Offseason Outlook: St. Louis Cardinals

I think Figgins would probably be the better investment as he'd leave you free money to invest elsewhere like in pitching and provide Pujols a better chance of baserunners ahead of him. If they're unable to get a LF, they could always shift Figgins there and play Freese everyday.

Or they can maybe take a low-cost gamble on someone like Brian Giles and hope that he can revitalize that OBP.

They cant afford Holliday, and imo there are better options. I like the Jason Bay or even Xavier nady idea. Figgins is a good idea as well. I just dont think Holliday is worth 20 per over 5 years, unless your a Steinbrener.

helllllllllllllllll no on Adam Dunn. His defense is the WORST in the NL and maybe the major leagues. Absolutely NOT. Give a rookie a shot and spend cash on the rotation and a reliever. period.

Give Holliday a good but not exorbitant offer, he'll probably go for the money elsewhere rather than a good deal hitting with Pujols for the next 5 years and that'll be that. No big loss.

Then get a good 9-10m pitcher, a 3-4m reliever and figure out what the team needs at the deadline instead of in the winter.

Wow Pujols is way under paid, Holliday is going to make more next season

I would like the idea of Dunn, but he strikes out way to much and he is a bad fielder. Oh yeah, Figgins would lead off and Pujols would still bat third

I haven't thought much about the Cards, but they're in a tough spot aren't they. If they can't raise payroll (and by quite a lot) they're going to be worse than the team that they put on the field last year. But they can't go into a rebuilding phase, the NL central is weak, what with the Pirates and the Astros not being competitive, and with Albert not getting any younger they have to look to win now.

Maybe Bay, Feliz, and one of the Smoltz/Penny/Sheets/Bedard/Harden crowd? Will that be enough to compeat with what the Dodgers and Phils have and what the Mets and Cubs will buy?

Finally!! I've been waiting for this one. I thought the Cardinals weren't paying Lugo's contract? I thought that was Boston...
Doubtful some of the names (Joe Thurston) make the team out of spring training, but we'll see. There are a handful of other players who might get a shot.
An elite player commanding the salary of 3 good players will probably always get passed over by the Cardinals. I like the idea of Smoltz returning, picking up another buy-low starter as well. Nady and Byrd would be interesting options as solid left fielders. I'm all for giving Freese a shot, but DeRosa should be contacted as well. Unfortunately he may outprice the Cards' utility for his services.

Nady, Smoltz, Bedard, DeRosa (~$25 million?) would be a grand victory for Mo.

So no more Rick Ankiel in STL

With all that money, Holliday could spend some of it learning to catch routine fly balls in the playoffs instead of letting them land into his nugget pouch.

OH SNAP!

Posted by: B Dubz | November 16, 2009 at 04:00 PM

LOL i was waiting for that.

I hope they're able to retain Holliday, because I personally would rather see the Cardinals invest in a top-tier guy rather than spend money on a bunch of players that are slightly above replacement level to fill gaps. It's not hard to find a 3B who can OPS .750 but it is hard to find a player at ANY position that can OPS .950.

I'm going to assume Boras will get Bay to sign first, so if Holliday signs elsewhere, our next options would be Damon or Nady, and if Damon could be had at even a reasonable cost, I'd love to see him signed for the #2 spot for his high OBP. Then try to sign Smoltz (something I'm a fan of either way), and perhaps invest the rest in the bullpen and perhaps Adrian Beltre.

Having said all that, knowing the way the Cardinals have operated in the past, they'll make a real run at Matt Holliday and if that fails, it'll probably turn into bargain shopping. Of course, having said that, most of the history I'm remembering is from the Jocketty era, so it might be unfair to Moz.

Moving Skip to LF is not going to happen. He made progress defensively throughout the season and his offensive abilities meet the expectations of a quality second basemen. I would also be very surprised if Freese is not starting opening day. Look at it this way...it is a way for the FO to fill a spot with another 400K player without taking heat for it, people want to see what he's got!

The Cardinals should not and are not concerned with moving people to different positions...sign a LF, a SP and a fire baller for the pen and the Central will be theirs pending injuries.

DeRosa is too perfect not to bring back. La Russa can mix him in all over the field and he provides you insurance if Freese does not pan out or if Skip or one of the outfielders goes down with an injury. Also fits well in the 6-hole.

Gary, I agree they should lock up Rasmus. But don't expect it this offseason , as they still would like to see him develop more before inking him to a deal (he is not quite where Longoria was, when he signed his deal).

Not a big Cardinals fan (or a fan at all to be honest), but moving Schumaker to left and signing a Polanco/Hudson would be a good move if they lose out on Holliday. They can sign a Beltre to fill out third and have a lineup like this:

Schumaker LF
Hudson/Polanco 2B
Pujols 1B
Beltre 3B
Ludwick RF
Rasmus CF
Molina C
Ryan SS

Signing Hudson/Polanco and Beltre would probably add up less then what Holliday would make in a year alone. I love the idea of Duchscherer on the Cards. It's too smart of a move NOT to do.

pcain -- ankiel

if holliday (or bay) is signed, ankiel is likely gone. starters will be holliday, rasmus, ludwick. ank will probably look for more playing time and cards wont want to pay a few million for a back up.

if holliday (or bay) is not signed, odds of ankiel returning go up dramatically.

