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The way i see it is that this team has a shit ton of options. Pretty much anyone on the roster could be traded. Id say wacha, wainwright, molina and carp are safe. Holliday would be hard to deal as would peralta and craig for contract reasons. Rosenthal, martinez and tavarez are to young and talanted to deal.
However garcia, miller, kelly, lyons, lynn, freeman, siegrist, motte, maness, choate, adams, jay, borjous, robinson and many minor leaguers are on the table for the right price. The ablity is there. The need is less clear but there is room for upgrades. I could see an upgrade in the rotation is they cleared room in the same area. I could also see a upgrade in center. Im not sure what is out there but center is the only position they add a bat in. It will be interesting to see how badly the cardinals wish to add power. I think they need it badly.
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I don't see them making a major move, even in centerfield. Jay is batting .310 and still has above-average range, and Bourjos can spell him against lefties and remains the best defensive outfielder on the team.
They don't need better players. They need the players they have to play better.
Last edited by artie_fufkin (6/18/2014 8:54 am)
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What if they traded for 2010 Matt Holliday, 2012 Allen Craig and 2013 Matt Carpenter?
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Cards have alot of players with peeking value. They should be mindful of any idea.
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APIAD wrote:
Cards have alot of players with peeking value. They should be mindful of any idea.
I wholeheartedly agree that Moz should keep his ears open in case a Brock-for-Broglio type deal comes his way, but there's no urgent need to improve any aspect of the team that can realistically improved (ruling out things like a shortstop with better defensive range, seeing as how they're on the hook for Peralta for the next 3 1/2 years, et al). They're in a position of strength because they can deal from depth.
Again, the seocnd wild card will make more teams buyers than sellers. The only teams that are really out of it at this point are Tampa, Houston, the Cubs, the Padres and the Diamondbacks. I'm sure there are some players like Samardjilidinzian or Price or Headley or Andrew Cashner that could provide upgrades. I'm just not sure the Cardinals would get a bang for their buck.
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I think Peralta's defensive deficiencies are overstated. The Cardinals employ enough shifts that his range hasn't really been an issue. That's not to say that they shouldn't upgrade there if the opportunity arises, but he's solid out there.
"The only teams that are really out of it at this point are Tampa, Houston, the Cubs, the Padres and the Diamondbacks. I'm sure there are some players like Samardjilidinzian or Price or Headley or Andrew Cashner that could provide upgrades. I'm just not sure the Cardinals would get a bang for their buck."
Agreed. Price would make the biggest difference, but he'd be expensive. He's better than every non-Wainwright pitcher, but he's about to become very expensive and I'm wary of teams giving big money to pitchers.
Chase Utley would be the biggest prize, and I'm guessing he would cost something along the lines of Wong, Piscotty/Grichuk, Kelly, Cooney plus an additional lower minors arm. However, there's no way Amaro would be open to that.
Ultimately, I think they deal for a reliever. Tampa has some good options, as does Houston with Chad Qualls.
Last edited by tkihshbt (6/18/2014 11:27 am)
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U really think they need a reliever with freeman, seigrist, kelly, martinez, motte, maness, lyons, choate, rosenthal and nesheck?
Those guys make up roster spots 6 through 15 and there isnt room for 2 or 3 of them.
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How attractive do you think a package of either
Miller/garcia/lynn
And
Jay/ girchuk/piscotty
and
Freeman/lyons
Would be seen. Seems to me that there is alot of upside to those guys and the cardinals could spare them.
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Yep. The Cardinals never believe they have enough pitching. Right now the bullpen is being held together by Rosenhausen, an overachieving Neshek and some great work by Freeman and Choate. Motte can't be trusted, Maness is too hittable, Martinez doesn't really work as a reliever and we're waiting to see what Kelly and Siegrist do. They need another guy, similar to Mujica in 2012 and Dotel in 2011, that they can count on to bridge the gap.
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I'm more comfortable, and I think he is as well, with Rosenhausen in the 8th inning role. It remains to be seen whether Motte can reclaim the closer's role. His velocity appears to be trending upward (I noticed a 94 recently), but as we saw last night, location still appears to be an issue, which of course is understandable. If Moz wants to make a splash, he'll go after a shutdown closer. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of those available from shitty teams.
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"How attractive do you think a package of either
Miller/garcia/lynn
And
Jay/ girchuk/piscotty
and
Freeman/lyons"
I think there's a wide variety among the possible packages. Miller is attractive because of his youth, Garcia is attractive because he's left-handed, and Lynn is attractive because he seems to be able to win games, even though winning isn't an important stat to the Sabreheads.
I'm afraid Jay has little trade value, and I think people would wonder why the Cardinals would part with Grichuk just six months after they got him. The only thing I know about Piscotty is he's being converted to the outfield and his hitting numbers have impressed the FO.
Lyons and Freeman have two different roles. Lyons projects as a fifth starter, maybe a fourth starter on team like Arizona that has virtually no pitching, but he has more value at this point than Freeman.
So, to answer your question, a package of Miller, Piscotty and Lyons would fetch more than, say, Garcia, Jay and Freeman.
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Id think the cardinals havijg so much major league ready talent could get them a major player in a 3 for 1 swap. However there isnt much to chose from in FA to be list.
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artie_fufkin wrote:
I'm more comfortable, and I think he is as well, with Rosenhausen in the 8th inning role. It remains to be seen whether Motte can reclaim the closer's role. His velocity appears to be trending upward (I noticed a 94 recently), but as we saw last night, location still appears to be an issue, which of course is understandable. If Moz wants to make a splash, he'll go after a shutdown closer. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of those available from shitty teams.
I'm not ready to dump Rosenthal from that role yet. It was just last October that he pitched 11 2/3 innings, struck out 18, allowed four hits and only one intentional walk. Why he has suddenly lost the ability to throw strikes has me confused because at no point in his pro career has that been an issue. Even on the biggest stage last fall he was pounding the zone.
If the Cardinals do look for a closer, I'm guessing Huston Street would be available. He's been unhittable and he's not giving up home runs this season. And really, what does a 30-42 team need with a closer that has one more year left on his contract?
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"I'm not ready to dump Rosenthal from that role yet."
I'm not panicking, but I'm ... concerned. At the beginning of the season when he was throwing 94-95, we got assurances that his velocity would return once he worked out the kinks, the weather got warmer, etc. He's touching 97 and occasionally 98, but I've yet to see him remain consistently at 99-100, where he was last year. And we're almost three months into the season.
And his control is, again, a concern. His walk rate is higher than it was last year, and he falls behind in the count too often.
He's been adequate, and there's still upside, but if a good deal for a lockdown closer comes around, the Cardinals should consider it. That's all I'm sayin'.
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Why is bullpen help a hot topic. For a closer to be effective he has to have the lead in the 9th...lol
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Peralta's one of the top 10 shortstops with regards to offense, and I don't think he was meant to replace Beltran. That was supposed to be Adams.
Tulowitzki would be amazing, but he's not going anywhere.
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"this team is in a dogfight with .500 because they need bats."
Sure, but where do you improve? The only positions that aren't locked in are center and second base. Do you give up prospects to land Ben Zobrist?
I still contend they need the players they have to play better.
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""I still contend they need the players they have to play better."
or start backing up to the pay window to get their checks...........
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This week has shown why i thought trading garcia and miller isnt out of the question. It likely doesnt get done now but this is exactly why.