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 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.

Injuries have Cardinals shifting focus from bullpen to rotation

After spending over a month trying to sort out their bullpen, the Cardinals now face new problems with a starting rotation that has been beset by injuries.

The bullpen issues stemmed from an season-ending injury to closer Jason Motte, which caused bullpen roles to shift--a shift that some, like Mitchell Boggs, were not ready for.   The Cardinals solved their problems by shifting Edward Mujica to closer and calling up Carlos Martinez and Seth Maness to shore up the back end of the pen.

Now, a rash of injuries to the Cardinals rotation has the Cardinals scrambling again.

First, Jake Westbrook went on the DL with an elbow injury.  Then Jaime Garcia was lost for the season with a shoulder injury.  As if that wasn't enough, Westbrook's replacement, John Gast, was removed from his last start with shoulder tightness.

Thus, the Cardinals are making changes on the fly again.

First, Michael Wacha, the Cardinals best pitching prospect still in the minors, was pulled from his start Monday and is probably option #1 to replace Gast in the rotation.  Nothing has been announced yet and, as Bernie Miklasz points out, there are still reasons why the Cardinals wouldn't call on Wacha, but it appears that he is likely replacement for Gast.

In addition, the Cardinals have sent Carlos Martinez down to AAA to stretch him out as a starter again.  With all the injuries to starting pitching, the Cardinals now need Martinez as a starter more than they do as a (little used) reliever.  While it probably won't take him long to ramp up, Martinez still has work to do on his secondary pitches before he can be considered for a starting role.

Finally, Victor Marte was recalled to fill Martinez' role in the pen.  Marte had a 4.91 ERA in 40.1 IP last year for the Cardinals, but considering that Martinez only pitched 9.1 innings in the 21 days he was up with the club, its unlikely that Marte will be used in high leverage situations.

So the Cards are shuffling the deck again and the fans are hoping that the magic continues.

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 bullpen overhaul: Mitchell Boggs optioned, Carlos Martinez called up

After yesterday's outing in which he gave up two walks without retiring a batter, the Cardinals had seen enough of Mitchell Boggs and demoted him to AAA to sort out his issues.

To take his place, the Cardinals called up another one of their flame throwing prospects, Carlos Martinez, from AA Springfield.  Martinez, who had the start of his season delayed by visa issues, has only pitched 11.2 innings this season, posting a 2.31 ERA. 

Martinez, who can reach 100 mph with his fastball, will be following Trevor Rosenthal's career path.  After working as a starter throughout his minor league career, he will get his first taste of the big leagues as a reliever. 

It appears that the plan is for Martinez to be the 7th inning guy for the Cards, bridging the gap between the starters and the Trevor Rosenthal/Edward Mujica finishing combo.  If he succeeds in that role, it will hopefully allow Mike Matheny to reduce the workload on Rosenthal, who is on pace to pitch in 92 games.

Martinez certainly has the stuff to succeed in the pen.  In their 2012 Prospect Handbook, Baseball America stated that Martinez has the "ingredients to become a frontline starter or a closer." 

The concern here is that, like Rosenthal, Martinez could get pigeonholed into a relief role.  While not necessarily a bad thing, pitchers were their kind of stuff are generally more valuable if properly devloped as starters.

That said, this should be only a temporary role for Martinez, who could return to the minors to continue his development, once Boggs gets things sorted out.

In related bullpen news, it was announced today that Jason Motte will undergo Tommy John surgery next week.  Motte had been progressing with his throwing program before experiencing discomfort after throwing Friday.  I, for one, wish him a speedy recovery.

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.

With bullpen struggling, Cardinals are starting to consider other (internal) options.

With the Cardinals closer questions apparently being answered by Edward Mujica, who has converted all 3 of his save chances, the Cards are still looking to shore up the rest of their bullpen.

