Disclaimer: this one is pure speculation.
Over at the premiere Cardinals blog, Viva El Birdos, lboros dropped a very intriguing name: Mark Buehrle. There haven’t been many published reports of Buehrle being available. Here’s the logic behind the Buehrle idea according to commenters Demetre and lboros.
Demetre: There really isn’t anything concrete about Buehrle being available (I don’t think) except for his unapolegitic, vocal, native STL love and desire to be a Cardinal at all costs.
Its about as pre-ordained a cardinal pitcher-to-be as i can remember outside the system.
lboros: the Buehrle is pure speculation on my part, but based on two considerations:
- He’s due to be a free agent in 2007 and almost surely will leave Chicago, as Reinsdorf won’t pay big money for him.
- Reinsdorf is well known for blowing his teams up. A few years back he even dumped half the team when they were only 3 or 4 games out of 1st place. If the sox aren’t doing well at midseason, Reinsdorf may be tempted to get frugal, and get what he can for Buehrle.
This is very sound logic (although it comes from a couple of die-hard Cards fans).
If the White Sox are looking to trim payroll and get the best value for Buehrle before free agency, the Cardinals would be the ideal trading partner. Jocketty’s Mark Mulder trade set a precedent that he’s willing to give up top prospects for proven pitching. If Jocketty made Jason Marquis and Anthony Reyes available, I think Kenny Williams would pull the trigger on this blockbuster.
What do you think?
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