Cards and shortstops
The Cardinals need a shortstop, and general manager John Mozeliak has made it clear that the middle infield is one of his top two priorities early in the winter (along with the left side of the bullpen). However, it appears that at this point St. Louis has not taken any rapid steps toward solidifying the shortstop position.
Two of the names most commonly associated with St. Louis are Rafael Furcal and Edgar Renteria. Furcal's agent, Paul Kinzer, said on Friday that the Cards are not one of the 10 or so teams that have inquired about his speedy, switch-hitting client at this point.
Meanwhile, Renteria's agent, Barry Meister, said Friday that the Cards would be a natural fit for his client, who had some terrific years wearing the 'Birds on the Bat' earlier this decade. He did not indicate that any substantive conversations had taken place, but it's clear that there is mutual interest in a potential Renteria reprise.
Then there's Felipe Lopez, who finished the year in St. Louis. A report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said that the Cards have offered a deal to Lopez, but a team source seemed somewhat nonplussed by the report. Lopez told MLB.com that he has not been informed of any offer, though it's well-known that his agent, Scott Boras, often minimizes the player's involvement in negotiations.
-- Matthew Leach
Two of the names most commonly associated with St. Louis are Rafael Furcal and Edgar Renteria. Furcal's agent, Paul Kinzer, said on Friday that the Cards are not one of the 10 or so teams that have inquired about his speedy, switch-hitting client at this point.
Meanwhile, Renteria's agent, Barry Meister, said Friday that the Cards would be a natural fit for his client, who had some terrific years wearing the 'Birds on the Bat' earlier this decade. He did not indicate that any substantive conversations had taken place, but it's clear that there is mutual interest in a potential Renteria reprise.
Then there's Felipe Lopez, who finished the year in St. Louis. A report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said that the Cards have offered a deal to Lopez, but a team source seemed somewhat nonplussed by the report. Lopez told MLB.com that he has not been informed of any offer, though it's well-known that his agent, Scott Boras, often minimizes the player's involvement in negotiations.
-- Matthew Leach
You're going to need more than that to compete St. Louis.
GO CUBS GO!
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Bring David Eckstein back!!! Cubs still have that division if all the Cards do is get a shortstop. Need more pop in the lineup and a closer.
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It doesn't matter who the Cubs sign or how much money they spend. The Cubs are still the lovable losers and will choke as usual in the 1st round of the playoffs...if they even make it. Status quo as usual!
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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.
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