Cardinals Rumors

Odds & Ends: Cardinals, Pudge, Gorzelanny, Miller

By | March 18, 2009 at 11:54am CDT

Your Wednesday links, with more to come…

Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that the Cardinals' payroll is down about $8MM heading into the '09 season.
The Washington Post's Cameron Smith believes the Pudge Rodriguez signing "is a huge step for Houston."
A bit of a shock out of Pirates camp: The club optioned left-hander Tom Gorzelanny to Triple-A Indianapolis.
Chicago-area reporters don't expect the sale of the Cubs to the Ricketts family to be finalized before Opening Day.
Minor league free agent Rob Flanigan has been suspended 50 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
According to MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince, 24-year-old pitching prospect Adam Miller's career might be "in jeopardy as a result of decreased range of motion and strength in his right middle finger."
Mark it, dude: Tim's weekly chat is going down on Thursday at 2pm CST.

Schumaker Second Base Experiment Failing

By Tim Dierkes | March 11, 2009 at 5:11pm CDT

According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Skip Schumaker second base experiment is not going well. So far it’s been a learning experience for Schumaker defensively. Tony La Russa’s internal options: Brendan Ryan, Brian Barden, Joe Thurston, Tyler Greene, and Jarrett Hoffpauir.

Strauss believes Cardinals GM John Mozeliak may explore a trade to fill the position rather than sign a free agent. Aside from possibly Dan Uggla, though, the trade market doesn’t seem to offer anyone better than Ray Durham and Mark Grudzielanek.

Odds & Ends: Gload, Pierre, Beimel

By Tim Dierkes | March 6, 2009 at 11:09am CDT

Links for Friday…

The Dodgers designated Justin Orenduff for assignment to make room for Manny Ramirez, according to Tony Jackson.
The A's contracts with Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra are official.
WEEI's Alex Speier talked to Marlins prospect Mike Stanton and manager Fredi Gonzalez about the near-acquisition of Manny last summer.
In another column, Speier looks at the players the Red Sox and Yankees have battled for in recent years.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says a bunch of relievers are vying for one bullpen spot for the Cardinals, now that they've signed Dennys Reyes.
Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star suggests there's a chance the Royals release first baseman Ross Gload and eat the $1.9MM owed to him in 2009. Rany Jazayerli talks about Gload as well as the chances of the Royals competing this year.
Tom Tango says Juan Pierre would have to defer his contract for 50 years to be worth acquiring.
Tracy Ringolsby of Inside The Rockies says the Rox offered Joe Beimel more than $1MM but so far he's passed. Beimel's home run prevention trend might be challenged at Coors Field. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle says the A's are in on Beimel but "have not yet have substantive talks" with his agent.
Check out a Giants Spring Training preview from the guys behind El Lefty Malo and McCovey Chronicles.

Cardinals, Dennys Reyes Agree To Deal

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 5, 2009 at 8:50pm CDT

8:50pm: Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the signing of Reyes was a really big piece for the Cards and GM John Mozeliak came up huge again with a March deal. It reminds Gordon of the Kyle Lohse signing a year ago.

4:21pm: According to the AP, Reyes gets a two-year deal worth $3MM.

3:12pm: According to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney, the Cardinals have agreed to a deal with lefty reliever Dennys Reyes. Reyes, 32 in April, held lefties to a .202/.250/.287 line last year in 101 plate appearances.

Since Reyes was a Type B free agent offered arbitration, the Twins will receive a supplemental draft pick for their loss (#46 overall).

Pedro A Closer Candidate For Cards?

By Tim Dierkes | March 5, 2009 at 8:32am CDT

Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes about the possibility of the Cardinals pursuing Pedro Martinez as a possible closer candidate:

[GM John] Mozeliak is scheduled to meet today with [manager Tony] La Russa and his coaches to discuss the camp’s progress. The discussion might include discussion of Martinez as an option at closer. La Russa suggested in November that the club should expand its consideration to include veteran starting pitchers. Martinez has a recent history of shoulder problems but said Tuesday he would be open to the possibility of closing.

