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Cardinals Face Decisions On Relievers

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It seemed Jason Isringhausen’s career was in jeopardy less than a year ago, but he’s fully returned to form and re-established himself as a successful closer.  He’s been ridiculously hard to hit this year, allowing a career-best 4.85 hits per nine innings. 

The Cardinals hold a very reasonable $8MM club option for 2008, with a $1.25MM buyout attached.  So there’s no doubt Izzy will be donning Cardinal red once again next year.  He’ll probably reach his 300th save, too.  The Cardinals may do that one better, though, giving him a contract to cover 2008-09 as they did Jim Edmonds.  I admit I liked the Edmonds deal at the time, but the Cardinals could’ve minimized risk by simply exercising his ’07 option and leaving waiting on ’08.  The same may apply here.

Additionally, it seems Cards reliever Russ Springer has scrapped retirement plans and would like to come back in 2008.  It’s known that Springer has his son attending a specific school in St. Louis and would like to keep him there.  So look for the Cards to ink him for $3MM or so.  Surely he could get a two-year deal on the open market, so the length will depend on Springer’s plans.

Walt Jocketty already locked up Ryan Franklin, another member of the St. Louis pen having a fine season.  Franklin is signed for 2008-09 for $5MM, with a club option for 2010. 

Coming into the season, who would’ve thought the three righties would form perhaps the best relief trio in the game?  The surprising nature of this speaks to the volatility of bullpens, which makes you wonder whether the Cardinals will want the same three pitchers under more expensive contracts in 2009.      

Disgruntled Encarnacion Could Be Moved

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Cardinals right fielder Juan Encarnacion is not happy about his recent lack of playing time.  The St. Louis Post-Dispatch mentions that Encarnacion has spoken to his agent about potential trades.  Besides Encarnacion, the Cards have Rick Ankiel, Chris Duncan, Jim Edmonds, Ryan Ludwick, and So Taguchi competing for playing time.  There’s really not a clear choice to demote, either.

The Encarnacion signing back in ’05 has a lot in common with the Cubs’ signing of Jacque Jones.  Both mediocre right fielders signed at about three years, $15MM.  Both signings were of the "well, we gotta sign somebody" variety.  And both signings, by their second year, have come to be viewed mostly as burdens.

Encarnacion makes about $1.45MM more this year plus $6.5MM in ’08.  I imagine such a contract would clear waivers.  Any contenders looking for a mediocre outfielder?  The Twins might make sense.  Viva El Birdos lists the Tigers and Angels as other possibilities.     

Edmonds Would Waive No-Trade Rights

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Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds has the right to veto any deal as a 10-and-5 player.  And while the Cardinals have never asked him to approve a deal, he said recently that he’d be open-minded if the team wanted to move him.

Edmonds makes another $3.66MM this year, plus $8MM in 2008.  Some of this year’s salary is deferred without interest until 2010-19, making it even better.  I have to admit I liked the two-year $19MM pact when it was signed in November of 2006.  But the Cardinals did have the choice of simply exercising Edmonds’ $10MM option for ’07 instead of extending him through ’08.

Would Edmonds pass through waivers?  Probably.  He hasn’t shown that he’s able to stay healthy and find a rhythm at age 37.  While his salary for next year isn’t too bad, it still might be a waste of money.  Not that the Cardinals would ever help the Cubs, but an Edmonds acquisition would make some sense right now.   

Isringhausen Would Veto Any Trade

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Several teams have expressed interest in soon-to-be 35 year-old Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen.  However, as a 10-and-5 player, Izzy has earned the right to veto any trade.  He’s prepared to exercise that right.

According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Isringhausen told the Cardinals he would not waive his no-trade clause and wants to finish his career in St. Louis.  He said as much publicly, too.  300 career saves might be a goal; he’s at 269 now.

Isringhausen’s career was nearly left for dead in September of ’06, when he elected to have surgery for his degenerative hip condition.  He’s silenced that talk with a 1.45 ERA and 20 saves so far this year.  It would be absurd if the Cardinals didn’t exercise his $8MM option for ’08.  I could even see them renegotiating and extending as they did with Jim Edmonds (if they haven’t learned their lesson).

Indians Interested In Percival?

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Remember when the hottest rumor centered around which team would sign Troy Percival?  Percival ultimately signed with St. Louis, but the Indians were one of many teams rumored to be in on him.

