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Cardinals Sign Jeff Suppan

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MONDAY, 4:27pm: MLB.com's Spencer Fordin reports that the deal is now official.

SATURDAY, 7:56pm: Cards manager Tony La Russa confirmed that the club will bring Suppan back for a second stint, writes MLB.com's Barry M. Bloom. 

The club has already cleared space on the 40-man roster by outrighting Tyler Norrick.  Now, they must make a move on the 25-man roster to activate Suppan.

6:13pm: The Cardinals are planning to sign the veteran hurler early next week and put him in the rotation, according to Fox Sports Midwest (via Twitter).  The club has been impressed with Suppan's side sessions where he has demonstrated that his arm is healthy.

St. Louis must first make some roster adjustments before inking Suppan.

THURSDAY, 2:50pm: The Cardinals will sign Jeff Suppan, according to the Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Suppan pitched for St. Louis for three seasons before signing a four-year, $42MM deal with the Brewers.  The Brewers released the righty Monday with $10MM remaining, making him a free agent.  The Cards will pay just the pro-rated league minimum. 

The Cardinals' rotation has been weakened by Brad Penny's lat strain and Kyle Lohse's forearm injury, creating the need for a veteran at the back end to soak up innings.

Heyman’s Latest: Lee, Oswalt, White Sox, Nady

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Jon Heyman has a new column up at SI.com, so let's dive on in…

  • Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt are the two big name pitchers available on the trade market, but their value is very different because of the money owed to them. "At the end of the day," says one AL exec, "I don't think Houston will be able to move the entire (Oswalt) contract and get premium players back."
  • Another AL executive noted that Lee has proven that he can be successful in the American League and will fetch two draft picks at the end of the season.
  • The Red Sox turned down a straight up Lee for Clay Buchholz offer last year.
  • The Yankees are happy with their rotation at the moment, but they plan on putting in a call in the coming days just in case they are "pleasantly surprised" by Seattle's asking price. Oswalt, meanwhile, isn't even on their radar.
  • Some wonder if the Dodgers are saving money for a big score, but GM Ned Colletti will be hard pressed to acquire either Lee or Oswalt without ownership approval.
  • The Cardinals might not be willing to take on Oswalt's deal with Albert Pujols' free agency rapidly approaching.
  • The Mets might not want to give up the prospects to acquire another frontline pitcher, though the Rangers would be able to work Lee's salary into the budget.
  • Heyman also goes through and offers some opinion on other teams that could use one of the two aces, including the Reds, Phillies, and Angels.
  • Kenny Williams would like to fire Ozzie Guillen according to one person close to the team, but owner Jerry Reinsdorf is too loyal to let it happen.
  • A trade of Xavier Nady to open up the Cubs' outfield logjam seems likely.

Cardinals Outright Tyler Norrick

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The Cardinals have outrighted lefty Tyler Norrick off the 40-man roster, tweets Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The move frees up a roster spot for the recently re-signed Jeff Suppan.

The 26-year-old Norrick was St. Louis' sixth round pick in the 2006 draft, though he has yet to reach the big leagues. He posted a 7.71 ERA with 18 strikeouts and 15 walks in 16.1 innings split between the Cardinals' High-A and Triple-A affiliates this year, with a disabled list stint in-between. The lefty reliever owns an impressive 8.9 career K/9, but the walks are too high at an even 5.0 BB/9. 

Cardinals Looking For Starting Pitching

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The Cardinals have begun searching for starting pitching, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Kyle Lohse and Brad Penny are on the mend, so GM John Mozeliak is on the lookout. Since Lohse and Penny have uncertain timetables as they recover from injuries, manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan asked Mozeliak to look for help outside the organization.

The Cardinals could use arms soon, so they're not likely to pursue pitchers like Pedro Martinez, Braden Looper and John Smoltz, who have been inactive so far in 2010. La Russa and Duncan appear willing to discuss a reunion with Jeff Suppan, who was recently released by the Brewers. The club also appears interested in Kevin Millwood, according to Strauss, though the team would not likely be able to take on the remainder of Millwood's $12MM salary.

Odds & Ends: Harper, Cardinals, Zaun, Snell

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A few more links to browse, on the night of Buster Posey's first big-league home run….

Brad Thompson Elects Free Agency

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Brad Thompson has chosen to become a free agent after clearing waivers, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter). The Royals designated Thompson for assignment when they claimed Kanekoa Texeira off of waivers last week. 

