Written by Mike on September 30, 2008 – 12:17 am -
The St. Louis Cardinals wasted no time extending one of their most successful starting pitchers, free-agent-to-be, Kyle Lohse. It seemed a deal was imminent when the righty was scratched from his scheduled start in the last game of the season to undergo a physical. Today, the Cards made the official announcement. Matthew Leach has more.
The 4-year contract is said to be worth $41 million, and offers a full no-trade clause. It’s a deal similar to the one he was hoping to get last offseason before the Cardinals signed him cheaply when there were no other takers. Earning only $4.25 million this season, Lohse finished the year with a 15-6 record, and an ERA of 3.78 in 200 innings.
The backloaded contract is reportedly worth $7.125 million for 2009 (plus a $1.25 million signing bonus). So, the Cardinals should still have plenty of money to try and fill the remaining holes on the roster.
Overall, I like the move. I know that Lohse had a career year in his first season with the Cards, but I also think that you’re a product of your environment, and I’ve seen plenty of players play their best baseball in St. Louis. It’s no secret that Lohse likes it here, and I have no reason to believe that he’ll be any less of a pitcher next season.
So, John Mozeliak can already put a check mark in one of the offseason to-do boxes, but he’s still got a lot more work to do. It should be an interesting winter.
Posted in Lohse, Mozeliak | No Comments »
Written by Mike on July 11, 2008 – 7:31 pm -
Kyle Lohse is at it again. In game one of the final series before the All-Star break, Lohse shutout the Pirates for seven innings, allowing six hits and striking out three, before handing it over to the bullpen. Lohse now sports an 11-2 record, and lowered his ERA to 3.39, putting him neck and neck with the best pitchers in the National League. If he keeps this up, the Cardinals should look very seriously at a long-term extension for him.
Following Lohse was left-handed rookie Jamie Garcia, making his Major League debut. Garcia just turned 22 three days ago, and the kid made a nice first impression. He allowed just one hit and a walk in the final two innings. He also struck out a pair. The Cards have now had 10 players make their big league debut with them this season. As George Von Benko points out, that’s a staggering number for a team in contention.
Thanks to the stellar pitching, the Cardinals could have won with just a single run. Instead, they plated six, including home runs from Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick. Both Ankiel and Troy Glaus had three hits a piece, while Yadier Molina chipped in with a pair of RBI. The Redbirds had 13 hits in all.
So a well played game on both sides of the ball ends in a Cardinal victory. Here’s the complete box score. The win puts the Cards back at 10 games over .500, but still trailing the Cubs by 4.5 games. If Milwaukee can hang on to win tonight, they’ll remain a half game ahead of St. Louis.
In game two tomorrow night, the Cardinals will face yet another left-handed starter. Phil Dumatrait will start for the Bucs, making it the seventh consecutive game the opposing team started a lefty. The last right-hander the Cards faced was Carlos Zambrano, back on July 4. Todd Wellemeyer will start for the Redbirds tomorrow.
An interesting trade rumor popped up today. According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, both the Cardinals and Diamondbacks are looking at Pittsburgh outfielder Jason Bay. Apparently, top prospect Colby Rasmus is the target for the Pirates. Hat tip to Tim Dierkes from MLB Trade Rumors. I think Rasmus for Bay would be an asinine move, but luckily, I’m sure John Mozeliak does too.
Posted in Ankiel, Garcia, Glaus, Lohse, Ludwick, Molina, Mozeliak, Rasmus, Wellemeyer | 1 Comment »
Written by Mike on July 9, 2008 – 8:48 pm -
I’m back! My trip to St. Louis over the holiday weekend was awesome. I got to watch some Cards/Cubs baseball, drink lots of beer, and hang out with some family and friends. I’ll talk more about the trip later.
For now, after a very impressive start from Joel Pineiro in last night’s win over the Phillies, the Cardinals dropped game two of the series 4-2. The buzz about tonight’s game, however, isn’t really about the loss. Instead, as the title reads, Mark Mulder, getting his first start since September of 2007, lasted just a third of an inning before experiencing some discomfort in his twice repaired left shoulder. After striking out Jimmy Rollins to lead off the game, Mulder walked the next two, and was hitting the showers after only 16 pitches. He’ll be reevaluated tomorrow. Is this the end for Mark? I guess we’ll find out soon.
