See you Khalil. I hope you have a decent career, though I don't want you to go Ozzie on us like the last time the Pads traded a starting shortstop to the Cards.

The Cardinals apparently have addressed their question at shortstop by acquiring one of the league’s largest enigmas.

Since when is "enigma" a synonym for "sucking chest wound"?

He should just change his name to the Alex Gonzalez and get it over with.

The Cardinals apparently have addressed their question at shortstop by acquiring one of the league’s largest enigmas.

Wow. I first read that as 'Enema'

/time for coffee

Vampires don't use the same enemas as the rest of us.

Wow. I first read that as 'Enema'

Well, if there's one thing Greene excels at -- it's keeping the bases cleared of obstructive baserunners like himself.

Wow.

Kahlil Greene, according to OPS+, is a downgrade from Cesar Izturis with the bat, 64 to 67.

I didn't think I was a downgrade from Cesar Izturis with the bat, to be honest.

64 may be lower than 67, but Greene's career OPS+ is 95, and Izturis's is...67.

I didn't think I was a downgrade from Cesar Izturis with the bat, to be honest.

You probably aren't, which doesn't mean Khalil Greene isn't.

Seriously, though--what Crispix said: Greene might have been worse than Izturis last year, but I can't believe that'll be true going forward. Not that that makes him very good.

Whew. I was worried Oakland was going to acquire him.

Whew. I was worried Oakland was going to acquire him.

Which would amuse/confound me, considering how often I conflate him and Bobby Crosby in my mind.

I love how Cardinal fans are focusing on Greenes season last year as if that is his true talent level. Depending on what we gave up, I don't see this as a bad deal. (now lets get Grudz for second base) Not too sure what right handed reliever we have, my initial guess is Brad Thompson(I just met him Saturday so of course he is cursed now)

MLBTraderumors has the Tigers trading for Jack Wilson and the Giants signing Renteria. The shortstop market is clearing up quite a bit all of a sudden.

Reading the post it said neither player was on the roster at the end of the season, so that probably removes Thompson from the equation, he started the last game of the season. Let's hope it was Kelvim Jimenez just so that we are no longer tempted by his minor league numbers to have him pitch for us ever again. We have a ton of relief prospects(I imagine all teams do) so as long as it's not Perez or Motte I'll be fine with anybody else(including Worrell) going in that trade(ok not Kinney either but doubt he has trade value right now anyway).

MLBTraderumors has the Tigers trading for Jack Wilson and the Giants signing Renteria. The shortstop market is clearing up quite a bit all of a sudden.

I hope someone let's Rafael Furcal know about the Sam's Drive-thru on Hesperian in San Lorenzo. That's some good eating there, Raffy. Enjoy!

It'll be interesting to see what Greene does out of Petco. This could turn out very well for the Cards.

Let's hope it was Kelvim Jimenez

Jimenez was claimed off waivers by the White Sox.

Jimenez is already gone. Probably has to be someone out of the group of Walters, Todd, Mortensen, & Herron.

It'll be interesting to see what Greene does out of Petco. This could turn out very well for the Cards.

Maybe his power numbers do spike (or at least return to what they were 3-4 years ago) -- but no park is going to change that wretched .300 OBP.

I hope someone let's Rafael Furcal know about the Sam's Drive-thru on Hesperian in San Lorenzo. That's some good eating there, Raffy. Enjoy!

Seriously? That place didn't impress me at all. Send him up B Street to Val's.

Kahlil Greene, according to OPS+, is a downgrade from Cesar Izturis with the bat, 64 to 67.

Didn't Izturis also have a terrific season defensively? If Greene doesn't recover offensively, the Cardinals will have significantly downgraded at SS.

Seriously? That place didn't impress me at all. Send him up B Street to Val's.

Well, it's changed management since I gave up meat, so it could suck now. It used to be great. It was the main draw for me visiting my grandmother back in the day. (Sorry grandma!)

Jimenez was claimed off waivers by the White Sox.

Yea!!!! I missed that, but awesome. He may someday do something, but as a Cardinal fan all we can remember about him is him getting playing time and failing miserably every time while someone else languished in the minors that they wouldn't bring up because it meant a 40 man roster hit.

I imagine that TLR sees Greene more as a 6th/7th hitter if he's 7th his obp is going to go up, simply because he'll get walked more to face the pitcher. I'm hoping that he isn't thought of as the 9th hitter, too much power potential, of course as configured right now this team doesn't have any obp type of leadoff hitters, and we aren't going to get an Orlando Hudson type of player for second so it's unlikely that we'll have a high obp guy leading off this season.

(batting order as of right now?)

Schumaker, Ankiel, Pujols, Ludwick, Glaus, Greene, Molina, pitcher, secondbase.

