Not long ago, Strauss tweeted this out [with Twitter jargon edited out]:
“The question about the Cards’ arbitration eligibles is not about 2013. That’s pro forma [a questionable use of Latin that in this case means 'taken for granted']. The issue is (un)willingness to tie up the closer [Jason Motte] and the starting third baseman [David Freese] beyond 2013.”
Motte I understand. Like almost all closers, he’s a ticking time bomb made all the riskier by his heavy reliance on his fastball. But Freese?
Keeping in mind that this information comes from the purveyor of fruitless offseason rumors, we can only take this information with a grain of salt, but I’ve been trying to rationalize this without some assumption of the worst. Here’s the best I can do.
Freese is 29 years old; right in the middle of the average player’s prime. To be hesitant to sign a guy on top of the hill to a multi-year contract is understandable, especially when the guy doesn’t leave team control until 2016 at age 32.
Plus, it’s not like there would be no decent replacement for Freese if he left. The organization is pimping Matt Carpenter out as a second baseman to get us all softened up to the idea ahead of time, but his true position is third base, and once Kolten Wong is ready for Major League action, Carpenter could theoretically start at third in lieu of Freese, who in this possible scenario would be gone the same year Wong arrived.
The injury history thing might also be a concern, though not so much with me. The major injuries of his career that robbed him of so much playing time were for the most part pretty fluky and thus unfair to attribute to injury proneness in my opinion. Though I won’t deny the possibility of lingering effects from those as well as the six day-to-day injuries he sustained in 2012, I do know that whatever’s happened to him, it’s never affected his hitting when he has played.
There are also Freese’s reoccurring off-the-field problems, which the team became aware of after EM‘s reporting them earlier this offseason. Though how much this would play into a contract decision is beyond my own speculation.
It feels weird to talk myself out of a multi-year deal with Freese and I still don’t think I did a very good job of it. I like the guy as does every Cardinals fan and would like to see him stick around for a few more years if at all possible. But I guess my point is that if Strauss really is right about the team’s apathy towards a multi-year deal with their titanic fan favorite (I think), I suppose it isn’t beyond comprehension as to why.
January 7, 2013 at 7:53 PM |
Only hope I have internet access and plenty of time to surf the StLToday forums when they let him go via trade or free agency The angst and tears will be truly timeless
January 7, 2013 at 7:57 PM |
Better watch your back, man. They deleted the thread, but one dude on there threatened to eat Sam Bradford’s haters.
January 7, 2013 at 8:31 PM |
He’s not eligible to be a free agent for another 3 years. And the #stlcards have ALREADY *OFFICIALLY* STATED that they will NOT be trading him… (Hint, OFFICIAL does NOT = Discussing it with @elmaquino first…)
I have stated nothing but FACTS here, Which means that my comment will be deleted in 30 seconds flat… :-)
January 7, 2013 at 8:39 PM |
He isn’t eligible for free agency ’til then, but the team is unwilling to go past that year for the reasons stated above.
No they didn’t. Besides, no professional organization has ever or will ever say a player is untradeable.
January 7, 2013 at 8:43 PM |
Yes, Because YOU have inside information and we’re just supposed to believe that a PROFESSIONAL General Manager like Mozeliak would reveal PRIVATE player negotiations to a college student blogger… *NODS* #COMPLETELYBELIEVABLE *NODS*
January 7, 2013 at 8:45 PM |
You said he revealed private player negotiations to the general public…
Against my better judgement, I’ll ask you to explain why Mozeliak A) would make any commodity unavailable and B) tell everyone about it.
Common sense requires no inside source.
January 7, 2013 at 8:43 PM |
The TEAM has stated NOTHING…
January 7, 2013 at 8:48 PM |
You: “the #stlcards have ALREADY *OFFICIALLY* STATED that they will NOT be trading him”
And while Strauss is often wrong, he has no incentive to make stuff up and damage his credibility. All his musings have a source.
January 7, 2013 at 8:44 PM |
But if you wanna believe an attention ho HACK like Strauss who can Tweet whatever the F he WANTS to Tweet… *smirks*
January 7, 2013 at 8:49 PM |
YOU are the one stating that John Mozeliak has told YOU, A NOBODY College Student blogger, Details of PRIVATE player negotiations… The burden of PROOF is on YOU, NOT me… #JustSayin’… :-)
January 7, 2013 at 8:50 PM |
Me: “Common sense requires no inside source.”
January 7, 2013 at 8:53 PM
So that’s your standard response to not being able to PROVE your bulls***… COOL! ;)
January 7, 2013 at 8:51 PM |
Anyway, I’m DONE with this as of NOW, Because my NY Resolution is to only allow f*****g MORONS like you to irritate me for a few minutes at a time instead of a few hours… So, Enjoy the few minutes that you got, Because that is ALL that you are getting from now on… :-)
January 7, 2013 at 8:52 PM |
Thank God it’s over.
January 7, 2013 at 8:53 PM
Can’t wait to see your Twitter and “blog” go stone cold SILENT when you ARE proven wrong… :-)
January 7, 2013 at 8:56 PM
They’ll probably be on standby in 2016 when I’m writing for an official publication.
January 8, 2013 at 1:12 AM |
LOL did this whole comment thread happen?
January 8, 2013 at 1:19 AM |
We cater to the high-end crowd here at EM.