Palacios traded for Kittredge

[Jnevel]

Just to be clear, I wasn’t suggesting at all that I think Cease is a bad pitcher. He’s definitely been a good pitcher who had one great season. All I’m saying is that’s a very risky trade to make given what the White Sox seem to be asking for, general risks for a pitcher who has thrown as many innings as he has, and the cost in salary on 2 years of Cease vs the very low cost of the good players going out. Making moves (whether it be signing FAs or trades) out of desperation has been really bad for the Cardinals (see Ozuna, Liberatore, Mulder, Greg Holland, and Fowler to some extent). In all these cases, the Cards were quick to overpay for what they strongly coveted. Their best moves seem to have come when they’ve been patient. Patience isn’t very exciting for us fans, but I’ll take having the better team on the field over the long run.

[blingboy]

It does mean that the numbers can result in a conclusion which is obviously wrong. Obviously wrong to somebody with a sense of what attributes will contribute to a winning team. Not obviously wrong to somebody too wrapped up in the numbers themselves. I can readily see where a wonk would actually think Cease and Flaherty are similar because the algo that came up with that is how they view the game, and its how their brain works. I think it may be the kind of thinking that resulted in Palacios being traded. We got rid of the only reserve outfielder who was everyday playable for a considerable stretch at all three positions, and kept two players who are not. But I am 100% sure the algo said Carlson and Burly are “better”. They may be better by various measures, but neither is better for what we need on this roster right now. The algo does not factor that in, and neither did anyone who matters.

I would bet that the Rays have a different understanding of “better” than the Cards do. They got a player who can probably play every day. We kept two who probably cannot.

[bicyclemike]

The Rays seem to look at younger players similar to my view – they put a lot of value on athleticism. Palacios has that, and a quick bat. I value him more at this point than Baker or Burleson due to the athleticism, which can overcome a number of other shortcomings.

Had we given up either Baker or Burly for Kittredge it would been one of those “meh” deals, but worth a shot from our perspective. Giving up Richie has more chance of coming back to bite us once again, like many deals we make. May not happen, but I think Palacios has a better chance to contribute to a club than either of the DH-first guys.

But then I would have kept Hudson and groomed him for the type of role they want Kittredge to play. Then again, I have a feeling Hudson was one of those guys Marmol called out about not being committed to winning.

[Oliver]

Tough crowd. I pointed out the similarity in career numbers. Just found it interesting. My mistake.

[blingboy]

Nah, there’s just nothing else to talk about Oliver.

[jj-cf-stl]

What bling said. Early morning kick around topic to start the day. Bling doesn’t have a lot of choices at time of day, on this forum, so we trade barbs over coffee. All good Oliver.

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