The Brewers released Randy Wolf on his birthday, but the left-hander says the organization “has been outstanding” and showed him lots of respect, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports. Wolf will go home to work out in Los Angeles and hope for another MLB opportunity to emerge. Here are some links from the NL Central…
- The Cardinals’ offseason to-do list includes a potential contract extension for Adam Wainwright, left-handed relief and bench help, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes (on Twitter). Wainwright, who turns 31 in eight days, will earn $12MM in 2013, but he’s eligible for free agency after next year.
- In case you missed it, the Cardinals agreed to a one-year extension with Jake Westbrook yesterday.
- The Astros have not interviewed longtime MLB catcher Brad Ausmus for their managerial opening, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports (on Twitter). The Astros replaced Brad Mills with Tony DeFrancesco on an interim basis this week.
- The Cubs parted ways with six scouts today, ESPN.com’s Keith Law reports (on Twitter).
It’s kind of interesting that, when Theo came on board, he made a big deal of retaining so much of the staff, but now that the spotlight from the changeover has died down, he has set about the business of quietly canning and replacing people left and right.
If I were Theo I would do the same thing. The Cubs org has to be gutted. Even as a #STLcards fan I’m embarrassed by their lack of talent. They were good when they spent a ton and brought in folks, but there is little talent to keep the club competitive. Cards went through similar thing (rebuilding talent) and are now reaping benefits.
I can’t substantiate it but I get the impression he told Ricketts he would give everybody a chance. Fleita had just gotten an extension and I believe there was talk about giving Wilkin one as well until Theo officially came on board, so I assume Ricketts thought well of them. Now that he has been around a year and can say he has given a fair look at everybody he’s cleaning house.
I might be a bit more cynical and suspect that there were people he had earmarked to go from the start, but for the most part, I agree.
Wolf was a bad idea to start with!
97 and 107 ERA+ and 428 innings over the first two years of his contract means he was both durable and a little better than leauge average. Not a horrible signing until the wheels came off this season.
‘a bad idea’ in that it was a typical MLB overpay for an average player
Wainwright 5/100 makes sense
Alright, I’m going to make a crazy early 2013 25 man roster prediction for the Cardinals. Here we go…
Starters:Adam WainwrightJaime Garcia Chris Carpenter Lance Lynn Jake Westbrook
Starting Lineup: Yadier Molina Allen Craig Skip Schumaker David Freese Rafael Furcal Matt Holliday Jon Jay Carlos Beltran
Bullpen: Jason Motte Mitchell Boggs Edward Mujica Joe Kelly Shelby Miller Marc Rzepcynski Sean Burnett
Bench: Tony Cruz Matt Carpenter Kolten Wong Oscar Tavares Daniel Descalso
Trevor Rosenthal could make the team over Miller or Kelly. I would imagine some combination of the three will be in the pen or in Memphis for rotational depth. If Carp can’t come back, all three will be in the majors. Please feel free to debate or tell me I’m stupid for making such early predictions. : )
Wong, Tavares, and Miller aren’t on the team unless they are starting.
Exactly and carp might not one back
Burnett is staying with da Nats!
Astros would be making a big mistake in not at least interviewing Ausmus.
I think ausmus would be a good managerial fit for the ‘stros. He has played in Houston and knows the game very well.
Astros fans have been discussing Ausmus since he retired. And were even talking about him being a manager while he was still playing. It’s always been reported he wasn’t ready to manage full time yet. That he enjoyed being home.