As of today, the Cardinals have a bullpen ERA of 5.37, last in the majors.  Most of this can be attributed to Mitchell Boggs, who struggled when placed in the closer role and has yet to sort things out.  If you remove his 12.46 ERA in 8.2 IP, the Cardinals bullpen ERA is a more respectable 3.74. 

However, the problem is that Boggs was expected to play a major role in the Cards pen.  He was the main setup guy last season and, before Jason Motte's injury, he was expected to fill that role again this year. 

With his struggles, Trevor Rosenthal has had to step up into the setup role, a role that he finally appears to be getting use to.  After, blowing two saves a little over a week into the season, Rosenthal has managed 5 holds since then.  He is still trying to find himself, as he hasn't been as dominant as he was last year (15 hits allowed in 11.2 IP), but he seems to be acclimating to his new role.

But, with Mujica moved to the closer role and Rosenthal handling the 8th innning duties, the Cards are still looking for a 7th inning guy.  Boggs could be that guy, if he gets things sorted out, but if he doesn't, the Cardinals will look at other options.

One such option, as Bernie Miklasz points out, it to swap the roles of Joe Kelly and Boggs, make Kelly the 7th inning setup guy and move Boggs to the long-relief role.  This would give Boggs time to sort out his issues while giving Kelly a chance to show what he can do in a more prominent role. 

Another option that Miklasz discussed would be to move Lance Lynn to the pen and call up a starter from AAA (Michael Wacha or John Gast).  However, the Cardinals starters have been just fine, posting a 2.38 ERA (tops in the majors), so its unlikely that Mike Matheny would want to mess with his rotation.  If it ain't broke....

Finally, the Cardinals could call up Carlos Martinez to fill a setup role.  Joe Strauss speculated that this could happen in a recent interview.  Martinez has closer type stuff, but just recently made his first start of the minor league season after arriving in the U.S. late due to visa issues. 

My feeling is that the Cardinals should try Kelly in a setup role and move Boggs to long relief.  I think this is the best option at the current time, as it gives Boggs time to sort out his issues while giving Kelly a bigger role.  If things don't work out, then Plan B should be to give Carlos Martinez a try.

In any case, there is still work to be done to sort this all out.  The Cardinals could always shock the world and pull off a trade. Strauss tweeted recently of a possible April/May trade (please, anyone but Carlos Marmol!!!).  But, until that happens, the Cards will have to make due with what they've got.

Can Edward Mujica succeed as the Cardinals closer?

It appears that, with Mitchell Boggs' struggles continuing last night (0.1 IP, 4 ER) and the Cardinals not ready to turn the reigns over to rookie Trevor Rosenthal, who has struggled too, Edward Mujica is the Cards closer, as least for now.

But can he succeed in that role?

Mujica has been nothing short of spectacular in his short career with the Cardinals.  Since being acquired from the Marlins last July for Zack Cox, Mujica has posted a 1.10 ERA in 32.2 IP, with an incredible 28/4 BB/K ratio. 

After struggling with home runs early in his career, Mujica has reinvented himself the last few years, relying more on a sinking fastball to go with his splitter/change, which has increased his ground ball rate from 39% in 2009 to 50.5% last year. 

As a result, his HR/9 has dropped from 1.81 in 2010 to below 1.0 the last two years.

So, he appears to have the tools to succeed, but does he have the "closer mentality" to succeed?

If Thursday's game is any indication, then I think the answer is a resounding yes.

After coming into the game with two on in the bottom of the 8th, Mujica struck out Laynce Nix to end the inning.  Then, after giving up consecutive hits to put runners on first and third with no one out in the 9th, Mujica induced Kevin Frandsen to ground out, with the infield in, before striking out Jimmy Rollins and ending the inning with a Freddy Galvis groundout.

That's two pressure situations in consecutive innings from which Mujica was able to escape unscathed.

Thus, while the Cardinals continue to look for ways to shore up the rest of their bullpen, it appears that the closer role will belong to Mujica and, if the early results are any indication, he should hold the job for a while.

