All's quiet on the Cardinals trade front

The trade deadline has passed and the Cardinals didn't make any moves.  Not surprising, given the Cards current standing and the high asking price for the pieces the team was looking at.

There was a little bit of a flurry just before the deadline as the Cardinals tried to acquire Dioner Navarro from the Cubs to provide the team with a little more catching depth with Yadier Molina on the shelf.  However, the two sides could not agree on the price.

One of the more interesting rumors from yesterday was the Cardinals inquiring about the Angels' Erick Aybar, however that went nowhere fast when the Angels reportedly asked for one of Michael Wacha or Carlos Martinez in return.

So, other than trading off relievers Mitchell Boggs and Marc Rzepczynski, the trade deadline was pretty uneventful for the Cardinals. 

In fact, other than the Cubs selling off everything that was not bolted down, it was a pretty quiet trade deadline for MLB.  Sure, there were a handful of other significant trade (Jake Peavy to Boston, Ian Kennedy to San Diego, Bud Norris to Baltimore), but nothing like we use to see.

Part of that is due to the rules that no longer allow draft pick compensation for teams that acquire a player at the trade deadline.  No longer are teams willing to sacrifice as much of their farm system knowing that they will get nothing in return for their two-month rental.

In addition, the additional Wild Card team instituted last year, means there are less sellers at this time of year, as more teams think they still have a chance at the playoffs.  Thus, with fewer sellers and a larger demand for players, the price for those players skyrockets.

Overall, the Cardinals were probably wise to stand pat at this point.  They have some exciting young talent coming up and should be a legitimate contender for years to come, if they play their cards right.

Cardinals trade Marc Rzepcyznski for a minor leaguer

The Cardinals parted with another one of their struggling relievers today when they traded Marc Rzepczynski to the Cleveland Indians for minor league infielder Juan Herrera, according to Derrick Goold.  

Scrabble was the last holdover from the Cardinals trade that sent Cody Rasmus to Toronto back in 2011.  He was the key lefty out of the team's pen during their World Series title run in 2011, but had fallen out of favor with the team this season after posting a 7.84 ERA in 11 games.

That and the emergence of rookie lefthander Kevin Siegrist made Rzepczynski expendable. 

Herrera was unranked among the Indians top 30 prospects heading into the 2013 season and has a career line of .286/.382/.384 in 479 at bats.  He doesn't have much power (just 2 homers), but has a little speed (17 steals).  He can play second, third and short and likely profiles as a future utility player.

Overall, he's about what you would expect in return for Scrabble at this point.  There's not a lot of upside there, but I guess its better than nothing.

Who will be sent down when Mitchell Boggs returns for the Cardinals?

From all appearances, Mitchell Boggs' stay in the minors will not be a long one.  Sent down on May 3rd to work on his mechanics (and get his confidence back), Boggs seems to be doing just that.  So far he has pitched 5 innings without allowing a run.

Thus, it probably won't be long before the Cardinals call on him again.  He's just too good of a pitcher to leave in the minors.

But, when he's called back up, who will the Cardinals send down?

Here are 3 most likely possibilities:

Joe Kelly

Kelly has struggled so far this year, posting a 7.11 ERA in 12.2 innings.  Part of the problem may be that he doesn't appear to have a clearly defined role.  After starting the season as the long man in the pen, he was rarely used, in part due to the success of the Cardinals starters.  Mike Matheny has tried him in other spots, but his use has been sporadic.

In addition, after starting the spring as a candidate for the 5th starter spot, it appears that he was not considered to fill in while Jake Westbrook is on the shelf. 

Perhaps the Cards could send him back to AAA to stretch him out in case Westbrook's injury takes longer to heal and/or John Gast can't fill the gap (although he seemed pretty good last night).

Carlos Martinez

After visa issues delayed the start of his season, Martinez made just 3 starts for AA Springfield before he was called up to help shore up the Cardinals pen.  Despite one rough outing, in which he gave up 3 runs in 0.2 innings, Martinez has looked pretty good. 

However, when Boggs comes back, the Cardinals may no longer need Martinez' power arm in the bullpen and could send him back to AA to continue his development as a starter.

Seth Maness

Maness has been pretty impressive since joining the Cards pen, throwing 4.1 shutout innings while allowing only one hit.  A control pitcher, he pitches to contact and has an impressive 10.0 GO/AO ratio (i.e. he's inducing a lot of groundouts).  He has even added two vulture wins to boot.

Maness appears to be filling the long reliever role that Kelly was suppose to fill. 

However, despite his success, the Cardinals could still return him to the minors to stretch him out as a starter in case another need arises.

Prediction

My feeling is that the promotion of Martinez and Maness was only suppose to be a temporary thing until Boggs got his head on straight.  Thus, I predict that Martinez will be sent down once Boggs returns.  Martinez needs to continue to develop as a starter and keeping him in the majors this year will only delay that development.

Of course, the Cardinals will likely face this issue again when (or if) they feel Marc Rzepczynski is ready to return.  Based on their performances so far, I think the Cards would likely keep Maness over Kelly, as Seth has been the more effective pitcher.  But that could change by the time "Scrabble" is deemed ready.

Cardinals continue to tinker with their pen. Call up Seth Maness.

After a weekend series with the Pirates that saw the Cardinals pen give up 11 runs in 8.1 IP, the Cards made a move today to try to shore things up.

The Cardinals called up right handed, control artist Seth Maness from AAA Memphis and optioned Marc Rzepczynski to AAA. 

This is not to put the blame for all of the Cards bullpen issues at Scrabble's feet.  But the Cardinals needed a fresh arm in the pen and Scrabble wasn't cutting it as a lefty specialist.

Will this fix the Cardinals bullpen issues?  Probably not.  There is more to the problem than just Scrabble's ineffectiveness. 

First, we still need to get Mitchell Boggs back on track.  However, the Cardinals cannot just option him to Memphis to get things sorted out.  He would have to clear waivers first, which isn't going to happen.  Thus, Boggs needs to figure it out at the major league level.

Second, the Cardinals still need to sort out their 7th and 8th innings guys.  After dominating last year, Trevor Rosenthal has been extremely hittable this year so far, making it hard for Mike Matheny to rely on him in pressure situations.  However, due to lack of better options, Matheny must rely on him to handle the setup role.

As for the 7th inning, the Cardinals recently tried Joe Kelly in the spot (on Saturday) and he proceeded to give up 4 runs in 0.1 IP. 

Of course, when the Cardinals are winning games 9-1, like they did on Friday, you can hide your bullpen issues.  But, short of Friday's game, the Cards offense has struggled a bit lately.  With leadoff man John Jay hitting only .226/.278/.357 on the season, the Cards offense is missing its reliable table setter from the last couple years.

Yet, despite all these issues, the Cards find themselves sitting at 14-10 and only 1/2 game behind the Pirates for the Central lead. 

So, I guess things could be worse.