Tony La Russa opted for Brad Thompson out the pen to fill in with two on and one out in the first. Thompson got Phillies’ slugger Ryan Howard to ground into an inning ending double play, and continued his effective pitching into the fourth. The Phillies hit two solo home runs in the eight to take the lead, one off of each of Kyle McClellan and Chris Perez. Brad Lidge continued his dominance with the save for Philadelphia in the ninth.
The Cardinals’ offense had their chances throughout the night, but couldn’t come through. They scored two in the fifth, courtesy of an Albert Pujols sac fly and an RBI single from Troy Glaus. The Cardinals left 12 men on base. Here’s the complete box score.
There’s plenty more news floating around Cardinal Nation, including the recent trades made by the other two NL Central contenders. The Brewers acquired the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner C.C. Sabathia, and the Cubs traded for Rich Harden. Each of the moves makes the teams much stronger, while making the Cards look inferior, especially after the situation with Mulder tonight. La Russa is hopeful that John Mozeliak and the front office won’t sit back and let Cardinals fall from the race without help. Matthew Leach has the full story.
By now you’ve heard that a pair of Cardinals are headed to New York later this month for the All Star game. Ryan Ludwick will be making his first appearance, while this is the seventh time for Albert Pujols.
That’s it for tonight. I’ll discuss more tomorrow. Game three from Philly features Jamie Moyer and Braden Looper. The Cards need a win, as they now trail Chicago by 4.5, and lead Milwaukee by only a half-game.
Posted in Glaus, La Russa, Looper, Ludwick, McClellan, Mozeliak, Mulder, Perez, Pineiro, Pujols, Thompson | 1 Comment »
Written by Mike on March 22, 2008 – 11:21 pm -
The United Cardinal Bloggers Group is winding down the roundtable discussions, with one more debate to be posted on Monday. Yesterday I posted three questions to the group for open discussion. In addition to me, we had four other Cardinal bloggers participate:
Here are the questions, and everyone’s thoughts:
1.) Yesterday, there was some talk about who you’ve been impressed with up to this point in Spring Training. What about the opposite? Which players are you surprised to see having a disappointing spring? Do you think they’ll turn it around?
Daniel: There haven’t been a lot of disappointments. There’s disappointment in the same old same old with injuries, as noted with Tyler Johnson still not throwing. Izturis, to me, has been the biggest on-field disappointment, though. I know he’s not much of a hitter, so the average wasn’t that disappointing, but the fielding? He’s making an error a game, it seems like, and I know TLR is big on him, but right now, it’s not looking so good.
Haedar: Gotta agree with Daniel and say Izturis. He was never known for his offense, but he is supposed to be a high caliber defensive player and at least put up an average of .250, but he’s made tons of errors this spring and is hitting around .150. Tony is being stubborn and stating that he is the starting shortstop to avoid the “Spivey 2008″ tag. If Cesar keeps this up, he will be relegated to the bench in no time.
Bryan: Cesar Izturis has definitely been the most disappointing player this spring. And to add to it, Tony La Russa has been equally as disappointing with his rigid position that Izturis is still doing well defensively and should still start. I’m not sure Cesar has anything left in the tank anymore. Molina’s slow start is disconcerting, but I think he’ll turn it around at some point. Blake Hawksworth really disappointed me this spring, as this was a chance to make a good impression on the big league club. I’m not too optimistic about him.
Michael: Duncan’s horrible spring at the plate was a surprise to me. Also to see Molina regress at the plate, after the progress he showed during last season, has been disappointing. The other disappointment was Clement’s physical readiness not being what we expected/hoped it would be at the start of spring training. I hadn’t been aware of Izturis’ struggles with the glove until I saw your guys’ comments.
Daniel: I’d like to see Molina hit better in the spring, but I wouldn’t say I was worried enough to call it a disappointment. If it continues well into April, then that might be a different story.
