Why Cards Should Consider Tom Glavine

Glavine pitching against the Cards in August of 2000

Yesterday (June 4), Ken Rosenthal reported that Tom Glavine, 22-year veteran, was released by the Atlanta Braves.

Glavine was placed on the disabled list on April 2^nd and has been recovering from his shoulder and elbow surgeries. He had just finished up a great rehab stint when the club informed him of his release. Glavine’s latest start, in Low-A, resulted in six strong innings with two strike outs, and no walks on June 2^nd.

In February, Glavine signed a bonus-filled $1 million contract that had him locked up with the Braves through the 2009 season. That is irrelevant now that they have released him. Meaning, a team would sign him to an entirely different deal if they were to pick him up.

The long time dominant lefty is certainly angered by the recent events. Rightfully so. Here is what Glavine had to say about the stunning release.

“Quite honestly, I was looking forward to finishing my career here, pitching one last time, so to speak, and then walking off and being a part of this organization for the rest of my life. I feel a sense of betrayal, a little bit. I have a little bit of resentment for the way things were handled. Had I been told, you’re going to go on a rehab and you’re going to have to make the team again, then I think that becomes very different for me. What I was told was here is your rehab schedule and if everything goes well, here’s when you’ll pitch in Atlanta. Everything went well. I was healthy and ready to go and that’s not the way that it went.”

Today, Glavine and his agent discussed the pitcher’s future by saying, “a couple teams are interested”.

Is one of those teams the St. Louis Cardinals - who all of a sudden find their selves in trouble when it comes to SP? Doubtful. When asked about Glavine, Mo said, “We have not, and will not contact Tom Glavine.”

Mozeliak is a man of his word, but should we contact Glavine? Yes.

 The guy just seems like a Cardinal doesn’t he? If that doesn’t convince you, take a look at the 45 year old’s resume.

 2 Cy Young Awards
1 World Series Most Valuable Player Award
4 All Star Game Appearances
305 Career Wins, 2607 Strike outs, 3.54 ERA, 22 years
15-7 in 2006 with 3.82 ERA
13-8 in 2007

Not only is Glavine was of the best left handed pitchers of all time, but he can still bring it. He has had one injury that has kept him from pitching a ton the past two years, but his 2006-2007 stats show that there is a chance he can still be affective. 28 wins in two years is pretty impressive… better than anybody on the entire pitching staff did in that time span.

I wouldn’t necessarily tell you that is saying much though either.

With Lohse heading to the disabled list, our rotation could find itself in a bit of a pickle. That is just one more reason to contact Glavine. What do we have to lose? Nothing.

With Lohse out 3-4 weeks, our pitching staff will look like this for about a month:

Chris Carpenter … 4-0, 0.71 ERA, 31 K
Adam Wainwright … 5-3, 3.38 ERA, 59 K
Joel Pineiro … 5-5, 3.86 ERA, 25 K
Todd Wellemeyer … 5-5, 5.05 ERA, 39 K
Brad Thompson … 0-1, 4.12 ERA, 6 K

So every five days, we get one great start, a decent start, another decent (if lucky) start, bull shit from Todd, and then a mediocre-at-best start. The way our team is hitting right now, we have a good chance to win once every five days.

Why not get a hold of Glavine? I wish I could answer that. There is no risk and the reward is beautiful for what we would pay him… which is “minimum wage” in the world of Major League Baseball.

IF the experiment works, we are looking at a MUCH better rotation. We would have the strong top half of the rotation with Carp, Waino, and Pin Head. But instead of two pretty good AAA pitchers bringing up the rear, we would bring in a future Hall of Famer that is determined to prove the Braves wrong, and pick and choose from whoever is pitching best… Likely Wellemeyer, Thompson, or a guy in Memphis such as Mitchell Boggs or Blake Hawksworth.

The point is, without a healthy Lohse, our rotation could go from hero to zero. Especially if we have Wellemeyer and Thompson BOTH in there.

Wellemeyer has been pretty god awful this year. He has been better of late and says he has “found the problem”, but nothing changes that ERA above five, the 16 earned runs in the past five games, or the 1.62 WHIP that is WELL above the MLB average. But whoever said Wellemeyer was near MLB average?