The World Baseball Classic might be a decent test of whether Pedro can perform in a relief role. In yesterday’s exhibition game, Martinez was clocked as high as 91 mph according to Arthur Staple of Newsday. It appears that he has yet to be offered a Major League deal.

Cardinals Exploring Lefty Relief Options

By Tim Dierkes | March 5, 2009 at 8:28am CDT

THURSDAY: Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks about the Cardinals’ pursuit of a lefty reliever:

Internal support exists for pursuing Beimel, but [GM John] Mozeliak recently denied making contact with Beimel’s agent, Joe Sroba.

Speaking of Beimel, Pirates president Frank Coonelly commented on him during an MLB.com chat yesterday:

He is someone who we have considered this offseason and have had discussions with his representative. To date, Joe has not been receptive to the type of contract we have discussed.

WEDNESDAY: According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Cardinals are "exploring the remaining lefties on the free agent market." So far this offseason they’ve imported Trever Miller, Royce Ring, Charlie Manning, and Ian Ostlund. Perhaps they’re attracted to the possibility of a bargain, with three solid southpaws remaining on the market.

Rosenthal notes that Dennys Reyes’ agent Casey Close is telling teams his client is close to a decision. Furthermore, he won’t be signing with Oakland. The A’s could move on to Joe Beimel. Rosenthal adds that the Cardinals are interested in Reyes as well as Will Ohman.

Odds & Ends: Marte, Wilkerson, Bowden

By Tim Dierkes | March 4, 2009 at 12:37pm CDT

Links for Wednesday as we enter the short post-Manny phase of the offseason…

RotoAuthority has 18 undrafted players to watch for mixed leagues.
WEEI’s Rob Bradford talked to Bill Lajoie, who was behind Boston’s acquisition of Andy Marte while Theo Epstein was on hiatus. Lajoie admitted he acquired Marte with the intent of flipping him.
SI.com’s Melissa Segura writes about fraud involving Dominican prospects.
Nothing cooking yet with the Red Sox and Jason Bay, says Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe.
Jorge Says No! says shortstops Bobby Crosby and Khalil Greene are at the crossroads of their careers.
WEEI’s Alex Speier notes that Boston outfielders Jeff Bailey and Brad Wilkerson have opt-out clauses if they’re not in the bigs by certain dates.
Fire Jim Bowden has the ten best moves of their namesake GM.
Nick Piecoro wonders if Randy Johnson took a subtle jab at Chris Snyder.
Updated June draft order at Baseball America.
Ken Davidoff of Newsday looks at each team’s 2012 commitments.

Cardinals Sign Mitch Harris

By Alex Walsh | February 28, 2009 at 2:24pm CDT

According to of Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis Cardinals have signed pitcher Mitch Harris to a minor-league deal.

Harris was selected in the 13th round of the most recent draft. His contract will take affect after Harris serves the required five years of active duty for the Navy.

Harris averaged 11.78 strikeouts per nine innings in his four-year pitching career at Navy, while posting a 2.51 ERA.

Cards Sign 17 Pre-Arb Players

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 28, 2009 at 10:46am CDT

MLB.com’s Matthew Leach reports that the Cardinals have agreed to contracts with 17 pre-arbitration players, including Skip Schumaker, Chris Perez and Brendan Ryan.

Albert Pujols: A Lifetime Cardinal?

By | February 26, 2009 at 12:36pm CDT

According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Cardinals plan on doing all they can to retain Albert Pujols for the rest of his career.

"If there’s a way to keep Albert a lifetime Cardinal, that makes a lot of sense for everyone," GM John Mozeliak told Heyman. "He’s very much an iconic player there, and if he wants to stay, we’re going to try to find a way to make that happen."

MLBTR has covered the topic at length this offseason. Pujols has two years and a team option remaining on his current deal, so the Cardinals don’t have to get serious for quite some time. "We’ve had casual mentions, but nothing in depth," said team owner Bill DeWitt.

Pujols, 29, has a career line of .334/.425/.624 and 319 home runs over eight major league seasons.

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