Kuzul

Just to clarify:

Yes, I know that Adam Wainwright is in St. Louis.

And yes, I know that the Yankees are in no way directly related to him.

Yet, Adam Wainwright’s injury could spell bad news for the Yankees as they begin their long climb back to the top.

We all know of the Yankees’ rotation woes. It’s been well-documented through every single form of media available to the masses. Nos. 1 through 3 are a lock, and that’s not saying much as Hughes and Burnett are question marks, and Nos. 4 and 5 are up for grabs.

The Yankees have plenty of options for those last two spots, but none that they are absolutely in love with. Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, Ivan Nova, Sergio Mitre, Andrew Brackman, Hector Noesi and David Phelps are all in competition for those last spots, and each one is just as inconsistent as the last.

There are a few intriguing free agents left, such as veteran Kevin Millwood, the oft-injured Jeremy Bonderman, left-hander Doug Davis and even the injury magnet himself, Ben Sheets.

The Yankees would prefer to offer any free-agent starter a minor league deal, this way, there’s no guarantee that they’ll crack the rotation. They would rather have a competition this spring, and rightly so.

Now, even if they wanted to sign any of the aforementioned free agents, they’ll have very stiff competition from the Cardinals.

The Cardinals can, and probably will, offer a major league contract to any free-agent pitcher they chase after, and, of course, a major league contract versus a minor league contract is a joke. 

The Yankees already attempted to entice Millwood with a minor league deal, but to no avail. He has chosen to hold out for a major league contract, and he may get one in St. Louis.

Having Millwood could really help the Bombers. An innings eater his entire career, Millwood has the potential to give the Yanks 180-190 solid innings. For argument’s sake, let’s just say that Sergio Mitre occupies the spot that Millwood doesn’t.

The only time that Mitre has cracked the 100-inning plateau was in 2007 when he threw 149 innings for the Marlins. He was 5-8 with a 4.65 ERA. In my personal opinion, keeping Mitre out of the rotation is incentive enough to sign Millwood.

Remember that Chris Carpenter to the Yankees rumor?

Well, you can forget about that one now.

I’m not sure how reliable that rumor was, but it’s moot now. The Cardinals will be extremely reluctant to trade their ace now that his co-ace has gone down for the season. 

Adam Wainwright’s injury affects more than just the Cardinals.  The Yankees will have to fight even harder to attract some of the remaining free agent arms.  If not, the Yankees are going to have to catch lightning in a bottle in 2011 and hope that Hughes, Burnett and the fourth and fifth starters will produce.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Shhh…do you hear that?

If you’re a baseball fan, a sports enthusiast, or if you simply happen to hail from the Greater St. Louis area, I’m sure you are hearing the same thing I am.

Silence.

That’s right, for the first time in recent memory, the day’s sporting headlines have not been dominated by Albert Pujols chatter and, I must say, the silence is deafening.

I was truly surprised to visit the ESPN website today and not see ONE update on the Pujols contract saga. Soon after, I was downright SHOCKED to see that Pujols’ name was absent from the home page of MLB.com as well. It looks like, at least for the time, Pujols is staying true to his word and ceasing contract negotiations after his self-imposed Wednesday afternoon deadline.

To say the Pujols’ story has been well-documented would be like saying 12 year-old girls like Justin Bieber; both are vast, vast understatements. Yet, while the obligatory “what if Pujols were traded to my team” articles and blogs have surfaced, most of the Pujols coverage has been dedicated to dissecting the extension he is demanding from the Cardinals, or the kind of deal he could get if he were to enter free agency in 2012.

The media’s focus on Pujols agreeing to an extension with St. Louis is not unfounded, however. Pujols has made it clear that he wants to retire a Cardinal, and that he will block any trade on the strength of his 10-5 no-trade clause (10 years in the Majors, five with one team).

However, one has to believe that, especially in a situation that has gotten as sticky as Pujols’ (Pujols and the Cards are way off on their numbers), nothing is outside of the realm of possibility.

Straight out of the “stranger things have happened” file, here are the ten things that must go down in order for Albert the Great to be traded.

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Spring training is here and there’s already panic in the Bronx.

The New York Yankees’ offseason will not go down in the history books among the all-time greats.

They missed out on Cliff Lee. Their best acquisition was Rafael Soriano, which isn’t to say that he’s bad, just that the ridiculous contract they gave him is. They alienated Derek Jeter—arguably the most beloved player in franchise history—by handling the negotiations through the media. To add insult to injury, Andy Pettitte decided to call it a career.

The Yankees enter 2011 with a lot of questions that need to be answered if they are going to compete with the revamped Red Sox in the American League East.

