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Kyle Lohse

Boras On Fielder, Rays, Dodgers, Damon

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Agent Scott Boras held court in Dallas tonight, providing updates on his many free agent clients and entertaining reporters with quips along the way. Here are the details:

  • Boras made it clear that Prince Fielder has drawn lots of interest this offseason. The agent explained that Fielder compares favorably to all-time greats such as Jimmie Foxx and suggested teams will look to lock Fielder up for as long as possible if they recognize his potential as someone who can produce at the plate for the better part of a decade while boosting TV ratings and attendance (Boras' arguments, not mine). He played down concerns about Fielder's body, suggested he's just entering his prime and argued that comparable free agent power hitters won't be available any time soon.
  • Fielder doesn't have any geographical preference as to where he signs, tweets Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star. Boras quipped that the distance from home plate to the outfield fence is the only geography concerning Fielder. For more on Fielder, click here.
  • Generally speaking, Boras explained that Seattle and Milwaukee are desirable places to play because they have the potential to draw substantial crowds. He also said "the city [of Los Angeles] is waiting for the return of the Dodgers" and praised the Dodgers as a storied franchise in American sports.
  • Johnny Damon played "very well" in 2011, according to Boras. He joked that 38-year-old is in line for a five-year deal, though a one-year contract is probable in reality. Boras half-jokingly suggested the Rays "have lots of money" despite their perennially low payrolls. 
  • Carlos Pena will likely have multiyear offers, Boras said.
  • Asked if Kyle Lohse could waive his no-trade clause, Boras replied that he thinks Lohse is happy in St. Louis, tweets B.J. Rains of Fox Sports Midwest.
  • The market for Ivan Rodriguez is narrowing, tweets Amanda Comak of the Washington Times. The Nationals aren't in on Pudge, tweets Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.
  • The Nats have some interest in bringing back Rick Ankiel, tweets Comak.
  • Boras expects Daisuke Matsuzaka to be healthy and return "sometime this summer," tweets Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.
  • J.D. Drew is undecided on whether he'll play in 2012. It would have to be the right situation.
  • Andruw Jones would've liked more playing time in 2011, but understands he won't be a full-time player, tweets MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. A deal with the Yankees is likely in the coming weeks, tweets Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.
  • The Braves haven't progressed toward an extension for Michael Bourn, tweets Stephen Goff of Examiner.com.

MLBTR's Luke Adams co-wrote this post.

Cardinals Open To Trading Lohse, Westbrook

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6:40pm: Mozeliak confirmed that both Lohse and Westbrook are in play in trade talks, but he doesn't anticipate a deal happening, tweets Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

5:10pm: Lohse wrote in a text message to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that "as of right now" he'd take advantage of his full no-trade clause to reject any trade opportunity.

3:49pm: The Cardinals are willing to trade Jake Westbrook as well, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

3:34pm: The Cardinals are trying to trade righty Kyle Lohse, reports Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune.  Rogers believes their goal is to make room for Missouri native Mark Buehrle.  ESPN's Buster Olney also hears that the Cardinals are making Lohse's availability known.    

Lohse, 33, is owed $11.875MM in 2012 and has a full no-trade clause.  As of Monday night, nothing had been brought to Lohse's attention, according to MLB.com's Matthew Leach.  The righty posted a 3.39 ERA in 188 1/3 innings this year.

Leach notes that Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said he's not prioritizing starting pitching, and if he needed rotation help it'd likely come from within.

Quick Hits: Braun, Lohse, Franklin, Wood

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Some news items as Matt Kemp is once again a walkoff hero for the Dodgers…

The Cardinals’ 2011 Rotation

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With a 4-13 record over their last 17 games, an eight-game deficit to make up in the NL Central, and a weekend series against an in-form Cincinnati club, the Cardinals could be looking ahead to next year by as soon as Monday.  Let's get a head start on the process by examining what the St. Louis starting rotation may look like by Opening Day 2011.

Leading the way for the Cards are Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia.  Carpenter is signed through 2011 and St. Louis has a club option worth $15MM in 2012 that they're certain to exercise if Carpenter remains as healthy and effective as he has been over the last two seasons.  It's possible the Cards could explore an extension with Carpenter this winter, if they're not already too busy trying to extend Albert Pujols.

Wainwright seems well on his way to a top-five finish (at least) in the NL Cy Young voting, which will trigger a clause in his contract that guarantees the 2012 and 2013 club options St. Louis currently holds on the right-hander.  Wainwright is set to earn $21MM over those two seasons, plus an extra $1MM should he actually win the Cy either this season or in 2011.  The Cards were a virtual lock to pick up those team options anyway given how well Wainwright has pitched in his career.

If Wainwright is a bargain, then Garcia is a steal.  The 24-year-old southpaw has a 2.33 ERA and a 2.03 K/BB in 25 starts this season and he carries a 20 1/3 scoreless inning streak into tonight's start against the Reds.  Garcia doesn't reach arbitration until after the 2011 season, so he will remain a very affordable option for St. Louis unless the club tries to cover his arb years with a long-term deal.  It's still just Garcia's first full major league year, so if the Redbirds do approach him with a long-term contract, it will be a step down from the Romero/Lester/Gallardo deals.

