Posted on July 31, 2008 at 5:52 PM
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Baseball
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Cardinal Nation
At least not in the Cardinal neck of the woods. No deals made at all, not even a minor prospect for a reliever. That's a bit disappointing, as I talked about in this morning's post. It just seems to me that with the momentum of a decent Carpenter start, making a gesture trade, at least, would have an impact in the clubhouse. I'm sure that some players will take this as "they think we've got enough to win" but a lot of Cardinal Nation is taking it as an overvaluation of prospects by those that drafted them.
I'm not saying that they should have parted with Rasmus or three or four of the top guys. But we all remember when Player X or Pitcher Y was the next big thing who would be a big star, only to see them fizzle out at the major league level. There comes a point where you have to accept the risk that a player will blossom elsewhere to obtain a player that can help you win right now. Otherwise, you have situations like Anthony Reyes, who went from a World Series starter who would have commanded quite a bit of talent after the '06 season to a middling talent in '07 to barely worth a minor league reliever (apparently) in '08.
There could be waiver deals still, of course, though the chances of quality left-handed relievers being available is very slim. Right now, though, the Cards have to win with what they have. A victory tonight over Atlanta gives the Cards the Wild-Card lead after the Brewers were swept by the Cubbies. (Not something I particularly wanted to see, but you take the silver lining where you can.) If you can go into August in the WC lead, you've probably done something right with your season.
Let's hope that the shuffling of roles in the 'pen pans out (if Izzy can get back to closer level, that's huge) and when Wainwright returns, his presence helps the team out as well. Buckle up, folks, we've got a wild ride ahead.
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3 Comments
I don't mean to sound like a front office apologist, but I sincerely believe that there was nothing doing in the Cards' wheelhouse.
I suspect, with the lack of relievers that actually moved, and relievers being the hot topic of the deadline - that prices were very high across the board.
I am holding out hope that a lefty could move on a waiver deal, but we might be watching the hand we were dealt finish this season.
If nothing else, we've determined that (Denny Green) Kelvin Jimenez is who we thought he was. (/Denny Green)
I like the as-is team, and who's to say we can't deal for some the bigshots when they hit free agency? I know we're small market, but you never know.
I tend to agree with Pitchers Hit Eighth. The prices must have been high for relievers. Arthur Rhodes was really the only one traded and he was at the bottom of my list.