[Update Tuesday 10:49 by Azru] The Cardinals acquired Joel Piniero for a PTBNL. Since this probably won’t cost us any real prospects, whatever. I’m skeptical that Piniero will be anything even remotely resembling an asset but I guess it can’t hurt. If this frees up Jocketty to move a middle reliever or shove Maroth to the DL, so be it.
I’m swamped at work at the moment, but I’ll take a looksy at him a bit later today.
[Update Monday 3:27 PM by Azru] The best news so far today is that the Cardinals haven’t made any trades! Short of moving a middle reliever or two, there’s nothing for the Cardinals to realistically trade for. Keeping all our prospects through tomorrow at 11:59PM would be enough to keep me content. (I still think Texas robbed the Braves.)
[Update Monday 11:26 AM by Azru] Teixeira to Braves. Saltalamacchia (or however his name is spelled) is a fantastic catching prospect and my first reaction to this deal is that the Braves gave up too much. Teixeira has some distinctly left-handed BIP data, imo. If there was a player worthy of the infield defensive shift, it may be Teixeria. Look at this chart from the amazing-firstinning.com:
Nearly 80% of his BIP are going to center-right in the field — while it’s working because he’s a good hitter, if he could learn to spray the ball more that could really help his game. He’s hit 1HR to left field all year. Additionally, his ISO has dropped about 50 points from two years ago (although it’s still over .200 which is very good). His BABIP is .348 but the increased line drive rate (28%) accounts for some of that. His wOBA is at .366 which is good but not outstanding.
Now, I don’t think Bryan Anderson is as good as Salty but if he was going to be moved it should be in a deal for a premier hitter/pitcher. The difference between the Braves and Cardinals is that the catcher is manned by a young hitter fresh of a MVP type season. The Cardinals currently have a catcher posting a sub-.050 ISO and is periously close to that .600 OPS line that he finished under last year. This trade shouldn’t be used as a baseline or comparison for Anderson’s value give the inequalities between the organizations. Bryan Anderson is far more valuable to the Cardinals than Satly was to the Braves.
[Update Monday 9:08 AM by Azru] Tim Dierkes does a fantastic job of coallating information over at MLBTraderumors. How he keeps his fingers on so many sources is beyond me. This time we’re hearing Percival’s name with regards to the Cleveland Indians. We know that teams trolling for releif help but Percival probably won’t net a large haul, imo. Still if the Cardinals can get a quality prospect for him, it’s probably worth it.
[Update Sunday 4:13 AM by Erik] Heard this at MLBtraderumors, per Delaware Online—
Heard an interesting rumor last night after our final deadline for the 50-cent edition. The Phillies dispatched major-league scouting director Gordon Lakey to St. Louis to watch Anthony Reyes, the Cardinals’ down-on-his-luck right-hander who was making his first start since returning from triple-A. Reyes gave up two runs on two hits and struck out four in six innings against the Brewers to earn his first win in his 13th start. It’s possible the Cardinals could be interested in Michael Bourn.
Phuture Phillies has a profile of Bourn, he’s kinda interesting. lboros has noted at VEB repeatedly that the Cardinals need to get younger, faster and hitters with on base skills, and Bourn certainly fits that bill. He has a decent batting eye but no power to speak of and many wonder if Bourn will hit consistently at the major league level. Some scouts say he is Juan Pierre with better discipline and a better OF arm. With Eck on the way out, a cheap lead off hitter like Bourn does make some sense. Throw in Adrian Cardenas and I say done deal but that could be considered being greedy. All in all, the Cardinals need starting pitching, so maybe they’d be better off being just being patient with Reyes. And for now at least, all indications are that Reyes will be staying in the big league rotation.
[Update 12:05 AM by Azru] Read more about the Eckstein scouting here. I think it’s just Al running his mouth. This doesn’t make sense to me.
[update 8:39 PM by Erik] FSN is reporting during the game that the Red Sox are scouting David Eckstein (and who knows, they may also be looking at Anthony Reyes). I have a hard time they’ve given up on Julio Lugo no matter how bad he’s been to this point. Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson are interesting names in the Sox system, though that’s a lot to give up for Eck. You can read more about some names of potential players at this site.
[Update Azru @ 6:58 pm] With it looking like neither Isringhausen or Springer are available for trade, let’s talk about someone who I haven’t heard anything about this far: Ryan Franklin. He’s just signed an extension which makes a big difference. Teams that may look to trade for him know that he isn’t just a rent-a-player.
His FIP is 3.54 while his ERA is 1.27 — that should tell you something. He’s allowed a measly 3 HR in 49 innings which has helped him immensely. He’s been a marginal groundball pitcher, with mediocre strikeout rates but fantastically low walk rate. He’s the ultimate sell-high candidate with a .219 BABIP. To be honest, I’d like to see him moved because the idea that he could replicate this season (or anything approximating it) is pretty far-fetched. Maybe this is the name we should be watching for in the news. . .
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This thread is dedicated to all things trade between now and the deadline. I doesn’t look like much action will take place, but something should happen.
Here’s the latest as of a quarter ’til noon this Saturday morn’-
Per Will Carroll
The Tigers are also after a reliever, but they’re not willing to give up much, knowing that Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney are coming back. All rumors involving the Tigers seem to be centered on Kyle Farnsworth, but they’ve also looked at Rauch, and asked about Jason Isringhausen and Al Reyes.
All indications point to Izzy not being traded away, and it sounds like the Tigers aren’t really willing to sell the farm. You have to think Izzy is a nice upgrade over the likes of Todd Jones. After Cameron Maybin, the Tiger farm system appears on the surface to be rather thin. Jair Jurrjens comes to mind, not much else off the top of mind seems that appealing.