When Kyle Lohse signed a four-year, $41MM extension with St. Louis in September 2008, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes prophetically asked, "What are the odds this deal looks solid even halfway through?"  Now that we're about halfway through the deal, it's indeed looking like a miss for the Cards.  Lohse has battled forearm and groin injuries over the last two seasons and has a 5.55 ERA in 35 games (34 of them starts) over that stretch.  Lohse will be pencilled into a spot in the 2011 rotation, since it would be hard for the Cardinals to eat the remaining $23.75MM owed to the right-hander and even harder to trade him.  (Plus, Lohse has a no-trade clause.)

With four spots accounted for, the fifth rotation job is wide-open.  The Cards' strategy over the last few winters has been to sign veterans (Rich Hill, Brad Penny, Matt Clement, Lohse in March 2008) to one-year or minor league contracts to see if pitching coach Dave Duncan can get them back into top form, so the team could pursue that option again.  St. Louis might have gotten a head start on this strategy with the acquisition of Jake Westbrook at the trade deadline.  Westbrook has pitched well (4.03 ERA, 5.67 K/BB ratio) in his first six National League starts, so he will come at a higher price than those other past winter signings should the Cardinals want to bring him back.

Another midseason pick-up, Jeff Suppan, hasn't performed as well and would only be brought back as roster depth.  Penny could be another low-cost veteran option from the current roster.  After signing a one-year, $7.5MM deal with the Cards last December, Penny had a solid first nine starts but hasn't pitched since May due to a back injury.  The lingering nature of what was originally thought to be a minor back injury will definitely scare some teams away from the 32-year-old, so the Cardinals (who have been monitoring Penny's status all year) could bring the right-hander back if they're satisifed that he's healthy.

P.J. Walters, Blake Hawksworth and Adam Ottavino have started games for St. Louis this season, though all would need superb spring training performances to get into the running for the fifth starter's job.   Baseball America projected Walters as a future middle reliever in the preseason, Hawksworth has pitched mostly out of the bullpen for St. Louis and Ottavino may be a question mark for the spring since he needs labrum surgery.

Shelby Miller, the top prospect in the St. Louis system, has only increased his stock in his first full season of pro ball.  Miller, the 19th overall pick in the 2009 draft, has a 3.62 ERA and a 12.1 K/9 rate in 24 starts for Single-A Quad Cities.  Baseball America had Miller rated as the 50th-best prospect in baseball in the preseason, and their midseason prospect report again slotted him in the #26-50 range.  Miller doesn't even turn 20 until October 10, so the Cards will probably hold off his major league debut until 2012.

Other farm system options include southpaw Evan MacLane and right-handers Lance Lynn and Brandon Dickson, all of whom have had solid seasons in the hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League.  All could factor in as spot starters or candidates for the No. 5 position.  Keep an eye on right-hander Scott Gorgen, a fourth-round pick from the 2008 draft who has a 2.99 ERA in his 49-game minor league career thus far, including a 1.31 ERA in 10 games (eight starts) at Double-A this season.

With Lohse Out, Do The Cards Need More Arms?

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With Brad Penny on the disabled list and Kyle Lohse undergoing right forearm surgery on Friday that may end his season, the mighty St. Louis rotation suddenly has a pair of holes.  While Penny's strained lat muscle isn't seen as serious, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on the unusual nature of Lohse's injury and how the Cardinals aren't sure how long the right-hander may be out of action.

Strauss notes in his latter story that with Lohse's condition in limbo, "the Cardinals appear increasingly likely to examine trade and free agent options" for their starting rotation.  Before anyone immediately brings up the Roy Oswalt rumors, it's worth noting that Lohse was the Cardinals' fifth starter.  With Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright entrenched as the staff's co-aces and rookie Jaime Garcia pitching like an ace himself, it's far more likely that St. Louis will look to acquire a minor pitching upgrade rather than spend the money and prospects needed to get a pitcher of Oswalt's caliber.

Should the Cards explore the free agent market, it's worth mentioning that two of the four starters MLBTR's Luke Adams mentioned in his look at notable free agent pitchers still available have St. Louis ties; Braden Looper was originally drafted by the Cardinals and spent four seasons with the club, while the semi-retired John Smoltz just pitched for the Redbirds last season.  Pedro Martinez could be another intriguing option if his price is right.  St. Louis isn't the East Coast team that Martinez would reportedly prefer to join, but the Cards are certainly contenders.

Cardinals Open To Another Spring Signing

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MLB.com's Matthew Leach reports that St. Louis has between $6MM and $7MM worth of "wiggle room" in their payroll that may have to last the club through the rest of the season.  But, as Leach notes, "the Cardinals aren't holding onto money for a midseason trade as much as they are for an acquisition during camp." 

