Cardinals Rumors: Hudson, Lopez, Kennedy
The Cardinals have moved on from Matt Holliday for the time being; let’s see what else is cooking. Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has the latest. Middle infield seems to be the primary concern now.
One option is to pursue a trade for Kelly Johnson or Yunel Escobar of the Braves, but that will probably require Ryan Ludwick. However, those talks must wait until the Braves resolve their chase of Jake Peavy.
On the free agent front, the Cardinals are interested in Orlando Hudson but not Felipe Lopez. Scott Boras seems to be aiming for a multiyear deal for Lopez.
Adam Kennedy wants out of St. Louis, and the D’Backs may be interested. GM John Mozeliak is said to be reluctant to eat a "significant piece" of Kennedy’s $4MM. The D’Backs barely seem willing to spend that amount on Randy Johnson.
The bullpen is the other concern, but Trevor Hoffman is apparently not on the radar.
Cardinals’ Offseason Plans
Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explains the Cardinals’ offseason plans. The areas of concern: middle infield, lefthanded relief, and perhaps the rotation (maybe a swingman type pitcher). The Cards would also like an impact bat to protect Albert Pujols, but that is of lower priority.
Strauss says the Cardinals will investigate the price for Brian Fuentes and Joe Beimel. They’ll also consider bringing Edgar Renteria back to St. Louis on a one-year deal worth considerably less than $10MM. The Cards should have $20MM+ to spend in total.
As for trade chips, young catcher Bryan Anderson could be one. Second baseman Adam Kennedy wants out, but has negative trade value. The Cards could also move an outfielder. Derrick Goold of the P-D suggests possible matches.
Adam Kennedy Wants A Trade
According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Cardinals second baseman Adam Kennedy has asked for a trade. Kennedy is unhappy with the uncertainty of his role.
Kennedy, 32, is hitting .263/.304/.327 in 339 plate appearances. He’s been an asset defensively, making 19 more plays than the average second baseman. He’ll earn $4MM next year. Even with the strong glovework, Kennedy may be difficult to trade.
Cardinals get Wells, Kennedy
The Cards finally made their first moves: they signed Adam Kennedy, brought in Kip Wells, resigned Gary Bennett, and gave Eli Marrero a minor-league deal. No monetary details, but Bernie Miklasz guesses $15M for three years, while Rosenthal thinks it’s three years for $10M.
With Kennedy, Bennett, Scott Spiezio, and Jim Edmonds on board for 2007, the Cardinals appear to have their position players mostly set. They’ll probably still add an outfielder, but that would seem to be a low priority. Wells is a nice addition to fill out the rotation, but even counting on Adam Wainwright in the rotation, that leaves one more hole to fill. My money’s on Jeff Weaver coming back, but surely Walt Jocketty is exploring plenty of options, including some via trade.
By Jeff Sackmann
Roberts to the Giants, and more
It looks like Dave Roberts is going to be a Giant. This will save San Francisco fans from self-immolation over their front office’s apparent inability to make stupid deals, and ensure that the Giants theme of "oldsters in the outfield" remains intact even with Steve Finley and possibly Barry Bonds on their way out.
In other news: Woody Williams got a two-year deal with the Astros for $12.5M. That seems remarkably sane, though I wouldn’t plan on drafting Woody for your fantasy team. He had an okay year in Petco, but he’s moving to one of the unfriendliest parks in baseball for pitching. If the short porch in left is going to do wonders for Carlos Lee, it’s going to hurt Williams nearly as much.
Phil Rogers offers a plethora of random thoughts: the Cubs want to move Jacque Jones; Jones or Geoff Jenkins would be an improvement for the White Sox (so he says); and the Sox could send Scott Podsednik and Juan Uribe to San Fran for Omar Vizquel (much less likely after the Roberts signing, I’d imagine). Emphasis on "could": he’s obviously just making stuff up.
Speaking of making stuff up: now that most of the center fielders out there have found homes, it’s time for the second basemen to start falling into place. There’s been more news lately of Adam Kennedy, who is likely to land in St. Louis, or possibly Toronto. The market for Kennedy, Ronnie Belliard, and others may depend on whether Julio Lugo and/or Ray Durham end up as outfielders, which would shrink the market for those teams who need second basemen.
By Jeff Sackmann
HalosHeaven: White Sox Interested In Figgins
Interesting post by our good friends at Halos Heaven. I can vouch that the author of this site has several solid, independent sources close to the organization.
A lot of interest in utility superstar Chone Figgins, who is hitting just .253/.322/.347 this year. Figgins draws a walk about 9% of the time, which is fine for a leadoff hitter if he can hit .290. Halos Heaven notes that if Ozzie Guillen elects Orlando Cabrera (.305/.364/.436) to the All-Star game, the relationship between the two teams could improve enough to facilitate a trade.
The Angels view Figgins as more expendable than Adam Kennedy, who has become the clubhouse leader. I’m told Kennedy desperately wants to stay in Southern California, and will offer the Padres or Dodgers a huge discount after this season. It does seem that Kennedy could block Howie Kendrick for the rest of the season.
The latest on Jeff Weaver is that he’ll be gone before the All-Star break, possibly back to the Dodgers. The Angels will eat his entire salary to get a decent bat in return.
Miscellaneous Rumors
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.