Schu won't be in Left except as a defensive replacement late in games (if necessary). He is a defensively competent second basemen and I expect with seasoning he will do even better. What's more is that he hits well for a second basemen, but poorly for a corner outfielder. The Cardinals need pop.

Wow, keep up Dierkes. The Cardinals can, and will, take their payroll up to $110 million for the right player(s). They've had the payroll that high before and they have the ability to increase to that again. That means Johnny Mo can jack payroll as much as $45 million. They have the dough to sign Holliday--if they choose to--and give Pujols a raise.

I think Holliday would be nuts to leave St.Louis for either of the New York teams or Boston. How many fans would applaud you after making a crucial error that led to your team to a 0-2 hole in the playoff's. If he does not resign the Cards should try to get Jason Bay if that falls through. Get Uggla make him a third basemen keep Schumaker at second get Johny Damon to play left and get Pinero or Bedard, and if possiable get Smoltz to sure up the bullpen in the late innings.

I think it's a mistake to automatically write off bringing back Glaus. He could provide some punch from that 3rd base spot and he probably won't cost much, especialy with an incentive laden deal. I really don't think we need any pitching. Our Red Birds just won the PCL Championship. I'm sure there's a pitcher (Garcia at least) who's ready to take the next step.

Holliday will depart so forget about him
We need to get Pinero back he did good and hes definetly better than Lohse
Then we should get Sheets or Smoltz,, I lean towards Sheets hes younger and prolly will be cheaper
Then we need to get figgins hes fast,versatile,good defense,high average and ops
then get Nady he will be cheap since coming off sugery and he was pretty good
then get a lefty for the bullpen

Cabrera in RF? you serious?

Garret Atkins for Schumaker and so on
Sign a Closer and try get Miguel Cabrera/Willis from the Tigers.

Starting Linuep
2B-Lugo
CF-Rasmus
3B-Atkins
1B-Albert
RF-Cabrera
LF-Ludwick
c-Molina
P
SS-Ryan
Bench
LaRue,Freese,Greene and so on
SP
Carpenter,Wainwright,Willis,Lohse and 2 others

Posted by: Matt Galvin | November 16, 2009 at 06:56 PM
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How would the Cards acquire Cabrera? They would have to take on almost half of his contract and basically part with their entire farm system. Not really a deal that would work out for both sides.

And even if they did get him, where would he play? He's an average 1B at best, and I think we all know how his play at 3B was. He did play LF though, but that doesn't mean he can play RF too.

And we don't need any part of Willis. I've finally decided that it's time to hop of the D-Train.

With all of this money coming off the books, the Cards can really make a splash this off season. Get to it, Mozeliak. But stay away from Aroldis Chapman. I beg of you.

I would never stop laughing if the Cards got Dunn.

Whats up with everybody wanting to get rid of Schumaker??? he has batted at or over .300 the last two years in the LEAD-OFF spot. whats not to like about the guy? especially for the money he is owed (figuring under 1M) there is basically nothing but an upside to him..... Just my opinion though

Just a little on Ankiel. He's gone. No matter what the situation is, he won't be a Cardinal in 2010, nor should he be.

personally, i was thrilled when the cards made the trade to pick up holliday. and i would be even more thrilled if they signed him. but its not set in stone, and i have been thinking about other options. chone figgins being the predominant one. his versatility in the field, not to mention a good obp (381 averaged through the last 3 years) combined with plus speed seems to make him a solid choice for a leadoff spot, with the skippy batting behind him. sign the x-factor to play left (again, this is all assuming we can't sign holliday) and then offer ben sheets an incentive laden deal that could be a good sized payoff. i'm telling you, when hes healthy, there are very, very few pitchers who can dominate the way sheets can (in the nl, carp, waino, lincecum, and haren. and thats it) not to mention that he is a workhorse and may want some revenge on the brewers.

i think the three signings could be done for the same money holliday is asking (as long as sheets contract is incentive laden) and if there is a little extra money, resign pineiro.

think about a rotation that consists of carp, waino, sheets, lohse (assuming he can regain his 08 form) and pineiro. missing one of pineiro or sheets, we still have young talent to fill the gap (mainly hawksworth or garcia)

just food for thought before i go to class...

DeRosa will not be signed as an insurance player in case others are injured or don't play well. He is too good, and he will be too expensive. He may (and probably will) be signed by the Cardinals or another team as a utility player, but definitely not as insurance or as a backup. I like DeRosa, but I like the idea of Freese as well.

As for Figgins or Beltre, I like both of these players as well. I'd like to know if anyone has heard anything on their asking price? It would definitely need to fit into the Cardinals plan. I'd hate to overspend on one of these guys with Freese coming up and the possibility of DeRosa coming back instead of signing one of these or some other free agent.

The Cards have 2 open rotation spots, with one more than likely to be filled in-house. Another spot (long relief/spot starter) will also need to be filled. There is a solid chance for many young arms to enter spring training and impress. The bullpen has few shoo-ins outside of the lefties and Franklin. Motte, Hawksworth, etc. will still have to pitch their way onto the roster.

La Russa encourages, even forces, competition in Spring Training (think Royce Ring). There are probably as many as 15 spots on the opening day roster that are still up for grabs, so to speak, to some extent.

Parisi has talent. We saw this last time he came up. He'll likely get his shot, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up a Memphis - St. Louis swingman next year, a la 2009 Boggs/Todd.