The Mechanic Says You Need a New Starter

I've done my share of complaining about Johnny "Spend No" Cash not pulling the trigger on the big name, as I'm sure many others have as well. But who's still available on the free agent wire? Today we'll review any and all possibilities to either fill an existing hole, or at least patch the hole better. But to know what we need, we need to first look at what we already have.

* Glaus will be out up to 2 months to begin the year.

Our starting lineup is pretty much set, other than determining out temp-third baseman. And as negative as I usually am about our lineup, it actually looks pretty good. Sure I'd rather have another big bat in there, but we have almost every offensive skill covered. The only thing we are still missing is speed. For power we have Pujols and Ludwick who hit 37 homers each, Glaus who 27, and Ankiel who hit 25 (in only 120 games). Plus we have a chance for more power if Duncan and Greene can produce coming off injuries and disappointing years in 2008. Guys like Mather have a chance to produce some pop too if given a full season; he had 8 homers last year in only 133 ABs (I did the math for ya...that's 30 HR given 500 chances.)

As far as batting for average goes, our team in general is good at getting on base. Pujols, Molina, and Schumaker all batted over .300. That's getting great production all the way down the lineup; top to bottom. Ludwick flirted with the mark, but fell just short at .299. Kennedy and Glaus both also finished above .270.

Now for the daunting task of taking on our starting pitching needs. Our starting rotation, barring any unforeseeable signing, looks to be: Carp?, Wains, Lohse, Wellers, and Pineiro. Carp says he should be ready to go and wants to be in the rotation. USA Today reported that he said he felt he could make 28 starts in 2009. But that's is still TBD. I would feel much better knowing we had another arm we could throw out there (not named Thompson) if Chris can't go or if Pineiro underperformed. Ben Sheets announced last Thursday that he will undergo elbow surgery and is out til August. That takes him out of the running. One interesting candidate is Chuck James. He had an awful year in '08, he gave up less than 4 runs in a start only twice. But we can't overlook that he's 27, a lefty, and did go 11-4 with a 3.78 ERA in '06 and 11-10 with a 4.24 in '07 with Atlanta. Maybe a scenery change from the hustle and bustle of the east coast to the laid back Midwest would do the kid some good. The Cards have pursued him or even considered him from as far as I know. I like him because he fits Duncan's criteria: Find pitcher who was once good and restore him to his former self. And I like him because he's lefthanded. Every starter hurls from the right side, so it'd be nice to have that change every fifth day.

Here's to 09; the year where it all comes together. And remember: Mozeliak's contract expires in 2010.