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« Odds and Ends: Estrada, Payton, Kielty | Main | Taking The Plunge »
Matt Clement Signs With Cardinals
UPDATE, 1-3-08 at 6:20pm: Clement gets a $1.25MM base with another $5.25MM in incentives for '08. The '09 option is for $8.75MM, an amount that can increase based on innings pitched. Seems a low-risk deal for the Cards.
UPDATE, 1-3-08 at 3:21pm: The deal includes a club option for '09 and as you'd expect is heavy on incentives. The base salary is not known yet.
FROM 1-3-08 at 2:27pm:
According to Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals have signed Matt Clement to a Major League deal.
Clement, 33, jumps back to the NL Central after spending 2002-04 with the Cubs. He had rotator cuff surgery in September of '06, so he's a complete unknown at this point. He joins Adam Wainwright, Joel Pineiro, and Braden Looper in the Cards' rotation, with Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder due at various points during the season. They still might have money for one more starter.
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Mulder, Carpenter and now Clement. I hope Corporal Klinger, Hawkeye and Pierce are on duty.
Posted by: jnr98 | January 03, 2008 at 02:29 PM
Now THAT would be a funny episode of MASH.
Posted by: Flatley | January 03, 2008 at 02:36 PM
Carpanter,Mulder,Wainwright,Clement,Pinero,Looper,Reyes,and Wellemeyer. That's a lot of starters. Does anyone have any info on when Carpenter and Mulder will really be back because if they'll be ready soon the cards need to move reyes already. It will be interesting to see if any of these three will be healthy.
Posted by: joemorgan=#1 | January 03, 2008 at 02:40 PM
Sometimes I think the Mets rotation is awful, but then I see a rotation like the Cardinals.
Wainwright, Looper, Pinero and Clement.
Yikes.
Posted by: PDubs | January 03, 2008 at 02:41 PM
I hope he doesn't have his stuff anymore, he may end up turning in the performance of Kip Wells last year. I actually like the idea of signing him though, if the reward part comes in, he is a solid starter in the Central. Anyone know the money part of this deal?
Posted by: Aduncaroo | January 03, 2008 at 02:42 PM
My take on this is the Cards aren't expecting Carpenter/Mulder to be ready at the beginning of the season. I haven't really followed the Cards' off-season prognoses on them, but from what I remember last year Carpenter isn't expected to be available until mid-2008. If Clement can deliver a solid couple months, then obviously they have trading options. If not, then it should be an easy task to pick out who gets dropped from the rotation.
Posted by: Flatley | January 03, 2008 at 02:43 PM
Last I heard, Carpenter is returning mid-season, and Mulder within 1month of the start of the season.
The last offer to Clement from the Cards was for a minor league deal. So I would assume somewhere between $400k - 2mill if not more.
Posted by: melharts | January 03, 2008 at 02:59 PM
hahahaha...let us know how the doormat feels St. Louis!
Posted by: J-Money | January 03, 2008 at 03:02 PM
Carpenter is supposedly coming back in August, but we're thinking that we'll be lucky to get him back in September. The team's awfully quiet on Mulder's return, but supposedly will be pitching before the end of April, again, nobody's holding their breath.
I like signings like this under most circumstances, like when you already have 5 starters. The Cards have three starters ready to go and six question marks.
Yes, we're bracing ourselves for the heap o' crap everyone else in the NL Central will be giving us this season ;)
http://www.cardinalsdiaspora.com
Posted by: ryan vb | January 03, 2008 at 03:07 PM
Doormat, J-Money? We've always got the Pirates as cushion. Seriously though, we've got a world championship and several years of playoff caliber baseball to reflect upon. Every team has to reload at some point; we're content to do so knowing we've enjoyed fantastic baseball over the last ten years.
Posted by: Devlsh | January 03, 2008 at 03:31 PM
good move i guess, but pointless. the cards are going no where this season or in the near future. it's hard to think of them as a team that's not going to be in contention in september, but they're not. the rotation will struggle again until mulder and carpenter get back, if they get back. and the offense will be weak besides pujols and the aging and aching rolen. to be considered even as a dark horse, they still need to sign a center fielder (i recommend cameron or patterson as cheap options). and la rusa needs to wake up, literally, and stop batting the pitcher 8th.
Posted by: rootman1010 | January 03, 2008 at 03:54 PM
I thought I read some where that Looper would be moved back into the Bullpen, because of his bad 2nd half.
Well I cant say I wish the cards luck because as a Brewer fan I would be lying. Though I do think Card fans are some of the classiest fans in Baseball, they at least know the difference between a Pop Out and Homerun. You always hear Cub fans cheering loudly when they hit a simple pop up...lol
Posted by: erbacaine | January 03, 2008 at 03:59 PM
Why would they need to sign a CF? They plan on using either a) Barton/Ankiel or b) Top 5 prospect Colby Rasmus.
I think they'd be better served giving the job to Rasmus before signing a CF.
Posted by: HL | January 03, 2008 at 04:03 PM
Hopefully Looper will be moved back to the bullpen, but not until Carp or Mulder get back. If that ever happens for Mulder.
This deal would be pointless if there was no club option, but there is, so it's a nice gamble in a punt year. They control his rights if he's any good. He probably won't be, but it doesn't really matter this year. At least it's forward thinking.