Now comes word via MLB.com’s Jim Molony that the Indians might "try to make a pitch" to acquire Percival from the Cardinals.  Percival has pitched 14.2 innings for the Cardinals, and he’s been very sharp with a 3.75 K/BB.  I’m sure he’d be open to a role in the back of Cleveland’s pen.

The Tribe would probably have even more interest in Jason Isringhausen, but he’s said to be unavailable.

Phillies Scout Anthony Reyes

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The News Journal, a Wilmington, Delaware newspaper, reports that the Phillies recently sent their scouting director to watch Anthony Reyes pitch.  Writer Scott Lauber speculates that the Cardinals might have interest in Michael Bourn as the return. (Hat tip to Cardinals Diaspora for the link.  And they were already hat-tipping our good friend and occasional contributor Tom Goyne from Balls, Sticks, and Stuff.)

Do the Phillies need a flyball pitcher?  Do the Cards need Bourn with Colby Rasmus on the way perhaps next year?  Maybe not, but this could still be a move that could work for both sides.  The Cardinals and Reyes just aren’t on the same page; he needs a change of scenery.  However, it’s possible that the Phillies could fetch a more proven starter if they shop Bourn.  But proven usually means expensive and closer to free agency. 

Red Sox Scouting Eckstein?

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UPDATE: A few Cardinal fans have emailed me, suggesting that Hrabosky’s comments about Eckstein may have been misconstrued as a trade rumor.  Apparently he was just discussing scouting and how Eckstein was a talent from the Boston system.  I have to be careful with broadcast rumors I did not hear myself; my aplogies.

Tonight, color commentator Al Hrabosky mentioned on the FSN Midwest broadcast that the Red Sox were scouting David Eckstein.  Eckstein led off tonight in the Cardinals’ defeat of the Brewers.

Eckstein is hitting .298/.339/.362 this year for the Cardinals, not too far from career levels.  He’s spent some time on the DL this year with back pain.  The elfish 32 year-old is part of a weak free agent crop for shortstops that also includes Omar Vizquel, Juan Uribe, and Cesar Izturis (most likely).

The Red Sox, however, are locked in with Julio Lugo through 2010.  Lugo hasn’t been hitting much in the past week but his bat finally came alive this month with an .875 OPS.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Dunn, Wheeler, Izzy

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Ken Rosenthal posted a new column last night, and has updated it very recently.  I’ve already spoken about the Teixeira stuff, but there’s other good material in there too.

  • Some of the wilder speculation out there has been that the Twins might trade Torii Hunter or Johan Santana if they decide they’re out of it.  Various Baseball Prospectus reports put the Twins’ playoff chances between 5-10%.  Rosenthal debunks the idea that Minnesota would shop Hunter without first making him an offer, and keeping Santana for at least 2008 makes sense.  Plus, Santana has a no-trade clause. 
  • Rosenthal does have some Twins for us who might be traded: Luis Castillo and Carlos Silva.  Castillo has already been connected to the Mets in rumors, though Silva is a new one.  One could definitely envision Silva’s style working in the National League (I know, I say that a lot).  There was a recent Silva to Atlanta rumor, though Silva’s agent seems to have debunked it.
  • Rosenthal says Dontrelle Willis is not available.  Perhaps he and Tim Brown will engage in fisticuffs over this disagreement. 
  • The Diamondbacks have kicked the tires on Adam Dunn.  He might make sense as a rental – the D’Backs playoff changes sit between 16-27%, worth fighting for.  No doubt they’ve got a stable of young players to offer.
  • Rosenthal says the Astros have yet to receive interest on the Lidge/Wheeler/Qualls troika, while Jayson Stark said yesterday that the Astros hadn’t opened shop on them.  Thunderdome match #2, Rosenthal vs. Stark.  Assuming Ken survives Tim Brown.  Anyway, word is that the Rockies have their eye on Wheeler. 
  • Parties interested in Zack Greinke: Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Braves, and Cubs.  This gels with Dan Graziano’s findings.  Of course, trading a player like Greinke requires an equally talented youngster in return.
  • The Royals may not be able to do better than Cleveland’s Ben Francisco as a bounty for Octavio Dotel.  More on him in a separate post.
  • Trades of Joe Blanton and Huston Street are "highly unlikely."  So you’re saying there’s a chance?
  • The chances of the Cardinals trading Jason Isringhausen are described as "remote."  The Cards would have a hard time replacing him next year; he’s got a reasonable $8MM option.  He also has no-trade protection, so he’d probably want a better extension if he was to accept a trade.
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