November 11, 201015 yr I know we got a few Cardinal fans on here and I'm sure Reds fans would like to see what the Cardinals are getting into, as I do with the Reds, so I figured I start a thread. The teams main concerns going into next year: *Sign Pujols *Upgrade @ 2B or SS *Pick up a LHP for the pen' *Back up catcher with pop Right now it looks like the Cardinals are going to resign Westbrook. It also looks like they'll pursue Juan Uribe or Orlando Hudson. There are rumors swirling that an "impact trade" could get done before the winter meetings. Apparently a trade with Arizona for Stephen Drew that does not include Colby Rasmus is gaining momentum.
November 16, 201015 yr Author Cardinals have interest in Juan Uribe and Tejada. They also are one of about 5 teams who are going after Dan Uggla. The Marlins are supposedly asking for a pitcher and catcher in return, so not sure if that will play to the Cardinals strength.
November 16, 201015 yr Author Westbrook is back in St. Louis signing a 2 year deal according to Ed Price of AOL Fan House Uggla is going to the Braves.
November 17, 201015 yr Westbrook is getting paid 8mil next season. 8.5 in 2012. You St. Louis fans better hope they raise the payroll.
November 17, 201015 yr Author Westbrook is getting paid 8mil next season. 8.5 in 2012. You St. Louis fans better hope they raise the payroll. I thought it was a good deal compared to Arroyo's. Rotation is set, now lock up Pujols and we can concentrate on the smaller pieces.
November 17, 201015 yr I thought it was a good deal compared to Arroyo's. Rotation is set, now lock up Pujols and we can concentrate on the smaller pieces. The problem is that St. Louis has a lot more question marks than Cincy. In order to upgrade 2B, SS or 3B you're going to have to either overpay through trade or FA. And St. Louis needs to upgrade atleast 2 out of those 3.
November 17, 201015 yr Author The problem is that St. Louis has a lot more question marks than Cincy. In order to upgrade 2B, SS or 3B you're going to have to either overpay through trade or FA. And St. Louis needs to upgrade atleast 2 out of those 3. Upgrade atleast 2 of 3? Count me in as one who overreacted during the season, but the Cardinals weren't necessarily as bad as many thought. Considering everything that happened, they still finished 10 games above .500 and 5 games back. You don't want to overreact.
November 17, 201015 yr Upgrade atleast 2 of 3? Count me in as one who overreacted during the season, but the Cardinals weren't necessarily as bad as many thought. Considering everything that happened, they still finished 10 games above .500 and 5 games back. You don't want to overreact. I'm not overreacting. I hate the Cardinals. Yes, they need to upgrade 2 of those 3 positions, IMO. Especially considering their RF position won't provide all that much offense. Jay had one great month. Other than that he was below average. The way their team stands right now they are getting very little offense out of 2B, SS, 3B and RF. You just can't have that many holes.
November 17, 201015 yr Author I'm not overreacting. I hate the Cardinals. Yes, they need to upgrade 2 of those 3 positions, IMO. Especially considering their RF position won't provide all that much offense. Jay had one great month. Other than that he was below average. The way their team stands right now they are getting very little offense out of 2B, SS, 3B and RF. You just can't have that many holes. They'll upgrade at SS or 2B, probably short. How can you say Freese won't produce at 3rd? The Cardinals played their best baseball with him. Jay will be a 4th outfielder, if not traded. Craig will be the primary guy and while he won't hit 30 hr's I think his production will be enough. Say they sign Tejada or Uribe... Schumaker Tejada/Uribe Pujols Holliday Rasmus Freese Molina Craig Pitcher That with a rotation of Wainwright, Carpenter, Garcia, Westbrook, Lohse/ McCellan. I think that's a pretty good team, and that is the very least they will do this off season.
November 17, 201015 yr They'll upgrade at SS or 2B, probably short. How can you say Freese won't produce at 3rd? The Cardinals played their best baseball with him. Jay will be a 4th outfielder, if not traded. Craig will be the primary guy and while he won't hit 30 hr's I think his production will be enough. Say they sign Tejada or Uribe... Schumaker Tejada/Uribe Pujols Holliday Rasmus Freese Molina Craig Pitcher That with a rotation of Wainwright, Carpenter, Garcia, Westbrook, Lohse/ McCellan. I think that's a pretty good team, and that is the very least they will do this off season. If you're willing to accept the fact that they'll have to pay 6-8 million at least for either of those guys then have fun with that. They would be an upgrade, but if they paid that much for them St. Louis wouldn't be able to do much unless they cut payroll somewhere else. Or plan on raising payroll
November 17, 201015 yr Author If you're willing to accept the fact that they'll have to pay 6-8 million at least for either of those guys then have fun with that. They would be an upgrade, but if they paid that much for them St. Louis wouldn't be able to do much unless they cut payroll somewhere else. Or plan on raising payroll The way the owners and Mo have been talking St. Louis is raising payroll.
November 17, 201015 yr The way the owners and Mo have been talking St. Louis is raising payroll. You better hope that's the case if they are planning on upgrading their offense at all. They have 89 million committed to only 11 players. That's only about 5 million less than payroll all of last year. The remaining 14 players on the roster would have to be making roughly 400k to be in the same position they were last year. If they're going to upgrade at all, they're looking at a payroll of around 104 million
November 17, 201015 yr They'll upgrade at SS or 2B, probably short. How can you say Freese won't produce at 3rd? The Cardinals played their best baseball with him. Jay will be a 4th outfielder, if not traded. Craig will be the primary guy and while he won't hit 30 hr's I think his production will be enough. Freese's numbers, projected over the entire season, are decent ... average in the .290s, around 10 HR and 75 RBI. But ... he's 28, so he isn't going to get much better, if at all. Three of his homers were in a stretch of four days, and outside of one big weekend, he didn't really do all that much with the bat. Freese will get a shot, but the Cardinals would do well to have an insurance policy there. Second base is the biggest hole. The Cards better hope a Jay/Craig platoon, or some kind of similar arrangement, is enough. The jury is out on that one.
November 17, 201015 yr Author Freese's numbers, projected over the entire season, are decent ... average in the .290s, around 10 HR and 75 RBI. But ... he's 28, so he isn't going to get much better, if at all. Three of his homers were in a stretch of four days, and outside of one big weekend, he didn't really do all that much with the bat. Freese will get a shot, but the Cardinals would do well to have an insurance policy there. Second base is the biggest hole. The Cards better hope a Jay/Craig platoon, or some kind of similar arrangement, is enough. The jury is out on that one. The Cardinals have Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, and Colby Rasmus to be their power bats. They don't need someone to hit 30+ HR's, just a solid player and that's what Freese is. I don't see why St. Louis fans think we need another Albert Pujols to win this division. They were a 3rd baseman away from winning the central last year.
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