St. Louis Cardinals' Options Are Dwindling

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:

9-13, 164 games, 77 saves, 88 walks, 112 strikeouts, 3.68 ERA

Not to mention the numerous injuries that came in those years. We all remember 2006 and 2008, with 2007 being a bit of a renaissance for him.

Obviously, you can't project any of this onto Fuentes, but it is a cautionary tale of tying up so much money into a guy that will not put you over the top. When you pitch less than 90 innings a year out of an approximate 1,450, should you really be 10 percent or more of payroll? Is that where a club needs to tie up its money, especially with other options available?

Remember, it wasn't that long ago Fuentes lost his job as a closer in Colorado. It was Manny Corpas who was the closer during Colorado's run and in their postseason appearances. Spending this money on a starter who can get you more innings and be effective would seem to be the smarter play.