Cardinals Rumors

Today we have more on the Kyle Lohse signing from Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  After several weeks of negotiation, Lohse agreed to a backloaded four-year, $41MM deal with full no-trade protection (Rob Neyer calls this a "dreadful use of resources.")  Scott Boras is certain Lohse could’ve gotten more money and years on the open market, but this doesn’t seem like much of a discount.  It was Lohse who told Boras to initiate extension talks.

Strauss finds it unlikely the Cards will ink another starter to a long-term deal now, instead going after a swingman type.  Chris Carpenter is expected to choose rehab over surgery; if that doesn’t work out the team’s plans could change.  Strauss says the Cardinals have not talked to Braden Looper about a new contract.  He seems likely to sign elsewhere.

Right now the Cardinals are situated with a rotation of Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Lohse, Todd Wellemeyer, and Joel Pineiro.

6:04pm: The deal is official – four years, $41MM according to the AP.  Lohse also gets a full no-trade clause.  It’s a bit better than the Silva price.

10:19am: According to Derrick Goold and Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals plan to finalize a four-year extension for starter Kyle Lohse this morning.  Sources tell Goold and Strauss the deal will be similar to Carlos Silva’s four-year, $48MM contract.

It may be tempting to call this a loss for Scott Boras, since his client chose not to test the open market.  Lohse settled for $4.5MM in March this year after turning down a three-year, $21MM offer from the Phillies.  However, Boras still comes out a winner as the Cardinals are not getting any kind of discount.  Plus, taking the Phillies’ offer would’ve been a mistake.

I’m with Viva El Birdos on this one – there’s no upside to signing Lohse at this price. What are the odds this deal looks solid even halfway through?

Goold and Strauss say the Cardinals earmarked about $15-16MM for the rotation this winter.  That means Lohse is the big signing and the other pitcher will be a bargain buy.  The Cards will use another $15MM or so to fill other needs.  Brian Fuentes and Orlando Hudson could be considerations.

3:26pm: General manager John Mozeliak recently said in an interview that the press conference will be held tomorrow at 4:30, and that Cardinals fans "would be very happy" with the announcement.

1:59pm: Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Cardinals are possibly discussing an extension with free-agent-to-be Kyle Lohse.

Lohse was scratched from his start today to meet with team doctors, according to manager Tony La Russa, who was quoted as saying:

“There is no Lohse ‘announcement.’ I think what it means is there is interest and possibly progress in the negotiations.”

This situation is very similar to a situation in Spring Training, when the Cardinals had Adam Wainwright meet with team doctors the day before announcing an extension. The Cardinals have a press conference scheduled for tomorrow.

Lohse signed a one-year $4.5MM deal with the Cardinals in the offseason. It’s been well-documented over the past few years that he has been seeking a multi-year deal worth over $10MM per season. He may very well have earned himself that with a career year this season. Lohse will finish 15-6 for St. Louis, with a 3.78 ERA and 119 Ks in 200 IP.

Goold writes that senior baseball writer Joe Strauss has learned that the deal could be similar to the value of the four-year, $48MM contract that Carlos Silva signed with Seattle in the offseason. If it happens, this seems like a considerably better signing than the Silva deal, and one the Cardinals need with some question marks in their starting rotation next season.

I imagine a lot of teams are upset that they passed on Lohse in the offseason, while the Cardinals are very happy with how affordable he was to them, and how late they were able to sign him. Fifteen wins and a 3.78 ERA for $4.5MM is hard to come by from a free agent these days.