Will people fall over themselves for K-Rod?
No, there aren't any trades being talked about, but next off-season now becomes the main focus. Initially, the Tigers seemed to be the front-runners to land K-Rod, but the Cardinals have now become candidates. Are there any rumors/interviews stating interest? No, it's purely speculation still. Regardless, I'm asking if this makes sense for the Cardinals. For the Tigers, he makes absolute perfect sense, unless Zumaya is healthy (in which case, the Tigers enter the same situation as the Cards). As for the Cardinals, I'm still partial to keeping Chris Perez in that spot, even though he's blown his last two saves. They could move him to set-up and let K-Rod close, but that doesn't make much sense. First, there WHIP's are almost identical (1.27 to 1.24). Second, K-Rod's strikeouts have really dipped from 90 last season to 68 this season in only 8 less innings. Third, K-Rod will probably cost $15 million. You know, if you really want to spend $15 million on relief pitching, you might as well spend it on multiple guys. There are plenty of guys to spend money on. You can get probably 4 good relievers for that $15 million, and in Chris Perez, you still have a pretty good closer. The Cards' bullpen is worse than just one closer. As for the Tigers, if Zumaya is healthy, he could close, and then, the Tigers really should spend the money on grabbing multiple relievers. If there are doubts about Zumaya's health, it might not be a bad idea to go ahead and sign him, even though it will hurt them in the long-term (but somehow, I don't think the Tigers are thinking that way).
2 comments:
I look for them to move Carpenter to the closer to save his arm.
That appears to be the case, but you have to think that they'll try to move him back to the rotation next year. He'll have the offseason to get better. I'd be surprised if Carpenter was the closer in '09. I think it'd be underusing him.
Post a Comment