I don’t think the club can reasonably deal Ludwick – they have to give him at least one more full-time year to prove this one wasn’t a fluke – plus he’s under team control for another three years at reasonable salary.

I think Burnett might be more of a reality than a lot of people think – and that in turn, with the return of Carp and Waino – will in turn strengthen the bullpen.

Then you’re left trying to find a bat…

We likely won’t have Lohse next year, so it seems they could justify adding an arm to the rotation for next year.

Right now if I were the GM I would really consider adding Bonds. A power bat to protect Pujols and the lineup could be stacked with power. Give him lots of time off and you still have room for Ludwick and Shoemaker to play.

Then I’d go after Burnett. Maybe trade Ludwick even and call up Stavinoha. He’s a good player and his trade value will never be higher, unless we think he is going to continue at this rate of production? Even still, we have good depth at OF so we really could afford to trade for pitching if we could find a taker.

Final spot is bullpen, and Weathers could still be a nice cheap option.

For instance, since you bring him up, that’s why Burnett’s price is perceived to be so low. The Jays are absolutely terrified he’s going to walk after this year anyway, so anything they get out of him in a trade could well be gravy for them. They either get something, anything, or nothing.

There are lots of rumors floating about that the Cardinals are in on lots of names: Burnett, Fuentes, Holliday, Bay – hell, even Roy Halladay has come up – but I just don’t see Mo putting together a big enough deal to make it work this year.

He’s not in an enviable position, to be sure. IMO, they have to do *just enough* to convince fans they still want to win this year while still maintaining all of the momentum they’ve built towards winning next year and beyond. After all, 2009 was the year they were targeting, right?

This latest Yankees trade though has me wondering. Nady and Marte? I know Tabata is the next boy wonder, but he is still a few years removed from the bigs and apparently has some character issues on top of it. How nice would Nady and Marte have looked as Cardinals right now?

If we are going to play for this year then I would be in favor of trading for Burnett. He would be a top notch power pitcher and put him in a rotation with Carpenter and Wainwright and now you have something, assuming you fix the bullpen by adding a closer. Of course, you still probably need another power bat off the bench. Of course there is also still the issue of no real team speed to speak of. Hmm, maybe there are too many holes afterall? Maybe we should sign Bonds at the minimum? He could have Mark’s old locker

Just thinking out loud

That leaves Anderson as prime trade bait for a necessary piece, something the Cardinals have lacked in their system for a long time – organizational depth.

Hopefully what we will come to see in the next 2-3 years will be a build-up in the mid-range prospects that seem to always be packaged in threes and fours to nab big names at the deadline.

I think if I were rating the tiers then Brian Anderson would have to be in tier 1 as would Chris Perez. Anderson is a very good catcher and any number of teams would love to get him. Perez throws hard which scouts love. Both Anderson and Perez were rated in the top 100 by Baseball America and both will be highly rated next year, assuming Perez is still eligible anyway.

The thing I would hate to see is for the Cardinals to trade away multiple pieces of the future for stop gap players. Under Jocketty we never seemed to have any depth in the minor leagues and were never in a positiion to get the premium players because of it. We’re still not there, but are getting closer in my mind with a lot of promising young players.

A guy like Anderson could still be 3 years away and at some point they will have to decide on how much to pay Molina who will come at a premium. For right now I would be in favor of adding an experienced power bat off the bench. The Brewers just signed Durham which I think was a great move. I think right now we might be missing out on some opportunities as Mozeliak is learning the business.

Guess we’ll have to withhold judgement until we see what materializes in the coming weeks.

Thanks for a thought provoking and interesting article!

http://bertflex.blogspot.com/2008/07/cardinal-blogger-appreciation-month_24.html

Greinke = young, can eat innings when healthy.

Mahay = old, but a strong LHRP with history of excellent performance.

Grudz = well, the Cards never should’ve let him walk at that price to begin with, as Erik said.

I reckon I will have to come up with my own “left-field” deal and post it here.

Bryan Anderson, Joe Mather, Jaime Garcia, Jess Todd and Daryl Jones

for

Zach Greinke, Ron Mahay and Mark Grudzelanek

This will never happen, but perhaps it should. Greinke is going to get expensive for the Royals before they are ready to contend, they aren’t sold on John Buck at catcher, and their system is barren of talent. Meanwhile the Cardinals improve in three areas this year where they need help and they can keep Greinke to combine with Carpenter and Wainwright for years to come.

I’m soured on Kennedy and Brendan Ryan – let’s see Barden, Hoffpauir, and the likes. Certainly can’t hurt.

I wonder who of the young bunch will see September call-ups?

I don’t know how I’d feel about the Huston Street trade. I’d probably try to get Mark Ellis included in there too. It would fill a lot of holes while trading mainly surplus talent.