With Brad Penny on the disabled list and Kyle Lohse undergoing right forearm surgery on Friday that may end his season, the mighty St. Louis rotation suddenly has a pair of holes. While Penny's strained lat muscle isn't seen as serious, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on the unusual nature of Lohse's injury and how the Cardinals aren't sure how long the right-hander may be out of action.
Strauss notes in his latter story that with Lohse's condition in limbo, "the Cardinals appear increasingly likely to examine trade and free agent options" for their starting rotation. Before anyone immediately brings up the Roy Oswalt rumors, it's worth noting that Lohse was the Cardinals' fifth starter. With Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright entrenched as the staff's co-aces and rookie Jaime Garcia pitching like an ace himself, it's far more likely that St. Louis will look to acquire a minor pitching upgrade rather than spend the money and prospects needed to get a pitcher of Oswalt's caliber.
Should the Cards explore the free agent market, it's worth mentioning that two of the four starters MLBTR's Luke Adams mentioned in his look at notable free agent pitchers still available have St. Louis ties; Braden Looper was originally drafted by the Cardinals and spent four seasons with the club, while the semi-retired John Smoltz just pitched for the Redbirds last season. Pedro Martinez could be another intriguing option if his price is right. St. Louis isn't the East Coast team that Martinez would reportedly prefer to join, but the Cards are certainly contenders.
Brett Myers or Wandy Rodriguez, perhaps? Although I doubt Astros owner Drayton McLane would approve trading with St. Louis just on principal.
I agree. I think Brett Myers could be a good fit for them but I don’t think Drayton will do it. Btw, anyone who thinks Oswalt could go to the Cards is crazy. Not only can they NOT afford his contract, but Houston would never deal their Ace within the division.
As much as I would like to disagree, I can’t.
mark buehrle has said in the past that he has wanted to pitch for the cardinals and if the white sox keep playing the way they do, maybe they could work a deal out
I can see Pedro. I don’t know if Looper is the answer. And anyone who’s watched a Braves game commentated by Smoltz knows he’s retired.
I’m sure the Cards will make a call to the Orioles about Guthrie or even Millwood.
They could try and see if the Yanks wanna let go of Javy.
Na, the Cards do not need anyone.
They have TLR and Duncan, not to mention Albert.
The Red Birds are fine.
Guthrie or Millwood from the O’s, maybe they see what the Indians want for Westbrook, I don’t know if the Reds would do an interdivision trade if they fall out of contention but Arroyo or Harang might appeal to the Cards, possibly someone like Davies or Bannister, although I’m not sure about their availability.
Of course they could use them but really no true need for another starter. Another starter isn’t going to give them anymore wins then they’re already gonna have.
With the Reds currently on top of the division and Penny down right now too they should rightly be feeling a little pressure to improve by the trade deadline.
Absolutely wrong. There’s no pressure to make a move just yet. The team doesn’t need more pitching to compete, their bats need to wake up. We can replace our #5 guy (Lohse) with almost anyone, including AAA talent — he pitched below replacement value last year. Penny will be back soon enough, and Walters looked fine as a stopgap last night.
If they can pick someone up, they probably should. They don’t know how long Lohse will be out; Penny is on the DL too-with the same shoulder muscle that put Kerry Wood on the shelf for almost two months.
You know you can never have too much pitching.
I think a pitcher along the lines of either Millwood or Myers is most likely. Astros won’t be competing this season so I doubt they would stress too much over in division especially for a one year deal. However I think the Cards need a bullpen arm more than anything else and always have, it pretty much blows my mind they didn’t pick up an arm in the offseason and are now not only going to have to pay money but prospects as well. If St Louis didn’t know they had a BP problem this offseason someone should be losing their job, with that said Matt Lindstrom would be the best fit however I don’t know if the Astros would deal him within the division thinking the Cards would definitly lock him up for a few years since they have no REAL closer.
Matt Lindstrom hasn’t proven to be a REAL closer either though.