Thompson was very good in his last start, but do not let that fool you. If you think we will get that kind of support every time he takes the hill, you are sorely mistaken. Brad has a 4.23 lifetime ERA. Not to mention his struggles when he starts. He made six starts last year and had a 5.15 ERA in those starts. Thompson had 17 starts in ’07 with a 4.73 ERA. To say he is historically bad as a SP may be an understatement.

IF I was John Mozeliak, I would get Tom Glavine’s number. Not only would I do that, I would sign the all timer for the $400,000 it would cost. If that cheap-ass DeWitt doesn’t approve that, then I give up.

Justin Hulsey
Cardinals Front Office

This Card Is A Real Ace

Chris Carpenter is doing exactly what Chris Carpenter does when healthy…dominate opposing hitters. He has yet to give up an earned run in 23-innings to start the season. Just 2 starters since 1954 have begun a season with more innings without an earned run, the Dodgers Fernado Valenzuela in ‘85 and KC’s Zach Greinke this year.

Carpenter is now 53-20 as a Redbird with an ERA of 3.00. The Cardinals are 70-31 in his starts.

But Carp means so much more to the starting rotation than just when he pitches. This recent stretch of terrific starting pitching is a direct results of Carpenter being healthy and in the rotation.

In the 19-games Carp has been active the rotation is 13-2 with a 1.44 ERA. Eye-popping numbers! The 28-games this season The Ace has been on the disabled list, the rotation was 9-11 with a 5.09 ERA.

Now to this current stretch for the Cardinals rotation. It’s up to 9-games now with 2-starts by Carp. The rotation is 7-1 with a 0.98 ERA over 64-innings.

The numbers are very impressive. But what you see with your own eyes tells an even more impressive story, Carpenter is the Cards Real Ace.

Pat Parris
101 ESPN

Carp and Ankiel Return, Ludwick Still a Week Away

Chris Carpenter

Last night’s post was written out of pure frustration. Tonight’s post is written out of excitement.

If you did not get a chance to watch the game tonight, it was MUCH better than the past week of baseball. While the box score says five hits, they were against a VERY underrated Ted Lilly. We were in control the entire game after a RBI single from Yadier Molina in the 1^st inning.

After that, Pineiro took the game into his own hands and held on tight. Pineiro recorded his first complete game since 2003. All while allowing only three hits and… umm… NO runs. 92 pitches is all Joel needed while he blanked our rival Cubs, bringing his season ERA down to 3.50. Pineiro impressed us all tonight, and may have revived our team.

Our play was A+ tonight, and while that is awesome, there is even more to get excited about. As we get ready for Game 2, two of our main men will get ready to get off that dreaded Disabled List.

Both Chris Carpenter and Rick Ankiel will be activated tomorrow, and it couldn’t come at a better time. Everybody was waiting for tomorrow to pick up our team. Well, after tonight, our team is already picked up… Now, it’s only going to be held higher. Have you ever picked up your paycheck on the same day you get promoted? It feels good doesn’t it?

Not only will Carp be activated tomorrow, he will take the mound for the first time in over a month. The Cubs lineup is very similar to ours over the weekend, so expect a good outing.

A light bullpen session on Sunday (80 pitches) confirmed is readiness. He is coming back a little earlier than most expected. Only a week ago, we were guessing a start a series or two from now. Let’s hope we aren’t rushing him, but several successful BPS should have cleared all doubt.

Carp was injured while batting and suffered from a strained ribcage muscle… nowhere near the arm. It will be interesting the approach the team takes when Chris comes up to bat, but he vows that he “expects to hit like before”. There was talk of LaRussa just having Carp up there to try and draw a walk, but the former Cy Young award-winner says he won’t give the opposition anything.

Rick Ankiel will also be activated 15 days after his terrifying collision with the wall. He was first said to get through the injury without DL, so I would assume he is nothing if not ready. However, LaRussa is taking all precaution and wants Rick’s game to be evaluated before he is put in a game situation.

Ank will be activated tomorrow, but he won’t start. I would say he is unavailable until TLR and crew can make sure he is 100%. Everything should be back to normal by the end of the week.

