Cardinals Rumors

Minor Moves: Johnson, Mahay, Thurston, Bates, Garko

By Zachary Links | May 14, 2012 at 9:45pm CDT

Tonight's minor moves..

The Rockies signed former Cardinals left-hander Tyler Johnson to a minor league deal, according to the CBSSports.com transactions page. Johnson, who won a ring with the Cards in 2006, has been out of affiliated baseball since 2009.
The Reds released left-hander Ron Mahay, according to the International League transactions page. The 40-year-old signed a minor league deal with the club in January and appeared in 14 games for their Triple-A affiliate this season. The veteran last pitched in the majors for the Twins in 2010 and was signed and released by the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Cardinals in 2011.
The Twins have released infielder Joe Thurston and first baseman Aaron Bates, according to Dustin Morse of the Twins (via Twitter). Thurston, 32, hooked on with Minnesota in late April after being cut by the Phillies. Once considered a top asset in the Dodgers' farm system, Thurston has yet to see significant time in the majors outside of his 124 game 2009 campaign with the Cardinals.
The Rays signed former major-leaguer Ryan Garko to a minor league deal, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). The first baseman spent time in Korea last year.
Orioles infielder Zelous Wheeler has cleared waivers and been assigned to Double-A Bowie. Wheeler was DFA'd by Baltimore on Friday.

Cardinals Release Amaury Cazana

By Zachary Links | May 14, 2012 at 7:32pm CDT

The Cardinals have released Amaury Cazana, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post Dispatch (via Twitter). The news was first reported by Brian Walton of The Cardinal Nation (via Twitter). In parts of six seasons at the Triple-A level, the corner outfielder owns a .338/.408/.528 slash line.

The Cuban was loaned out to the Triple-A Mexican league for the last two years but was with Triple-A Memphis this season, where he hit .238/.297/.327 in 30 games. Cazana, whose birth year has been reported to be somewhere between 1974 and 1978, developed a good deal of buzz amongst Cardinals fans over the years but never appeared in the majors.

2013 Contract Issues: St. Louis Cardinals

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 14, 2012 at 1:00pm CDT

The Cardinals are next in MLBTR’s 2013 Contract Issues series:

Eligible For Free Agency (3)

Kyle Lohse - Lohse is limiting walks, hits and home runs so far this year, so the Cardinals could have interest in extending their relationship with the right-hander. If pitching prospects Shelby Miller and Carlos Martinez don't seem ready for MLB hitters, Lohse could round out the St. Louis rotation for another year.
Lance Berkman - Berkman, 36, has appeared in just eight games this year due to an extended stint on the disabled list. If the switch-hitter replicates his 2011 production from here on it'll be hard for the Cardinals to let him go. If not, they can allocate his $12MM salary elsewhere.
Scott Linebrink - Linebrink, now on the disabled list with a shoulder injury, hasn't thrown a pitch for the Cardinals. The 35-year-old has been an effective reliever in recent years, but his stock has fallen in 2012.

Contract Options (1)

Jake Westbrook: $8.5MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout if the club declines. Westbrook has pitched well, though not quite as well as his 1.76 ERA suggests. The right-hander will have turned 35 by the time the season ends, so the Cardinals could decline their side of the option if they believe the net cost of $7.5MM is too much for a back-of-the-rotation starter.

Arbitration Eligible (5)

First time: David Freese, Mitchell Boggs, Marc Rzepczynski
Second time: Jason Motte
Third time: Kyle McClellan

The Cardinals face a relatively small class of arbitration eligible players this offseason. The group figures to cost $10-15MM to retain for 2013.

2013 Payroll Obligation

The Cardinals have already committed approximately $84.5MM to next year's payroll. They've spent $110MM or so in each of the past two seasons, so they should be able to round out their rotation without raising payroll after accounting for arbitration eligible players and other upcoming raises.

Cardinals Release J.C. Romero

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 14, 2012 at 10:01am CDT

The Cardinals announced that they've released left-handed reliever J.C. Romero (Twitter link). The team activated right-hander Eduardo Sanchez in a related move. MDR Sports Management represents Romero, a veteran of 14 MLB seasons.

The Cardinals signed Romero to a one-year deal worth $750K plus incentives back in December. The 35-year-old appeared in 11 games this year, allowing 14 runs and nine earned runs in eight innings of work. He spent the 2011 season with the Phillies and Rockies, posting a 4.01 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 5.5 BB/9 and a 54.4% ground ball rate in 24 2/3 innings.

Quick Hits: Balfour, A’s, Twins, Plouffe, Cardinals

By Zachary Links | May 13, 2012 at 10:30pm CDT

Links as the weekend comes to a close..

