The Cardinals have re-signed Jake Westbrook to a two-year contract with a mutual option for 2013 worth a guaranteed $16.5MM. The deal includes a full no-trade clause that was given in exchange for a non-guaranteed third year.
Westbrook, 33, joined the Cardinals in a three-team trade that sent Ryan Ludwick to the Padres and prospects to the Indians at the deadline. He pitched to a 3.48 ERA with 6.6 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 75 innings for St. Louis. After missing the 2009 season due to Tommy John surgery, Westbrook's overall season looked very much like the rest of his career: an ERA in the 4.20's and lots of innings (202 2/3 to be exact).
The new deal will pay the right-hander $8MM in 2011 and $8.5MM in 2012. The 2013 option calls for a $8.5MM base salary, though he'll receive a $1MM buyout if the team declines the option. If Westbrook declines the option, he'll receive no buyout.
Ed Price of AOL FanHouse reported the agreement (via Twitter) while FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal and MLB.com's Matthew Leach provided the contract details (Twitter links).
good to know. solidifies the rotation.
Sure thing…A great addition…I expect DD to have a continuing impact on Jake and I think Carl Pavano will sign with the Marlins.
They just committed $18MM to John Buck, and Pavano’s agent is positioning him as the number 2 starter on the market, behind Cliff Lee. Doesn’t make a deal with the Marlins seem likely.
Yep, good move for the Cards. Seems like they needed to get this done since they lost a descent bat to get him. Gotta say the money isn’t bad either when guys like Lilly and Kuroda are getting $11-$12 million, eight and a quarter per for Westbrook seems pretty good.
First transaction of the day to make sense
I actually think both of the Marlins moves today were fine…I think the Uggla trade was perfectly even on both sides…
I would love to hear your reasoning on the Uggla trade.
Marlins need bullpen and Mike Dunn is a good young lefty to slot in as set up in the future. They also need a table setter leadoff kinda guy and Infante’s OBP is through the roof. Plus he plays everywhere
LOL. Infante’s OBP is “through the roof?” Since when is a career .319 OBP through the roof?
.355 last year. And if that don’t do anything for you, maybe this will:Uggla – 3.7 WARInfante – 2.9Dunn – .4The Fishies lose a little on offense, gain a little on defense and pitching, and save themselves about 4 million next year. They also get one guy under control for five years and another that is easily signable next year.The Bravos get some punch, a lot of errors up the middle, and an extra 10-11 million on their tab.
Oh yeah Uggla is 31 and playing a very demanding position. Signing him long-term is a risk and signing him for what he wanted was not even an option. Infante is 28 or 29 and moving into his prime. The Marlins did the right thing on this one.
However based on fangraphs’ numbers, the WAR disparity is much larger.
The Braves don’t need to sign him long term. They can just keep the draft picks that will come with Uggla leaving. (Of course, this is assuming the draft pick is a first rounder which in some cases is not)
Let’s also remember that Infante is coming off his best year. Before that he was very much a super utility kind of guy. Uggla, on the other hand, regularly posts up good offensive numbers. Infante’s UZR/150 numbers aren’t that great either. Better than Uggla but not so much that it makes up for the lack of offense.
Dunn posted 19 innings last year. Good ERA. However, you have to look past ERA: 19 innings pitched with 17 WALKS. 2 wild pitches. He is your typical high strikeout/bad command pitcher. Plus, he posted a 91.5 LOB percentage; which is absolutely unsustainable. In other words, he was very lucky.
The Marlins should have done better on this one. (If it weren’t for their budget constraints, I’d imagine they would’ve kept Uggla for the draft picks)
Sure thing. First of all, Infante has a chance to reach Type A status…So the Marlins could get a first round pick and a sup pick as well.
Second of all, Uggla will give you 30 Home Runs…But he is a really bad defensive 2B, Omar brings a whole different style to the Marlins, he is versatile, plays really good defensive, doesn’t strike out, has decent speed. He is also worth a 2.9 WAR…Dan Uggla wasn’t MUCH better…a 5.1 WAR.
Plus you add Michael Dunn, a 96-99 lefty, who is very young which is very hard to find…He has a chance to be Matt Thornton and what place is better to develop than in South Florida?
I think it is a perfectly even trade on both sides…
The Marlins now have 10 potential relievers on their roster…I expect Burke Badenhop and Leo Nunez to be shopped. I know they had interest in Alex Gordon. What about for Leo Nunez?
