Earlier this week we heard that the Phillies have some interest in Cardinals' outfielder Jon Jay, though Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch hears that nothing is going on between the two teams right now (Twitter link). The Cards are looking for a right-handed reliever to replace Kyle McClellan, who will likely take Adam Wainwright's spot in the rotation, but they appear to be looking elsewhere.
The Phillies have eight righty relievers on their 40-man roster, though Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, and Jose Contreras probably aren't going anywhere. Since the Cardinals finished with fewer wins than the Padres last year, they had a chance to claim Pat Neshek but apparently decided against it. St. Louis also passed on Kiko Calero earlier this month.
Ben Nicholson-Smith explored Philadelphia's interest in Jay last week.
the title is tmz ish .
nothing going on between cardinals and phillies despite being spotted on the beach last week
Agreed. Plus, they can deny it all they want, but the Cardinals have been so distant lately. Also, I’m pretty sure I saw the Phillie’s number on the Card’s cell phone.
We’ll just have to see what Joey Greco has to say about all this.
+10 for the cheaters reference. Joey Greco is the man
Contreras for Jay will work.
NOOOOOO
Given the huge question mark that is Lance Berkman in right field, I think it makes sense to hold on to Jay. If Berkman falls apart a Jon Jay/Allen Craig platoon would probably be their best option, if not just Allen Craig every day. Either way, Jay is the defensive replacement late in games.
Agree with you. Jay is also the best replacement we have for centerfield on Rasmus’ days off. Even though Jay is not one of the three starting OF’s, he still has quite a bit of value on the team and will get a good amount of playing time.
I agree too, but we are talking about a fifth outfielder.
The Phils dont wanna overpay for “leadership skills”
When I first read the title, I was nervous that we were bringing back the “Howard for Pujols” talks again. Thank you god for not doing that again.
Phillies would prob be more interested in Allen Craig than Jay…wonder what kind of package it would take…he seems like he is without a spot, unless they have a platoon planned.
He’s a backup bat off the bench, natural platoon partner for Berkman (if he continues to struggle against lefties). I suppose, Stavinoha could be a serviceable backup corner OF/1B and even emergency catcher if Craig was to be traded.
I’d think the Cards really need to hold on to the guys they have just to make sure some key players (Berkman, Freese) are healthy through the season before compromising their depth. If Berkman doesn’t work out (which I fully expect him to), Craig and Jay will prove very valuable to the Cards.
Really surprised I haven’t seen the Braves’ name come up in talks with St Louis. Only one of Mike Minor or Brandon Beachy will make the rotation, not to mention Rodrigo Lopez and Kenshin Kawakami. Medlen should be back in September, plus Teheran and Delgado are on the cusp.
I know the adage about never having too much pitching, but if any team did have too much, it would be the Braves.
Well, Minor’s not going anywhere unless the Cardinals offer Rasmus(which they obviously won’t). He’s the only viable lefty available for them. I expect Beachy to be moved though, but word is he’s taken over ‘front-runner status’ for the #5 spot out of the gate. At least for a month or two, the Braves want Minor to get a little more seasoning.
Jay is more valuable to the Cardinals than he would be to the Phillies. I can’t conceive of a trade that would benefit both sides.
I don’t really buy into the speculation that the Cardinals are shopping for pitching. After Wainwright went down they made it very clear that they were going to analyze their internal options. Even though McClellan has pitched wonderfully and is the clear favorite people keep writing this up as if the Cardinals are in desperate panic mode looking for a starter. If this were the case they would have signed someone by now.
Even with McClellan’s switch to the rotation the Cardinals bullpen still looks pretty good. They have several internal options that are pitching fantastically in ST. Brian Augenstien and Fernando Salas have both had excellent springs and one of them will get a shot in the Bigs.
I agree completely… People forget the Cards had a very good pen last year. My guess is Motte steps into McClellans role and Boggs steps into Motte’s role. That is not bad having Tallet and Miller for leftys and having Boggs for the 7th, Motte for the 8th, and Franklin for the 9th. Most teams would rather have that bullpen than their own.
Having Tallet for anything is never a good thing
if used against lefties he’s fine, he was awful because he was misused.
Motte will have to step up in a big way if he’s going to pitch the 8th. The guy has an incredibly live arm, which allows him to get away with some mistakes, but his occasional struggles with control lead to ugly outings with walks and HRs.
He was remarkably better towards the end of last year after his short stint on the DL. Let’s hope he continues that into this season.
Linge, losing Werth and maybe losing Utley are big question marks on the Phillies.