A's reliever Grant Balfour is less than thrilled about losing his job as closer, writes Jeff Fletcher for MLB.com. Balfour has drawn considerable interest from teams around baseball this season and Ben Nicholson-Smith recently looked at what Balfour could net Oakland in a trade.
Twins utility man Trevor Plouffe has been struggling as of late and could wind up as a roster casualty if things do not pick up, writes Phil Mackey of 1500ESPN.com. Chris Parmelee is also struggling at the plate but has minor league options remaining, unlike Plouffe.
Alyson Footer of the Astros (via Twitter) felt that the Cardinals dodged a financial bullet when Albert Pujols signed with the Angels.

Quick Hits: Weaver, Komatsu, Sandoval

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 3, 2012 at 3:25pm CDT

On this date last year, Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano no-hit the White Sox. Here are some links for Thursday afternoon, starting with a note on Jered Weaver, who no-hit Liriano's Twins last night…

Weaver pitched a no-hitter for his hometown team in front of his fans and family last night and as Scott Miller of CBSSports.com writes, it's for days like yesterday that the right-hander signed a long-term deal with the Angels. Weaver signed a five-year, $85MM contract last summer instead of testing the open market, where he likely would have obtained a larger guarantee. So far this deal seems to be working well for both sides.
Outfielder Erik Komatsu expects to learn if he has a new team by tomorrow, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The Cardinals designated the Rule 5 pick for assignment earlier in the week and other MLB teams now have the chance to claim him off of waivers.
Pablo Sandoval is expected to miss four to six weeks with a fractured hamate bone, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle first reported (on Twitter). The Giants are calling up Conor Gillaspie for now, and it appears they'll rely on their internal options while Sandoval's out.

Cardinals Designate Erik Komatsu For Assignment

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | May 1, 2012 at 12:37pm CDT

The Cardinals designated outfielder Erik Komatsu for assignment, MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch reports. The move creates 25-man roster space for Allen Craig, who's returning from the disabled list.

The Cardinals selected Komatsu from the Nationals in last winter's Rule 5 draft. St. Louis now has ten days to determine the 24-year-old's fate. The Cardinals could work out a trade with the Nationals that would allow them to keep Komatsu, they could return him to Washington, or he could be claimed by a third team. Komatsu appeared in 15 games for the Cardinals, playing all three outfield positions. He has a .302/.389/.434 line in four seasons as a minor leaguer.

Quick Hits: Cardinals, Seager, Harper

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | April 27, 2012 at 4:49pm CDT

Hank Aaron joined Babe Ruth and Willie Mays in the 600 home run club with a round tripper against the Giants on this date in 1971. Here are today's links…

Cardinals GM John Mozeliak joined Todd Hollandsworth and Jim Memolo on MLB Network Radio and said his team's starting pitching has been better than expected. Kyle Lohse, Jake Westbrook and Lance Lynn have pitched well for the Cardinals in the early going, so the team hasn't had to seek external reinforcements even with Chris Carpenter sidelined.
High school shortstop Corey Seager, the younger brother of Mariners infielder Kyle Seager, is now seen as a likely first round pick in the upcoming amateur draft, ESPN.com's Keith Law reports. Law won't be surprised if Seager's a top-20 pick this year, though he may have to change positions eventually.
J.J. Cooper of Baseball America points out that Bryce Harper will be more than two years younger than the next youngest Major Leaguer when he debuts tomorrow. The Nationals are calling up the 19-year-old Harper, who's considerably younger than Erasmo Ramirez of the Mariners and Jose Altuve of the Astros.

Quick Hits: Trout, Avila, Cardinals

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | April 26, 2012 at 2:00pm CDT

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.

Sherman On Cardinals, Mets, Hughes

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | April 25, 2012 at 8:25am CDT

The Cardinals are defending their World Series title without Albert Pujols, Chris Carpenter, Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan, but they’re off to an 11-7 start nonetheless. One general manager recently went out of his way to note that “the Cardinals are a good organization” in a conversation with Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Here’s more from Sherman, starting in St. Louis:

Cardinals GM John Mozeliak says successful organizations can’t rely on one particular person. “To have sustained success, it is about being deep in all areas,” Mozeliak told Sherman. “So you are not reliant on any one person or one area of strength.”
Sherman wonders if the Mets might be able to spend on a long-term extension for David Wright since they didn’t re-sign Jose Reyes and the contracts of Johan Santana and Jason Bay will expire following the 2013 season (the Mets hold club options for 2014). The Mets have ignored overall organizational depth for too long, Sherman writes.
When asked about Phil Hughes’ slow start, Yankees GM Brian Cashman pointed out that pitchers such as Tim Lincecum, Adam Wainwright and Jon Lester have also struggled early on. “Based on the list, [Hughes] is in pretty good company,” Cashman said. “I think his stuff has been better than the results.” Cashman doesn’t sound interested in demoting the right-hander to the minors or moving him to the bullpen.

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