Links for Thursday, as the first full day of the regular season wraps up…
- The Reds and Rangers are working towards contract extensions with Brandon Phillips and Ian Kinsler, respectively, and ESPN's Jim Bowden says (on Twitter) there's some work left to be done on each. Phillips is expected to get $12.5-13MM annually, Kinsler $13.5-14MM.
- Scott Podsednik will report to the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate, his agent confirmed to David Murphy of The Philadelphia Daily News. Podsednik was not technically a Major League free agent this offseason since he spent all of last year in the minors, so he was unable to opt-out of his contract at the end of Spring Training.
- Jamie Moyer's can make $2MM in incentives op top of his $1.1MM base salary, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports (on Twitter). The 49-year-old left-hander will open the season in the Rockies’ rotation.
- Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright took note when Matt Cain of the Giants signed earlier in the week, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. "Obviously, you have to pay attention to it,"Wainwright said. "It's a tremendous deal for him." Cain obtained $112.5MM in new money from the Giants, establishing a record for right-handed pitchers.
- Ivan Rodriguez is working out and says he's in shape, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Heyman suggests the Rays could be a fit for the veteran free agent.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
If wainwright gets a Cain Like deal. Whoever gives him that contract really needs to not be apart of baseball. He will be whats wrong with it. The guy can’t stay healthy.
I was just thinking the same thing. Wainwright should prove he could stay healthy before given a large deal not because he’s had a good year or two.
He will get a bigger deal than Cain…. Cain does not even have a winning record. Total Joke IMO…
I don’t think his contract is a joke at all. W/L is a terrible metric for evaluating pitching, and Matt Cain is THE example of that. Cain is one of only 7 pitchers to have pitched 200 innings or more for five seasons in a row. Career ERA? Lower than Verlander. But he has the worst run support for any pitcher in MLB in the last five years. If he had even average run support his almost .500 winning percentage would be much, much better. He also has a 0.00 ERA in 3 post-season starts. Cain is also FIVE years younger now than Wainright will be when he reaches free agency. The next time Cain reaches free agency he’ll be as old as Wainright will be when he reaches free agency for the first time. Cain is entering his prime and by the time Wainright is a FA he’ll be exiting his. I’m not saying one pitcher is better than the other, but Matt Cain is a hell of a pitcher, and the contexts for their FA contracts are completely different.
evaluating a starting pitcher by their win-loss record is a bigger joke.
wainraight had pulojs. who dose cain have in the giants linup. thats why he dont have a winning recors.
I assume you hate English class
Because he has Tommy John he can’t stay healthy? He’s actually had great health most of his career. Though I agree he shouldn’t get that deal.
yeah, because he’s had TJ surgery. Although the success rate is high, no sense in throwing around 8-9 figure contracts until somebody can prove they are 100% healthy.
Name the injuries. Please. Since becoming a starter for the Cardinals in ’07, and excluding last season, Wainwright has averaged nearly 30 games and nearly 200 innings pitched. Where’s the extensive time missed?
Do you not believe that a team has cause for concern when a pitcher has elbow/Tommy John surgery? Why do you feel Wainright should receive a large Matt Cain contract without having to prove he is completely ready to be successful for the entire term of the contract?
I’m not saying they should ink an extension today. But people are acting like A. Because Wainwright had TJS he will never be as good as Cain again (even though he has been *better*), and B. That one injury puts him in the “glass men” category with Rich Harden, Erik Bedard, et al. There’s no urgency to extend Wainwright, but honestly, if the club did it now, despite the risk, they might save money in the long run. If he has a return-to-form year, he has every right to command every penny of the Cain contract, and more.
Well skoz,
your A point has validity however it’s still questionable if Wainright can ever regain his form.
Your B point is actually true. He is in the “glass men” category until he proves otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, I believe Wainright can come back. I don’t believe he will fall into this category but NO team should pay anybody who has not and cannot prove himself.
Bottom line, in my opinion, he’ll never been able to command “every penny of the Cain contract, and more..”
Questionable in the sense that no one knows the future, but TJS is so standard now that full recovery is the rule rather than the exception. Sure, things like command take time to come back, but Wainwright has already exhibited surprising command/control this Spring.