St. Louis GM John Mozeliak hinted that he may make another move during Spring Training if none of the team's young players step up to adequately fill the Cards' problem areas: "As we move forward and get into spring, we should have a better idea of what that [greatest need] might be. It may be nothing. But it usually is always something and more than something."

Matt Holliday dominated the headlines in St. Louis over the winter, but aside from that major re-signing, the Cardinals were fairly quiet in the offseason; only Brad Penny and possibly Rich Hill could be considered major additions to the club.  As Leach pointed out, however, the Cards have signed two free agents over the last two springs (Kyle Lohse and Dennys Reyes) and are still looking for backup outfielders, a left-handed pinch-hitting option and possibly another reliever or two.

Odds & Ends: Rockies, Orioles, Mets

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A few more links to peruse while the baseball world waits for tonight's game in the Bronx….

  • Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post discusses Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracy and GM Dan O'Dowd, and the deals they'll likely sign this week. Renck praises O'Dowd's recent acquisitions and suggests that this winter the GM will be looking for starting pitching and a right-handed bat.
  • MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez reports that the Baltimore Orioles' potential corner infielders of the future, Josh Bell and Brandon Snyder, are currently tearing up the Arizona Fall League.
  • In the first part of a feature, Viva El Birdos takes a look at the "untradeable" Kyle Lohse.
  • Michael Baron at MetsBlog summarizes a few opinion pieces on the Mets from around the internet, including one by Mike Silva of the New York Baseball Digest about inexpensive free agents.

Discussion: The Market For Joel Pineiro

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Joel Pineiro threw his first pitch as a major leaguer in 2000, as a member of the Seattle Mariners.  He stuck around in the Pacific Northwest for the next seven seasons, going 58-55 with a 4.48 ERA and a 5.9 K/9 over 996 innings (148 starts).  His best full season in Seattle came in 2002 when, as a 23-year-old, he finished 14-7 with a 3.24 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 6.3 K/9 and a 45.4% groundball percentage.  Pineiro was a much different pitcher back then.  He pitched mostly away from contact, and sought out high strikeout numbers.

These days you can find the right-handed Pineiro racking up gaudy groundball rates in St. Louis, under the tutelage of Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan.  He stands 14-11 this season with a 3.31 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 4.4 K/9 and a major league-leading 61.2% groundball percentage over 29 starts.  With a new style of pitching and some excellent season-long numbers, Pineiro enters free agency this winter. 

He's hoping to remain in St. Louis, where he has been able to revitalize his career, but the Cardinals probably won't have enough salary left for the right-hander if they opt to ink Mark DeRosa and/or Matt Holliday long term.  What other teams might have interest in the pitch-to-contact 30-year-old?  And what kind of contract can he realistically demand?  Kyle Lohse, for reference, was handed a four-year, $41 million deal in 2008 after posting a 3.78 ERA and 1.30 WHIP over 30 starts.

The Cardinals And The Economy

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The Cardinals are one of the surprise stories of the baseball season so far. Even after losing three straight by a combined score of 28-7, St. Louis is just two games behind Milwaukee in the National League Central.

But based on this item in a new column by Scott Miller of CBSSportsLine.com, the Cardinals better hope Tyler Greene is the answer at shortstop and Brad Thompson is able to fill in for Kyle Lohse.

"3. Tony La Russa, Twitter settle dispute: Too bad, too. Because had La Russa won the suit he wound up withdrawing, it probably was going to be the only way St. Louis could secure the money to add another bat to its lineup this summer."

It's an interesting piece less talked about in trade circles. Plenty of teams are assumed to be willing to dump salary once they fall out of the race, with an imperative to do so sooner in this difficult economic climate.

It may be, however, that many of the teams in a position to contend may not be adding salary, due to that very same economy.

In a season when even the Yankees claim they can't add salary, it will be fascinating to see if the glut of players expected to hit the market between now and July 31 fetch huge packages of prospects, if the few teams that can add payroll are bidding against themselves.

Odds & Ends: Tejada, Lohse, LaRussa

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Some late night linkage as you wait to see if Randy Johnson picks up win number 300:

  • Jeff Zrebiec says that the Orioles may end up releasing Jamie Walker in the coming days.
  • MLB.com's Joe Frisaro reports that the Marlins will designate reliever Hayden Penn for assignment. It's unclear who will take his place on the roster.
  • MLB.com's Bill Ladson says not to expect to see Tom Glavine in a Nationals uniform, but the team wouldn't mind having him as pitching mentor/coach. Glavine and team president Stan Kasten have a long standing relationship.
  • Miguel Tejada wants to finish his career in Houston. With the Astros already seven games back of first and a handful of teams looking for upgrades at shortstop and/or third base, Tejada probably won't get his wish.
  • Kyle Lohse left tonight's start in the third inning when his right forearm discomfort returned. Just yesterday there was talk of the Cardinals dealing from their pitching depth to address their infield issues, but depth on the mound has a way of disappearing quickly.
  • Tony LaRussa is suing Twitter. Whether Tony likes it or not, Twitter is here to stay.

Mike Axisa writes for River Ave. Blues.

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