On this date two years ago the Phillies signed Ryan Howard to a five-year, $125MM extension. Right away, critics of the deal wondered why the Phillies would commit nine figures for Howard's age 32-36 seasons when he doesn't play a premium position. Their questions persist two years later since Howard's on the disabled list and his power numbers are in decline. Here are today's links…
- The Angels don't have immediate plans to call top prospect Mike Trout up from Triple-A despite his hot start and the Angels' offensive troubles, Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times reports. "But when you play at the level Mike is playing at now, you become more of a focal point of fans, the media and the organization," manager Mike Scioscia acknowledged.
- Jim Bowden of ESPN.com says teams would do well to lock up stars such as Andre Ethier, Starlin Castro and Alex Avila to extensions.
- Lance Lynn's emergence means the Cardinals don't need to add Roy Oswalt or another starter to the rotation, Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. The Cardinals' rotation seemed thin when Chris Carpenter hit the disabled list this spring, but GM John Mozeliak's patience is paying off so far.
Why would the Angels call up Trout? They have Wells…oh, wait.
Trout is tearing it up right now.. i wouldnt be surprised to see him soon if the angels continue to struggle
It doesn’t look like Scioscia is making good decisions right now. Trout makes too much sense for him at this time. I think somebody has gotten a little to complacent in his job. 2018 is long ways away.
they should swap trout and borjous
I hate the Cardinals. God I hate the Cardinals. Lynn, Lohse, Freese, Jay, Piniero off the top of my head. Their front office and Dave Duncan are miracle workers. Cubs fans had to suffer when Wood and Prior went through injuries, why are the Cardinals exempt with Wainwright and Carpenter?
Because they Win!!!
Poor cubbie fans lol
I have a mixed relationship with the Cardinals. I call myself a moderate Cards fan.
You forgot my least favorite Cardinal of all time. So Taguchi. I hated So Taguchi, mostly for the reasons that you alluded to. He was worthless, and yet seemed to always show up when they needed a big hit or defensive play in the OF.
The Cards have had their share of players who went through injuries and never recovered. Mark Mulder was one of the top left handed pitchers in baseball when the Cards traded for him. Ankiel went into head case mode. Daryll Kile passed away. Stuff happens to every team, not just the Cubbies.
well maybe if the cubs didnt sign players to huge contracts they might be able they might have some money to spend on good players. so the cubs have screwed themselves. so if you want to blame someone, blame the ownership. its not the cards fault if they put a good team on the field every year.
The Howard contract, although still painful, looks a lot better these days!
Yep. It’s still bad, but it could have been worse.
Bernie Miklasz, the champion of short sightedness and small sample sizes. That being said, Lance Lynn has been money.
Did Ryan Howard steal Ben Nicholson-Smith’s lunch money?