Last Offseason Misleading, Teams Still Crazy
I didn't really know much about John Mozeliak before. Now I do. He is bad.
The Cardinals expected to finalize a four-year extension with Lohse this morning. Lohse skipped his scheduled start Sunday for a physical and said afterward he hopes a deal is on the horizon.
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General manager John Mozeliak declined to discuss details but confirmed negotiating with Lohse's representative. Multiple sources indicated that the deal could be similar to the four-year, $48 million contract signed by Carlos Silva with Seattle last winter, and that the average annual value of Lohse's deal will exceed $10 million.The Cardinals have scheduled a news conference for 4:30 p.m. today (FSN Midwest).
The Cardinals grabbed Lohse off of the scrap heap last March and were rewarded with a sub-4 ERA over 200 innings. The lesson they learned from this is that, if dipping into the bargain barrel works once with a player, you better make damn sure he never gets away.
Kyle Lohse is the same pitcher he's always been. Nothing's different about the way he pitches. He gets a couple more groundballs now, but those come at the expense of infield pop-ups, and he just posted the lowest swinging strike rate of his life despite having spent the majority of his career in the tougher league. He turns 30 this weekend.
Stupid. Kyle Lohse is a #4 starter being paid like someone way better than that, and while he may not be as thoroughly unlikable as Carlos Silva, his contract is likely to be almost as much of a problem down the road. If not immediately.
Facing an offseason in which there's more talent on the free agent market than there has been in ages, Kyle Lohse is on the verge of signing a monster four-year contract. Either the Cardinals are batshit insane or the league's front offices have communally looked at last year's reasonable spending and decided that that was really silly of them. Whatever the case may be, I don't know if I've ever been happier to be in a Bavasi-less position. God only knows what kind of ideas he'd be getting.
I can think of less ominous contracts to begin the winter.
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25 comments
Comments
I wonder if this sets the market like Kris Benson did a few years ago
or becomes an aberration like Carlos Silva last winter.
by Matthew on Sep 29, 2008 10:53 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
This flipping better be an aberration
although if it’s not, boy am I glad we’re rebuilding.
by Jeff on Sep 29, 2008 10:56 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don't know.
I think I would enjoy this winter more if it became a trend. We wouldn’t be affected and it would help make it more sensible to retain Bedard.
Imagine Sabathia’s contract.
by Matthew on Sep 29, 2008 10:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
My money's on the latter
If Braden Looper and/or Jon Garland score huge contracts, then I guess I was wrong.
by marc w on Sep 29, 2008 10:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Please oh please oh please.
Imagine how much better Jarrod Washburn would look if the Jon Garland’s of the world start getting 3/36
by Matthew on Sep 29, 2008 11:05 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I wonder how much of this is Duncan/LaRussa insisting on retaining a veteran presence in the rotation
and yeah, having the Cardinal defense behind you, in the National League, in a forgiving park can make even Braden Looper look decent. He’s the new Jeff Suppan.
9=8
by JI on Sep 29, 2008 10:54 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
This is the best free agent crop ever
The Cardinals are ridiculously stupid. If baseball teams actually understood how to run their franchises, this would be a good offseason for bargain hunting, because the cream of the crop at the top is going to demand so much money and so much attention, the midlevel and lower tier guys are going to sign for relative peanuts.
by davidcameron on Sep 29, 2008 12:08 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I wonder how long it is before all teams operate close to efficiency.
by Matthew on Sep 29, 2008 12:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Don't hold your breath.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
by pdb on Sep 29, 2008 12:40 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
My respect for the Rays goes up another notch.
Perhaps they are strictly limited financially and I’m incorrectly giving them credit for patience. But to be getting close to their goals the last couple of seasons, and not jump the gun is amazing. Why more organizations don’t take notice amazes me, but they still keep making the same mistakes, finding the same results.
"Sorry I hit you in the helmet Hank, I meant to hit you in the neck." Stan Williams to Hank Aaron.
by dpseadv on Sep 29, 2008 1:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

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