Me: Of course Izturis is the big one. I was okay with the signing when it happened, and was willing to watch a sacrifice in offense for a defensive upgrade at short. Turns out Izturis sucks with the glove too. Tyler Johnson disappoints me too. Last year, despite changing his jersey number and his hairstyle, he still got knocked around a bit. I read that he had a baby, and was maturing quickly. To hear that a little more work in the off season might have prevented his injury was very disappointing.
Daniel: The only thing I’ll add is that I’m not sure that more work would have prevented his injury. It might have helped, but this seriously sounds like a surgery thing coming pretty soon, in which case more work might have blown it out earlier or at best delayed the problem.
2.) Opening Day is just ten days away. There are a lot of new faces on this year’s team. How would you grade John Mozeliak in his first off season as GM? What were his best and worst moves?
Daniel: Still a little hard to judge Mozeliak since a few moves were made while he was interim GM and some still haven’t really panned out. All in all, though, I think he’s doing a pretty good job. If he’s one of the reasons so many young guys are still in camp or got long looks this spring, he jumps up another notch. His next big test will be the amateur draft. If they can get a quality draft in, he’ll move even farther up.
Haedar: Can’t really grade him accurately at this point but he’s made some good and some bad moves. The two worst moves of the offseason were signing both Izturis and Miles to guaranteed deals instead of minor league deals with invitations to spring training. The best move came a day or so ago locking up Wainwright long term.
Bryan: I would give Mozeliak a B so far. It was probably a B- before the Lohse signing, but the signing was such a good deal that he has to get a B. On the other hand, the Miles re-signing was a very questionable move (and still is, considering Miles’ terrible spring so far). Trading Rolen was good for the team, trading Edmonds was neutral (although it opened up a position in our already crowded outfield), and the Izturis signing was just plain bad. Overall, however, I’m very satisfied with the direction this team is going.
Michael: Mozeliak: average or slightly better than average so far, but it’s still too early to tell. I’m not a big fan of Lohse after watching him get torched in Cincinnati for the past few years, but with our starters in disarray again Mozeliak didn’t have much choice but to sign another pitcher. He at least got Lohse on the relative cheap. Hell, he can’t be any worse than Kip Wells, right? Managing to move Rolen for more than a used glove and a bucket of baseballs was a victory. The Miles signing, I agree with all, is a head scratcher unless viewed through the “Tony wanted him” prism. Signing Wainwright yesterday was a great move.
Daniel: The middle infield situation definitely is Mozeliak’s biggest drawback. Especially when he himself admits he’d have signed Adam Everett if he had thought he’d been nontendered. (Though that wouldn’t have helped with the offense, it’d done wonders defensively.) Adding Miles to the mix was really unnecessary save to appease La Russa, I’d guess.
Me: Overall: B+. With the exception of Miles and Gonzalez, I think the Cards made all the right moves. The Molina and Wainwright deals are by far the best. Payroll flexibility is much better than it has been in recent years. We’ll see what they do come draft time.
3.) How much better (or worse depending on your answer to question 2) is this team compared to last year’s squad? How many wins will the Cards have at the end of the season, and where do they finish?
Daniel: I think this squad might be a little better than last year. I think the pitching will be better, at least on the whole. The offense is pretty intriguing. If Kennedy hits like he has this spring and Molina hits like he did last year, there’s only Izturis as a “OK, nothing is happening here” spot in the lineup. I’m still holding out hope for a .500 season.
Haedar: I think the starters are a little better, the offense is better, or at least has more potential to put up better power numbers, but the bullpen will not be as good because people will be moving in and out and therefore some integral parts will not know their main role. I think most bullpens can be decent as long as the guys in it know what their main role is and in what situation they are called upon to pitch. With a lot of injured players coming back from the DL, there is going to be a lot of shifting around and some pitchers will not get comfortable in their temporary role.
Bryan: I think the team is better than last year, but a few injuries could really turn this season into a disaster. I think 80-85 wins is a very optimistic prediction, but I’ll go ahead and make it. I’m confident in our outfield and returning pitchers. Still don’t think that’ll be good enough for anything but third.
