Wednesday, December 08, 2004
The Day After
Ok, so we lost our 2nd baseman/leadoff hitter to the Yankees. Tony got 2 years/$4 million, which is great for him. He had a career year while making less than $1 million in 2004. But I don't think he can duplicate last season. While he was great for us, I'm not that sorry to see him go. Do the Cards go after Polanco now? Or do we [shudder] go with Luna/Hart? Polanco's clearly the better choice, but he was offered arbitration by the Phillies and would cost a lot more money in addition to draft picks.
As expected Williams and Kline were not offered arbitration. I'm sad to see them go. Both pitched their hearts out for the Cards. Woody, even when hurt, was...gritty. I'll miss Kline's goofiness, but we've still got Tavarez.
The club re-signed Eldred ($600,000), Mabry ($725,000), and Morris ($2.5 m, up to $7 m with incentives). Eldred...eh. He's fine. Mabry's nice to have around since the outfield is so old (though he's no spring chicken).
As for Matty, well, the $7 million is a little high, but I doubt he'll get all of it. If his surgery last week fixes whatever issues he had in 2004, great; it just always seemed like a good deal of his problems could be traced to his head, not his shoulder. $5 million is fine for a 3rd or 4th starter.
Both Matheny and Renteria were offered arbitration. Matheny wants at least a two-year deal. I don't know if he'll be happy being a back-up as soon as next year. The Dodgers are interested, and if Matheny wants to keep starting for two more years, let him go and take the picks. We wouldn't lose much in defense and couldn't possibly lose any offense going from Matheny to Molina.
I just don't know what to think about the Edgar situation. I want him back-bad. But what if:
a) he prices the team out of upgrading the rotation and/or a decent 2nd base?
b) we can't get something done and miss out on good free agents - apparently Walt is "consumed" by signing Edgar.
I hope we sign him soon, I hope it's reasonable, IhopeIhopeIhope....
As expected Williams and Kline were not offered arbitration. I'm sad to see them go. Both pitched their hearts out for the Cards. Woody, even when hurt, was...gritty. I'll miss Kline's goofiness, but we've still got Tavarez.
The club re-signed Eldred ($600,000), Mabry ($725,000), and Morris ($2.5 m, up to $7 m with incentives). Eldred...eh. He's fine. Mabry's nice to have around since the outfield is so old (though he's no spring chicken).
As for Matty, well, the $7 million is a little high, but I doubt he'll get all of it. If his surgery last week fixes whatever issues he had in 2004, great; it just always seemed like a good deal of his problems could be traced to his head, not his shoulder. $5 million is fine for a 3rd or 4th starter.
Both Matheny and Renteria were offered arbitration. Matheny wants at least a two-year deal. I don't know if he'll be happy being a back-up as soon as next year. The Dodgers are interested, and if Matheny wants to keep starting for two more years, let him go and take the picks. We wouldn't lose much in defense and couldn't possibly lose any offense going from Matheny to Molina.
I just don't know what to think about the Edgar situation. I want him back-bad. But what if:
a) he prices the team out of upgrading the rotation and/or a decent 2nd base?
b) we can't get something done and miss out on good free agents - apparently Walt is "consumed" by signing Edgar.
I hope we sign him soon, I hope it's reasonable, IhopeIhopeIhope....