The other third of the equation, Ryan Ludwick, is still at least eight days from activation, but is reportedly “healing very quickly”.

Studwick took swings off a tee on Friday and is expected to play some rehab games in the minors while still on DL. According to what I am reading, Ludwick is getting better and better every day. That is a HUGE relief considering a familiar injury sidelined Ryan for over a year when he was in the Indian’s organization.

It is no doubt that our team struggles without these guys, and we will take a full 180 when we get all three back. If you look at their 160-game averages, it shows the impact of these fine players.

Carpenter: 3.99 ERA, 15 wins, 170 SO
Ankiel: .260 AVG, 27 HR, 88 RBI
Ludwick: .273 AVG, 29 HR, 96 RBI

I difference? I would think so. Especially considering that these guys are replacing Boggs, Robinson, and Stavinoha. Wow. That puts into perspective doesn’t it.

So who is sent to AAA when Carp and Ankiel are brought back tomorrow? Here are the candidates.

Carpenter:

Blaine Boyer
Boyer is having a hard time lately, giving up four runs in his previous two outings. Boyer has been difficult to read so far. I think I would keep him up and see what happens. He has shown serious promise this year… we can’t deny him that. He did have seven consecutive outings without a single hit! Yes, check it yourself… 5.2 no-hit innings. No runs either. Boyer has been struggling, but I think we keep him in there.

Todd Wellemeyer
This is a hard one. Wellemeyer has definitely been our worst pitcher in the past week or so, but I doubt if MO wants to send him down. For one, we would need to bring up another starter to fill his rotation spot (only four-man rotation right now). Two, Wellemeyer is “worth” $4 million and that is tough to send down. Besides the financial reasons, Wellemeyer did pitch a fantastic 2008. This is a different season, but Todalion had a 3.70 ERA last year and was MLB pitcher of the month for May. There is still something there, believe it or not. An MLB pitcher doesn’t just wake up as a bad pitcher a year after being a really good one.

IF I was John Mozeliak, I would send down…

Brad Thompson
Let’s be honest here. Do we need Thompson? Hell, we don’t even use him. He has made two appearances in the past 11 games. While he has not done terrible in those outings, we don’t really need him. The best thing for Thompson to do is head to Memphis, polish his game, and get ready to open some eyes in his next chance. There will be one.

 

Ankiel:

Joe Thurston
To be fair, Thurston is our worst hitter. He is a likable guys, I suppose, but he is just not an MLB player. In fact, at the plate, he is terrible. Thurston is an average AAA player, and in all honestly, that’s where he should be. However, we have very little infield depth right now with Khalil Greene basically inactive. Unless we would bring up another AAA infielder, Thurston has to stay. Should he be in the starting lineup? Hell no, but we need him in order to back up our regulars.

Shane Robinson
Sugar Shane is one of my favorite players. He is an outfield version of Eckstein, but faster. The dude is a little spark plug and I LOVE his desire to play the game. You can just see it in his eyes, and it shows when he plays. Just like Eckstein, he is a spark plug for this team and provides life and energy that some players don’t bring to the table. He is super fast (4.2  40) and is electric on the base paths. He is by no means an every day outfielder, but he deserves to be up here for special bench situations.

IF I was John Mozeliak, I would send down…

Nick Stavinoha
Stavi was 1-for-6 before Monday’s game. He is having some troubles at the plate. I was the one who totally supported bringing him up, but he has yet to make any sort of impact. With Ankiel coming back, we would likely have to get rid of an OFer in return, and this is the guy. I would not be surprised if Sugar Shane Robinson is the guy instead, but just like Thompson, do we need this guy? He has had limited opportunities, and will go down due to the number of good outfielders we do have.

One Ryan Faces Possible DL, Another Eyes Return

Brendan Ryan

Just when we thought we were going to get it all together, get healthy, and get back on our streak we were on when Carp went down… As soon as we get excited for Carpenter’s potential start next week… As soon as Brendan Ryan says he will be back with the club this weekend… Ludwick dives for a ball that results in a pulled hamstring.

Just our luck, right? Just another day in the life of a Cardinals fan? Doesn’t it seem like we have these crippling injuries every single year? Heck, every single month so far. It is frustrating and heartbreaking.