Adam Wainwright is not, nor does he deserve to be, in the same category as chronically injured pitchers like Harden, Bedard, Lackey, etc. This ligament replacement has been his only significant injury aside from the ruptured tendon sheath in his finger a couple years ago. Other than that, he’s been a horse.
At this point, it makes more sense to bank on the future of a pitcher who has had TJS and shown full recuperation (which Wainwright has the opportunity to do this season), rather than a pitcher who’s still gnawing on his God-given ligament, praying that it won’t give out.
Bottom line: Adam Wainwright has had and will continue to have a much better shot at winning a Cy Young award than Matt Cain. I’ll put my money on him any day, and I think the Cardinals will, too.
& C, they say that when pitchers come back from TJS, they throw harder so that might add up to a few more Ks
” they say that when pitchers come back from TJS, they throw harder”
That has been attributed to a few cases of rehab work ethic and muscle toning during the rehab process. Don’t count on it in many cases, but yes.. It does happen, but not very often.
If Moyer pitches against the Fish, he can win half a dozen games right away.. They never could beat that guy.. Tommy Hutton used to call him “dead Fish” They looked so awful against that guy when they went up hacking at his 75-80mph junk. It was a thing of…Ugliness? Is that the right word?? To watch.. Maybe futility is a better word..
Wainwright is older than Cain and just had Tommy John surgery. I think he should get a great deal, but not that great.
Pudge is always working out, he’s in better shape the most people half his age.
Too bad that doesn’t make him a good player anymore
Statiscally speaking, Pudge is not even a shell of his former self. However, his presence and leadership in the club house is outstanding. He’s a decent backup catcher if he stays healthy. I’d love to see him get 3000 hits.
Also, he has ranked higher than Cain ever has in Cy Young voting. If he proves he is still in top form post-TJ (and there’s no reason he shouldn’t be – TJS is such an exact science these days), there’s absolutely no reason he shouldn’t be worth what Cain is. He’s the better pitcher, hands down.
Matt Cain has thrown over 200 innings for the past 5 seasons and threw 190 in his first full season. Matt Cain is 27. Wainright is 30 has thrown 200 innings 3 times and just missed an entire season. Wainright is good but I would take Cain and his contract over Wainright everyday and I bet most people outside of St. Louis feel similarly.
Right, because Cain has been in the top 3 for the Cy Young twice…..wait…..
Right, because no pitcher who has ever had TJ surgery has come back better…….wait…….
Right, because you know what most people outside of St. Louis think……wait……
cain anyday more proven.
cain anyday More innings.
cain anyday no injury.
cain anyday he a cardinal.
GO REDS
cuato better than both.
wow, just wow
cuato better than both.
Not quite Sharp enough…Layne. It’s “Cueto,” dude!
He’s got the potential, but I wouldn’t go around saying “Cueto” is better than both those guys. Maybe he will be, he’s a damn good pitcher, he would have won the ERA title last year had he pitched in like 5 more innings. But at this point it’s still potential and no one really knows how Wainwright is going to come back from TJ and Cain averages 220 innings and has a WAR of 3.9 averaged over his 6 seasons, so he’s earned his big contract. All 3 big time pitchers, Cueto looke phenomenal yesterday, that’s for sure.
That numbed my brain slightly.
I particularly like “cain anyday he a cardinal” (?!)
So has Mark Buerhle… Who cares how many innings he has thrown???? Nobody
Voting is arbitrary. Stats are irrefutable. Please don’t convolute my point. Wainwright is good but he has some things working against him that Matt Cain doesn’t.
Right, because how many innings a pitcher has thrown is the sole determinant of how good he is…….wait……..
Right, because……wait….what stats are you talking about again?
anyone gonna man up and offer Moyer a 10-year contract? guaranteed injury free
Ruben Amaro Jr?
IMO, Wainwright is a better pitcher than Cain when healthy, and his only concern was TJ surgery which is looks like he may have made a solid recovery from. Tough call because if they take too long to sign him, he can command a huge deal but too early and he may not be healthy, but I think he will be ok. I’d MUCH rather him slip away from the Cards and pitch for the Pirates but that’s a pipe dream obviously.