NL central offseason moves?

[webbbj]

besides the reds what moves do you for see the rest of the NL central to make? specifically STL b/c they are our main competition and the Cubs b/c they seem to spend big money every couple years? Maybe Houston aswell, i think they could stay in the race for a while.

im not as familiar w/ the cubs and astros but im guessing the cards are gonna go after bats all over the field. and how do you think they go about getting those?

[Captain13]

I haven't been studying everyone's situation, but on the surface here is what I see.

1. Cards-They don't have the money to do a whole lot. They are going to try to improve the left side of their infield.
2. Cubs- They have overspent on aging ballplayers and are likely stuck being mediocre at best in 2011.
3. Brewers- They are trying to build around Prince, and I believe may be the toughest competition for the Reds in 2011 if they can get just a little bit of pitching.
4. Astros- I have no idea what they are doing down there.
5. Pirates- As always, the Pirates are "a year away". This time they really do seem headed in the right direction, but cannot be taken seriously in 2011.

This is my best guess.

[bounty37h]

Wasnt there talk not long ago of Brewers trading Prince, or did they redo his contract-I havent paid attention.

[1990REDS]

Wasnt there talk not long ago of Brewers trading Prince, or did they redo his contract-I havent paid attention.

I think they still have him for 1 more year. Hes represented by Boras so you know hes gonna want the absolute top dollar. Im pretty sure the Brewers want him back but I dont see them overpaying for him. I fully expect him to be traded at the deadline next season. Possibly even this offseason.

[Vottomatic]

I think they still have him for 1 more year. Hes represented by Boras so you know hes gonna want the absolute top dollar. Im pretty sure the Brewers want him back but I dont see them overpaying for him. I fully expect him to be traded at the deadline next season. Possibly even this offseason.

I laughed when Boras threw out numbers like $20M per season. That's just ludicrous for a guy like Fielder. More than likely, his career will be as short with declining production like his father's.

Houston looked pretty good once they unloaded Berkman and Oswalt. I think they had one of the best post-trading deadline records in baseball, kinda like the Reds last season.

[swaisuc]

To be honest the theme here is they all have major holes and not much available resources to fix them. That isn't to say the Reds are a perfect team either, but I'd love to see where the Cardinals are going to find a new left side of infield or the Brewers are going to find some pitching with almost no payflex.

I don't expect a single one of those teams to be substantially better in 2011 than they were in 2010.

[MikeThierry]

I have been away for a while. A mix of being busy with work/school and turned off from baseball from what the Cards did this season. I wouldn't say the Cards don't have the money to do a whole lot. Because this team constantly draws 3 million plus, they have enough to push the payroll over the 100 million mark. Right now, they are dedicated to 70 million in payroll. That means they have 30 million to work with. Realistically, if they needed to, they could probably push it up to that 110 million range without raising many prices. The situation in St. Louis though is that if the Cards do raise prices, the fans will still come. That is why I don't see money being a huge issue next season.

The biggest priority for the Cards is signing Pujols to a long term deal. He will not admit this but I have a feeling that issue was playing on his mind the whole season and one of the reasons why he had a "bad year" if you can call it a bad year (still probably 2nd in MVP voting this year). He has stated that he wants the deal done by spring training and if he isn't signed, I look for the Cards to maybe move him by the trade deadline. I do not support that but I feel if they cannot resign him, at least get a baseball team in return for him.

I don't know if they will address the left side though I wish we would get a backup 3rd baseman due to the question mark of David Freese. Freese had a great rookie campaign but was sidelined due to injuries. I think he can pick up where he left off but that ankle of his will still be a question mark. Brendan Ryan is too talented of a player to just be a bench guy. He is arguably one of the best defensive short stops in the game its just hit bat is questionable. Now he did start to hit well down the stretch. One thing I can see the Cards doing to is maybe going after someone like Edgar Rentaria to back up Ryan and occasionally play 3rd. Miguel Tejada is also another option. He has stated in the past that one of the teams he would play for is the Cardinals so I think its an option.

One of the huge priorities I see the Cards needing is second base. I like Skip Schumaker but that experiment is failed in my opinion. He is defensively one of the worst 2nd baseman in the game and his bat leaves a little to be desired. It would not surprise me if the Cards are aggressive when it comes to picking up a player like Hudson. Skip would be a nice guy off the bench and a nice 4th outfielder. He isn't the kind of guy you want on a ground ball staff however, which is what the Cards have.

They will also try to resign Westbrooke as the 4th pitcher. He was arguably the best Cards pitcher the last two months of the season and really fit well here in St. Louis. They need to sign him or some other quality arm for that 4th starter role.

Other needs for the Cardinals are left handed relief and maybe on more reliever. However, they are kind of set on bullpen. They are still young but have tons of upside.

The pirates are a lost cause so its almost not even worth going into.

The other team that intrigues me in the central is the Astros. They were one of the better teams down the stretch and their young guys started to show up. I am liking what they are doing with their starting rotation with Happ and Rodriguez. Figeroa was also a nice pitcher for them. The two things they really need are a power hitter and some relief pitching. I like their closer but getting to their closer is a bit tricky. If they can find those two things, the Astros are a darkhorse team in the Central next year.

I hate the Cubs and Brewers too much to really care what they do. Both teams will find a way to screw it up anyway so its pointless to waste space on this forum to talk about them.

[MikeThierry]

One other thing for the Cardinals is that they need to find a steady backup catcher, preferably with some offense. Molina is probably the best weapon you want to have behind the plate but he is going to have a short career the way the Cards are using him on a daily basis. I would love to see him sit at least 20 games next year.

[Vottomatic]

The Cardinals are headed to being a 4 or 5 horse team in terms of their money. They will invest a ton of money in 5 horses on the team and have a really weak supporting cast. It's only going to get worse. And Pujols chronic injuries are going to continue to get worse each year until he's Scott Rolen-lite in a few more years.

I'm not worried about the Cardinals at all.

[MikeThierry]

The only real weak supporting cast right now in the Cardinals are Ryan's offense and Schumaker. Their bench could also be revamped but there aren't many players on the Reds I would take over the Cards right now. The outfield of the Cards is superior to that of the Reds and I'll take Freese's upside over Rolen's declined play. The pitching of the Cardinals is too potent as well not to be worried about them. To say that you won't worry about them is overconfidence, something the Cards got hit with this year.

As I said, the Cards have tons of room to move up in the cash bracket to be worried about money.