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Cardinals Discussing Dontrelle Willis Trade

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The Cardinals message boards are lighting up, and with good reason: there is a legitimate Dontrelle Willis rumor making the rounds.

The thread was started by a respected Cards source who goes by the handle Hawg Wild.  I can confirm that this guy has a track record of success.  Colby Rasmus is a 19 year-old outfielder in high Class A.  He was a first-round pick and is easily the team’s best prospect now that Anthony Reyes is in the bigs.  According to Rasmus’s father:

"Colby just called me and said his agent told him of conversations the cardinals were having with the possibility of Colby and a three or four other Cardinal players going to Florida in return for Dontrelle Willis. Reyes and Colby were the only 2 players Colby was told about, he did not hear who the other 2/3 players were. His words to me, ’Man that sucks.’"

Then to quiet any doubters, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz stepped in:

"I tried to drop a major hint in today’s column….FLA wants Reyes, Rasmus and Duncan — and that’s not all. Probably one more… possibly their pick of the Cardinals’ system."

The Cardinals need a big move; it looks like Walt Jocketty may package everything he’s got to get D-Train.  Check out Viva El Birdos for analysis.  After much deliberating, Viva chooses to endorse such a trade.

Dellucci To The Cards?

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This one is very much through the grapevine, but I thought I’d pass it along.  You can definitely trust this rumor if it truly comes from the Post-Dispatch’s Joe Strauss, though right now it’s a message board report.  (Thanks to Viva El Birdos for the tip.)  I’ll post more when I get it.

But this isn’t a crazy one; David Dellucci is just the type of underrated, underpriced pickup that Walt Jocketty should make. We know the Phillies will see fit to send off the impending free agent; the only question is where. 

I’m a huge fan of the 32 year-old outfielder.  He’s typically been used against righties only, and that worked quite well in his last full season with Texas.  In 2005 Dellucci hit .251/.369/.525 against righthanded pitching.  You’ll just have to get past Dellucci’s typically low batting average; he doesn’t make contact frequently.  However, he did show an excellent ability to draw walks when he led off last year.  He walked in almost 15% of his plate appearances, which is Brian Giles territory.

This season he’s drawn just seven walks in 115 plate appearances, but he hasn’t been a regular so I’d like to think he’s retained the ability.  Dellucci would fit nicely in left field with the Cardinals and would add less than $450,000 to the payroll.  Plus, the Cards could acquire him with players other than Reyes and Wainwright.

Jeff Weaver Traded To Cardinals

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Breaking word is that Jeff Weaver has been dealt to the Cardinals for minor league outfielder Terry Evans plus cash considerations. 

Evans is a 24 year-old outfielder currently hitting .307/.369/.640 in 75 ABs for the Cards’ Double A affiliate. He struggled in High Class A last year, but mastered the level in two months this season.  He’s been described as the "out of nowhere prospect who mashed his way out of A ball" by Viva El Birdos. 

Weaver is expected to join the team in Houston.  News of this trade comes courtesy of Fox Sports Midwest.  A week ago, I wrote about how Weaver has had terrible luck and his strikeout and walk rates are similar to expectations.

Special thanks to the St. Louis Swarm Softball organization for passing this along.

Jocketty Aiming High

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According to a source close to the Cardinals, Walt Jocketty is shooting for the stars if he is to trade prospects for a starting pitcher.  Word is that the Cards will either acquire a front-line pitcher – Dontrelle Willis or John Smoltz – or none at all.  The team does not have interest in the second-tier names floating around.

Beyond Willis and Smoltz, could any other top-flight starters be had?  Purely my own speculation, but St. Louis could also consider attempting to deal for Jason Schmidt, Barry Zito, Gil Meche, or Brett Myers.  Problem is, the first three guys are on teams that are very much in contention.  The Phils are 6.5 games out of the wild card, but may try to rid themselves of Myers regardless.  Myers doesn’t fit with the Cards’ classy image, but then again neither did Sidney Ponson.   

Although Jocketty is not going to trade decent prospects for the Cory Lidles of the world, Jeff Weaver still could be worth a flier.  Viva El Birdos points out that Weaver would cost just $115,000 for the balance of the season now that he’s been designated for assignment. 

Another Option For St. Louis

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My Mets source has sent an update regarding the recent Victor Diaz information.  Seems the Cards just weren’t offering enough in Mark Worrell for Diaz.  Diaz remains widely available, and could be used to acquire a decent second baseman like Mark Grudzielanek.

The Cardinals have another outfielder on the radar – old favorite Reggie Sanders.  Reggie is 38 now, and he’s not showing any ability to get on base as a regular for the Royals.  Still, his .259/.301/.476 line (8 home runs) is not far from his work with St. Louis back in ’04.  Sanders typically walks about 7-8% of the time, but this year it’s been below 6%.  I guess his new club is influencing his style – KC is second to last in the AL in walks this year.

Sanders’s .777 OPS is just the 12th best among AL right fielders.  He signed a two-year, $10MM deal with the Royals last offseason.  He’d probably play left field if he returned to St. Louis.  As a group, the Cardinals’ left fielders have hit just .243/.305/.321 with one home run.  At the least, Sanders would provide a power threat.

The Cardinals will likely settle for a second tier outfielder in the trade market, as I’m told Anthony Reyes and Adam Wainwright are being slotted into the 2007 rotation.

Cards Interested In Victor Diaz

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Walt Jocketty and the Cardinals are currently mulling over various options to add an outfield bat, and one player who is definitely on the radar is Victor Diaz. 

