who recommended Pat Burrell, we do not need a slow footed outfielder who strikes out a ton. If that were the case we might as well throw Chris Duncan back out in left field! Their best bet is to sign a potential closer who is a low risk high reward guy, like Chad Cordero or Brendan Lyon. Don't forget that Lyon saved 26 games for the D'Backs last year. They should bring back Felipe Lopez at second and look to acquire ****, there are plenty to be had with guys like Khalil Greene, Bobby Crosby, Jack Wilson, Julio Lugo, Yunel Escobar and Brent Lillibridge. They also need left handed relievers badly and should look in the direction of Jeremy Affeldt, Will Ohman, or Joe Beimel. Once they have those needs covered then they should look at the available starting pitching and see what they would like to do there. But they should aim low, we do still have Dave Duncan and he is a wizard when it comes to reclamation projects.

Please, get one key player at SS that can play and steal bases. Rafael Furcal fill that bill better than any free agent on the market. I agree that we need to sign a short term closer to groom Mike Perez and we need to bring in a left-handed starter that can work as our number 3 guy. If we don't do those things, forget about having a chance in 2009 or the immediate future. TAK

I posted this on the Cardinals Short Stop Blog, but this one looked like it had more traffic.

To me I think that last year we made a tremendous improvement on the offensive side of the plate. I would like to see Brendan Ryan at short. We need to add one starter and a couple of long relievers with the emphasis on long. This possibly could be Pineiro. Our bullpen is what needs the most help. A stat to think about: The Cardinals had 73 save opportunities. We converted only 42 blowing 31 for 57.5%. The Rays had 68 opps, converting 52 blowing 16 for 76.4%. The Phils had 62 opps, converting 47 and blowing 15 for 75.8%. On the other hand the Mariners had 67 opps, converting 36 and blowing 31 for 53.7%. The Tigers had 62 opps, converting 34 and blowing 28 for 54.8%.

Give the Cardinals a 75% rate and we would have converted 55 of the 73 opps. That is 15 more wins onto the 86 we had and that is 101, 4 above the Cubs. We need to solidify our starters so it does not hurt the pen and then shore up the pen. Don't make excuses for the pen. If we want to get back to the series we need to shore this unit up.

I posted this on the Cards Short Stop blog, this one looks busier though so here it is.

To me I think that last year we made a tremendous improvement on the offensive side of the plate. I would like to see Brendan Ryan at short. We need to add one starter and a couple of long relievers with the emphasis on long. This possibly could be Pineiro. Our bullpen is what needs the most help. A stat to think about: The Cardinals had 73 save opportunities. We converted only 42 blowing 31 for 57.5%. The Rays had 68 opps, converting 52 blowing 16 for 76.4%. The Phils had 62 opps, converting 47 and blowing 15 for 75.8%. On the other hand the Mariners had 67 opps, converting 36 and blowing 31 for 53.7%. The Tigers had 62 opps, converting 34 and blowing 28 for 54.8%.

Give the Cardinals a 75% rate and we would have converted 55 of the 73 opps. That is 15 more wins onto the 86 we had and that is 101, 4 above the Cubs. We need to solidify our starters so it does not hurt the pen and then shore up the pen. Don't make excuses. THe pen saves, we win. Look at the Rays and Phils.

I posted this on the Cards Short Stop blog, this one looks busier though so here it is.

To me I think that last year we made a tremendous improvement on the offensive side of the plate. I would like to see Brendan Ryan at short. We need to add one starter and a couple of long relievers with the emphasis on long. This possibly could be Pineiro. Our bullpen is what needs the most help. A stat to think about: The Cardinals had 73 save opportunities. We converted only 42 blowing 31 for 57.5%. The Rays had 68 opps, converting 52 blowing 16 for 76.4%. The Phils had 62 opps, converting 47 and blowing 15 for 75.8%. On the other hand the Mariners had 67 opps, converting 36 and blowing 31 for 53.7%. The Tigers had 62 opps, converting 34 and blowing 28 for 54.8%.

Give the Cardinals a 75% rate and we would have converted 55 of the 73 opps. That is 15 more wins onto the 86 we had and that is 101, 4 above the Cubs. We need to solidify our starters so it does not hurt the pen and then shore up the pen. Don't make excuses. THe pen saves, we win. Look at the Rays and Phils.

I posted this on the Cards Short Stop blog, this one looks busier though so here it is.

To me I think that last year we made a tremendous improvement on the offensive side of the plate. I would like to see Brendan Ryan at short. We need to add one starter and a couple of long relievers with the emphasis on long. This possibly could be Pineiro. Our bullpen is what needs the most help. A stat to think about: The Cardinals had 73 save opportunities. We converted only 42 blowing 31 for 57.5%. The Rays had 68 opps, converting 52 blowing 16 for 76.4%. The Phils had 62 opps, converting 47 and blowing 15 for 75.8%. On the other hand the Mariners had 67 opps, converting 36 and blowing 31 for 53.7%. The Tigers had 62 opps, converting 34 and blowing 28 for 54.8%.

Give the Cardinals a 75% rate and we would have converted 55 of the 73 opps. That is 15 more wins onto the 86 we had and that is 101, 4 above the Cubs. We need to solidify our starters so it does not hurt the pen and then shore up the pen. Don't make excuses. THe pen saves, we win. Look at the Rays and Phils.