Quote:
Originally Posted by BigRedChief
Started listening to STL radio on the way into and from work time to time. Seemed an arrogant fellow.
You always have well thought ideas on baseball and the Cardinals. Where do you think we can get our offense for next year? What do you think are the best moves?
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Damn hard to say.
We're not going to be able to survive on RISP figures again - we damn sure won't hit .330 and I'd be surprised if we got to .300.
Honestly, living and dying by BABIP and doubles power sounds good in theory but I'm still not sure it's sustainable. I'd like to see us add power, speed or both to the lineup. One way to do it would be to determine that Wong is ready to hit at this level, move Carpenter over to 3b and Wong in to 2b. I just hate losing the surplus value of Carp at 2b. Wong's speed and bat control is intriguing, but he's sure looked overmatched at this level. That said, if we can make a 2 WAR player out of him, he's an upgrade over Freese (who he'd essentially be replacing in the lineup).
I honestly think our best hope for offensive improvement is already on the roster - Adams. Yeah, he has some holes in his swing but the guy has hit at every level. His power is unreal and while he won't help our lefty struggles any, he's at least on the positive half of the platoon. I'd see if we can fit him in at 1b and Craig in RF. I know Craig's lower body injuries make it more of a question, but I don't see any kind of decent bat available for us that won't cost an insane amount (i.e. Elsbury to CF).
I'd like to see Reynolds brought in as a bench bat.
Baseball just isn't a sport for splashy FA pickups - most of them fail miserably. I think we need to lean on our internal hitting talent, leverage our internal pitching talent for a young SS controlled for some time and hope for a rebound year out of Jay. I also wouldn't cut bait on Freese - maybe he comes into camp and his legs feel better and the Wong move won't be necessary. If not, he's still a better option than what we've had from the right side this year.
There aren't easy answers. There never are. We have to be smart about this roster because there's very little room for error with baseball's salary structure going nuts again.