Gordon for Nunez straight up?
Infante and Dunn are taking their talents to South Beach.
Yes they are.
Not exactly. No team will sign Infante if he’s a Type A free agent. Last year he played well above his ability. He has an impossible BABIP and doesn’t take walks at all.
He’s a good player, but nothing more. Infante will come nowhere close to his 2010 campaign. The highest total UZR/150 he’s ever posted was 2.4 at 3rd base, not all that impressive.
Mike Dunn i essentially a lottery ticket, with his ceiling being a 8th inning reliever (which is good enough to close of the Marlins).
It was a salary dump and the Braves “won” the trade completely.
Assuming health…is this the best rotation in the NL, top to bottom?
Wainwright
Carpenter
Garcia
Westbrook
Lohse
If not the best, Top 5? Top 3?
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals have the number one rotation in Minor League Baseball. A trade of Butler, Duffy, and Coleman for Justin Upton would still give the Nats the number one rotation…
Best rotation in MLB, I’d have to say the Giants and the A’s…Cards are 3rd.
Take out Lohse and add Shelby Miller
right, because after spending a year at Class A Quad Cities, Miller’s definitely ready to be plugged into a Major League rotation…
Shelby Just turned 20 and finished last season in Low A ball, you won see him for another 2-3
Still better than Lohse… Bumgarner is like 21, You never know.
Bumgarner had already progressed through the farm though and had MLB experience in 09
Try Lance Lynn not Miller
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Can he also hit leadoff and play 2nd??? just wondering
Oh and ps. the cardinals blew their load on this one…..mo’s work for the off season is complete, dewallet has no taken the checkbook away from him!
OK, Brad Penny’s $7 mil came off the books and was replaced by Westbrook’s 9. The rotation doesn’t really see that much of a jump in payroll.
False. At a minimum we will also bring in Uribe, O-Dog or Tejada.
Good sign, Now time to sign O-Dog, and see what Dave Duncan can do with Pedro Martinez.
pedro martinez? really i think were better off with loshe than martinez over 40 and rapidly decreaseing although a hall of famer in his own right dont think he would fit the bill i mean yeah it would be cool to see him play in the STL but i really dont think its plausable
How is the Giants rotation better Larry?! you are stupid. They have Lincecum, Cain, and Bermgarner…………Sanchez and Zito suck!!! Oh wait!!! THINK BEFORE YOU POST
Bumgarner*
and yes Zito is horrible man did you see his 2nd half stats? he was back to be the giants zito
Oh yeah I forgot, the guy with the lowest H/9 in the league, lowest ERA on the staff (outside of MadBum who joined halfway), and among the leaders in strikeouts sucks. Ignorance like this just make me speechless.
2 years and 16.5million? what a bargain. 8.25million each year seems like a sweet deal. of course the buyout would increase that but on the surface, it looks pretty fair.
Now the rotation is pretty much set. Time to go get an upgrade at 2B for Schumacher. Orlando Hudson…a spot is waiting for ya. 2 year deal with a 3rd year option. And, of course, resign Albert.
Na.. go after Steven Drew or Uribe.. Dont see Cardinals going after Hudson. I would like to see Rent come back cheap and as a utility guy though.
Drew is slim to none. I don’t think the Cards have what it would take to get Drew unless they were willing to part with Miller. Been said that Arizona is asking for the moon. And Uribe I’d be okay with…for the pop alone…but then you’re back in the same boat of “who leads off?” because Uribe will be the 2B and the Cards Of is pretty much settled with Holliday, Rasmus (who won’t be traded) and a platoon of Jay/Craig
Which is why the Cards should go after Jose Reyes. He’s coming off a down year and the Mets need to shed someone. As long as it wouldn’t take Miller to get him I’d be happy with just about any trade.
Why not let the Cardinals get 2 Mets players with bad contracts off the books. If they add Beltran and we can throw in Craig or Jay. Beltran kill The Cardinals in Busch Stadium.
I would love have Reyes but he would cost way too much in the future and the Mets already picked up his option so that trade isnt going to happen.
we’re going to upgrade offensively at short not second people, id be willing to bank on it. Skip hits between .270-.300, im fine with him at second. defensively with Alberts range at first im fine with him. John Moz said his priority is an upgrade at short. Bank on Uribe or Tejada, they can both play short, and spell freese at 3rd when he needs it, one of them is the obvious fit
That won’t happen. Brendan Ryan will be starting in 2011. Uribe will want to much, and he may be 43 years old. Tejada will want less, but he’s probably 43 too.
