I think the only way the Cardinals can land Price is if they get a third team involved and make Lynn available. Cardinals get Price, Mystery Team gets Lynn, Tampa gets whoever Cardinals trade Lynn for, plus additional prospects, i.e. Martinez, Kaminsky.

artie_fufkin wrote:

Is Price a FA at the end of this season?

No, after 2015.

Mike Ilitch is obsessed with getting another World Series before he passes on.

Detroit's rotation now features the last 3 AL Cy Young winners.  

tkihshbt wrote:

So far the only thing Tampa has to show for trading Price is Nick Franklin and Drew Smyly.

Also got a prospect from Detroit.  Willy Adams I believe.

Could the cards have swung this.  Id been really suprised if the cards added 3 starting pitchers at the deadline.  I think price or hamels would have push the cardinals ahead of the pack.  Lackey and masterson is patchwork for losing wacha and kelly.

I think that tells you what the league thinks of the vslue of craig and kelly.

Craig was a salary dump.  You may disagree, but the facts are that Craig has been absolutely unable to pull the ball with any authority whatsoever and, as a result, has made other adjustments to his swing which have turned him into a pretty crappy hitter.

Putting this into perspective, Craig's slash line for the season is .237/.291/.346.  Pete Kozma's career slash line is .233/.293/.333.  You can argue that Craig's track record suggests this is a blip, but you can just as easily argue that his injury history suggests this is a predictor of future performance.  We saw a very comparable decline in David Freese, and that trend hasn't reversed itself either.  

You're biggest issue with the deal seems to be your feelings about Lackey.  If you removed the name and looked simply at the statistics, you'd see that Lackey has been one of the top 15-20 pitchers in the AL over the last two seasons, he's got a track record for pitching a lot of innings, and he's signed to a ridiculously cheap deal for next season.  As of August 1, 2014, the best player in this deal is the one coming to St. Louis, not either of the players who departed.

artie_fufkin wrote:

"You're biggest issue with the deal seems to be your feelings about Lackey."

He gets drunk and orders fried chicken to be delivered to the clubhouse on nights he's not pitching.

I dont think this should be held against a guy. 
 

"there was a time when wearing the Birds on the Bat meant you had to conduct yourself with a certain amount of class and character."

That tends to be an expectation of how the player conducts himself while employed by the Cardinals.  I have a difficult time holding it against a player how he behaved elsewhere.  Jim Edmonds was supposed to be a major malcontent when he was with the Angels.  There were few players more popular that Edmonds during his tenure.  And there may not have been any player more despised by Cardinals fans than Will Clark when he played with the Giants, but his 2 months with the Cardinals made a lot of people forget how much they hated him.

Chris Carpenter wasn't exactly a peach when he was on the mound.  Maybe he didn't yell at all of his teammates, but I suspect he doesn't receive Christmas cards from Brendan Ryan.

forsberg_us wrote:

"there was a time when wearing the Birds on the Bat meant you had to conduct yourself with a certain amount of class and character."

That tends to be an expectation of how the player conducts himself while employed by the Cardinals.  I have a difficult time holding it against a player how he behaved elsewhere.  Jim Edmonds was supposed to be a major malcontent when he was with the Angels.  There were few players more popular that Edmonds during his tenure.  And there may not have been any player more despised by Cardinals fans than Will Clark when he played with the Giants, but his 2 months with the Cardinals made a lot of people forget how much they hated him.

Chris Carpenter wasn't exactly a peach when he was on the mound.  Maybe he didn't yell at all of his teammates, but I suspect he doesn't receive Christmas cards from Brendan Ryan.

 

Spezio comes to mind.  Lopez?  Did he best his wife or am i thinking of another middle infielder.  Tlr got a dui.  Long have the cardinals been accused of promoting players with ped histories....peralta.  it is hard to find a group of 25 men who dont have baggage.  If u do it is one damn boring group.

alz wrote:

Truth be told I have no idea. Every baseball writer I've read sides with artie on this. I have been monumentally underwhelmed with Craig this year and Kelly hasn't really been anything outstanding.

That said, I'd have rather we got Lester or Price with that deal instead of Lackey. You can only really judge by the deals other teams made but it seems they were "affordable".

What I go like I'd what I'm heading about Masterson. That deal was very well received.

Yahoo marked us a trade loser, and basically called us crazy for the Lackey deal.

Every criticism lobbed at the trade was based on 2011-13 Allen Craig, and they were written by writers who haven't watched Craig play all season.