I agree but he’s proven he has the stuff of a real closer unlike Ryan Franklin who is probably the luckiest closer of all-time. He is a time bomb waiting to explode as far as I’m concerned. I think Lindstrom is the real deal and will be closing games for the years ahead.
We’ll see, the guy could be a great closer for years to come, or he could be a one year wonder, as long as he’s not pitching against my Yankees, I hope he is lights out.
I would love for somebody to tell me who the hell the Cardinals are going to trade to get… well anybody? They have one pretty good prospect, Shelby Miller. Besides that, it is pretty empty down there. They have very little depth and the only guys on the MLB team a team would trade for is Rasmus, Molina, Pujols, and MAYBE Ludwick. All those players are key players that would kill their already stagnant offense if dealt.It is going to be a free agent acquisition or very small trade. I think guys like Millwood and Myers are even too good of a player.
Their farm system sucks right now, but they have a few grade B- type prospects. That’s enough to get a middle rotation starter. Maybe a package like Lance Lynn and Daryl Jones.
Again, the Cardinals don’t need a middle-rotation guy — Lohse played under replacement level in 2009 and really isn’t as good as we’re paying him to be. I’m really hoping to see Lance Lynn stick around and be converted into a closer…use those strikeouts to shut down the other team late in the game.
Lance Lynn as a closer? Why? The Cardinals have Fernando Salas and Eduardo Sanchez sitting in AAA and AA respectively. Lance Lynn should stay in the rotation and be the reliable, low cost 4-5th starter a rotation needs to build a team (with the Cardinals payroll) around their ace pitchers and big money players (Pujols and Holliday).
I doubt Daryl Jones carries much value if any at all at this point. He’s having a horrendous year in AA.
Daryl Jones is crap IMO… A good defensive outfielder but not much beyond that. Lance Lynn is a decent player but again, not much upside. He is basically what he is going to be. I agree with Triteon that Lynn may be better suited in the BP as a future closer. I think the Cards could get an 4-5 starter with what they have but this talk of Oswalt is just unrealistic IMO.
What about PJ Walters? He looked pretty impressive last night and had good stats in the minors.
The Cardinals do not have a need to go out and give away prospects for a back of the rotation starter (one of the worst positions you can trade for, replacement level is all you need, aka someone who can give you innings without burning out your bullpen). The Cardinals have a few guys in AAA who fit that mold of replacement level. Adam Ottavino is showing great improvement (control was always an issue, 2.49 BB/9 ip this year) and could be an option. Lance Lynn is in the same position. He struggled with control early this year, but is considered to be in the Joe Blanton mold in the future. He could be serviceable. PJ Walters pitched well the other night and is another option. There is no need to get into a panic over this injury. Worst case scenario, the Cards try to stretch Hawksworth out and call up Fernando Salas or Eduardo Sanchez to replace him in the bullpen. The options are there, and it’s not like an ace has gone down for the year. IMO, with the year Lohse was having, this is probably a good thing.
Kris Medlen for Ryan Ludwick?
Cardinals fan won’t truly understand the value of Kris Medlen until he pitches for your team. Very capable late inning reliever and even more capable starter.Cardinals would have to eat all of Ludwick’s money though.Though Atlanta would have an over crowded outfield. I wouldn’t mind throwing in Nate McLouth (Cards wouldn’t then eat Ludwick’s salary) for Allen Craig. Then the Braves can use Cabrera in center until they call up Schafer. Not sure if Cards want another lefty in their lineup.
Kris Medlen + Nate McLouth = Ryan Ludwick + Allen Craig.
Seems good.
And what do you expect the Jays to get in return? Marcum would be a big upgrade over Lohse. Marcum also is the Jays long-run plans, so it would have to be a lot offered to pry him away. The Jays have several other pitchers that wouldn’t be as expensive but would still be an upgrade.
Wow… I feel dumb. I know his name is Ludwick, I watch a lot of Cardinals baseball because that is all that comes on around here. Just a brain-fart I guess.