With Tony La Russa back again, you can safely bet there will be a couple of reverberations felt within the farm system, or at least a couple off the top of my head.
- Bryan Anderson becomes one of the Cardinals most valuable trading chips. We all know Tony La Russa would probably let Yadi marry one of his daughters, and he prefers his backup C’s as the grizzly, non-hitting type who “work well with their pitchers”. Sigh.
- Adam Ottavino must learn to adapt the 2-seam fastball or suffer the same fate as Anthony Reyes. As I noted in Ott’s prospect profile, he tends to run up his pitch count, and that will give TLR/DD ample ammo for writing him off as a starting pitcher. Ottavino could survive as a reliever, unlike Reyes.
- Oh, and Luhnow will have to continue to draft pitchers who will mesh well with TLR/DD. The sinkerball-ing Clay Mortensen has worked out nicely so far. Jess Todd and David Kopp were picked in this past draft and were both superb at inducing the ground ball.
One myth to bust. I don’t think La Russa and Duncan despise youth. Maybe in some cases it appears to be that way. But you have Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols (yes, there was a good chance he would’ve started 2001 in AAA if Bobby Bonilla didn’t get hurt), Rick Ankiel, Chris Duncan, Matt Morris, Alan Benes, and so on and so forth. Yes, he does prefer vets but he’s dealt with his share of youth. He managed the 2006 playoffs highly dependent on Adam Wainwright, Tyler Johnson, Josh Kinney and Chris Duncan. He gave the ball to Anthony Reyes in Game 1 one the World Series, despite all their head butting over the sinker. (He may not have had much of a choice after the NLCS). Yeah, they screwed the pooch trading someone with veteran status such as Mark Mulder for Dan Haren. But recently it came out that Dave Duncan protested the trade the whole time, telling Jocketty and La Russa that Haren would be a special player.
I don’t like La Russa coming back all that much. I hate it that every player has to go through a “will they fit well with TLR/DD filter?” But it’s not the end of the world to me. I’m more concerned about who they hire to be the GM. I would have to think having to go through the “La Runcan” filter could prove to be a deterrent to the type of GM we here at FR would like to see hired, but I could be wrong. My money is on Rick Hahn or (gasp) Mozeliak. I don’t think it’ll be Antonetti (UGH), as they probably haven’t got to speak much with him with the ALCS going on, and I don’t think La Russa could agree to come back without an idea of who the GM will be.
So there you have it. Sigh, gasp, ugh and eh.
Filed under: Tony La Russa
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
I wonder if we protest too much about what happens at the margins. Does it matter to us, as fans, if a veteran gets paid $5 million when a replacement player could pitch just as poorly for minimum wage? Should we really worry so much about Adam Ottavino’s future when he’s struggling to throw first-pitch strikes in A ball? I mean, does it really matter how many seams he grips if a guy who throws in the upper 90s can’t get ahead of hitters in the Florida State League?
It seems that Tony is in tune with the times on the big-picture stuff. The editors at BP have calculated that championship teams typically have great defense and a lockdown closer, and their starters tend to have high strikeout rates. The Cards have pursued all of those qualities, even if the Mulder trade was a bad case of not reading the fine print (”past performance does not predict future results”).
In addition, they’ve mostly tried to stack the middle of the lineup with power and on-base ability.
I complain as much as anybody about Tony’s quirks and his preference for bench players with gray chin stubble, but it’s not like So Taguchi and Miguel Cairo are taking at-bats away from future Hall of Famers.
Frankly, I’m still amazed that anyone could win 78 games with the guys he had to work with this year. He’s doing something right, and I’m glad he’s back.
Where did that come out about Duncan arguing against the Mulder trade? That makes him look like a pretty good evaluator of talent.
I wonder why there hasn’t been more buzz about who the new GM could be? Why isn’t the post dispatch reporting that such and such or whoever interviewed. I know a lot of fans like Paul DePodesta. I think he must have done some good things with the Dodgers system, but one thing I don’t like is that he had a lot of money to work with and the Dodgers never seemed to have that great of a MLB team. I would be happy if they interviewed him though. He’s been a GM, worked with some smart people, and has a lot of baseball contacts. The best GM available is Walt Jocketty - but I don’t think we can get him now.
