my money is on motte out of the gate. his being able to find the strike zone puts him ahead of perez, despite his one pitch arsenal. i think perez is a little too wild right now to land the job. i would bet on him to have more career saves than motte, but tony isnt going to like him walking the first batter he faces. TLR tolerated it from izzy because izzy had a track record, but it will earn a trip to the dog house for perez.
franklinhausen may very well have the job at some point this season, but i think he is poor bet to keep it.
kinney and mcclellan are dark horses. you can bet TLR still remembers what kinney did in 2006, and he trusted mcclellan so much last year that he ran him into the ground before the all-star break.
I'm starting to believe that Perez won't even make the roster. With five open RH relief slots, they all look spoken for to me:
Motte Franklin Kinney McClellan Thompson
The only crack Perez has is if TLR decides that McClellan can be the long guy and options out Thompson, but I don't see that happening. I suppose McClellan could also be sent down to work on building up starter's stamina.
Cards07Champs wrote:I'm starting to believe that Perez won't even make the roster. With five open RH relief slots, they all look spoken for to me:
Motte Franklin Kinney McClellan Thompson
The only crack Perez has is if TLR decides that McClellan can be the long guy and options out Thompson, but I don't see that happening. I suppose McClellan could also be sent down to work on building up starter's stamina.
Still betting on Motte.
I don't see how Perez won't make the roster...3.46 ERA, 7/10 in Save Opps, 9+ K/9 as a rookie, great minor league track record...
He had a better K rate, lower ERA, and lower WHIP than Franklin last season...
Also Motte has thrown just 11 major league innings, I know he was great in those innings, but when all is said and done, my guess is Perez will open the season as the closer in STL.
Cards07Champs wrote:I'm starting to believe that Perez won't even make the roster. With five open RH relief slots, they all look spoken for to me:
Motte Franklin Kinney McClellan Thompson
The only crack Perez has is if TLR decides that McClellan can be the long guy and options out Thompson, but I don't see that happening. I suppose McClellan could also be sent down to work on building up starter's stamina.
Still betting on Motte.
I don't see how Perez won't make the roster...3.46 ERA, 7/10 in Save Opps, 9+ K/9 as a rookie, great minor league track record...
He had a better K rate, lower ERA, and lower WHIP than Franklin last season...
Also Motte has thrown just 11 major league innings, I know he was great in those innings, but when all is said and done, my guess is Perez will open the season as the closer in STL.
What Cards07Champs is saying seems to be the consensus from most Cardinal fans.
I've been betting on Hoffman to break down the last two years by getting Bell. In an NL only auction that just completed I picked up Villanueva for $2.
Maybe this is the year he finally breaks down and the strategy works? From RotoWorld:
Trevor Hoffman-R- Brewers Mar. 17 - 3:50 pm et Trevor Hoffman has a strained right oblique and is considered day-to-day. Hoffman apparently began feeling tightness on Saturday, and he hasn't pitched since. It's unclear when he'll resume working in games. Hoffman has made three appearances this spring, turning in scoreless innings each time. Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Who knows if this injury is a sign of things to come, but certainly he can't pitch forever, can he?
There are a few things with the New York Yankees that never change. That's pride, tradition, and most of all, we have the greatest fans in the world. -Derek Jeter, 9/21/08 -- last words from old Yankee Stadium
j24jags wrote:I don't see how Perez won't make the roster...3.46 ERA, 7/10 in Save Opps, 9+ K/9 as a rookie, great minor league track record...
He had a better K rate, lower ERA, and lower WHIP than Franklin last season...
Also Motte has thrown just 11 major league innings, I know he was great in those innings, but when all is said and done, my guess is Perez will open the season as the closer in STL.
Agreed.
Not sure how anyone can justify having Motte close with such a small sample size. Perez has actually proved he can close effectively, Motte has not. But in the end, it probably doesn't matter. Franklin will be setting up, so I don't anticipate the Cards having many leads in the 9th until they get rid of him.
neoforce wrote:I've been betting on Hoffman to break down the last two years by getting Bell. In an NL only auction that just completed I picked up Villanueva for $2.
How certain are we that Villanueva is next in line?
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by j_d_mcnugent » Tue Mar 17, 2009 11:10 am 