Now, technically, Ludwick is not on the DL yet, but it will come. It was a pulled hammy, an injury that more times than not puts the player on the disabled list. I type this as the game is going, so I have not even heard what LaRussa or MO have to say about it. However, it did not look good when he was trying to stretch it out. I wouldn’t even go that far actually… He tried to work it out, but immediately grabbed his thigh in pain. SO, I hope I am wrong, but it is very likely that Ludwick gets DLed.

In the case that Ludwick is “sidelined” for a couple weeks, what do we do? Most people would look at it and think, “Well… we lost an OF… we wanna keep at least four OF on the roster… so bring up an OF!” Not necessarily. Let’s not forget that we have a natural outfielder playing second base right now. With Ludwick out, we basically have three options. Any way we do it, I think we have to keep up Robinson. He had another hit tonight, so that is consecutive games with a hit, and there hasn’t been a AAA player hotter than Sugar Shane.

The option beyond the naked eye that I kinda like lies in prospect Daryl Jones. Jones is an OF, he is young, he is actually in double-A ball right now, but I think he is ready. Jones has been dominating so far this season in AA with a .325 average, and I think it is a real possibility that he could jump AAA and be brought up within the next few days.

Stavinoha is another guy that I like, he has done well so far this year, and he had a good chunk of MLB ball last season. Stav only batted .193 in 29 games last year, so that isn’t exactly bringing attention to him. BUT, when young players make their second round at the MLB after a bad first, it is usually much much better. They learn on what they need to improve on to take their game to the next level, and they simply mature with more Minor League play. Hey, the dude has 25 RBIs this season, and that is very hard to ignore.

If MO wants to counter with bringing up another OF, and he doesn’t like Jones skipping AAA, then there is no doubt in my mind it will be Stavinoha. I would say this is the least likely scenario out of these three, but I wouldn’t say it’s a bad one.

Those two are good, young players, but if I was the man calling the shots, I go a different direction. That is David Freese, who has already had a taste of the MLB this season. I think Freese was a little sidetracked at the beginning of the season, when I saw him on the news every night. His story is great and all, but I kinda think he was riding cloud-9 a little too hard. Lafayette’s own Freese had a hot Spring, he made a spot on the team, and I think he may have been wrapped up in all the love.

When he was demoted within the first month of the season, it could have been a wake up call. When he comes back, don’t expect all the hype. Hopefully, fans would treat it as a normal call-up and not give him a freaking standing ovation with his every at bat. Let’s let the dude play baseball. For a young player, it is hard to handle 45,000 fans standing up for you… all while you are trying to get a base hit. With bringing him up, Schumaker will be starting in the outfield, Thurston will move to a full-time second base, and Barden will start at third with Freese sprinkled in as well.

—–

In other news, and there is some good news, Brendan Ryan is on his way back. He should be activated this weekend, which is GREAT. If you remember, Ryan was just hitting his stride when he was injured. He had a string of about three straight games with outstanding plays, and had just smacked a ground-rule-double right before getting injured. He will certainly help out in the infield that is currently WEAK without him. The way Khalil is playing right now, Ryan should definitely start over him. Ryan is a better defender, and so far a better hitter. Why would there be a debate? Well, knowing TLR, Khalil would likely get just as much playing time.

With Ryan coming back, we need to send a brother down. We currently have two shortstops on the roster, and three would be too much if we were to send down somebody that isn’t at SS. So, Khalil or Tyler?

Khalil has been pretty decent all of his career, he is proven, we know what we are going to get with him, it cannot get any worse than what he is at right now, and at some point a 6-year vet outweighs a rookie prospect. Khalil is actually starting to heat it up right now. In the past 10 games, he has brought his average up 16 points. He has six hits in the previous five games, and has had at least one hit in all of those five. He is batting .235 right now, and Tyler is just struggling. It really isn’t a debate, but I figured I would justify my decision a little.

I’m just saying… IF I was John Mozeliak, I would keep Robinson in St. Louis, promote David Freese, and send Tyler Greene back down to Memphis.

(Again, this is all based of if Ludwick gets DLed… which is highly probable.)

Justin Hulsey
StLDieHard24@gmail.com
CardinalsFrontOffice.wordpress.com