Michael: Even with all the moves the team has tread water overall since last season ended. The bullpen is still a plus but didn’t improve; the starters overall are still a minus and didn’t improve; the lineup is a wash; the bench is slightly better. It seems all our eggs for a good team are in the respective rehab baskets of Carpenter, Mulder, and Clement. I expect they’ll finish within +0, -10 games of .500 with the team they have now.
Haedar: I think the Cardinals’ record will get worse before it gets better. That’s to the tune of 75 wins this season.
Me: I think it depends on how you look at it. Before Opening Day ‘07, the Cards looked good. The pitchers all had good springs (even Wells), and no one thought they’d finish under .500. A ton of injuries changed the outlook dramatically. I’m optimistic about the offense. I think the potential to score a lot more runs is there. The starting pitching may be a wash, and I agree that the bullpen could be worse this year. I’m also wondering if the clubhouse will miss Edmonds, Rolen, and Eck.
That’s it. Lots of good points from everyone, and I’m sure they’ll be a lot more in the next installment. I love talking baseball!
Posted in Carpenter, Clement, Duncan, Eckstein, Edmonds, Gonzalez, Hawksworth, Izturis, Johnson, Kennedy, La Russa, Lohse, Miles, Molina, Mozeliak, Mulder, Rolen, UCB | 3 Comments »
Written by Mike on March 21, 2008 – 1:25 am -
The Cardinals have locked up their de facto ace long-term. Adam Wainwright signed a four-year contract extension today worth a guaranteed $15 million, with a team option for two more years, effectively penciling him in the rotation through 2013. The potential value of the deal is $36 million. It’s apparent that for the right players, the Cards are willing to spend money. The St. Louis Post Dispatch first broke the story.
Earlier this month, the team renewed Wainwright’s contract when the sides couldn’t come to an agreement on an ‘08 salary. Matthew Leach had that
story. The new deal will override the renewal ($448,000), giving the pitcher a raise for the coming season.
Here are the specifics:
- $750,000 signing bonus
- $500,000 salary for 2008
- $2.6 million for 2009
- $4.65 million for 2010
- $6.5 for 2011
- $21 million two-year option ($9 million for 2012 and $12 million for 2013)
The new contract buys out all three of his arbitration years, and the option would buy out his first two years of free agency. Earlier this off season, the Cardinals made a similar deal with catcher Yadier Molina. Now, Wainwright and Molina join Albert Pujols (assuming his option) and Chris Carpenter as faces of the franchise, signed through 2011.
It was a smart move by the John Mozeliak and the Cardinals front office. It gives the team control of a young, front-end starter, without hindering their payroll flexibility. Wainwright is having a nice spring, and continues to get better with each start. He’ll pitch tomorrow against the Orioles in Jupiter.
Posted in Carpenter, Molina, Mozeliak, Pujols, Wainwright | No Comments »
Written by Mike on March 15, 2008 – 12:58 am -
In the Cardinals’ final visit to legendary Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida, the Redbirds rode Rick Ankiel’s two home runs and four RBIs to their second straight win. Ankiel improved his batting average to .368. The final go-ahead runs were actually scored on a wild pitch, but without the damage done by the Cardinal outfielder, the Dodgers win.
The Cardinals’ new shortstop Cesar Izturis went 1 for 3, improving his average to a whopping .125. Looking not so Gold Glove like, he also committed his fifth error of the spring. He now has more errors than hits. Somehow, however, he’s still penciled in as the opening day starter, while the younger and cheaper Brendan Ryan is turning heads with his play but is still vying for a spot on the roster. With just over two weeks until Opening Day, I’m anxious to see how this one plays out.
The final score today was 6-4 Cards. View the full box score
here.
Tomorrow should be a good one. Adam Wainwright will take the mound for St. Louis, with Johan Santana slated to pitch for the Mets. The game will be televised on SNY.
Finally, a couple of quick links. If you’re apprehensive about the Cardinals’ new president, you’re not the only one. Check out what
Cardinals Diaspora has to say about it. And the folks at Fungoes applaud GM John Mozeliak on the Lohse signing. Find it
here.