Posted by: plh903 | January 03, 2008 at 04:13 PM
between all the injured starters they now have, it should be fun to watch one pitch for three months, implode, then the next one and so on and so on
Posted by: 04Forever | January 03, 2008 at 04:16 PM
"they still need to sign a center fielder (i recommend cameron or patterson as cheap options). and la rusa needs to wake up, literally, and stop batting the pitcher 8th."
nevermind the fact that the last thing we need is another aging, overpaid player (in an already crowded outfield no less), and least we forget the offense finally got going last year after the pitcher started batting 8th
Posted by: stlredbirds | January 03, 2008 at 06:04 PM
you cardinal bashers can kiss it. yes they will probably suck next year but when 17 million isnt suiting up next year(carpenter/encarnacion)what do you expect? carpenter will be lucky to pitch in september and mulder will miss 1-2 months of the season. i like the clement signing. cmon kip wells got 3 million. anyone want to argue wells is better than clement? i didnt think so. 09 is very promising. we get the ace back and we will have options on mulder and clement(two good players to have options on)and juan,cesar,izzy,and springer come off the books. we have young guys to replace those players and can spend the new money on pitching or a good shortstop(good year for fa shortstops). i will concede this year but the cards are still the cards. no matter how much money the cubs spend they are still the cubs. genetic losers.
Posted by: Joelcards | January 03, 2008 at 06:13 PM
As I see it, it can't be worse than Todd Wellemeyer, Kip Wells, or Mike Maroth. I only wish they would've gotten a #2 guy. Not a "Cardinals #2 guy" buy a "Real #2 guy".
Posted by: CraveCase | January 03, 2008 at 06:31 PM
As I see it, it can't be worse than Todd Wellemeyer, Kip Wells, or Mike Maroth. I only wish they would've gotten a #2 guy. Not a "Cardinals #2 guy" buy a "Real #2 guy".
Posted by: CraveCase | January 03, 2008 at 06:31 PM
___
The problem is what FA right now do you think is a #2. The only "Potential" candidate would be Bartolo Colon, in my opinion. However he's not a good #2, unless he is having a stellar year such as that when he won the Cy Young. I'm in agreement with Joelcards, we probably won't be contending this year, however next year watch out.
Oh I forgot to mention, were in the NL Central, were always contending.
Posted by: melharts | January 03, 2008 at 06:37 PM
Yeah erbacaine, I've seen plaenty of Brewers fans napping (when they show up.) Or were they just passed out? The Cubs fans half-fill your ballpark for you.
Posted by: Cubs World Champs please B4 I die | January 03, 2008 at 07:18 PM
Anyone bashing this deal for $1.25 mill is looking for an excuse to bash the Cards. Obvious low risk, high reward potential, and certainly not a bad move.
Posted by: stormstarter28 | January 03, 2008 at 08:48 PM
storm, i would agree, but just ask a question.
At what point does it become a good idea to just save up all these small dollar amounts, not spend them on risks and poor players, give jobs to rookies, when you are struggling like the Cardinals, and then use the money to buy a superstar.
Posted by: quintjs | January 03, 2008 at 09:36 PM
I don't know, I think the Cards have made mistakes in deals like this in the past (Wells), but I like that they're not sitting on every last dollar for next year. They'll still have plenty of cash for '09, and if Clement works out, they can pick up his option and realistically contend. If he didn't have the option attached, I would agree it's a waste of money.
Posted by: stormstarter28 | January 04, 2008 at 12:12 AM
Devlsh, I am honestly expecting the Pirates to finish ahead of the Cards in the 2008 central. Even if they trade away Bay and the pitcher formerly known as Ian Oquendo, I still think the two teams will be fighting it out for that dubious title with the cardinals coming out on top-or is it the bottom? The Bucs have 3 reliable starters to the Cards's Joel Piniero. Pujols and HGH Ankiel won't be able to carry a team with absolutely no healthy pitching.
And Joelcards, if you think part of the Cardinals problem is that Juan Encarnacion won't be suiting up ever again and Carpenter will be out all year, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you. This is Carpenter's second Tommy John surgery. Not sure there's much of a precedent for pitchers returning to form after two of the procedures. But keep dreaming, it's healthy.
Posted by: J-Money | January 04, 2008 at 03:10 AM
Stormstarter, I agree this move is low risk but I don't agree with the high reward part.
And Joelcards, the Cubs are still the Cubs. You're right. They are the team that owns the Cardinals.
Posted by: cachhubguy | January 04, 2008 at 04:26 AM
The cubs are the team that owns the cardinals.....wow....interesting outlook.
Posted by: MK1Lynx | January 04, 2008 at 09:29 AM
Yeah, Cubs own the Cards in regular season play. Can't really debate that. Doesn't matter to me though. Cubs fans can take solice in that if they like, it's the only thing they can brag about.
Posted by: inthecards | January 04, 2008 at 10:06 AM
Ok, guys, lets be mature here. The Cubs fans (I am one) can brag about being the division winners last year and improving their team in the offseason. The Cubs have a strong future ahead of them as well, like it or not.
However, this deal is pretty much solely to see what Clement has next year, and they might end up with a decent #3 or 4 next year as an option. Best case scenario in 09 is
1. Carpenter
2. Wainwright
3. Mulder
4. Clement
5. Pineiro
Thats not a shabby rotation at all if they are pitching to their ability, which is obviously a huge question mark. Still, don't bash the signing, because its actually pretty solid. And don't bash the Cubs for being the Cubs, they won the division last year and improved their team, and, its just plain immature.
Posted by: Aduncaroo | January 04, 2008 at 11:37 AM
Come on, Roid Ankiel should be able to carry this team past the other choke jobs in the division. I kid, I kid. This isn't a bad contract. It isn't going to haunt them years later. Not to mention that the Central is weak.
Even if he does nothing else than keep a player from comming up too early and losing confidence on a bad team, this was a good signing.
Posted by: TheAngelicDoctor | January 04, 2008 at 03:50 PM
I am going to laugh when the cards shock everybody that like they did in 06 and win the world series.
REPRESENT!!!!!!!!!!!
GO CARDINALS!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: wibby_cardsrock | January 07, 2008 at 06:21 PM