One thing that they don’t have to worry about is their ace, CC Sabathia. He has been as reliable as anyone in baseball since the 2007 season.

However, they do have to worry about that opt-out clause in his contract after this year. If Sabathia chooses to exercise it, he will be a free agent, and that will leave the Yankees scrambling to ensure that they don’t lose him.

They do have a great bargaining chip in the minors in Jesus Montero, whom they can dangle to acquire a new ace for 2012. Since the free-agent pitching market next winter is going to be pretty bad, a trade would seem to be their best bet to acquire a new ace.

Here are 10 guys that the Yankees could take a look at if Sabathia decides to bolt from New York after 2011.

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With football season coming to a close, many sports fans now turn their attention to the sunny beacon of hope that is spring training.

Even at this early stage of the season, it is always fun to pick who will win the major awards and which teams will be playing in October, but the following goes one further, not only picking those things, but also making some more player-specific predictions for all 30 teams.

So here are my 50 bold predictions for the 2011 season, because when you predict 50 things, you’re bound to be correct on at least a few of them, right?

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With only a month or so until pitchers and catchers report to training camp, the final free agents are beginning to find homes at last. Jim Thome signed a deal with the Minnesota Twins, and Rafael Soriano has become the most expensive setup man of all time, hopefully.

I don’t see why anyone would pay $11 million for a setup man, but nonetheless, his contract has been signed, and it’s time to look at the future.

Joey Votto and the Reds have been back and forth about a possible contract negotiation. Has that happened now? Is anyone in the market for Bruce Chen?

For that matter, why is Carl Pavano still not signed?

Here are the latest MLB rumors and buzz.

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With a greatly improved starting rotation, the Milwaukee Brewers have become contenders in 2011. But do not mistake that for “division winners.”

In 2010, the Brewers ran out a consistently strong offense, while the pitching kept them in the trenches. This coming season, expect the offense to be more or less the same, but the additions of Shaun Marcum and Zack Grienke may not completely change the Brewers’ recent fortune.

The main issue is not talent, they have plenty, but rather competition. Do not forget that last year’s division winners, the Cincinnati Reds, may not even be the favorites in 2011. In addition, the St. Louis Cardinals, who underperformed in 2010, have many returning pieces that rival the Brewers.

In terms of offense, the Brewers have plenty of power in the middle of the order, but first, they need men to get on base. Carlos Gomez, a speedy center fielder, only had a .298 OBP last season, while new shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt also had an OBP below .300. By comparison, neither the Cardinals nor the Reds had a single starting position player with an OBP below .321. 

The Brewers’ biggest star, Prince Fielder, isn’t even the best first baseman in his division. In fact, he’s the third best behind the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols and Joey Votto of the Reds. With those two sluggers, the division’s best teams in 2010 will be hard to surpass.

In the pitching department, the Brewers made significant upgrades to run out a “big four” in 2011 that includes Marcum, Greinke, Yovani Gallardo and Randy Wolf. In 2010, Marcum’s 3.64 ERA was the best of the bunch, but Greinke’s 1.07 WHIP proves he’s the true ace. It’s hard to figure that the aging Randy Wolf can be included in the “big four” which is really a “big three.”

The St. Louis Cardinals’ top four starters include a former Cy Young winner in Chris Carpenter, whose 3.22 ERA last season was better than any of the starters in Milwaukee. Then you include Adam Wainwright with an ERA of 2.42. 

The Reds’ rotation is solid, but they lack a true top of the rotation starter. With pitchers like Bronson Arroyo, Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake, however, the Reds will run out a quality pitcher every day. 

Overall, the Brewers’ rotation projects to be the second best in the division behind the seemingly forgotten St. Louis Cardinals. Their offense, however, may prove to be the wild card. With established power, they can score runs in bunches, but consistency may be an issue without proven hitters at the top of the order. 

The St. Louis Cardinals are the best team in the NL Central division.  

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

With Zach Greinke off the board signing with the Milwaukee Brewers, what if the Twins were in a position to grab their neighbor to the east’s other prized possession, Prince Fielder? Bleacher Report will examine this possibility and rate it on a scale of one to 10 with one being the least likely. We will also look at a few other stars in major league baseball and their chances of playing the Twin Cities in the near future.

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The Yankees have a strong need for a starting pitching.

They lost out on Cliff Lee.

Andy Pettitte is undecided about retiring or coming back for one season.

I’ve thrown out suggestions like Brandon Webb and Carlos Zambrano.

The Yankees are rumored to not be interested in Webb, and a trade for Zambrano is unlikely because he has a full no-trade clause.

So if those options are out, they need to get a little creative.

Now, some of you have told me on here that the Yankees should just go as is, meaning Ivan Nova and Sergio Mitre as the 4th and 5th starters in 2011.

