FanNation - The Republic of Sport

51 - you make some good points. I agree that we have a glut of outfielders, and most Card fans wouldn't mind seeing Duncan go to get pitching, and probably not Mather either. Since we have Ankiel, Ludwick, Schumaker and Rasmus, all of whom are fairly young, it would make complete sense to move one of the OF to improve the pitching.

I've never been high on Burnett because of his injury history, but I wouldn't be surprised if Mozeliak had interest. Remember, Jocketty made a BIG push to sign Burnett after the 2005 season when he went to Toronto instead (thankfully), so as an apprentice of Walt's, it would make sense that Mo has interest there. Walt went after him so hard then, I'm sure he had Dunc's blessing on that.....so maybe Burnett could be another Dave Stewart, Bob Welch or Woody WIlliams. A guy who completely takes the next step under Duncan and becomes an ace. He is probably worth taking a shot at.

I don't want to see us make a deal just to make a deal, but this club is good enough that if we can add pitching that will help, we can get into the post-season.

The problem I see with Burnette is the opt out clause with a player option. You trade for him and he does well, the guy walks to sign a really fat contract. He does poorly and you're stuck with his already fat contract for two more years.

By the way, that's exactly what the people close to Burnette describe his plans.

So he has two years left, but 2010 is a player option?

Kinda riding on the coattails of what you wrote, TenRings, I'm wondering whether or not the Cardinals have even considered a higher-priced project such as Erik Bedard. People are ripping him as being a disappointment, but he still has a winning record, with an ERA under 4. He's a lefty, and if he had a little more run support it's not unreasonable to imagine him having eight or nine wins. The Mariners are pretty much one of the worst offensive teams in the league. The last I checked, Vidro was their starting DH, so them getting someone like Duncan would make sense for them. They'll probably be looking to rid themselves of the monstrous contractual mistake that is Johjima soon, as I hear none of their pitchers wants to throw to him, and he's not hitting too well, either, so a prospect like Anderson would make sense.

The only real thing i see being in the way of this would be the salary the Cardinals would have to absorb, but after this year they rid themselves of Mulder and Encarnacion's contract, so they'd have a bit more space. Maybe Duncan could work his magic and keep Bedard off the DL. I'm drooling just imagining an '09 rotation of Carpenter, Wainwright, Lohse, Bedard, and maybe McLellan.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves with talk of next year. Remember Buerhle last year and the talk of Carp, Wain, Buerhle, Mulder, Piniero.

I wouldn't mind them going after Bedard at all, pikesteve, especially more than Burnett. For a still relatively young LH starter like Bedard, I would surrender Anderson and certainly Duncan.

I think we also have Looper and Izzy's contracts coming off the books this year, too.

I think Piniero is signed for next year, so he'll probably be part of the 09 rotation if he is healthy

Yeah, I dunno why there hasn't been more talk about Bedard. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Although, after last night's game, the more I'm thinking we need a top-shelf reliever.

And you can just call me Steve. :P

All the talk about the Cardinals going after Bay or another bat baffles me. This weekend has shown that we have the offensive potential, but we need another arm. They'd be crazy to take AB's from Ludwick or Ankiel, and Schumaker's been a stud as leadoff. Bay's a good player, but I can think of a dozen outfielders I'd rather go after. Now if Holliday became available, that'd be an interesting issue, but as it is, I think our offense shouldn't be tampered with too much.

Like I said, I'd much rather go after Bedard then Burnett, but I think relief help has to be priority right now.

I kind of have mixed emotions on adding a bat like Bay or someone else. We've struggled to score runs for several weeks, so is the last few days a result of the Pirates pitching, or are we turning a corner and getting our bats going?

Not sure Bedard is going to be healthy in time to trade, so that point might be moot.

But in the case of Burnett, I think a change of scenery might do him some good. Pitching for a team north of the border, in a division where you can only hope to finish third every year, it just has to wear on a pitcher. I'll agree that his contract situation is something that requires caution, but you've got to remember that this is a guy who grew up in Arkansas rooting for the Cardinals. He's already made a lot of money with his last deal, and maybe the idea of helping the hometown RedBirds to another Series is something that would appeal to him at this point in his career.

With that being said, he does have some kinks that need working out. WIll he listen to the tutelage of Duncan? I'm sure that's a question that Mo will have answered before any deals are struck.

Yeah, I think Bedard is a moot point.

I'd like to see Burnett come, but he's a big risk since he can opt out of the next two years of his deal. If we give up much for him, we could get burned in the off-season.