Desperate for a fresh arm in the pen, Cardinals recall Carlos Martinez

After another short outing by starter Shelby Miller, which required Seth Maness to pitch 2 innings and Edward Mujica to pitch his 6th consecutive game, the Cardinals needed a fresh arm in the pen. Thus, Carlos Martinez was recalled today, with Michael Blazek being sent to the minors.

This is likely just a short-term stint for Martinez, who will likely head back to Memphis during the All-Star break to continue his work as a starter.

GM John Mozeliak described Martinez' role as "bullpen innings eater", when asked by Bernie Miklasz. So, Martinez will likely fill the long reliever role that Maness has occupied, while Seth gets a chance to rest.

I don't normally like it when teams shuttle pitchers up and down from their AAA club, especially one as talented as Martinez.  I think it can affect their development and Martinez needs work to develop a third pitch to go with his blazing fastball and excellent curve.

However, as this appears to be just a short-term move, mostly out of necessity, it should not have much affect.  Martinez should return to AAA to continue his work as a starter and provide depth for a struggling starting rotation. 

Joe Kelly is currently the 5th starter and Chris Carpenter is set to begin a rehab assignment on Monday, but neither one is a sure thing.  In addition, the recent struggles of Miller and Lance Lynn have raised concerns about the Cardinals pitching staff, and rightly so.

Bottom line, the Cardinals need Martinez stretched out at AAA as another option should one of the current starters falter.

Cardinals sell low on Mitchell Boggs?

One year after leading the NL in holds with 34, the Cardinals appear to have sold low on Mitchell Boggs, trading him for cash, international signing bonus cash to be exact.

According to Scott Miller of CBSSports.com, the Cardinals traded Mitchell Boggs to the Colorado Rockies for their International Signing Bonus slot #4, which is worth only $206,400.

Doesn't seem like a lot for a pitcher who just last year was one of the best setup men in the NL, but there is more to this move than just the international money.

First, thanks to the success of their rookie relievers, Boggs had become expendable.  As Rick Hummel points out, the rookie quintet of Trevor Rosenthal, Seth Maness, Keith Butler, Michael Blazek and Kevin Siegrist have been stellar.  In 96 innings, they have a combined 1.88 ERA with 102 K's. 

These guys have been a big part of the Cardinals bullpen resurgence.  After having the worst team bullpen ERA in April, thanks in large part to Boggs, the Cards pen has shown steady improvement over the last couple months, moving all the way up to 7th in the NL with a 3.52 bullpen ERA. 

Also, in addition to the international cash, the Cardinals rid themselves of Boggs' $1,475,000 salary for the rest of the year (about $737,500).  This was a sunk cost for the Cards, as it was unlikely that Boggs would make it back to the majors with the team, so to be able to dump his salary on the Rockies as well as getting a little extra international cash on top of it was a win-win scenario.

So, after a day of cleaning house for the Cardinals, including releasing Ty Wigginton, it will be interesting to see what the team's next move is.