The Astros scored their first points of the offseason when they dealt Brad "Leonard Shelby" Lidge to the Phillies last week. Why? Because they recognized the relatively low replacement value of a 30-year-old "closer," (compare to Matt Herges’s VORP) got younger and gained two prospects from the right side of the defensive spectrum. The trade for centerfielder Michael Bourn and minor-league third baseman Mike Costanzo made us wonder whether the Cardinals might’ve been able to swing a similar deal involving one of their relievers (Ryan Franklin, Russ Springer and Jason Isringhausen all had more WSAB than Lidge in 2007). It’s a moot point regarding Isringhausen, since he has no-trade power (and we’re pretty sure he’s not interested in Philly, which, had it been around in Dante’s time, might’ve been one of his rings of hell for athletes). But take Izzy as a hypothetical: The Cardinals would’ve been freeing up $8.75 million in salary while getting a 2008-ready player who can spell Edmonds (or, with his defense, even push Edmonds to a corner spot, though JEd still plays a pretty good CF) and play in a corner outfield position. Bourn’s PECOTA-projected OBP of .310 is far from stellar but is better than that of Edmonds’s current backup of Ankiel (.285). And yes, he’s fast, though we’re not convinced that makes him as valuable as an offensive weapon as most people suppose. And Costanzo, as a 3B, would’ve given the Cardinals flexibility to trade Scott Rolen either now or sometime in the future (though he could be, as one BTF commenter put it, "Russell Branyan Lite"). The trade shows that some of the best offseason options that the Cardinals will find, like jobs, aren’t the ones listed in the papers. If John Mozeliak can pinpoint a situation like the Astros did, in which a team like the Phillies is willing to deal a major-league-ready position player for a replaceable reliever, the Cardinals’ "evolution" will begin to take shape.

Charades
As the world breathlessly awaits Sen. Mitchell’s "report," the big "concern — at least among the media class — is that GMs may be reticent to sign free agents who are implicated in PED use. But if the reaction of team officials to news about players who’ve already been outed as cheaters is any indication, it’s all much ado about nothing. Consider the two latest current players who’ve been busted, Jose Guillen and Mike Cameron, and the outrage from their teams:

We thought he was an outstanding teammate. We were happy to have him. We know nothing about what happened in the past. I continue to admire and respect him greatly.

– Mariners president Chuck Armstrong on Guillen

I hope it doesn’t hurt Mike. He’s a good man. He was a great teammate. He made a mistake here and certainly will have to pay for the public embarrassment that will come to him and his family. But knowing Mike, he is someone who can turn a negative into a positive.

— Padres GM Kevin Towers, adding that the Padres are still willing to negotiate a deal with Cameron

Add those reactions to that of erstwhile Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty on Rick Ankiel’s doping, and it’s clear that baseball is dead serious about ridding itself of PEDs, isn’t it?

Using their noggins
Turns out that we were only half-joking when we noted during the playoffs that we’d see base coaches wearing helmets next season. It seems to us like an all-too-common response in our culture of overreacting to an isolated event. To be sure, no one wants to witness another Mike Coolbaugh incident, but, in the proper historical context, his death was a freak occurrence, given the thousands of baseball games that have been played over the years and that this was the first such tragedy. If general managers were really on the ball, they would require someone else to wear helmets: their pitchers. After all, pitchers are much more likely to be hit with a batted ball — by the time the ball is struck, their momentum has them moving toward the plate nearly 50 feet away. And, in terms of investment, GMs should want to protect pitchers, whose replacement value is considerably more than base coaches (not that their lives, strictly speaking, are of any less worth). We don’t want to gainsay a move to make people safer, but we’d just as soon have neither group wearing helmets, since, in our opinion, baseball has too much body armor already.

Bottom stories of the week

• Dodgers expected to sign Park to minor league contract – AP headline
• Devil Rays make it official; they’re now the Rays – AP headline
• Craig Wilson would welcome return to Pirates – AP headline

For the 2009 Gold Glove awards?
Defense could affect voting — Journal-Sentinel headline

Talk about a bad unearned-run average!
Pavano error nearing end — NY Post headline

Miklasz dubious of Rolen market
We have no way of knowing whether Bernie Miklasz voted in our current poll ("What is Scott Rolen’s trade value in VORP?"), but his latest column gives us some clues as to his position:

If you think another team will pick up all $36 million of Rolen’s contract … well, you would be dreaming.

If you think another team would be willing to pay half ($18 million) of what’s owed to Rolen … you’re a giddy optimist.

If you think another team would pick up the entire $36 million of his deal and give the Cardinals a good player or prospect or two in return … well, this would make you delusional.

We appreciate the subtle hints, but to quote Johnny O’Connor, "Don’t leave me hanging by a thread, let me know where I stand!"

This entry was posted by Pip on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 3:39 pm and is filed under around the horn. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.