Dodgers acquire Aroldis Chapman for 2 minor leaguers.

artie_fufkin wrote:

don.rob11 wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

 
Thank goodness. I thought we'd overreact.

When they tell you it really hurts when you laugh after hernia surgery, they were right.....

​Oh no. On the DL, Don?
 

Yes , but recovery is rapid , and expect to make the 25 man roster any day now .

APIAD wrote:

forsberg_us wrote:

Dodgers acquire Aroldis Chapman for 2 minor leaguers.

Havent read about it but i assume they were top end. Suprised they didnt get more

Don't the Dodgers already have a pretty good closer?

Get well soon, Don. In the meantime, feel comforted by the fact that the Cardinals are currently winning the coveted Most Frugal Offseason award.

Im still holding out hope that they are able to resign heyward and make a trade that really impact the team.  Will all the moving parts on thia team they have alot of option,basicly every position could be traded or traded for excluding catcher, lf and if they sign heyward rf.  And imo on the trading block would be wong, adams, grichuk, piscotty, moss, jay, seigrist, walden,cooney, lyons and pretty much any minor leaguer.

tkihshbt wrote:

Don't be silly, AP. They might not get all that, but the powder will remain dry so they can go beyond their comfort zone next offseason. That will DEFINITELY be the one where they ignore the sticker shock and go full bore

The PD has a couple new articles up.  One says the cards are pretty much out of the pitching market going with the options of Gonzalez,  Lyons and cooney.  The other one is about burhle as the primary option also mentioning ian kennedy.  Honestly all the option to me are about equal.  Im sure if you could look into the future one of the 5 given a full season of work would be adequate but in the present I cant tell you what one id prefer.
 

tkihshbt wrote:

Nothing gets the competitive juices of defending a division title like 50-year-old Mark Buehrle or crappy, ineffective Ian Kennedy.

Kennedy doesnt interest me at all really.  Idk how his whip is lower then buehrles.
 

forsberg_us wrote:

Looking at where these salaries are headed, I suppose I would've been OK with the Cardinals signing Price, but I really hope they don't sign Mike Leake or some comparable pitcher for 5 years at $15-17M per season.

2016 could be a long season.

Mo specifically said that sort of contract was what he was advoiding.

Chapman trade is on hold ...

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14317320/aroldis-chapman-fired-gun-accused-choking-girlfriend-domestic-violence-incident

tkihshbt wrote:

The Cardinals have reportedly traded Jon Jay to San Diego for Jedd Gyorko.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/birdland/cards-make-a-deal-for-san-diego-s-gyorko-sending/article_4b38b9ae-7555-5d77-a765-b4ea8b7fb5c7.html

If nothing else, this deal prevents him from facing the Cardinals' pitching staff. I think his lifetime BA against the Cardinals is around .900.
 

BTW, career .342/.400/.589 against the Cardinals.  5 HR and 16 RBI in 18 starts.

"He's signed through 2019 at $4M, $6M, $9M and $13M.  That's a pretty big contract to take on for a bench player."

OK, now I'm stumped. I can certainly live with the first two years, but the third year is a stretch and the fourth year is outrageous. There's also a team option for $13 million in 2020.
Is the plan to platoon him with Wong at second and have him provide backup to Peralta at short, and then take over shortstop when Peralta's contract is up?
Maybe it's a theory, but this is a player who has pedestrian offensive numbers and only 220 major league innings at shortstop.
This seems like a very La Russa-esque acquisition: Fall in love with a player who has performed well against you, acquire him and then try to jam him into a role that he's clearly not suited for.
The report in the P-D indicates the Padres are sending over cash in the deal. I hope it's a lot.

My thoughts

1. At first I didnt like it because I despise mendoza line guys.  He hit .210 over 400ab in 2014.  That sucks. 

1a. The power is a plus.  The team needs it and if they cant get a middle of the order bat they are going to have to piece together power.  If gyorko can hit .250 and not .210 ill stay calm.  VEB stated that he was demoted last year and later recalled.  Once recalled he hit .267 with 14 hr in 300 plus AB.  Thats pretty good.


2. Even with the money they sent over 6 million is alot for a bench bat.  Between him and moss there will be alot of money on the bench

2a. The cards didnt just take on this salary.   They unloaded jay and the 6million they owed him.  Plus matheny not having the ablity to use jay over superior athletic players has to be worth something.  With the spending in the mlb it is hard to gage what a good bench player will run teams. Note my post on zorbist and his crazy rumored offer.  Also this trade didnt cost the cards a draft pick which is worth something as well.


3.I actually like his profile as a fielder.  Maybe a poor man ben zorbist.  He is a second baseman and platooning him with wong should help both players production.  He can also spell carp and peralta.  At least he has played ss in the past even tho im not sure he will be great.  Playing peralta 162 games isnt an option and like wong I think peraltas production will improve with regular rest. 


4. I like the bench.  The cards have added a more proven back up catcher.   If moss can put his career back together he will offer a legitimate power.  Gyorka offers that as well.  The bench was an issue and even if the cardinals are over spending to fix it I think they are improving.