Posted in Ankiel, Dewitt, Izturis, Lohse, Mozeliak, Ryan, Wainwright | No Comments »
Written by Mike on March 13, 2008 – 10:06 pm -
Yesterday, I lobbied for the club to add starting pitcher Kyle Lohse, and several others agreed (see Bernie Miklasz, Viva El Birdos, and Rockin’ the Red). Today, the Cardinals agreed to a one-year deal with the free agent, pending tomorrow’s physical. The contract is worth a guaranteed $4.25 million, with $100,000 in incentives for each of 160, 170, 180, and 200 innings. Joe Strauss has more on the story.
This is good news for the Redbirds. They needed another starter that can take the ball every fifth day and eat innings.
Kyle Lohse is just that guy. The trick now is going to be getting him game ready in only three weeks’ time.
Lohse joins a rotation of Adam Wainwright, Braden Looper, and the best two of Todd Wellemeyer, Anthony Reyes, and Brad Thompson. Four other starters are still trying to get healthy. If all the cards fall into place, by mid-season the team will have a surplus of starting pitchers, and that’s not a bad problem to have.
According to
Derrick Goold, backup catcher Jason Larue, a former teammate of Lohse, thinks the pitcher has great stuff, but needs direction. If that’s the case, the Cardinals should be a perfect fit. Under the direction of Dave Duncan and Yadier Molina, Lohse should be able to put it all together to become a more complete pitcher.
And how about the Cardinals’ brass? Way to go Mozeliak and Dewitt for not dragging their feet on this one. Although we’re not ready to start printing playoff tickets just yet, I think the move will put Cards fans at ease for a little while.
Posted in Dewitt, Larue, Lohse, Looper, Mozeliak, Reyes, Thompson, Wainwright, Wellemeyer | No Comments »
Written by Mike on March 12, 2008 – 11:36 pm -
The Cardinals starting rotation is in complete disarray, and the club may have finally decided to “look further” into adding help from the outside. The list of pitchers on the mend but “progressing nicely” is getting longer by the day. Already Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, and Matt Clement won’t be ready for the start of the season, and now it seems that Joel Pineiro might not be either.
“I’m not assuming he won’t be there opening day,” said pitching coach Dave Duncan. ”I’m assuming he won’t be there until he starts throwing again.”
Duncan goes on to say that he’s never gone this deep into spring with so much uncertainty surrounding the rotation.
Cards’ GM John Mozeliak has slightly changed his tune by inquiring about free agent pitcher Kyle Lohse.
“I think given the Pineiro situation, the landscape has changed to some degree,” said Mozeliak.
Lohse, 29, pitched for both Cincinnati and Philadelphia last season, going a combined 9-12 with a 4.63 ERA. For his career, Lohse is 63-74, with a 4.82 ERA. View all of his stats
here.
Without any additions, the Cardinals rotation consists of only two pitchers that started more than 20 games last season: Adam Wainwright and Braden Looper. Until the rehabbing pitchers return, the other three spots would fill out with some combination of Anthony Reyes, Todd Wellemeyer, Brad Thompson, or even one of the youngsters, Mike Parisi or Kyle McClellan. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with any of those pitchers, and I wouldn’t mind seeing one of them in the rotation, but not three. It seems like adding a guy like Lohse would make sense. When you think about it, Pineiro made only 11 starts in ‘07, and Carpenter, Mulder, and Clement combined for just 4. That is a lot of uncertainty to be riding on. Lohse made 32 starts last year, and has made 30 or more in five of the last six seasons.
“The key concern is how do we bridge the gap until we get our pitchers back,” Mozeliak said.
I say bring in Kyle Lohse.
Posted in Carpenter, Clement, Lohse, Looper, Mozeliak, Mulder, Pineiro, Reyes, Thompson, Wellemeyer | 2 Comments »
Written by Mike on February 26, 2008 – 3:44 am -
There were confirmed reports from Cardinals camp today that manager Tony La Russa was quietly lobbying for Barry Bonds. Spring Training games start this week and the home run king still remains a free agent. There has been little interest in the 43 year old slugger, as an investigation continues with possible perjury charges hanging overhead.
La Russa discussed the notion with his coaching staff, where he received a mixed response, then took the idea to general manager John Mozeliak.