Thompson, 28, has a 6.41 ERA in 19.2 innings this year with 4.6 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9. Before this season, the right-hander had spent his entire career with the Cardinals, the team that drafted him in 2002. In five seasons with the Cards, Thompson posted a 4.36 ERA in nearly 400 innings as a swingman. The Royals signed Thompson this winter after the Cardinals released him.

Discussion: Jeff Suppan

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Jeff Suppan is a free agent now, after being released by the Brewers with over $10MM remaining on his contract.  Suppan's new team would be on the hook for only the pro-rated league minimum.  The righty is projected by ZiPS to post a 5.40 ERA from here on out.  That's not appealing, but maybe a 4.75 ERA can be coaxed out of Suppan over a half-season.

A Cardinals reunion has been bandied about by some analysts, as the team could use a rotation arm given the injuries to Kyle Lohse and Brad Penny.  However, Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch would be stunned if the Cardinals show interest.

How about another former team of Suppan's, the Pirates?  Back at the '03 trade deadline, the Bucs sent Suppan, Brandon Lyon, and Anastacio Martinez to the Red Sox for Mike Gonzalez, Freddy Sanchez, and cash.  The Pirates currently have Jeff Karstens and Dana Eveland at the back end of their rotation, though Brad Lincoln is on the way and Charlie Morton is on the DL.  What's the point in a rebuilding team letting Suppan soak up innings at an ERA over 5.00?

The Brewers would not commit a rotation spot to Suppan, and their starters have a collective 4.82 ERA.  The reality is that he is not going to jump into anyone's starting five.  Suppan could instead sign a minor league deal with a club like the Astros, and hope to get the call if Brett Myers and/or Roy Oswalt are traded a month from now.

Keith Law’s First-Day Draft Reactions

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ESPN's Keith Law found yesterday's first round insane.  To fully understand why you should join ESPN Insider and read his piece, which I heartily recommend.  A few highlights:

  • Law found it interesting that the Brewers snagged high school righty Dylan Covey at #14, because they are a team in need of more immediate rotation help.  GM Doug Melvin explained to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that scouting director Bruce Seid deserves credit for not taking the easy path in the form of a college hurler.  On yesterday's conference call, MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith learned that Covey feels there's a "really good chance" he'll sign rather than attend the University of San Diego.
  • Law felt that the Reds took the best player available at #12 in college catcher Yasmani Grandal, and having strong catching depth in the system will not be a bad thing.
  • The Cardinals drew praise for landing college third baseman Zack Cox, who surprisingly fell to #25.
  • The Red Sox and Angels' many first-round picks were lauded by Law.  College righty Anthony Ranaudo was an intriguing choice by the Red Sox.  The Boras client was considered one of the draft's top talents before suffering a stress reaction in his forearm.  WEEI's Alex Speier has more on Boston's three picks.
  • The biggest surprise of the draft had to be the Cubs taking college righty Hayden Simpson at #16, who was not considered a first rounder by most draft gurus.  Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken told Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune he had it confirmed that other clubs would've taken Simpson before the Cubs picked again at #65.  The Yankees' selection of high school shortstop Cito Culver at #32 was another surprise.
  • The Dodgers took a very tough sign in high school pitcher Zach Lee, who has a commitment to play football at LSU.  Dodgers assistant GM Logan White insisted to Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times that the team did not purposely take an unsignable player to save money.

2010 Draft Pick Gains And Losses

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Using Mike Axisa's 2010 draft order, let's take a look at which teams gained and lost picks through free agent compensation during the offseason.

  • Seven clubs added at least one pick without giving any up: the Angels, Blue Jays, Astros, Rangers, Cardinals, Rays, and Rockies.
  • The Angels lost Chone Figgins and John Lackey, but they added the most and best picks: #18, #29, #37, and #40.  This is a huge year for director of scouting Eddie Bane.  The Blue Jays added three picks: #34, #41, and #80.
  • The Astros, Rangers, and Cardinals each added two picks, with the Astros doing the best by snagging #19 and #33 for Jose Valverde.
  • The Orioles and Mets were the only two teams to lose a pick without adding any; those are #53 and #57 respectively.
  • The Mariners added #43 but gave up #18, while the Tigers added #44 and #48 while giving up #19.
  • The Red Sox came out in pretty good shape despite signing a pair of Type As in John Lackey and Marco Scutaro.  The Sox added #20, #36, #39, and #57 while losing #29 and #80.  Losing a Type A who was offered arbitration brings in two picks, but signing such a player only costs one.
  • The Braves added picks #35 and #53, but surrendered #20.

Originally published 3-29-10.

Odds & Ends: Fielder, Lincoln, Gorzelanny, Lee, Haren

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