The Woes of Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals

Adam Wainwright firing a pitch for the Cardinals in 2010. 
Courtesy of TheSportsKraze

Earlier this week, it was announced that St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright would miss the entirety of the 2011 season, and possibly some of the 2012 season, due to a right elbow injury that requires Tommy John surgery.

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This comes as a huge blow to a Cardinals team that had been depending on another great season from the southpaw from Georgia. After all, he's finished in top three for National League Cy Young Award voting the past two seasons, accumulating 39 wins and 425 strikeouts. 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wainwad01.shtml

Many critics had figured the Cardinals would be very competitive in the NL Central Division this season, though those views could now be entirely skewed due to this untimely injury to one of the game's great young pitchers. 

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Despite the untimely injury to Wainwright, the Cardinals still have a shot at making a run for the pennant this season. They still have three time Most Valuable Player Albert Pujols for at least one more year, Matt Holliday drove in 103 runs last year with 28 home runs, and they still have three elite starting pitchers in Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, and Jake Westbrook. The same cannot be said for the often erratic Kyle Lohse. 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/pujolal01.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/2010.shtml

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Now the team must deal with figuring out who will take the now open spot in the rotation. At least one source is pointing to the Cardinals filling out the rotation from within the organization, though there are still a few free agent starting pitchers available. Kevin Millwood and Jeremy Bonderman could fit the bill in this situation.

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http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/news/hot_stove/y2010/free_agent_tracker.jsp?fastatus=unsigned&subscope=pos&teamPosCode=S

There are a number of options within the organization. Ian Snell started eight games for the Seattle Mariners in 2011, though he posted an unimpressive 6.41 ERA. Miguel Batista has started over 200 games in his career, though he served primarily as a reliever for the Washington Nationals last season and is now over the hill at age 40. It would seem that the most intriguing candidate for the job would be Kyle McClellan, who has trained to be a starter for the team before. 

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http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/5723840b-0b75-5d51-aaa5-07a549083433.html

Ian Snell could be fitting the bill of starter for the Cardinals this season. 
Courtesy of Zimbio.com

Surely, Wainwright's injury is a huge blow to the great National League team. However, given the masterful work of pitching coach Dave Duncan in the past and the team's potent offense, there still is a chance for this team to make the playoffs. Don't expect the Redbirds to throw in the towel early. 

Pujols Plans for a Free Agency Flight that Might not be Round Trip

Albert Pujols blasting a home run, just like he has so many other times in his career. 
Courtesy of SportsNewscaster.com

Wednesday came and went as Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals were unable to reach an agreement on a contract extension. The all-star first baseman had set Wednesday as the deadline to end negotiations until after the 2011 season had ended.

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110216&content_id=16649896&vkey=news_stl&c_id=stl

As one could expect, this came as a huge disappointment to Cardinals fans everywhere. Furthermore, it means that for the first time in his already storied career, Pujols will have the opportunity to hit the free agent market following this season. For a three-time MVP (2005, 2008 and 2009) who’s already hit 408 homeruns during his 10 years in the major leagues, a lot of teams are going to be interested in arguably the greatest player in the game.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/pujolal01.shtml

Despite his credentials, the asking price for Pujols may be a bit high for a lot of teams, seeing as he is reportedly requesting the biggest contract in baseball history. (10 years, $300 million) John Mozeliak, the Cardinals general manager, apparently offered him a contract of eight years and more than $25 million annually, but Pujols and his agent, Dan Lozano, turned it down.

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If the Cardinals are unable to bring Pujols back to the team where he got his start after 11 seasons, numerous teams are going to have interest in the slugger may have the cash to strike a deal. Some of these teams include the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers and, most shockingly of all, Chicago Cubs.

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Now, the Yankees are only in the discussion because they have a great deal of money due to their large market in the Big Apple. However, they already have a starting first baseman in Mark Texiera, who still has six years and $135 million left on his contract. The same goes for the Red Sox, who traded for Adrian Gonzalez this offseason and are expected to announce a seven-year, $164 million extension on opening day.

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Although the Angels have funds to sign Pujols, they still have a sense of thriftiness as evidenced by their lack of big offseason signings this past winter. The Orioles haven’t had a winning season in 14 years, which would be a big detractor for Pujols. In a similar situation, the Royals, despite being located where Pujols played high school and college ball, have not had more wins than losses in a season since 2003.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BAL/

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The Mets have struggled with winning over the past few seasons, and they have a young first baseman in Ike Davis. Over in Los Angeles, the Dodgers are having an ownership crisis due to a nasty divorce that is bound to have a negative impact on potential free agent signings. So, based on these factors, it would appear that the two biggest suitors for Pujols may be the Cardinals and the Cubs.

Albert Pujols fielding a ball at Wrigley Field, which could be his new home in 2012. 
Courtesy of UPI.com

Thanks to the huge contracts of Carlos Pena, ($10 million) Aramis Ramirez, ($14.6 million) Kosuke Fukudome ($13.5 million) and Carlos Silva ($11.5 million) ending after the 2011 season, the big market Cubs will have some money to spare. However, the team hasn’t won a World Series in 103 years, and some might argue that’d it would be difficult for Pujols to switch sides on one of the biggest rivalries in baseball.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/

It would appear that the most likely suitor for Pujols still appears to be the Cardinals. Yes, he’s asked for more money that the team was willing to offer, but hope still remains that a deal can be done. He’s become the face of the franchise, and has stated numerous times that he still wishes to play for the Cardinals throughout the rest of his career. Money may come off as an issue, but Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday even offered to defer some of the money from his contract so they could retain Pujols.