So meaning CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes as the only dependable starters with an inconsistent A.J. Burnett, Ivan Nova and a god-awful Sergio Mitre.

Honestly, do you all feel comfortable going into 2011 with that rotation and up against the American League? I for one, do not.

Now, I’m going to throw out another name and suggestion here. It may seem off the wall, but I’m putting it in our suggestion box of stories here.

Why don’t the Yankees look into exploring a trade for St. Louis Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter?

Now, as far as I know, he’s not on the trading block for St. Louis and he is part of their 1-2 punch with Adam Wainwright. So, why would St. Louis even consider trading him?

Here’s why they might consider it.

Carpenter is set to make about $15 million in 2011 and the Cardinals have a team option on him for 2012 with a $1 million buyout.

Albert Pujols is set to hit the free agent market after the 2011 season and the Cardinals are desperate to lock him up before that ever happens.

Pujols is the Cardinals franchise player and it would be devastating if they lost him, so right now, St. Louis is probably looking to scratch and save every bit of money they can to give Pujols a contract.

If Pujols really wants to, he could ask for Alex Rodriguez money, which would be about $27-31 million per season. And if he wants to, he’s entitled to because he’s the best player in the game right now.

So if St. Louis needs to dump a contract here and there to ensure they have enough money to keep Pujols incase he doesn’t give the Cardinals a hometown discount, Carpenter’s contract might be an attractive one to unload.

Carpenter is a bit older, as he will turn 36 in 2011, and he’s had some past issues with injuries, missing time in 2007 and 2008, plus missing the entire 2003 season.

But he has stayed healthy in 2009 and 2010 and was the runner up for the 2009 National League Cy Young Award to Tim Lincecum.

We wouldn’t be talking a long-term deal here for the Yankees. We’re talking at least 2011 and maybe even 2012, pending on how their pitching prospects have developed.

Carpenter still has good enough stuff to dominate in the game, and would be a pretty good 1-2 combination with Sabathia at the top of the rotation.

Normally the Cardinals don’t seem like a team who would sell off their players like other teams would, but they’ve got Wainwright, plus Kyle Lohse, Jaime Garcia and Jake Westbrook in their rotation, so it’s not like they would be completely hurt without Carpenter.

To me, I really think the Yankees are going to explore all of the trade market and find the best possible situation for them without selling off their farm system, of course. Those days seem to be over.

I’m not sure what St. Louis would be looking for in a deal for Carpenter, but if I am Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman, I definitely explore the possibility of what it would take to get Carpenter.

I don’t think Carpenter would be afraid of the big lights and bright spotlight of New York, as he did perform very well in the 2006 NLCS against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium and then again in the grandest stage of all in the 2006 World Series against the Detroit Tigers.

So now I will leave this topic up for discussion. Should the Yankees look into a trade for Carpenter? Would he be a good fit for the Bronx?

Will the Yankees even consider this type of trade? Time will tell.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

As the regular season wraps up, many teams and their fans are looking to October and, they hope, a World Series win. For other teams and their fans, they are looking to the offseason, hoping to make a few trades or free agent acquisitions to bounce them back into contention.

In some situations, these trades end up paying huge dividends, and not always for the party that was looking to get the major piece. At the same time, once in a while there’s a great free agent pickup at a bargain that launches a team into the playoffs and a World Series ring.

Starting with the 1999-2000 offseason through this past one, this slideshow notes the 20 best steals of the past decade. Some may have slipped by me, as there’s nowhere to easily find these unless one has an institutional memory of these things.

The years listed in the slides is the offseason that it took place in. i.e. a trade from November 2000 to March 2001 will be listed as 2000.

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A very eventful week around the majors. A brawl ensued in the Queen City after Reds 2B Brandon Phillips used some not-so-kind words to describe the rival Cardinals.

The pushing match that landed a seven game suspension for Johnny Cueto and a shouting match between both managers was pretty interesting considering  there are six former Reds on the Cards and five former Cards on the Reds.

And how would you like to be the Reds newly acquired OF Jim Edmonds? It’s the second game with your new team and you are asked to fight ex-teammates of yours that you’ve know for years. In the end the Cardinals bats awoke from a deep slumber as they swept the Reds on their home turf.

The Twins grabbed ahold of first place in the AL Central after taking two from the White Sox in Chicago.

The Padres showed why they have been in first all year as they dispatched the Giants two times in three days in their big weekend series.

All of these are small battles. The war has not been won.

Stats are a huge part of baseball and we have reached the point in the season when they really start to mean something. Players that got off to red-hot starts have cooled off and slow starters have regained form.

This week we’ll look at stats that can explain why your team is either doing well or looking forward to next year.

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