Last month, the United Cardinal Bloggers did their annual roundtable at the end of the season. I posed my question last and have been meaning to get the transcript up here. After the jump, read all about it!
Before you get there, though, note that PJ Walters will be our guest on the UCB Radio Hour tonight, so be sure to join us!
The question: What is one move you'd like to see Mozeliak do during this offseason? Could be a trade, could be a free agent signing. Realism is nice (of course, we'd all love for him to swap Tyler Greene for Hanley Ramirez, but I'm guessing that's not going to happen) but realism is also in the eye of the beholder. :)
Pip (Fungoes): In his dispatch about the Braves' imminent re-signing of Tim Hudson, Ken Rosenthal noted that Atlanta may be interested in jettisoning one of its higher-paid starters, such as Javier Vazquez. Although Vazquez is under contract only for 2010, his salary, while not cheap ($11.5 million), represents a likely bargain: the league's xFIP leader produced a value of $29.5 million in 2009 with 6.6 WAR. If the Braves are primarily looking to dump salary, the Cardinals may not have to give up as much in trade as would otherwise make trading for a 33-year-old soon-to-be-free-agent an unwise strategy. Also: If the team did acquire Vazquez but didn't get him to return in 2011, they'd almost certainly receive draft picks.
On Monday's UCB radio show, Bill DeWitt III noted that the team would spend the chunk of payroll putatively allocated for Matt Holliday somewhere else if he doesn't sign. $11.5 and some low-level prospects for Vazquez might actually be a better value than Holliday, who'll command at least $15 million next year. The Braves aren't stupid, though, so it may take more than picking up the tab on Vazquez.
John (The Cardinal Virtue): I'd like to see a long extension for Pujols. That would make me the happiest. But to branch out a bit, I was hollering for Brad Penny last year. But now we can get him even cheaper. If we wind up getting Holliday than we'll need some cheap pitching. Penny is exactly the type that would benefit from Duncan. Add in Smoltz and think we'll be smokin' in the rotation.
Trey (The Cardinal Virtue): My vote would also be to find a talented starting pitcher on the cheap. In previous roundtable discussions, we all agreed that it's tough to expect such fantastic years from Carp and Wainwright again, so we need to improve the back-end of the rotation. I would be like to see us go for Ben Sheets. I think we could get him for a 1-2 year deal at 5-6 mil per coming off the injury. When healthy, he's been as good as there is in the National league.
Eugene (Tailgate Crashers): There have been some great ideas here; I really like the Vazquez deal, but the Braves are looking for MLB ready hitting (most likely an outfielder). I think we'd had to give up Ludwick to get him, so we'd create a hole to fix one. Sheets is a good idea as well, but I don't know what his market will be like (I could see the Astros throwing some money at him).
My one move would be to sign Billy Wagner as closer. I don't think Ryan Franklin should be our closer; he had a great half season in the role, but was horrible for the last month and a half. He also cost us Game 2 of the NLDS (yes, Holliday takes some blame, but Franklin gave up 2 hits and 2 walks that inning). Wagner is leaning towards retirement, but I think a contender could convince him to play for at least 1 more year if they make him the closer. I don't think we'll re-sign Holliday, so we'll have money to burn. He can also be a mentor for Eduardo Sanchez, Francisco Samuel, and Fernando Salas (all guys that have been dubbed "Future Closer" at some point in the minors).
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