Rick Ankiel?

[Chiefscards]

He's slated to be the Cards #5 starter till Morris returns and is looking very good in camp. What are his chances of him staying in the rotation with a couple good outings? And is he worth a pick in the late rounds of a deep league?

[unclepaulie]

The Dude's got talent he's just a headcase.

High reward low risk

[Dans]

Morris is ahead of schedule and might be ready to start the 5th game of the season. Ankiel may not get a chance.

[AKhomebrewer]

Actually, the way games are staggered out in April, most teams only need their No. 5 starter once or twice in the month. Morris won't need to pitch the fifth game, and is expected to be ready mid-late April when the Cards do need a fifth starter.

Still, Ankiel might be worth a very late-round flier for the upside.

[j_d_mcnugent]

i have been following the situation closely and although no one has directly said anything i get the impression that tony and dunc want him in the bullpen in 2005. of course if injury strikes he becomes option #1. he might be a decent gamble in the final rounds of a deep league. should be able to get some k's even if he only makes emergency starts.

[xtrm84]

spot starts, long reliefe, cbs article.

[sockeye]

St. Lou Post-Dispatch reported today that Ankiel had some kind of a minor meltdown (my words, not theirs). Something like 23 pitches thrown, 3 for strikes, along with 5 batters walked.

Probably not good to have juxtaposed with good news for Morris - the STL P-D also reported that Morris looked great and that Dave Duncan had "officiallY' moved up Morris' return timetable.


Here's the link:

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/cards

[SaintsOfTheDiamond]

Like jd said, all the news coming out of STL right now is he will be a spot starter, long man this year and will get his chance next spring. That being said, I'm not sure his value will be tremendously high in '05 unless the rotation is hit hard by injury (which isn't out of the question I suppose with Morris, Mulder, and Carpenter). However, I'm not sure if you would need to use a pick on him unless it's a deep keeper since he should be in the ww after the draft I would think.