Jason Motte has torn UCL. Could Michael Wacha be an option as closer?

According to Jennifer Langosch, an MRI on Jason Motte's arm today revealed a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament.  He will be shut down until May 1st and then checked again for any improvement.  If none, he will likely undergo Tommy John surgery.

This is a big blow for a Cardinals bullpen that has struggled so far this year. 

With their closer likely out for the year and Trevor Rosenthal (2 blown saves) and Mitchell Boggs (1 blown save, 14.54 ERA) struggling, the Cardinals could look to other options to fill the closer role.

Here are some possibilities:

Edward Mujica

Mujica has been very effective since the Cards acquired him from the Marlins last summer, posting a 1.21 ERA in 29.2 IP.  He main asset is his control, allowing only 1.2 BB/9 with the Cards and 1.5 BB/9 for his career. However, he only has 4 saves in his career.

Fernando Salas

Salas closed for the Cardinals in 2011, compiling 24 saves and a sparkling 2.28 ERA, but struggled last year (4.30 ERA) and hasn't fared much better in the early going this year 8.10 ERA.

Eduardo Sanchez

 Sanchez is another former closer for the Cards, having saved 5 games in 2011.  However, he struggled with his command last year (34 walks in 42.2 IP) and, although he has shown better form this year, the Cardinals will likely want him to prove himself in a lesser role before handing the closer reigns over to him.

Carlos Martinez

Martinez has the 2 pitch arsenal to be a good closer in the majors, with a blazing fastball that sits in the high 90's and a biting curveball.  However, visa issues delayed his start to the season and he is currently in extended spring training.

Michael Wacha

Wacha surprised many with a strong spring this year and showed last year that he is comfortable pitching out of the pen, posting a 0.86 ERA in 21 IP (mostly in relief).  However, the Cardinals would probably prefer to keep him as a starter to help him develop his pitches. 

Overall, the Cardinals will probably give Boggs and/or Rosenthal a long leash, but beyond Boggs and Rosenthal, the best bet for saves would probably be Mujica.  Wacha could be a possibility, but the Cards would have to be desperate to turn to him (which just might happen, the way things are going).

Cardinals bullpen is struggling without Jason Motte

After a quality start against the Reds today, Jaime Garcia got to sit on the bench and watch the Cardinals bullpen implode, costing him a win and the Cards the game.

Trevor Rosenthal started it off by blowing a save in the 8th, giving up a run to tie the game, before Mitchell Boggs and Marc Rzepczynski came on in the 9th to allow a combined 9 runs and make a close game into a laugher.

However, this is nothing new for the Cardinals. 

Back in 2011, the Cardinals tried everything but the kitchen sink in an attempt to shore up their bullpen.  After incumbent closer Ryan Franklin's effectiveness finally deserted him, the Cards turned to a variety of relievers to plug the gap.  Mitchell Boggs, Eduardo Sanchez and Fernando Salas all tooks turns at closer before Jason Motte finally stepped up in September to claim the role.

The result was an incredible 26 blown saves during the year, second only to the Nationals, who had 27. 

With Motte firmly entrenched in the closer role in 2012, you would think the Cardinals would have improved on that blown saves number, and they did, only blowing 22 saves.  However, that still put them as the 3rd worst team in the NL, behind the Brewers (29) and Rockies (27). 

This year, the Cardials are showing just how much they are missing Motte.  Through 7 games, the Cardinals already have3  blown saves.

Thus, Cardinals fans everywhere will be crossing their fingers as Motte undergoes an MRI tomorrow to check on his recovery from his flexor tendon strain.  A healthy Motte would allow the Cards to return Rosenthal and Boggs to their more comfortable roles in the 7th and 8th innings.

The good news is that, even with all the blown saves the last two years, the Cardinals have still made it to the playoffs each year, winning the World Series in 2011 and nearly winning the pennant in 2012.  The bad news is....well, let's just say Get Well Soon Jason!!!