Filed under: Trade rumors
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
Fortunately for us, the Indians might be after Izzy, too. Having two division rivals after the same guy could drive the price up a little.
i am wanting asdrubal cabrera from the indians
as to the guy the tigers have, they don’t have much after maybin, but i do really like gorkys hernandez.
So there talking about how the Red Sox have a scout watching Eckstein I believe. Come on Jocketty be a man, make some trades.
And yes, AZ we need to trade Franklin. Also Izzy too though, because as I’m sure you’re aware he has been almost as lucky as Franklin with a .215 BABIP and 3.15 FIP
After today’s comeback win and a lead in the game right now, I have a sinking feeling that we won’t make any trades. I think Walt might still be delusional enough to think we are still in it and doesn’t want to trade anyone that could contribute. I think not trading players for prospects now will only set the team back furthur when it comes to reconstructing a winner in the future. Please Walt trade Izzy, Franklin, Looper, Percival, Eckstien, and Juan Enc. This season is already down the tubes and we can find replacements for them next year.
DJ87, not only do I agree with you, but I could also see us trading Reyes when his value is at an all-time low (despite tonights performance) and not getting nearly enough back for him.
Also, Erik is stealing my updates now, damn you. Just kidding, but realistically if we could somehow get Jed Lowrie from the Sox I would pack Eckstein myself. Lowrie just got promoted to AAA, and could be our starting SS next year to open the season. But the Sox do have a lot of money invested in Lugo, so I’m not sure they give up that much for Eckstein.
If we win tommorrow, I want a trade made for Jon Garland or some other starting pitcher that will help overcome a 6 game deficit.
If lose, then I’d like a minor sell off, but not sure if it will happen. Just win though, hopefully Wells keeps up his success from the past couple games so we can look back at this past weekend as the key to turning the corner to make a run at winning the division and making a title defense.
Disclaimer: So you know, I’m an optimistic cards fan
Here’s the problem: no player is worth 6 wins over 2 months of games, maybe 2 or 3 at the most. If you can pick up a guy worth 2 wins do you think the rest of our roster can be 4 games better than the Brew Crew the rest of the way? With arsonists like Wells and Maroth in the rotation and a very mediocre offense I’m not too optimistic.
Garland is pretty overrated to me, so I personally wouldn’t go after him, as I think he would cost too much.
If we are buyers and go after a starting pitcher I would like to target (buy low guys):
David Bush
Matt Belisle
Kam Loe
Boof Bonser
Josh Towers
And of course, the ultimate dream of mine, we sell the farm for Felix Hernandez.
Erik and AZ, what are some realistic deals that you would like to see happen?
shh…to answer your question, i honestly don’t see much. i’d almost rather them hold eck and take the compensation next year’s draft, unless they can somehow do better, and i don’t see a big market for him.
encarnacion…blech, not sure who would want him.
i don’t see how you trade reyes after tonight.
springer and izzy are staying put.
i don’t see much exciting happening, but i can hope.
Dont want Loe or Belisle as would not be an upgrade. No way Brewers trade Bush to us, and Twins will keep Bonser because he’s decent and cheap and they want to make a run in 2008 when Liriano is back.
As for Josh Towers, would love to have him and he could be had for not too much since him and the front office don’t get along too well.
Daniel Cabrera anyone?
We could trade Percival after tonight. He can close/set up. The Indians’ Borowski lost today.
Love to have Daniel Cabrera, but is he available?
erik,
I would love Cardenas. With Utley and Rollins ahead of him, maybe that is someone the Cardinals could pry away.
http://www.whiteyball.com
Reyes for Bourn? That’s a tough call. I would LOVE to get Bourn, he is quite possibly the fastest guy in MLB and is a decent hitter to boot. However, he doesn’t solve our starting pitching problems.
PS: I know it doesn’t fit in here, but I dont know where to post it, how about that Antonia Dejesus kid down at QC? That is an uncanny OBP and Walk rate for a minor league player. His strike zone recognition is amazing. If only we could somehow merge him and Rick Ankiel into one player.
Late to the party, but here’s my two cents. Living in the midst of Red Sox City State, I call it that to get my wife going, I don’t think Theo trades to replace Lugo for a couple reasons. First, Lugo’s salary is pretty large; just a shade below the amount given to JD Drew. Second, he’s taken a ton of s*#t, grief, about the large amounts of money he gave out to two guys who have not held up their end of the deal. Third, I look for them to make a small move and Eck just doesn’t fit into that, the most logical piece would probably be a fourth outfielder who could play on a regular basis, give Drew’s perhencity to take the ocassional series off, both peformance and phyiscally.
Oh, and Sickels has his latest top 100 up at Rotowire. He removes all guys who have met eligiblity requirements and says this for medium and long term performance. Cardinal Roll Call: Rasmus at 21, a slot behind F-Mart, Bryan Anderson at 64, a slot ahead of Hank Conger, Adam Ottavino at 67 and Jamie at 83.
Reading John on a regular basis, I think that Jamie rating took a big hit with the injury. I would imagine if healthy he would slot him at least in the 60s.
Erik,
Do you think the Cardinals would risk offering Eckstein arbitration in order to secure draft compensation? If he accepted, he’s got a few recent all-star appearances, not to mention the 2006 WS MVP, in his back pocket. An arbitrator might think that he’s worth a fat contract.
Think of Bourn as Kenny Lofton with a bit less power. That’s a pretty valuable guy, no?
Liam,
Good question, one I’m not sure on. I say offer him arbi, I don’t think Eck would prove to cost a whole eck of a lot (eh!) compared to most free agents, and i wouldn’t be upset if he accepted arbi and was resigned.
If not, then…free draft pick.