The Cardinals have begun searching for starting pitching, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Kyle Lohse and Brad Penny are on the mend, so GM John Mozeliak is on the lookout. Since Lohse and Penny have uncertain timetables as they recover from injuries, manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan asked Mozeliak to look for help outside the organization.
The Cardinals could use arms soon, so they're not likely to pursue pitchers like Pedro Martinez, Braden Looper and John Smoltz, who have been inactive so far in 2010. La Russa and Duncan appear willing to discuss a reunion with Jeff Suppan, who was recently released by the Brewers. The club also appears interested in Kevin Millwood, according to Strauss, though the team would not likely be able to take on the remainder of Millwood's $12MM salary.
Please take Suppan back! I’d love to score a lot of runs off this guy!
I was just going to say they can have Wellemeyer back! lol
Mark Buehrle?
I’m sure Buehrle would love that but I doubt the Cards would be willing to give up the talent the Sox would want AND pay his overly large salary. Buehrle isn’t a great pitcher but I doubt Sox fans would want to let him go just for salary relief or marginal prospects.
Buehrle would have to re-work his contract because, as you stated, the Cards cannot afford his current contract. If they’re going increase payroll they’ll do it to re-sign Pujols.
However, Buehrle very well might agree to re-work his contract because he’s always wanted to play for St. Louis. I don’t think the Sox will get much for Buehrle in terms of prospects and they know this.
Do the Cards have a MLB ready 1B and/or SS to cover the cost of Millwood’s $9Million the O’s owe him?
Obviously, any 1B in their system that is MLB ready isnt coming up for another 10 years, barring injury to their current Superstar.
SS would need to have a decent bat because Izturis is no good and our #3 draft pick SS is 4 years away from the Bigs.
They have Allen Craig and David Freese listed as 1B options. Don’t think they would let go of Freese though.
Definitely no chance the Cards trade Freese or Craig, but Shane Robinson (RF/DH) for Millwood is possible. The Cards would probably prefer to take a chance on Suppan, however.
The Cards also have Rich Hill slogging away at Memphis, kinda surprised they haven’t given him a chance, at least he has big league experience. Although his stats this season at AAA are uninspiring.
Sorry, I’m a Brewers fan and I used BA as a quick reference. Wasn’t sure if they’d give up Craig or not.
Shane Robinson does not project to be anything more than a 4th or 5th outfielder in the majors. I don’t think the Orioles would have any interest in him. Maybe as a throw-in but not as the centerpiece. If the Orioles need a middle infielder then Tyler Greene is someone they’d be interested in but I’d hate to see the Cards let him go. Mark Hamilton may be of interest to the O’s as well. 1st basemen with great power.. not projected to be a superstar or anything but he’s blocked by Albert
Good call, I hadn’t thought of Hamilton. Hamilton and Robinson should get it done, maybe have the O’s send an A-level guy with Millwood to keep the StL cupboard of youth somewhat stocked.
I think that would get it done IF the Cards agree to take Millwood’s salary. But they cant… their payroll is tight and I doubt ownership will increase payroll for Kevin Millwood. If they Cards want the O’s pay for the contract (or the majority of it) I think it’ll take more prospects.
tyler greene is as major league ready as you are gonna get right now. batting .330 in the minors with a 900 OPS. his defence leaves a bit to be desired but he definitly isn’t a liability in the field like tejada,jeter,lugo,etc.
They looking for a yong controllable pitcher that the Jays seem to have a lot of? eg. Marcum + Encarnacion for Freese.
Yikes! Too much leaving the Jays in that deal. I wouldn’t trade Marcum straight up for Freese, much less throwing in Encarnacion.
Cards need pitching, Giants need hitting…… How bout some Sanchez or Cain Scenario’s
And what would the Cards give up?
If the Cards would want Cain, they can say bye to Shelby Miller.
I think the Giants like their pitching staff, except Wellemeyer out of the 5th spot. If they are trading an arm, I think it would be one from the minors, which isn’t what the Cards are looking for at the moment.
Bret Myers would be a great fit-fat chance that the Astros would deal him within the division, which is too bad. The Astros need everything and anything you could give them.
Freddy Garcia? No salary to take on and he has been outstanding so far this year. Typical Cardinal pick up that could be great as a #3/4 in the NL.
A ludwick for Cain scenario might be fair, but while the cards need pitching our offense has been what’s really been awful lately. So we can’t afford to trade any valuable part of our offense.
Maybe in the off-season but not now. Ludwick is a top tier player and the Cards will not part with him this season. He’s arb eligible and they might trade him in the off-season to save payroll for the Pujols contract negotiations.
Yah Ludwick is a goner next year.
Resop to the Cards for 2-3 mid-level prospects?
While Resop does have some value with his impressive play in AAA this year, I think getting multiple prsopects is a bit too much. I would feel fortunate getting someone like Jon Jay in return for Resop.
He’ll probably get called up this weekend or traded by Monday.
ESPN Insider is reporting the Royals may have some interest in trading Brian Bannister, with the Cardinals as one possible destination.
This would make sense. He’d be affordable (pro-rated 1.7MM) and he’s young so there’s potential for more development. However, his stock is rising lately because he’s been red hot. I think the Royals would ask for a pretty decent return prospect-wise and I’m not sure the Cards would be willing to part with any of their top guys
To tell you the truth I would like to see Looper back in a Cardinals uniform. If he doesn’t perform well you can just put him in the bull pen and he will be alright. I would think by now Looper would be on a team. I think Washburn is available too, but good luck with that. He might do good in the NL, but there’s no guarantee.
The last word on Looper from this site is that his asking price was to high. Washburn also had a high asking price.
Would Guthrie be too expensive in terms of prospects? Millwood’s value is dropping lately maybe the Cards could get the O’s to kick in some salary without having to give up too much. Maybe Gil Meche would fare better in the NL and under Duncan’s watch. Just some thoughts on guys who wouldn’t be to expensive in terms of young talent and have the ability to be effective.