With TLR on a 2 year contract (maybe 3, once we find out whether or not an option was included) might Adam O and some of the other non-sinker balling arms still have enough time in the minors that they’ll never play for TLR, or if they do only for a marginal amount of time?
Also, is it possible that the player development side of the biz is changing significantly enough (the turnover and reassignment of pitching coaches for instance) that maybe there’s a new paradigm in the approach to pitchers down on the farm? Maybe the days of “sinker Uber Alles” are gone.
Couple of points. Honestly, what team DOESNT have a grizzly, non-hitting backup catcher? They are backup catchers for crying out loud. If they were good, they wouldn’t be backups. Not something to fret about, IMO.
I agree with the Tony and young players. Tony doesn’t dislike young players—he dislikes young players who can’t play. Just because a guy is in the minors it doesn’t make him a prospect. He has managed numerous ROY’s. He has turned things over to young guys–but have some ability. He’s not gonna play a young guy just for the sake of playing a young guy.
I also think people are looking WAY WAY to into this whole two-seam, four-seam thing. Again, Tony and Dunc want pitchers who get guys out–plain and simple. Wainwright was a K guy—Carpenter is a K guy. They aren’t opposed to strikeouts–they are opposed to bad pitching.
I don’t have a problem with Tony coming back–nor would I have had a problem with him going and starting fresh. I do know that there was a very good chance that the manager replacing him wouldn’t be nearly as competent.
It’s something to fret about, because I think Yadi and Anderson could at worst form a decent platoon. The best situation is to have Anderson start eventually.
Todd, I think the lack of GM buzz is simpl discretion on the part of DeWitt and the people he’s interviewing. Last week he said he won’t be able to make a hire until after the WS, which seems to suggest he’s pursuing candidates on the teams that were still in the playoffs at that point.
If Jocketty had been fired three years ago, instead of three weeks ago, I would’ve agreed that he was as good a GM candidate as anyone we could hire to replace him.
But after the Mulder trade, which was followed by two seasons’ worth of inconsequential moves for spare-part players, ill-advised contract extensions for injured or injury-prone players, and a refusal to go along with organizational changes mandated by his boss, I changed my opinion.
I really do think he was unhappy and increasingly unfocused and ineffectual. He jammed up his own payroll with too many players making too much money for their rapidly declining skills.
When he took over, the organization was on a treadmill of mediocrity. We were almost entirely dependent on homegrown players who weren’t good enough to get us to the next level. DeWitt gave him a bigger payroll and the freedom to deal what he had for what other teams were willing to give away to open up their own payrolls.
But the game changed in the past few years. Every team has more money, and nobody is willing to give away superstars in their walk years for marginal prospects anymore. Teams figured out that it made more sense to hang onto those players, stay in contention, and then let them walk for premium draft picks.
Jocketty was stuck. He couldn’t outbid anyone for the free-agent superstars, and his neglect of player development had left us without any premium players coming up from our own system.
He threw himself a nice pity party, but I’m not surprised the owner decided to take his chances with someone else.
Erik, I simply don’t get it.
“The best situation is to have Anderson start eventually.”
Why? What exactly has Anderson proven and why are you so in love with him? Seriously, I’m not trying to be an ass, I just don’t get the whole anti-Molina thing espeically when the next best catcher in the organization is a 20 year old AA guy who struggled down the stretch and has never been an asset defensively.
Personally, I think the best situation would be for Molina to be a perennial All-Star and Gold Glove catcher while Anderson improves to the point where the Cards are able to move him for a serious, top-of-the-line pitching prospect.
Or the other way around. Whatever.
But what I do know is that if Molina continues to improve on how he hit last season (remembering he broke his wrist in the middle of the season) then it doesn’t matter what Anderson does, he’s not going to be the defensive catcher Molina is. However, if Molina goes back to hitting .230 then I believe we better hope Anderson is legit.
My only complaint about TLR is that he’ll play older guys for the sake of playing older guys, including guys that really have no business anymore getting 400+ ABs. This is especially true if they make 10-15x what a rookie making the minimum can provide (or come close).
I thought it was interesting that word of TLR’s new contract came a day after Antonetti’s team was eliminated from the playoffs. Coincidence? I’m not sure.
