Cardinals Avoid Arb With Ryan Ludwick
5:26pm: That was quick. ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark has learned that the deal is worth $3.7MM and carries another $100K in incentives.
5:22pm: Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Cardinals have reached agreement with Ryan Ludwick on a one-year deal.
The exact financial terms are not yet available, but Goold believes "that the two sides settled for above the midpoint of the two salaries entered into arbitration." Ludwick filed for $4.25MM and the Cardinals offered $2.8MM back when figures were due.
The Cardinals have now settled with all of their arbitration-eligible players. The club hasn’t required a hearing since 1999.
Isringhausen Could Return To Cards?
MONDAY, 5:12pm: MLB.com’s Matthew Leach spoke to Cardinals officials Monday, and it doesn’t sound like the club wants Izzy back for another season.
"I think the attitude for most of the winter has been for him to find a situation someplace that wasn’t us," manager Tony La Russa said. "And if that doesn’t work, it’s [already] the third day here. Not that it doesn’t ever happen — it does happen sometimes — but you don’t like guys missing the first three days. I don’t know. We talk about him, and it’s a complicated situation."
3:18pm: Strauss spoke to Isringhausen, who is still interested in signing a minor league deal with the Cards if they’ll have him. The Dodgers and Brewers are known to have interest, if that doesn’t work out.
SATURDAY: Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said in a radio interview on the Team 1380 that the Cardinals have spoken with Jason Isringhausen‘s representatives and could still sign him. The Cardinals are keeping their options open and they could strike a deal if Izzy doesn’t yet have a job in a few weeks.
The Isringhausen discussion comes up near the end of the chat.
Ludwick, Cardinals Close To Agreement
According to MLB.com’s Matthew Leach, the Cardinals are close to an agreement with outfielder Ryan Ludwick on his ’09 salary. Ludwick cancelled plans to fly to Arizona for his hearing tomorrow. Both Ludwick and Cards GM John Mozeliak say small details remain. Ludwick had requested $4.25MM, the Cardinals $2.8MM.
Albert Pujols Discusses His Future
8:22pm: MLB.com’s Matthew Leach gathered a ton of relevant quotes from Albert during the first baseman’s sitdown with reporters on Sunday.
"Do I want to be in St. Louis forever? Of course," Pujols said. "People from other teams want to play in St. Louis and they’re jealous that we’re in St. Louis because the fans are unbelievable. So why would you want to leave a place like St. Louis to go somewhere else and make $3 or $4 more million a year? It’s not about the money. I already got my money. It’s about winning and that’s it."
5:59pm: Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols was reluctant to speak about his future with the club during the annual Winter Warm-Up in St. Louis back in January. Well, Sunday morning he opened up a bit more to the Associated Press, via USAToday.com.
"It’s not about the money all the time," the first baseman said. "It’s about being in a place to win and being in a position to win. If the Cardinals are willing to do that and put a team (on the field) every year like they have, I’m going to try to work everything out to stay in this town. But if they’re not bringing championship caliber play every year, then it’s time for me to go somewhere else that I can win… When I signed my contract I was really happy with what I got. When that time comes (for another contract) then we’re going to figure it out."
MLBTR had a nice discussion on Albert’s free agent value earlier this winter. Barring an extension, El Hombre will be free to test the market after the 2011 season. A .334/.425/.624 career hitter, he is currently just 29 years old.
Cards, Ludwick Working To Avoid Arb
Ryan Ludwick is set to fly to Phoenix on Monday afternoon in preparation for his Tuesday arbitration hearing. But he is still hopeful, according to MLB.com’s Matthew Leach, that a deal can be reached.
The Cardinals settled on a last minute agreement with fellow outfielder Rick Ankiel on Thursday. Ludwick is hoping for a similar push, but his gap is fairly large. He requested $4.25MM and the Cards made a $2.8MM bid back when arbitration figures were due.
"That’s exactly why I came down," Ludwick said. "And that’s why I say I’m optimistic. To see where they were and how his whole deal went down, I think that’s what leads to optimism on my side. Thinking, hey, they got his done, so hopefully we can get mine done before I have to leave on Monday. It would be nice."
Cardinals Aren’t Talking To Ohman
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold, the Cardinals are not currently engaged in discussions with lefty reliever Will Ohman.
Ohman supposedly has four offers on the table, and there was some speculation that an NL Central team might be involved. If Goold is correct, an offer didn’t come from St. Louis. That leaves the Astros, Cubs, Pirates, Brewers and Reds as possible suitors.
The Mets, Phillies and Dodgers have already denied having serious interest. The A’s are known to be looking for some left-handed bullpen help, but reportedly have their sights on Dennys Reyes.
Odds and Ends: Dunn, Schumaker, Abreu
Links for Friday…
- The Blue Jays signed pitcher Dirk Hayhurst to a minor league deal; they’d released him to make room for Matt Bush.
- Alex Speier of WEEI has quotes from John Smoltz about his departure from Atlanta. Smoltz leaving the Braves was the biggest surprise of the offseason for me.
- ESPN’s Jayson Stark surveyed 15 baseball sages for all kinds of opinions on the best and worst of the offseason (which is not officially over yet).
- Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post has more from the Adam Dunn press conference.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch sees Skip Schumaker as the Cardinals outfielder most vulnerable to a trade.
- ESPN’s Keith Law weighs in on the Bobby Abreu signing.
- Kevin Goldstein’s Top 100 Prospects list is up over at Baseball Prospectus.
- Scott Moore cleared waivers; he’ll remain in the Orioles organization.
- My definition of a fantasy baseball sleeper, over at RotoAuthority.
- Shoutout: MLBTR had over 9,800 pageviews from Puerto Rico this month.
Odds and Ends: Dunn, Byrd, Epstein
Links for Thursday…
- RotoAuthority ranks the outfielders for fantasy baseball.
- All kinds of interesting comments from former Phillies GM Pat Gillick, including his thoughts on Pat Burrell and Milton Bradley.
- Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch weighs in on the Cardinals’ second base situation.
- ESPN’s Keith Law evaluates the Nationals’ Adam Dunn signing. He considers it "$20 million for a few meaningless wins over the next two years."
- Evan Brunell of Fire Brand of the American League interviewed free agent hurler Paul Byrd.
- Rob Bradford of WEEI has quotes from Theo Epstein about trading young players.
- Shoutout to our readers in the United Kingdom, who account for 11,000 of MLBTR’s pageviews this month.
Cardinals Sign Rick Ankiel At Midpoint
According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, Rick Ankiel and the Cardinals settled at $2.825MM for ’09 (the midpoint of their submissions). The hearing had been scheduled for today.
Ryan Ludwick‘s hearing is set for Tuesday, if they can’t reach an agreement beforehand.
Cardinals Hope To Avoid Arb With Ludwick
According to MLB.com’s Matthew Leach, the Cardinals hold "some sliver of hope" that an arbitration hearing can be avoided with outfielder Ryan Ludwick.
Ludwick asked for $4.25MM and the Cardinals countered with a $2.8MM bid back when figures were due. That gap is obviously going to be tough to overcome, but the Red Birds do have some time. Ludwick’s hearing won’t take place until Tuesday, February 17.
The 30-year-old exploded last season, finising with a line of .299/.375/.591, including 37 home runs and 113 RBI.