Bill DeWitt Jr. has "turned general manager John Mozeliak loose" to find a starting pitcher, writes Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In a Q&A with the Cardinals' chairman, Strauss asks about the team's approach to the trade deadline and Albert Pujols' future in St. Louis, among other topics. Here's what DeWitt had to say:
- The team's farm system isn't as deep as it was at this time last year, but they still have a few "premium prospects" that other clubs are interested in.
- Giving up a lot of talent to rent a player whose contract expires at season's end isn't something the Cardinals want to do. However, they do have some prospects they'd make available in the right trade.
- The team has financial flexibility to take on salary, in part because their attendance this year has been slightly stronger than expected.
- It sounds like the Cards would prefer taking on salary rather than parting with blue-chip prospects: "Dollars is one thing; talent is another," said DeWitt. "Talent is harder to get."
- Even taking into account Pujols' upcoming extension negotiations, the team is confident they have room to add a "quality player," as long as it's not one with a long-term, backloaded contract.
- The Cardinals would never consider trading Albert Pujols this year, and view this coming offseason as the "optimal" time for contract negotiations.
- DeWitt hasn't discussed with Tony La Russa whether the Cards' skipper will be back next year. They'll wait to see how La Russa feels after the season.
If they ever did trade Pujols, they probably can get 5+ blue-chip prospects back. In other words, it would be the biggest haul of prospects for one player in history.
i can’t think of a single team that has the amount of prospects it would take to get pujols.
Texas before their Cliff Lee trade would have worked. Perez + Smoak + Scheppers + Andrus maybe. Man that sounds fantastic.
I was also thinking Texas. Another team might be the Rays (Jennings/Hellickson).
I do like the fact that DeWitt has loosened the reigns so to speak. If this is true, the coming weeks could be very interesting in the midwest. I also like the fact that he would prefer to spend more that to trade away what’s left of the depleted farm system.
Roy Oswalt seems to fit. Astros would like to dump the contract, Cards want pitching and would be ok with picking up salary. Oswalt is only signed through ’11, with a 2mil buyout for ’12. Roy has said he’d pitch in STL.. would the astros deal within the division to get out of that contract?
I’m sure they would but I don’t think I’d want to send the prospects over that they’d want.
There’s little reason for the Astros not to trade within the division. Chances are they won’t really be ready to compete for a few years, and trading Oswalt to anyone offering whatever it is they need, no matter what division they play in, is the smart move.
My question about them dealing within the division was more because the Astros every year seem to think they can compete. For most teams, if you are punting on next year, sure you can deal within the division. The Astros dont like to punt.. even if its 4th and 12. So will Houston be realistic about next year if it means STL eating most of that contract?
Cliff Lee to the Rangers isnt a good comparison either. He’s a FA after the season. Chances are the Mariners wont be facing Cliff Lee in a Rangers uniform in 2011
Yes, the Cardinals can take on some salary, but not Oswalt’s salary. The Astros want their trading partner to take on more salary than the Cardinals can afford, or give up more prospect talent than the Cardinals can afford. The same goes for Dan Haren. I think we’re looking at the next tier down. Ted Lily would be nice, but there’s no way the Cubs will trade someone like that to the Cardinals of all teams.
The best option for what they need is within the division and that is Brett Meyers. The Cardinals don’t need a frontline starter, they need an innings eater and a closer. Would be great if they could work out a deal for Meyers and Lindstrom together but not sure the Stro’s would deal within
why tex got lee and if im not worng sea is in the same divison as tex so why not a astros and cards trade
Reds will have plenty for starters soon .. we’ll send you Harang straight up for Rasmus ,,, heck we’ll even pay the rest of his 2010 salary & his buy out! lol Seriously though … Cards had me worried … they are notorious for going out and getting exactly what they need this time of year. My first thought was they were going to come out of the blue & get Lee … Yikes lol Im looking forward to a second half of both teams duking it out for the Central & blowing saves with reckless abandon
We only did that when we had Walt Jockety. Which is why the Reds had me really worried that they would score Lee. Jockety is a class act and I wish their whole team except Brandon Phillips the best of luck, as long as they come in second 😉
I agree that Jocketty is an amazing GM, and the Reds wouldn’t be leading the division anytime soon without him, but don’t forget that Mozeliak (who was Jocketty’s assistant GM) went out and got us Matthew (Holliday), Mark (DeRosa), (Julio) Lugo, and John (Smoltz) to seal away the division last year. DeRosa in particular would’ve been exactly what we needed for our offensive black hole at 3rd base if he hadn’t gotten hurt shortly after the trade. Thank goodness we now have Mr. Freese at 3rd for at least the next 5 1/2 years.
I’m sure the Reds would agree to that trade in a heartbeat. Rasmus for Harang would be a disaster for us (the Cardinals) in the long term.I also look forward to duking it out with the Reds in the second half, except for the save blowing, as other than last Tuesday’s disaster, Franklin has been a very good closer over the last year and a half (only blown one save so far this year). He’s proven that not all successful closers need a high strikeout rate. I don’t know why some Cardinals fans keep suggesting to trade or release him and/or trade for a new closer..
there would be roits of the cards traded albert…the only way they do it is if they get a teams #1 pitching prospect#1 infield prospect and #1 out field prospect and only if all of those guys were close to major league ready and only if at least 2 of them were in the top 50 consensus prospect list…and then throw in 2-3 more high level guys….in other words there isnt a team out there that could get him..now if they know for a fact he wont resign with them…ie he wants to go to the yankees to win again(swap 1st and dh with tex) or another top team then trade but only if you know for a fact he wont resign