Here's the latest out of the NL Central..
- Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter will undergo season ending surgery after recurring symptoms made it evident that the right-hander would be unable to pitch through thoracic outlet syndrome, writes Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. The 37-year-old, who is in the first season of a two-year, $21MM contract, says that he has every intention of pitching in 2013.
- The Pirates lead this summer's group of all-in buyers, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com. Olney writes that the Brewers' model of 2008 seems perfect for the Pirates to follow and in some ways, they're in a better position to trade because of the amount of pitching talent in their pipeline.
- The Reds have signed eighth-round selection Seth Mejias-Brean, MLBTR has learned. The third baseman played college ball at the University of Arizona.
I would love to get Greinke but I don’t want the Pirates to give talent to the Brewers for a rental. Hamels is overrated. Maybe get a nice bat and hope the pitching holds up?
Depends on what they want for him. If they wanted some of our B prospects I might do it. Like Dickerson, Curry, Sanchez, Grossman, any of our pitchers not named Taillon, Cole, or Heredia. Even Josh Bell I would consider trading for him, especially we somehow got him to agree to sign with us. Cole, Taillon, Greinke, Appel (being optimistic), JMac. That might be one of the best rotations ever lol
Regression is probably going to hit the Pirates hard any day now. All the starters are pitching WAY above their career averages. Remember when the Cards offense couldn’t be stopped for the first month of the season, and then they fell off a cliff for a few weeks? Yeah, I expect that to happen soon with the Pirates.
The Pirates have the best pitching in all of baseball in their system DEEP enough into the pipeline that you can barely see without getting hit by a fastball, including two 100% Major League Ready starters in AAA (in Rudy Owens and Jeff Locke), their present rotation (McDonald, Burnett, Bedard, Correia, and Karstens) and Brad Lincoln in long relief in the pen, their bullpen (which leads the league in ERA, and has been unbelievable, all the way to Grilli and Hanrahan), that if I were Neil Huntington I wouldn’t worry too much about trading a starting pitcher for a 30 HR capable 1B or a SS who can hit. The thing I worry about trading for a SS is that the Defense has been incredible, so, what would we accomplish by trading for a Starlin Castro? Maybe for an Eric Hosner at 1B, though, I think I’d give up?!
You can Expect whatever you want to expect, Topher… The fact is, it ain’ t gonna happen for the Red Stockings in 2012… Let’s Go Bucs!!!
Other than Burnett, exactly which starter are you talking about? All of them appear to be right at their averages if not just slightly better or worse from one case to the other. I guess I’ll give you McDonald if we assume that there’s no way a player in his 2nd full season could possibly improve.
I think your selling the Buccos short. Most of this team will remember last season and use it as a learning experience to go=row upon. Add in the few vets they added this off season and this team is capable of pulling off the surprise barring injury. At the very least they are a team that is opening eyes yet again (mine included) and knowing of last season should be fun to watch in the second half of the season.
Sounds like the words of a scared rival. I don’t see how their pitchers are fluky at all. Bedard and Correia aren’t even pitching well, and Burnett has been solid at times. JMac is just naturally progressing and Karstens hasn’t really been around enough to perform.
I’m sorry, is that a typo? Hamels is overrated? What are you smoking?
28-year-old lefty wit a career 3.37 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 8.5 SO/9, and a 3.09 postseason ERA.
Look at Greinkes numbers and tell me you would rather have him over Hamels.
Cardinals will be fine without Carp, hell look at what they did last year without Wainwright
yep the division is wide open. toughest competitor is the pirates
You can pretend that if you’d like. It’s sad the Reds haven’t been able to pull away. The Cards are starting to get healthy and have a front office that’s not afraid to make the big move.
But, would they be willing to pay the asking price for Greinke or Hamels? Hamels’ price will be uber high for all trade-seekers, and Greinke’s price will be higher for the Cards, being a division rival. I certainly can’t argue that they’re not afraid to make the big move, though; they certainly will make it if they see fit to do so.
they paid a big price for Holliday in 2009, so if history serves the answer is yes. They parted with Colby Rasmus to get like 3 MLB players, so they aren’t afraid of dealing their guys either. So if your thinking their gun shy, i wouldn’t bank on that.
it dosent matter how fine u will be the REDS will win the divison and the world series
I am hoping so too but its just hope. I honestly don’t think I could state this the way the Reds have been so inconsistent. They are a good team but they just can’t seem to get all cyclinders rolling at the same time.
That’s a tuff injury to come back from at 37. I only know two others that had it, Bondermon and Harrison. Bond was never the same but Harrison did ok, but both were young at the time. I don’t see it at 37.
No way do I expect the Pirates to make a run that would be a longshot even with improvements. Stay the course and make reasonable moves. No rentals under any circumstances.
Why? What is the point in having a ton of pitching prospects just collect dust in the minors? A lot of times you can get decent players pretty cheap so why not take on a rental?
Also they should be in on Greinke, Hamels, and Anibal Sanchez who is never talked about for whatever reason. If they make playoffs, they should be able to up their payroll by 20M or so next year and should be able to carry one of those guys.
Thats truly a shame. Carpenter has always been a fun pitcher to watch at the ballpark or on television.
Not for me, unless he is getting hit hard.
I wonder how Chris Carpenter will explain this to his son.
Most likely something that the reds did. Maybe it is because he was scheduled to pitch on Sunday? If he really wanted to pitch the rest of the season, he wouldn’t have agreed to pitch on the Sunday before the all star game.
someone mad bc cueto didnt make the all star team lol
That was intended to be fully in jest. Regardless of team affiliations, I don’t think that anyone will argue that Carpenter is very vocal about his displeasure which was the center of the comments made by Phillips which led to all of the drama on the field. Not only was that a poor excuse by TLR, it was categorically wrong based on the collective bargaining agreement. Some would say that this would be the perfect opportunity for some light humor.
“Sometimes, after you win a World Series, you have pitched more innings than you ever have in your career. That can lead to problems afterward. It’s worth it to win it all, which I’ve done twice. Some places don’t understand”
That would be a pretty good start 🙂
Glad to hear about the Buccos, hope any deals made are smart moves.
Not glad to hear about Carpenter. As a Pirates fan watching him compete in the same division for so many years, the guy has been a total winner and competitor. Hope he makes a complete 100% recovery.
I just don’t think that the Pirates can afford a player like Hamels, especially considering that he is only a rental. The Bucs talent pool is so very top heavy that it would decimate the farm to acquire a talent like Hamels or Greinke. Assuming that Cole and Taillon are untouchable under any circumstances, they’re likely going to be forced to offer up any combination of Heredia, Marte, and Bell. After that there is a rather large drop off in talent, at least ceiling wise. Those guys are capable of delivering a bright future for a sustained period of time. Not 3 months, maybe. Make some smart moves involving the second tier of prospects and hang on to the thoroughbreds.
I wish they would have promoted Marte today to see what they have there. He may fill the need of a corner outfielder without losing prospects or taking on salary.