Options Dwindle for Cardinal Action

During last night's UCB radio show (coming soon to iTunes, so be sure to check it out there) we discussed the Mets trade for J.J. Putz and the options that were removed from the Cards, as there'd been talk of Rick Ankiel heading to Seattle for him.  Also last night, Edwin Jackson, another Ankiel return, was moved to the Tigers.  Finally, this morning I hear that the Yankees are about to trade for Mike Cameron, which would seem to close the door on any Ankiel/Ian Kennedy talk.

So while Mozeliak continues his laser-like focus on Brian Fuentes, other options are dropping off the table.  Whether these really were options, of course, we don't know, but most of them seem better than spending $10 million a year for three years for a closer when you have two guys that are at least in line for the job in another year or so, at worst.

VEB does a good job of breaking down the numbers on Fuentes today.  The main thrust of the argument, which I agree with, is that Fuentes is a good player, but he's not going to be the final piece in the puzzle, which is something you'd kinda like to see if you are dishing out so much cash.

Not that they are necessarily the same player, but let's look at what happened with our last closer.  Jason Isringhausen signed a contract extension in February of 2005 that covered four seasons.  He was 32 at the time and the contract was for basically $8+ million a year.  With Fuentes being 33 right now, let's look and see what Izzy gave us for the three years starting with his Age 33 season:



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