Cardinals Looking In-House For Closer

Give the ball to Perez in the 9th and let Motte/Franklin set up......Franklin is horrible in the closer spot but not as bad if he's used in the 7th or 8th inning......and Cobrasnake, Wainwright isn't going anywhere :)

Why not Chris Perez as closer? Give him a shot before obeying LaRussa's "Proven Closer" mantra.

Their guy was Fuentes and they lost him forf being cheap, b/c he didn't sign for much.

Ok, Where is all that money invested b/c they have only one big name player which is Pujols and he only made around 13m +. ??

WOW.. i must say, im a bit blown away by reading this.. i personally watched ryan franklin blow about 10-15 saves this last year, i guess mozeliak and tony did'nt catch those games.

Glaus will make 11.25MM in 2009, Carpenter 14MM, Pinero 7.5MM, Loshe 7.125...I know where you're coming from, Dominican, but I don't think it's fair to call the organization cheap (not as long as they play in the same league as the Nationals and Pirates).

I'm going to admit I didn't know that the Cardinals offered more money. Its just the way I view the team b/c of the players they get.

Luckily the Cardinals are rebuilding right now. But fans like Dominican cry when a player like Aaron Miles is let go to make way for someone like Brian Barden. The Cardinals are rebuilding around Wainwright, Pujols, Molina, and now Rasmus.

Fans cry no matter what. Either the team isn't spending enough on overpaid free agents or they are spending too much and need to rebuild. The Cardinals are doing neither and are going to be competitive.

My whole point is stop complaining during the winter. When it's mid July, then you can complain about the team. Right now, you have no idea what is going to happen. The season isn't played in January nor is it played on paper.

mtzxc are you OK? I'm not a Cardinals fan, its pretty obvious looking a my name. What am I crying about?

DominicanYanks, you yourself may not be crying, but I have seen so many fans whine about loosing Miles and not signing Fuentes that it's literally driving me crazy.

I posted that because of your claim that they were cheap...when in fact they aren't. They have multiyear deals with Pujols, Wainwright, Lohse, Molina, Carpenter, and large salaries in player such as Glaus, Greene, Kennedy, Piniero, and depending on arbitration possible Ludwick and Ankiel. Add on the cheap young talent of Perez, Motte, and the rest of the young players (Rasmus) and you don't have a cheap team. You just don't have a team that overpays for the large FA.

AndreBeavs: I believe TLR and DD are the ones who think of Franklin as a closing option. I'm pretty sure Mo is set on Perez in the 9th with Motte being the set up man.

For those who think the Cardinals are closer to rebuilding than winning the division...the bullpen was full of crappy options for Tony to rely on. Now that guys like Izzy, Villone, and Kelvin Jiminez are gone...it's already a huge improvement. Ryan Franklin should not get anywhere near the 8th or 9th innings. Period.

**bullpen

"Glaus will make 11.25MM in 2009, Carpenter 14MM, Pinero 7.5MM, Loshe 7.125..."

Somebody please explain to me why piniero is making 7.5 million next year. Talk about a huge waste of money. Mozeliak needs to take a huge piniero dump, and soon!

2009 Payroll:
Pujols $16m
Carpenter $14m
Glaus $11.25m
Pineiro $7.5m
Lohse $7.125m
Green $6.5m
Kennedy $4m
Molina $3.25m
Wainwright $2.6m
Franklin $2.5m
comes to $74.725m, with the rest of the cheaper contracts its over $90m. Add another $7-9m for arbitration raises for Ludwick, Ankiel and Wellemeyer.
Leaves enough for a starting pitcher and payroll will end up at about $110m. Or a second basemen... with the pitcher coming through trade. Trading Ankiel for a starter would be optimal.

Glaus and Greene wont be a waste, but i think Kennedy and Piniero are not the best ideas, but surely not a waste.

why not trade ankiel for a starter, then go spend the 10 mil on orlando hudson..there would be no holes in the team other than the 4/5 spots in the rotation being occupied by piniero/wellemeyer, and wellemeyer has shown he can pitch well at times.

the line up would read

schumacher
hudson
ludwick
pujols
glaus
rasmus
yadi
greene
pitcher

rotation
carp
wainwright
a solid 3 guy in compensation for ankiel
wellemeyer
piniero/brad thompson

bullpen
perez 9th
motte 8th
with a matchup based 7th

or am i missing something as to why they would not want to do this

what are we rebuilding for, it can't get much better than having the best player in baseball, not to mention adam wainwright in the rotation

thoughts?

P.S. The Yankees seem to think they have the best player in baseball too (A.Rod) and they finished third too! Hows that for irony?

"What are you rebuilding for?" I guess that's a good question if you consider third place a success. The Cards did manage to beat the Astros,Reds, and Pirates, quite a feat! I will concede that Pujols may be the best player in baseball. I just wonder when he's going to go to a team that is worthy of his talents.

I don't see a lot of the NL teams but why didn't the Cardinals go after Takashi Saito?

I see a lot of the MLB commentators praising the Red Sox for making a steal but was this guy not an option for the Cards?