BBTF's Newsblog Discussion :: Cardinals Baseball Prez John Mozeliak Is in a Bind. Can He Find a Way Out?

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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Cardinals Baseball Prez John Mozeliak Is in a Bind. Can He Find a Way Out? - 101Sports.com

But the Cardinals are in a bind… here’s why.

1. At least to this point, the Cardinals have made it very clear that they prefer to add impact talent through trades, rather than take a costly dive into the deep end of the free-agent pool. Of course, their philosophy could shift, based on, among other things, supply and demand and desperation. But if they plan to stay out of the expensive section of free agency, they’re eliminating a way to get better; putting a limit on their options; and reducing the supply of talent that’s readily available to them. But if the Cardinals won’t make a large splash in free agency …. forget about J.D. Martinez, or Eric Hosmer.

Jim Furtado Posted: December 13, 2017 at 06:10 AM | 3 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
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1. Walt Davis Posted: December 13, 2017 at 04:31 PM (#5592053)

Will Marcel Ozuna do?

The premise of the article seems a bit odd. They made a big push for Price, there was another big-ticket FA they went for whose name escapes me and of course they tried to acquire Stanton's massive contract. So it doesn't seem an unwillingness to spend as much as maybe they have decided that they won't be the #1 destination on any big FA's dance card.

And I can easily see the Cards and Hosmer at 4/$80 or so. (EDIT: Assuming Carpenter is OK with another position switch.)

2. Sleepy's not going to blame himself Posted: December 13, 2017 at 05:15 PM (#5592085)

And I can easily see the Cards and Hosmer at 4/$80 or so. (EDIT: Assuming Carpenter is OK with another position switch.)

I don't know. Even assuming Carpenter could handle 3B, the Cardinals also have Gyorko at 3B. Carp is a below-average 3B (-2.3 UZR/150 over career), and given his injuries, he is probably worse than that going forward. Gyorko is just 29 and is a plus 3B (+1.3 UZR/150).

Steamer projects Hosmer to be worth 2.6 fWAR vs 2.1 for Gyorko and 2.7 for Carpenter. Unless they lined up a trade for one of the two players that fills some other gap, or believe that Hosmer was going to continue to improve, that would be ~20 million per year for a half-win upgrade assuming Carp doesn't completely fall apart at 3B.

3. The Duke Posted: December 13, 2017 at 05:25 PM (#5592093)

Cards have gone after and finished second to Pujols, Heyward, Price and Stanton. If you believe in devil magic, managing to avoid 3 and possibly 4 Titanics is it. I like their approach and in a world where most free agents don’t want to play in a midwest back-water any way ( I’m from stl and love it), they need to be focusing on the indentured servant demographic of players and hope that they can reel in a big one once in a while with a trade and sign (McGwire, rolen, Holliday)

At least Stl has some legacy; it’s even worse in Milwaukee, Minnesota, Kansas City etc.

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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Cardinals Baseball Prez John Mozeliak Is in a Bind. Can He Find a Way Out? - 101Sports.com

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