Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak was the latest guest on The GM’s Office, Jim Bowden’s video blog over at ESPN.com. Here are the highlights from their conversation, though the entire seven-minute interview is well worth your time…
- Mozeliak feels that it’s “clearly a seller’s market” based on the returns that the few sellers are getting in trades. For now, the Cards are still trying to identify areas in which they can improve and how (or if) they can obtain those solutions in a tough market.
- Asked about David Price, Mozeliak declined to mention specific names that they’ve considered, but he added, “We’re certainly not in this for the short term. I think one of the good things about the St. Louis Cardinals is the ability to have sustained success, and we want to continue that.”
- “I think that is true,” said Mozeliak when asked if starting pitching would be his top need. Both Shelby Miller and Carlos Martinez have had some inconsistencies, he notes. “…looking at the next two months, if we could find a way to sort of bridge that gap between now and the time we may get [Michael] Wacha back, I think we want to try to do that.”
- Mozeliak said the stress fracture in Wacha’s scapula is unique, and there isn’t a lot of history or data to help gauge his progress. The injury is currently healing, but the Cardinals are dedicating their time and energy to determining what led to the injury — be it his mechanics, something in the weight room or another cause.
- Whether or not the team is comfortable with Tony Cruz and George Kottaras is a “fair question,” and the Cardinals plan to take as much of the remaining week as possible to make that determination. “One thing we’ve always said is we’d like to see what Tony Cruz is capable of doing on a day in and day out basis,” said Mozeliak. “But having said that, we also want to give ourselves the best chance to win.” The Cardinals will at least monitor the market for catching help, he adds.
- Manager Mike Matheny has had a tough time trying to balance playing time for Allen Craig, a proven veteran in a down year, and Oscar Taveras, a top prospect who has started slow in the Majors, says Mozeliak. The need to win now complicates the scenario, and sending Taveras down to Triple-A in a week or so is an option.
Michael Wacha has a stress reaction NOT a stress fracture. A pretty significant difference. Wacha would be no where near throwing had it gotten to the point of a fracture.
Manager Mike Matheny has had a tough time trying to balance playing time for Allen Craig and Oscar Taveras. If only sending Matheny down to Triple-A in a week or so was an option…
Kind of refreshing to see Mozeliak knows the roster isn’t being handled well by Matheny.
I think Mo is going to have to make a move to force Matheny’s hand. Mike clearly shows way too much confidence in guys just because they have been here longer. I could see Craig put in a package to acquire a starter.
The sad thing is who knows if Craig is truly broken and unfixable. Be really sad if Mo traded him just to get him away from MM..
Exactly. It’s sad because Craig, even hitting like he is now, can still provide value to this team if used properly. Craig is still much better against lefties than Adams. Platoon them and use the other as a bat off the bench. This gives Craig a couple starts a week and see if he can get healthy/right. But Matheny isn’t going to use them properly, so the decision is either let him use his roster poorly, or sell very low on Craig.
Or Mozeliak could call Matheny and tell him how he wants the roster to be used..
Unfortunately I think one of their outfielders must go. It might be Craig, Taveras, Jay, but it’s too crowded to find playing time for all of them. Cardinals will probably get a starting pitcher, and one of those guys will be in that trade.
To be honest though, I would rather see them get a middle of the rotation starter, instead of giving up the farm for Price or a big time starter
With the way the Rays are playing now, it looks like the idea of getting Price has gone out the window. I’m very curious to see if the Cardinals, Dodgers or Mariners will end up regretting not making the move to get Price when it was available.
I don’t think that window is gone, at least not unless Rays continue their hot-streak for another 4-6 days. If they start falling again, or the rest of the AL East picks it up, they really look to trade Price.
The only reason I say that is because the longer you wait, the longer Price’s value comes down. Not only will you get 1 year of price (if you trade him this offseason), but it will be around 20 million dollars, so the Rays have some urgency to trade him sooner.
But at the same time, his value hasn’t changed that much in the last week. If you want Price, you’ll still need to give up good prospects. I think Cards, M’s and Dodgers want to get the best bang for their buck, and if waiting gets them a better deal, no matter which SP they deal for, they would prefer that.
The Rays have now closed the wild card gap to 4.5 games. They have been the hottest team in the AL for the past month plus and are playing like most everyone thought they would at the beginning of the season.
While I agree that Price’s value will go down if they wait until the offseason, they were prepared for that as that was their initial plan for this season. The only way I see them trading him now is if they lose like 5 of 6 before the deadline(unlikely) or if they get a deal that blows them away. That means multiple top 50 prospects plus other very good prospects. Something like Taveras, Martinez, Kaminsky+ or Walker, Peterson, Diaz+ or 2 of Seager/Pederson/Urias and Lee+. I’m not sure if those teams are ready to give up that much, but you never know.
Yeah I think the Rays don’t have a choice but to find a great deal for Price, it’s either amazing deal or no trade. I don’t know if Cardinals want to trade Price if Taveras is in the deal. I think they would be for Martinez, Miller, Wong and Piscotty? Or replace either wong or piscotty with the competitive balance round A draft pick.
Jon jay for Jon Niese?
No way. I’d be fishing for one of their OF prospects. Astounding glut of OFs (Piscotty, Grichuk, Ramsey, Taveras)
If the Mets did that, their GM should be fired on the spot.
Try Piscotty+ or Taveras.