The 24 year-old Diaz had a fine year in 2005 between Triple A and the Majors.  However, after losing the Mets’ right field battle to Xavier Nady this year Diaz has become the odd man out.  He’s stumbled to a .245/.310/.371 line in Triple A and his stock is at an all-time low.  Still, Diaz has shown 25 HR power and was projected to hit .265/.323/.469 for the Mets by Baseball Prospectus’s PECOTA system.

New York doesn’t have much use for Diaz, and one player they like is 24 year-old righthander Mark Worrell in the Cardinals’ system.  Worrell uses an unorthodox, sometimes sidearm delivery to retire hitters.  He did a fine job as a closer in A ball last year, but the jump to Double A hasn’t been so kind.  Worrell has 15 saves and a 1.28 WHIP, but he also owns a 5.27 ERA.  Walks and home runs have been a problem.

It’s a swap that makes sense – a couple of minor leaguers who have not met expectations this year.  My Mets source tells me that discussions are ongoing.   

Olney: Cards Considering Stewart/Hunter

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I haven’t addressed the Cardinal outfield situation since March 5th.  Since then, many things have changed:

Kevin Mench is hitting .300/.328/.591 with 9 home runs.  He’s been driving in a lot of runs as the Rangers’ sixth place hitter.  What’s more, Jason Marquis has stunk it up (6.00 ERA) and John Koronka came out of nowhere to toss four quality starts in seven tries.  Can’t see any kind of Mench for Marquis swap now.

Also, Jim Edmonds is hitting .240/.333/.417, and Will Carroll thinks he may have to shut it down for a while to get completely right again.

Toss in a strained elbow for Sidney Ponson (who has a 2.81 ERA) and a sore back for Mark Mulder, and the Cardinals can’t afford to deal a starting pitcher right now.

The need for an outfielder persists.  So Taguchi isn’t hitting.  Larry Bigbie was activated yesterday, and he deserves a shot.  According to Cardinals Diaspora, a recent Buster Olney report indicates interest from Walt Jocketty in Torii Hunter or Shannon Stewart.  As noted in the post, Stewart is more their style.  He makes $6.5MM this year and is off to a .295/.352/.384 start.  PECOTA expects his age 32 season to finish around .272/.335/.406.  Is that really any better than the .264/.334/.423 season projected for Bigbie?

The Craig Wilson option remains a viable one, and Luis Gonzalez’s .832 OPS ain’t bad.  Cards fans dream of Miguel Cabrera, but Dontrelle Willis seems more likely to be dealt this summer.  Haven’t seen any smoke on that one for a while, though the Cards did show interest.  Anthony Reyes remains the best trading chip, as he has a 3.62 ERA and 35/5 K/BB ratio at Triple A.  About a week ago, Viva El Birdos noted some interesting developments surrounding a Reyes start.

A few more possibilities, based on my own speculation: Eric Hinske, Reggie Sanders, Alfonso Soriano, Emil Brown, Brady Clark, Jose Cruz Jr., Matt Lawton, David Dellucci, and Victor Diaz.

If I were GM?  I’d probably start with Lawton but see what it would take to get Reggie back.

Cubs Shopping Maddux?

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A good one from the rumor mill over at Gotham Baseball.  Unfortunately their page is not working right now so here’s a link to MetsBlog’s take on Gotham’s report.  According to Gotham, Greg Maddux is being shopped.  Interested parties: Mets, Yankees, Brewers, Phillies, Diamondbacks, Royals, and Cardinals. 

The Cubs would essentially be reducing their rotation to "Carlos Zambrano and pray for a tornado," but Maddux is an impending free agent.  My opinion from a couple of weeks ago:  he’s the same old Mad Dog, just with a well-timed hot streak.  Still, dealing him now would be a very early white flag for a Cubs team with a $94MM payroll.  Doesn’t seem to compute.  And the obligatory intradivision thing must be cited for the Brewers and Cards.  I am surprised no West Coast teams have been mentioned.

Miscellaneous Rumors

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There are a few trade-related nuggets in the newspapers today, but I don’t expect anything major to go down until June.

The Reds are trying to find a taker for Tony Womack, who has thankfully been pushed out of their infield and demoted.  That is what we call a million dollar mistake.  I guess Brandon Phillips makes up for it, at least until his bat runs cold.

Jay Payton and his agent are being vocal about finding him his 500 ABs with another team if necessary.  The best fit I can find is the Cardinals.

The Yanks plan on declining Mike Mussina’s option and re-signing him to a more reasonable deal.  The decline is a no-brainer at $17MM, but I’m just remembering what happened with Jon Lieber.  New York had some goodwill there after paying Lieber to rehab, but he still jumped ship after seeing the market.  This is a different situation given Mussina’s tenure, and he has said he wants to stay put.  I’m just saying, it’s not a 100% lock.

Howie Kendrick got the call, but it took an injury, and not a trade, of Maicer Izturis.  My guess is that Izturis will spend at least a month on the shelf and that Kendrick will stick for the rest of the season.  If Kendrick can hit as expected between pinch-hitting, DHing, and spot starting at 2B/3B, there will be plenty of interest for Adam Kennedy in the coming months.  Kennedy is a 3-4 win guy who could really help the Mets or Cardinals for half a season. 

Cardinals Kicking Tires On Cabrera

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That’s right, a friend of MLBTradeRumors informs us that a team source has confirmed that the Cardinals are "checking into" Miguel Cabrera.  An unknown third team would definitely be involved to broker a deal.

Seems to me that Jocketty’s been looking to make that big splash all offseason, and obviously this would qualify.  I would expect Anthony Reyes to depart as well as whatever other big-name prospect the team could wrangle.  Reyes fits the bill as a Major League-ready, front rotation type starter.  The Cards would use Cabrera in left field and could improve the club by as many as five wins with the addition.

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