O-DOG CITY
I like the O-Dog too but with the way Mo and TLR operate they’re going to want someone who can play multiple positions. Even though Uribe is going to want a lot I think Mo is willing to invest what it takes to get a guy like that. It sucks the Giants won the WS because now his stock is going to be even higher. I’d be fine with Tejada on a one year deal.
Anyone else that plays SS for the Cardinals is a defensive downgrade, and then they still have to deal with Schumaker playing 2B. The move is to sign Uribe to play 2B, keep Ryan at SS, and move Schu back to RF. Otherwise this pitch-to-contact staff will give up a ton of hits & runs in 2011.
Pretty good rotation:Adam Wainwright
Chris Carpenter
Jaime Garcia
Jake Westbrook
Kyle Loshe or somebody else
So they can blow $16 mil on a secondary level pitcher, but they had to trade Ludwick because there was not enough money to resign him? Sounds like the LaRussa media machine is at work again.
That’s one reason. Another would be that there’s no way the Cards had a chance at the postseason without another SP.
or maybe we were working with a rotation of 1 stud, 1 guy that was coming off 2 major injuries, and a rookie-so basically 60% of a rotation. and we had a surplus of outfielders so it was dealing from strength. but don’t let the full story get in the way of your cherry picking, continue.
I’d say we over paid quite a bit. 2 years $14MM is about as much as I would be willing to offer
Ted Lilly just got 3/33. Kuroda just got 1/12.
Is one year of Kuroda worth $2 million more than two years Westbook? No. Granted we’re talking about deals Ned Colleti made but still, Westbrook is younger and cheaper than those two. If anything it seems to me like Westbrook could have held out for more.
Tim is 1/3.
ANY rotation with Jake Westbrook AND Kyle Lohse CANNOT be considered the best rotation.
Period. End of story, Cardinal fans.
yeah your completely right, cause westbrooks 3.5 era at the end of the year with the cards was awful. now lohse is crap but the fact there is two pitchers that pitch around 2.5 era often, and a young one who pitches around 3 and westbrook around 3.5 or even 3.75… your right that is crap, same as your opinion.
Awful lot of Garcia love flying around.
Maybe it’s just my propensity toward caution with players who have season out of nowhere, but we really should let him get another season under his belt before we start making claims like “a young one who pitches around 3 [ERA].” The projections put him much closer to 4 next year, which is similar to this year’s FIP and xFIP — which is still not a bad pitcher, but is nowhere near the elite level that “around 3” implies. If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t he having some injury concerns late in the year as well in part due to concerns about his innings?
Give it another year before we start claiming his ERA is going to be among the top 15 pitchers in baseball (based on 2010–and ironically including himself).
I don’t think there was much in the way of injury concerns. More like a concerned manager who said before the season he was going to limit the rookie’s innings.
I think Garcia will develop into a strong starter, but I don’t see him having the stuff to be a top 15 pitcher (like you said). Looks like a lefty Joel Piniero to me (keep the ball down. Throw a lot of junk). Joel’s had some good years after learning from DD, so that’s no slight against Jaime. He’s just crafty, not overpowering or dominant, which means every now and again he’s going to get slapped around a bit. Still a quality #3 (cost controlled too!).
I don’t think there was much in the way of injury concerns. More like a concerned manager who said before the season he was going to limit the rookie’s innings.
I think Garcia will develop into a strong starter, but I don’t see him having the stuff to be a top 15 pitcher (like you said). Looks like a lefty Joel Piniero to me (keep the ball down. Throw a lot of junk). Joel’s had some good years after learning from DD, so that’s no slight against Jaime. He’s just crafty, not overpowering or dominant, which means every now and again he’s going to get slapped around a bit. Still a quality #3 (cost controlled too!).
It’s at best #3 in the NL and probably #4. Whole team is overrated, if you ask me.
Oooooh. Somebody has issues. Probably a Cubs fan.
Actually, since we haven’t even started the first full season with this as the Cards’ rotation, isn’t it the beginning of the story?
I still don’t see why you say he “pitched TO” a 3.48 ERA
Hate this deal. They overpaid by about $4 million a year. It’s not good to spend that much money on a #4 starter when you have so many holes in your lineup. Plus they have to be able to afford Pujols too.