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Cecil?
Reyes?
Alcantra?
Hudson?
Tui?
Re-sign Oh?
Someone else from inside the org?
FA?
Trade?Which do you think it will be?
I’m going to go with the trade option. If we stay inside the organization, Alcantra is my guess.
From inside the organization, Reyes, Alcantara or Tui. I am having a hard time seeing the Cardinals signing a free agent closer. I think they will go trade route only if they can get it cheap. Too much internal talent.
Last offseason, I was a huge fan of going after Jansen from LA. Now, he would have cost a mint but he’s dominant and likely to stay that way and would have made the bullpen for this year pretty good with several more years of closing to come. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess but with Rosie set to come off the books he probably would have been a $12m a year upgrade from what we had, which for the security of knowing the 9th was locked down for the foreseeable future…would be completely worth it.
As for next year… I’m thinking they’ll start the season with a veteran in the role, such as Cecil or even Siegrist. I’m not sure who is available as a free agent but wouldn’t rule out a Hudson, Alcantara or even Helsley being in the bullpen next year. Reyes will probably begin there too.
I guess some feel that you can just hand the ball in the 9th inning to some pitchers and that makes them a closer.
Did somebody mention Cecil as the closer?????
Wacha may be a natural because he comes on strong and then seems to have a problem the second and third time through the lineup.
Plus it keeps his seasonal innings down.I may be wrong, but I think the Cards are moving toward a rotation of Martinez, Reyes, Weaver, Flaherty, and Hudson.
I believe Wade Davis and Greg Holland are both free agents to be and probably the best bets for an outside closer.
With all the arms they have, I would be very surprised if they went outside for a closer. They need to spend $ on offense.
Do you really think the Cardinals will go outside and spend big bucks when they’ve been burned by the Duke and Cecil signings? Plus the Leake signing as a starter?
If I were to bet, I’d put my money on a Wacha or a Brebbia.Where would you add offense?
3B?Carpenter
Pham
DeJong
Fowler
Wong
Gyorko
Molina
Piscotty
Grichuk
Martinez
Bader
O’Neill
Sierra
Adolis GarciaI don’t see anybody on the team currently that has what it takes to close games with Rosey out pretty much all next year…Cards going to have to go sign one if they want a good one or trade for one
Duke didn’t really burn them. He got hurt.
Leake will get a spot in next years’ rotation also. He needs to build his stamina for the long-haul this offseason.
Wainwright will get first dibs assuming he is healthy. Wacha is pitching fine as a starter. I don’t know why would would demote him.
The rotation going into spring training, assuming a healthy Wainwright, will be Martinez, Wainwright, Leake, Wacha, Weaver….with a outside chance that Lance Lynn is re-signed. Reyes likely won’t be ready by spring training so we can assume he is out in the beginning, maybe making a late-May/June arrival. Therefore, Flaherty is our injury insurance sixth starter with Hudson as his backup.
Therefore, I see us going outside the organization for a closer. Could be another Oh out there too.
There aren’t enough arms with upside that won’t be earmarked for the rotation. All bets are off if they re-sign Lynn though.
bccran, the offense problem remains lack of high quality, not sheer quantity of bodies. They have to move some of the roster logjam and get at least one bonafide run-producing hitter. There is no one like that in the pipeline. Third base or even outfield would be my most likely targets.
Of course, I said the exact same thing last off-season, too.
Pads, I agree they could look for and sign another Oh. But remember that when he was signed, he was simply bullpen depth. No one expected him to close and his salary was accordingly low. The Cards got a great bargain with him, just based on the return they received previously.
They could look for another Mujica, Axford, etc. kind of guy like they plugged in in the past, if nothing else to provide competition for any internal candidates.
I think they will have to search for offensive help via trade…not necessarily a signing…so that means players moving… with the fullness of the 40man i think players moving will be necessary there as well, i like Hosmer but will be interested where the money goes with him..but a trade seems likely
I think Davis, Holland, Neshek, Gregerson, Oh, Reed, Shaw…all could be had and all have dealt with not being THE guy before… relief market seems pretty robust for the type of set/closers we could be looking for while we sort out who the next closer is
we will have some money and we have players to trade…i think solving it from within is a definite possibility but i think we will definitely go out and get a good veteran to help with the bullpen
I don’t mind throwing Reyes in the bullpen to see what he can do but we need help from the outside.