I know there will be people blasting that, but it looks to be likely an above average offense (having Pujols automatically helps) In my fantasy world, Felipe Lopez is as good as he played for us (not really, but he is as good as he can potentially be, not the guy who was in Washington the last two seasons) and we resign him, or grudz agrees (giving us defense with 100 ops+ at secondbase) either way offensively this team is pretty much set once we settle on a secondbaseman.

Didn't Izturis also have a terrific season defensively? If Greene doesn't recover offensively, the Cardinals will have significantly downgraded at SS.

he started out real well defensively, regressed a little, enough to get benched because his bat was that abysmal. I doubt they really downgraded, as Izturis was borderline definition replacement level last season, and if Greene doesn't play well, he'll just get replaced.

Jimenez is already gone. Probably has to be someone out of the group of Walters, Todd, Mortensen, & Herron.

I'm thinking along the lines of Salas/Samuel/Reifer.

They really need some OBP in front of Big Al. They're starting to look like those mid-90s Texas teams that could mash but not take a walk, with Dean Palmer, Gonzalez, Pudge, Canseco. Julio Franco and Palmeiro at least drew some walks. The Cards could really use a .280/.360/.400 second baseman to plug in the second spot to bounce Ankiel behind Glaus.

Izturis was +19 according to plus/minus, and only a little below average overall according to Dial. Maybe he a flukey season defensively, but he wasn't terrible.

The Cards could really use a .280/.360/.400 second baseman to plug in the second spot to bounce Ankiel behind Glaus.

Dan Ugla is arbitration-eligible, I'm sure if he gets more than 20% of what he's worth the Marlins will trade him to you.

They really need some OBP in front of Big Al. They're starting to look like those mid-90s Texas teams that could mash but not take a walk

They were 2nd in the NL and 4th in MLB in OBP last season, and Greene shouldn't be too much worse than Izturis in that department. I'd love to see a trade for Uggla, though.

Mo will likely move Schumaker this offseason, as well, and Rasmus (or even Mather) are likely to be at least somewhat better at getting on base than he is.

Wow. I first read that as 'Enema'

/time for coffee

Maybe it's not the best idea to include the words "enema" and "coffee" in the same post like that.

Maybe his power numbers do spike (or at least return to what they were 3-4 years ago) -- but no park is going to change that wretched .300 OBP.

The park could certainly help his average by 20 points, and his .304 career OBP could be in the .325 range. Add in a possible 20+ HR, and he is a decent ballplayer. Upside is .340 and 25 HR.

Side-arming reliever Mark Worrell was part of the deal. He's pretty happy to be leaving the Cardinals.

Maybe his power numbers do spike (or at least return to what they were 3-4 years ago) -- but no park is going to change that wretched .300 OBP.

Not necessarily. Big foul territory is bad for the OBP, it turns fouls from strikes into outs. Does Petco have big foul territory?

Not necessarily. Big foul territory is bad for the OBP, it turns fouls from strikes into outs. Does Petco have big foul territory?

Actually, I was going toss a snarky response to BLB lazily citing the idea that Greene's OBP skills are so bad, hitting on the moon couldn't help him.

I know it's dangerous to read too much into home/road splits - but giving Petco's heavy tendency towards depressing offense, the fact that Greene's offensive value rests in his above average power (and to a large extent, OBP by proxy of long flies landing beyond the wall)... I think it's worthwhile to note that

Home: 225/289/369
Away: 270/318/484

BLB is right, I think. There's a good counter-argument to be made that even taking last season, Greene has been trending the wrong direction --- but we may well be reading stories about Greene being a surprise comeback in 2009.

Unfortunately, with this admission, I think I have broken the cardinal BTF rule: "Never back done, even if you might be wrong"... so this will be my final post, as I will be turning in my userID.

It's amusing that most of Greene's comps are slow-footed catchers.

He's Dale Sveum if Sveum hadn't broken his leg. Sveum was a shortstop who relied on positioning, a good first step and a strong arm versus athleticism. Sveum could also hit the ball a fair way but his strike zone was a tad less than Montana.

The Cards have a good history under The Don of taking the unwashed masses and getting production. If Greene's surfer look is just that and he doesn't come off to Tony as too laid back (which was the kiss of death for JD Drew) then KG could have a nice season in St. Louis.......

FACTS:

1) Khalil Greene is a vampire
2) Khalil Greene eats tuna ALL the time
3) Sorry Harveys, but Khalil Greene belongs to the most laid-back religion ever created.

2) Khalil Greene eats tuna ALL the time

Perhaps his poor 2008 can be chalked up to mercury poisoning.

Crispix:

The poor SOB.......

I used to be a devotee of Ba-Jai-lai...which combines the rigors of orthodox
mysticism with the sheer excitement of parimutualism. But I tapped out.

I noticed Greene's goofy home/road splits a couple of seasons ago, and found them interesting.
We'll see I guess...