I personally am THRILLED Tony is back. The manager has one job and one job only…to have the MLB team win as many games as possible. Now I like many would rather have seen Hoff get the ABs that Cairo and Miles got when the team fell out of it, but that is no reason to call for Tony’s head. A lot of times us fans, including myself sometimes, seem to think the grass is greener on the other side when we should appreciate what we have. Tony just led a marginal team to the World Series last year! Tony is the best manager in baseball. The guy manages the MLB team, not AAA not AA not A. It is the GMs job to put the entire organization in a good position to win for the now and for the future. I understand the argument that LaRussa favors veterans, ALL MLB managers do because if they don’t win they get fired-hell ask Joe Torre how you get treated once the manager match ownerships expectations. Tony is abrasive to the media, Tony does favor younger players, he may influence the type of players drafted, he bats the pitcher 8th sometimes…but he also WINS. I love rooting for the young guys, I love following the minor league system, but isn’t the payoff having the MLB team win. Am I missing something or hasn’t LaRussa led the Cardinals to 2 World Series in the past 4 seasons? Tony and Duncan may have led Reyes down the wrong path mentally and philosophically, but lets not forget the guys they have helped and won with. Tony’s preference for veteran players may frustrate us and may not always be in the best interest of tomorrow, but we also are not in the clubhouse. We don’t have to worry about clubhouse dynamics. It is fun to speculate and right to question the decisions, but to say Tony LaRussa isn’t the right manager and the Cards should just rebuild? I’m sorry but Tony already proved he can bring a medicore team and turn them into World Series Champs.
Big Red. I guess you like Molina better then I. Yadi has posted EqA’s of .241, .229, .209 and .259. That’s not good. True, Anderson did fade down the stretch. he’s a catcher, it happens. Look at Jarrod Saltalamacchia (Anderson’s #4 PECOTA comp). He hit .230/.353./.380 in AA after being considered one of the game’s top prospects. He rebounded pretty well this year and re established himself as one of the games better prospects.
Anderson is a good prospect. He’s young, he will tire from catching. Yadier had to improve blocking balls. Anderson can do the same.
Would you rather have a catcher who can hit for a decent average and get on base, and play average d or would you rather have a below average offensive catcher with an elite glove? I think I’d take the guy who can hit.
No! Catchers must not be hitters! We need a good-field/no-hit catcher to give the team a gritty identity.
Big Red, you seriously can’t understand why we love a sweet-swinging 20 year old catcher at Springfield? Wow.
Well, in regards to Molina, yeah I do like him. But I’ve been able to watch him play for 3 years now and have always liked his makeup. And as far as his struggles at hitting (before this year), well I’ve always attributed it to bad luck. I know ‘luck’ is really difficult to quantify, but I think he’s been a victim.
Even when he was a rookie and started the season 0-40 or whatever, as I watched his at bats he always had a very good judge of the strike zone and when he made contact (which is typical of Molina…i.e., doesn’t strike out much) he was hitting line drives that seemed to be right at somebody.
This continued in 2006 until the playoffs when he played great. This past year he hit just as well and suffered a broken wrist which set him back, but he rebounded to hit in the mid-.270s (after being around .300 earlier in the year) with a .340 obp.
Personally, I think he is (and will continue to be) a good hitting catcher, if not really good. And his defense goes beyond blocking balls in the dirt. He shuts down opponents running games.
Anyway, I guess we’ll just have to disagree on this one.
Have any of you guys ever played ball with a shut-down defensive catcher?
We can assess the “value” of a catcher’s D using advanced stats and whatnot, but it’s worth noting that every infielder worth his salt (not to even mention the pitchers) LOVES having an elite defensive C who can quarterback the whole infield.
I think the perspective of Yadi’s teammates gets lost in these assessments of Anderson/Molina sometimes. There can be extended benefits that are hard to tease out in the stats….
Molina faced major league pitching and put up a .708 OPS. Anderson, against AA pitching sported a .738 OPS. I like Anderson as a prospect but he barely outproduced Molina in 2007–and he played in AA.
I like Anderson–but let’s see how he actually performs at a higher level before claiming hes a better player than Molina.