“When you look at somebody dangerous to hit behind Albert, Barry was the guy I thought of,” said La Russa. “For whatever reason, at the general manager or ownership level, they didn’t agree.”
Barry Bonds doesn’t fit into the plans of Cardinal team trying to get younger. Certainly he would be asking for more than the club would be willing to pay, and would take away precious at-bats from the young outfielders already in camp.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of Bonds. However, I think he was one of the best baseball players of my generation. Bonds has always carried an intimidating bat. His on-base percentage is one of the greatest, and combined with his power potential, it’s hard to imagine him not yet having a team for the upcoming campaign. Unfortunately, Barry’s bat is the only part of his game that is still attractive to teams. A National League team like the Redbirds would have to stick him in right field, where he would be a defensive liability.
Although it’s fun to speculate the production of a lineup that includes Pujols, Bonds, Troy Glaus, Chris Duncan, and Rick Ankiel, the reality is that it just doesn’t make sense for the ballclub.
Joe Strauss and
Jeff Gordon have more on the story.
Posted in Ankiel, Duncan, Glaus, La Russa, Mozeliak, Pujols | 2 Comments »
Written by Mike on February 19, 2008 – 3:16 am -
The Cardinals’ newest starting pitcher Matt Clement might not be ready for the start of the 2008 season. Clement’s shoulder surgery and subsequent rehab have kept him off a major league mound since June of ‘06. Reports from camp in Jupiter say he’s behind schedule, and needs to build back his arm strength. Pitching coach Dave Duncan is now altering Clement’s schedule, which will now include long toss sessions between bullpen throwing days. It’s likely that Matt won’t start the season in the Cards’ rotation.
“In all honesty, I will be surprised if he’s ready for opening day,” Duncan said. ”And I’m not too sure even if he is ready, we wouldn’t likely have him compete somewhere else just to get him in the swing of things. He’s behind. How far? Don’t know yet.”
This could mean that the three pitchers competing for the last spot in the rotation, Todd Wellemeyer, Brad Thompson, and Anthony Reyes, will now be competing for two rotation spots. A May return for Mark Mulder is still hopeful. Barring any setbacks, Chris Carpenter should return sometime mid-season.
Cardinals’ GM John Mozeliak remains content with the current pitching staff, and despite the news on Clement, has no plans of pursuing any of the remaining free-agent arms.
“If I felt this was something that was a major setback or some guaranteed uncertainty, then I think obviously we’d have to re-evaluate where we are,” said Mozeliak.
For more on this story, read Derrick Goold’s article in the Post Dispatch
here, and Matthew Leach’s on MLB.com
here.
Posted in Carpenter, Clement, Mozeliak, Mulder, Reyes, Thompson, Wellemeyer | No Comments »
The Cardinals have locked up their de facto ace long-term. Adam Wainwright signed a four-year contract extension today worth a guaranteed $15 million, with a team option for two more years, effectively penciling him in the rotation through 2013. The potential value of the deal is $36 million. It’s apparent that for the right players, the Cards are willing to spend money. The St. Louis Post Dispatch first broke the story.
In the Cardinals’ final visit to legendary Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida, the Redbirds rode Rick Ankiel’s two home runs and four RBIs to their second straight win. Ankiel improved his batting average to .368. The final go-ahead runs were actually scored on a wild pitch, but without the damage done by the Cardinal outfielder, the Dodgers win.
Yesterday, I lobbied for the club to add starting pitcher Kyle Lohse, and several others agreed (see Bernie Miklasz, Viva El Birdos, and Rockin’ the Red). Today, the Cardinals agreed to a one-year deal with the free agent, pending tomorrow’s physical. The contract is worth a guaranteed $4.25 million, with $100,000 in incentives for each of 160, 170, 180, and 200 innings. Joe Strauss has more on the story.
The Cardinals starting rotation is in complete disarray, and the club may have finally decided to “look further” into adding help from the outside. The list of pitchers on the mend but “progressing nicely” is getting longer by the day. Already Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, and Matt Clement won’t be ready for the start of the season, and now it seems that Joel Pineiro might not be either.
