Cards are going Greene

When I first heard about the trade for Khalil Greene, I was less than enthused. You might even say I was...unenthusiastic. He isn't the type of player who really stands out in a crowd. However, after studying up on our new SS; after learning everything that he has to offer to my team...my views have not changed.

Mozeliak says that he wouldn't have signed Greene if he thought Greene would bat .213 again. But really how much does he expect of him. Granted Khalil did have an off-year in 2008, but his .213 average isn't a huge deviation away from his 'good' years. For his career he's hitting a whopping .248 and his OBP is an amazing .304. He does have decent pop; he seems like a 15-20 HR guy, but on the flip side, he will also strikeout 100 times. (Seems like he should be playing for Milwaukee with numbers like that.) Not to mention his 23 steals over the past 5+ years tells the story of his speed. (Speedy Pujols has 37 steals over the same time frame.) He's an average defender as well.

I guess the main point is Khalil Greene doesn't fit the typical Cardinal shortstop mold. I personally would have rather had Mo saved the money and kept Miles around. Miles costs more than $4 mil less than Greene, and the Cards could have kept Worrell around too. Lord knows we need as many bullpen options as possible. Miles gives you the same speed, better defense in my opinion, and is much more versatile. Each of the last 2 seasons, Miles played second, third, short, outfield and even pitched. And Miles is coming off the best offensive year of his career. He set person bests in strikeouts (only 37), OBP (.355) and BA (.317), as well as other categories.

Considering that Greene and Miles have the exact same MLB service time as they were both brought up in September of '03, I put together this table.

* The career fielding percentage numbers do not reflect the fact that Miles has played five positions in his career while Greene has played one. Even still, Miles holds an edge.

Maybe it's my preference, but I would rather have a shortstop who could get on base as frequently as possible. Greene is a poor man's power hitter. If we had no power on our team; no Pujols, no Glaus, no Ludwick, no Ankiel, no Duncan... then maybe I understand the move. But because we do have that power already there, we need people to get on base in front of these guys so all their homers aren't solo shots. We'd rather see Miles single in front of Pujols than have Greene strikeout in front of him.

Greene was a good fit for San Diego. The Pads, sans Adrian Gonzalez, don't have that power. In my view, he doesn't quite fit in with St. Louis. But what do I know. I'd love nothing more than to see Greene have a great season and make me take it all back.

Nine days til pitchers and catchers report. Let's get the show on the road.