Jim Edmonds

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.   

It’s official – the Cards have re-signed Jim Edmonds for 2007-08.  We don’t know the money yet, but the average annual value is less than $10MM.  That’s all I need to know to know that it was a fine signing.

It’s a nice start; Walt Jocketty’s still got plenty of work ahead of him.  The focus will be starting pitching; Viva El Birdos votes for Ted Lilly at three years, $25MM.  While I worry about Lilly’s shoulder, there’s no doubt he could succeed in the NL under the tutelage of Dave Duncan. 

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Cardinals are close to signing Jim Edmonds to a two-year pact in the neighborhood of $20MM.

For what it’s worth, Baseball Prospectus estimates that Edmonds will be worth $17,900,000 over the 2007-08 period.  Signing Edmonds would still leave roughly $15MM for Walt Jocketty to spread amongst a second baseman and two starting pitchers.

Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has an informative look at how the Cardinals will reshape their team this winter. 

Aside from a major rotation makeover, there’s also the issue of Jim Edmonds’s $10MM option.  According to Strauss:

"The Cardinals are increasingly unlikely to assume Edmonds’ $10 million option for 2007, an issue complicated by the Gold Glove outfielder’s ongoing struggle with post-concussion syndrome, according to club sources."

I have a lot of faith in Strauss’s club sources, and this has definitely been the vibe lately.  Edmonds himself feels that it will be declined.

I know it’s been a disappointing year for Edmonds, but I have to get up on my soapbox again:  exercising his option is a no-brainer for the Cardinals.  They need a center fielder.  Edmonds is still well above average.  The decision to exercise the option is essentially the decision to give him a one year, $7MM deal (given the $3MM buyout price).  What team, in need of a center fielder, wouldn’t take Edmonds at that price and length? 

Teams do this all the time: they pass over the best option because he’s the in-house option.  No other good reason.  Kind of reminds me of when the Cubs let Moises Alou walk after 2004.  Say Edmonds had been a Yankee all his life, put up the exact same numbers, same contract, same post-concussion problems.  Brian Cashman inexplicably buys him out this winter.  Instead of testing the free agent waters, Edmonds tells Walt Jocketty he wants to be a Cardinal for one year, $7MM.  Is there any chance in hell Jocketty would turn that down?

The alternatives: throw Juan Encarnacion out there, or sign one of these guys.  I’m a big fan of the former option, because it rights the wrong that was signing Encarnacion to a three year, $15MM deal.  I wish the Cubs would do this with Jacque Jones.  A .776 OPS looks a lot better coming from CF than RF.  The only catch is that Jocketty would then need to sign Moises Alou, Jose Guillen, Trot Nixon, or Gary Sheffield for right field.  If that’s the solution, I’ll stop griping about Edmonds because that’s not bad at all.

Some nice rumor-related digging was done recently over at Viva El Birdos.  Lboros tracked down this comment made by Mitchel Lichtman recently:

"Of course, you never know if and when a player like Edmonds will be part of a major trade. In order to stay competitive, we will eventually (soon) need to replace him in CF with either another great player (and presumably pay through the nose) or replace him with someone good (and underrated) and then upgrade at the corners and at second, and of course eventually at SS again (which is another difficult position to find bargains). We have very few, if any, position player prospects ready for the Majors anytime soon (I don’t think)."

Lichtman is a defensive guru who consults for the Cardinals, so his feelings on Edmonds trade rumors carry some weight.  You may recall a seemingly wacky Edmonds for Cano and Wang trade rumor surfacing here on November 29th.  That one was also brought to my attention via Viva El Birdos, and it originated with St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz.

Lboros covers the implications of Lichtman’s comment thoroughly, acknowledging that the rumor was feasible in November but no longer fits.  He finishes with this comment:

"The important point here isn’t whether the Edmonds-Cano-Wang rumor had any substance behind it. The point is that trading Edmonds to restructure the payroll isn’t out of the question — and that’s coming straight from a member of the Cards’ decision-making chorus."