Comments on: The Farm System: Major Relief?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:18:13 +0000

Hawksworth is doing well in his audition to the rotation next year. Doubt we let Ludwick go this year. Penny is as good as gone.

By: CRay

CRay — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:39:54 +0000

@cardzfanbub: I don't really disagree with you. I agree that Ludwick and Penny will be gone soon, among the bigger names, and I think Carp will probably be gone after next year. My point is that the Cards won't sign free agents for the bullpen, with the exception of some moderate-priced lefties, and will continue to keep their overall costs down by filling most of the pen with home-grown products. So I'm not saying the expenses of the bullpen will fall a lot (though they may decline a small amount in a few years), but this is a place the Cards will "hold the line" (and the numerous prospects make this possible) in order to pay Albert's coming salary.

By: cardzfanbub

cardzfanbub — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:44:42 +0000

@cardzfanbub: To add...the places we will have to save money will be in letting post-arby and free agent players walk. This means Penny, Larue, Lopez, Reyes, Winn and perhaps Ludwick this offseason, Skip, Franklin, Ryan and Miller the next. I didn't include Suppan and Miles, as hopefully they're gone LONG before the offseason...almost didn't include Winn for the same reason. Obviously we can't let all of these guys go, especially the MIF and lefty relief will have to be retained/replaced. Is Jay auditioning for Ludwick's spot next year with a bench of Craig/Mather? Probably ought to get back to MiLB now.

By: cardzfanbub

cardzfanbub — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:37:53 +0000

@CRay: Depends on what you mean by save money. The bullpen in total is making about $8M this year, and the only post-arby players currently slotted for a BP spot next year would be Franklin at $2.75M, Miller at $2M and KMac at ?. By the time Franky's contract expires Motte and KMac will all be making as much or more than he was. Will likely still have two FA lefties, so I don't see the pen getting any cheaper. Of course, I would argue we are already saving significantly more money in the pen than most teams. Many of which are paying their closer more than our entire bullpen is bringing in.

By: CRay

CRay — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:09:06 +0000

@cariocacardinal: They're again talking about McClellan as a possible starter for next year, since I seriously doubt Penny will be back. Hawk could back to the long man (or be the starter) or be replaced by Otto, and Salas could replace McClellan. But the general thrust of az's entry is very sound - a lot of folks are coming along that will provide (at the least) some good trade bait - and az didn't mention Otto (who many see as a future reliever). There are also a lot of other folks further down in the system such as Kelly, Swagerty, and others. I think the bullpen is one of the main places the Cards will save money if they re-sign Pujols.

By: cariocacardinal

cariocacardinal — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:32:45 +0000

Whatever happened to McClellen as the 6th starter idea? I wonder if he feels betrayed by TOny and Dunc on this issue?

By: JC

JC — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:25:18 +0000

@cardzfanbub: That is correct. McClellan is Arb eligible in 2011 and not 2012.

By: cardzfanbub

cardzfanbub — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:06:24 +0000

Great rundown…as always! I don’t follow the minors nearly as much as a couple of years ago…time doesn’t allow. One really minor thing…I’m pretty sure McClellan will be eligible for arby next season. I think he was up all of 08-09, and this year will make three full years.

By: jimmy_joe

jimmy_joe — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:37:18 +0000

The elephant in the room is left-handed. (Left-footed?) There are no lefties in the discussion. Perhaps we need to draft left-handed catchers so that when they inevitably convert to pitchers, we’ll have a deep supply of Loogies.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:30:06 +0000

That being said It would be a crime if Jay doesn’t spend the rest of the year in STL. He has performed he has the talent and he never looks overmatched.