Holland has an option for next year so we don’t know if we will be a FA or not.
Wade Davis will be a pricey FA but I would be all over him. He has been lights out for the Cubs.
Or we could trade some of our offensive surplus for Brad Hand.
I don’t think anyone can say that we don’t have any run producers in the system. With Fowler, Pham,
Grichuk, Piscotty, Martinez, Bader, O’Neill, A. Garcia, Arozarena, and Sierra – you don’t really know who is going to breakout like DeJong did this year. The list doesn’t have a Stanton on it, but it has plenty of talent. The only hole I really see is 3B. Gyorko is a band aid, but he would probably be more overall effective in his super utility role.bccran, that is precisely the logic the team cited last off-season in not making additions other than Fowler after letting Holliday and Moss leave. They counted far too heavily on young, unproven players who did not deliver.
Even with the recent struggles, the Cardinals pitching is in the top four of the league. The offense is in the middle of the pack, with no hitter feared by the other team.
One should hope the Cards do not make the same mistake of relative inaction this offseason and address the offense via trade or free agency.
Brian, I agree. We need a BIG bat in the lineup. That’s why I keep hoping Stanton can be dealt for. Not sure Hosmer would be that big bat but he would be an upgrade.
I don’t think the 2018 Cardinals are too far away. I can see the bullpen doing a lot better next year as most of them have had off years this year. In my mind we are one big bat and one late inning relief ace away from contending next year. Of course, do we anticipate the Cubs in 2018 to under-achieve like they have so far in 2017?
r/Rat
I don’t know who the big bat would be at this time. Love to acquire and sign Machado. Next up would be Donaldson, I guess. They have to made available to begin with. Stanton won’t happen unless the Marlins are willing to take $100M back, so rule that out. Any optimism about Machado might come out of the idea that most of the big spenders already have a third baseman. I don’t think we should overpay for Donaldson in terms of players, or in the length of his contract. If the pitching is healthy, and we don’t get blind-sided by a major injury for a change, IMO, there is enough talent on this current roster to win the division. To start with, Matheny needs to take spring training seriously. When somebody says they’re tired, or if they stop producing, try giving them a rest. Not sure Lilliquist is the right guy for the job. He has never shown an ability to pull a rabbit out of a hat, that’s for sure.
Too bad about Rosenthal. If he comes back healthy, he will still be one of the best closers in the game. He’s on the DL, so at least we know he’ll be back next year. I don’t have a clue as to who in the organization has the closer mentality. Not sure Tui has it. I expect Brett Cecil to be much improved next year with an offseason of preparation under his belt. A healthy Wacha and a healthy Siegrist could be a really good closer tandem. Bowman and Brebbia are very good middle men. Either of them might be able to close now and then, but neither has shown an ability to be a reliable closer yet. All in all, IMO, it would make the most sense to give Reyes a chance to close. He has that ‘no fear’ mentality and amazing movement on his pitches, although it would be scary to bring him in with the bases loaded because of his control issues. It seems that the organization does have enough pitching.
I’d like to see Lyons get stretched out as a starter next year. He can spot his fastball, he gets swings and misses with his changeup, his slider slides and mostly stays in the strike zone, and that slurve, or whatever his breaking ball is called, is downright filthy. He has been almost equally effective getting both left-handed and right-handed batters out. IMO, he has earned a chance to go after the big money that starters get.
We still have a chance to win the division this year. Weaver’s performance last night brings back that sense of guarded optimism.
I think the club will look at Wacha and Leake as bullpen pitchers for 2018. And perhaps one of them will evolve into the closer role.
Rotation would be Martinez, Wainwright, Reyes, Weaver and then Lynn or someone from the farm that has already been mentioned (Flaherty, Hudson, etc).
The club should look seriously at bringing Lynn back, as I don’t think they will want to go with three rookies in the rotation (counting Weaver as a “rookie”). But on the other hand, the Rockies have gone with four rookies this year, and have had some good success.
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