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So, for the good of baseball, here’s to hoping Pujols plays for the Cardinals throughout the rest of his career. The game needs more great players that spend their entire careers with one team, especially the ones that could go down as the best of all time. In the time of huge money contracts and extreme greed, America’s past time needs nothing more. 

Young Thinks Texas is Getting Old

Earlier this week, Michael Young, who has been the heart and soul of the Texas Rangers for the past decade, requested a trade from the team with whom he has spent his entire career.

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Young, who has shifted around the infield throughout his baseball career and played third base last season, had initially agreed to become the primary designated hitter for the Rangers after they signed all-star third baseman Adrian Beltre to a six-year, $96 million deal at the beginning of January. 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110105&content_id=16393188&vkey=news_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex

Michael Young could be swinging for the fences elsewhere in 2011. 
Courtesy of BostonDirtDogs.com

Apparently, he now has other ideas.

Now, based on what has been said, Young claims that the fact that he was moving to designated hitter did not prompt his request for a trade, but rather how he was “manipulated and misled” behind the scenes by the Rangers front office.  Whatever happened, it must have been massive considering that Young has essentially been the team’s captain and the biggest veteran presence in that clubhouse for a long time.

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Young has been a constant contributor to the Rangers since he first started playing for them regularly in 2001. He’s had four seasons of at least 20 homeruns (2004, 2005, 2009 and 2010) and led the league in batting with a .331 average in 2005. Even though the team picked up Adrian Beltre, (.321 average, 28 homeruns,  102 RBIs in 2010) they are going to be losing a lot of production with a trade of Young and the loss of Vladimir Guerrero (.300 average, 29 homeruns, 115 RBIs) to free agency.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/y/youngmi02.shtml

Adrian Beltre will be manning the hot corner for the Texas Rangers in 2011. 
Courtesy of ESPN.com 

The Rangers have made no progress on getting a trade done for Young. He has a clause in his contract that only allows a trade without his approval to eight teams, (The New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) and Young does not fit in with most of these teams and their budgets. The Yankees are set across the infield and the Cardinals do not have the money considering their offseason signing of Lance Berkman and their attempt to resign Albert Pujols.

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The Rockies are said to have interest in the veteran infielder, but no deal is imminent. Young would thrive in the hitter’s park that is Coors Field, just as he has over the past 10 seasons at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110210&content_id=16614428&vkey=news_col&c_id=col

On the Rangers’ side of things, it makes a lot of sense to trade Young. The main reason in which it could work out in the favor of the front office is through payroll cutting. After all, the team could use as much money as it can get, especially after their signing of reigning American League MVP Josh Hamilton to a 2-year, $24 million deal.

http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110210&content_id=16610828&vkey=news_tex&c_id=tex

The bottom line of this whole situation is this; the Rangers have to do everything in their power to trade Young. Going into the season with a player who has gone from the soul to the broken heart of the team is only going to create clubhouse problems. Trying try to get a good deal in return for the all-star infielder is pertinent for the front office, but given his massive contract, ($48 million from 2011-2013) this could be a difficult task. Clearly, the Rangers messed up somewhere along the line, and now they have got to fix the problem by banishing the player who, up until a few short days ago, was the face of the franchise.

Another South Sider Packs for the Bronx

Freddy Garcia, pitching for the Chicago White Sox in 2010. 
Courtesy of Rankopedia.com 

Earlier this week, the Yankees and veteran right-hander Freddy Garcia agreed to a minor league contract worth an undisclosed amount. This deal came roughly a week after they agreed to a minor league contract with veteran starter Bartolo Colon, who, like Garcia, had played for the Chicago White Sox before.

 http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jspymd=20110131&content_id=16543892&vkey=news_nyy&c_id=nyy

Now, what doesn’t make too much sense about this deal is the fact that not only did Garcia pitch on a major league level with the White Sox last year, he pitched fairly decently (12-6, 4.64 ERA, 28 starts). Somehow or another, this only warrants him a minor league deal with a team whose major league rotation features the likes of A.J. Burnett (10-15, 5.26 ERA) and possibly Ivan Nova, who gave up an average of four and a half runs per nine innings pitching in relief.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/2010.shtml

Obviously, at this point, the Yankees are getting desperate for rotation depth after losing out on the Cliff Lee sweepstakes to the Philadelphia Phillies, and failing to land Zack Grienke from the Kansas City Royals in a trade. In all honesty, however, they should be glad that Grienke didn’t end up coming to the media circus that is the Big Apple with his social anxiety disorder. Regardless, picking up Garcia is a good move for the Yankees. He’s had years with ERA’s under four, (2000, 2001, 2004, and 2005) and he serves as a much better starter than Burnett at a much lower cost by at least $15 million.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/garcifr03.shtml

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Now, although Garcia has had some injury problems in the past, (only 23 starts total from 2007-2009 for three different teams) he’s coming at a low price for a team in dire need of starting pitching. If the Yankees really want to compete with the Boston Red Sox following their monster of an offseason that brought in four time all-star outfielder Carl Crawford and 2005 World Series Champion closer Bobby Jenks, they need to do something.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/crawfca02.shtml

Ace pitcher C.C. Sabathia is coming off right knee surgery, Phil Hughes faded in the rotation at the end of last season, and Burnett is a never-has-been with incessant injury problems who often forgets where the plate is. If New York really wants to keep their status as one of the big dogs in the American League East, they’ve got to do something with their pitching. Garcia isn’t a Lee or a Grienke, but he’s better than nothing. More importantly, he’s better than Burnett.