Re Tom Gordon:

Isnt Cruz considerably more expensive? Just because they’ve recently “broken the bank”, it doesnt follow they’ll continue to do so. In fact, I’d expect the opposite to be true.

On Lyon; why would we have even considered this?

 I’ve always liked Lyon, his demeanor and versatility, but he’s fragile and projecting him out to anything beyond a spot 5th starter at less than 100 IP sounds a little desperate, imo. Maybe that’s all they wanted – someone to bolster the 5 spot for a few million, who could switch to the pen if injuries dictated. (Of course, the more plausible this sounds, the more it begs the Randy Johnson question.)

And now that the club seems to have chosen Garland over Randy, it appears that eating innings was a major factor.

I think there were a number of factors, incl some the principals dont care to elaborate on. Eating innings? Sure. It makes some sense to value stability over ability in the back of this particular rotation, because you may not require a healthy Johnson to make the playoffs – you just need someone decent to keep showing up every fifth day, and Garland is less likely to suffer catastrophic injury.

But is that enough to explain why a 184 inning guy at 117 ERA+ is offered three million dollars, versus a 191 inning guy with a lifetime 104 (and 91 ERA+ last yr) being offered more than twice that? Personally, I dont think so.

Randy had an amazing, brilliant, tempestuous, expensive tenure here, I think that’s all tied to the unusual $3M offer and departure. It’s partly a baseball decision, to be sure, but I think it’s about much more than that – old contracts, deferred money, misunderstandings, expectations, attitudes – a bunch of stuff that doesnt come out in the local press much.

One more thing…where’d all this money come from all of a sudden?

Some may’ve been freed up when the market prospects (and related draft picks) for the arb trio of Hudson, Lyon and Cruz recently diminished. Worse draft picks, less money needed to sign em. Our ubiquitous oracle Levski has made that case on 17 online portals (at last count), along with the idea the Dbacks came in under budget for their earlier 2B, RP needs (ie Lopez, Schoeneweis), freeing up yet addtl dough for Garland that wasnt available in December for Randy. I think there’s some truth to that.
  
I also think there’s some truth to the idea money’s always been available and the mantra of “We only have 4 M to spend. We only have 3 M to spend. OMG! We only have twenty eight dollars and fifty nine cents!” is largely designed for negotiating expectations. I mean, here we are as a fan base, over two thirds of us pretty delighted (relieved?) to get Garland – me included. At the end of the 2008 season, I dont think you could find one baseball analyst in five who would advocate for Garland over Johnson – not on a one year, make good basis. But if you b**** and moan enough about your plight, lower expectations enough, even Jon Garland can seem like the second coming :-)

GO CARDINALS!!!

You answered my qiestions well, it’s pretty much how I feel too. I will be particularly interested in seeing how much Cruz goes for. Im frankly going to be shocked if he goes anywhere besides the Yankees. Teams don’t want to pay big money right now, and giving up the draft pick is a heavy price for a one year deal.

AND, I see we are suppossedly “closer” with Gordon now! Will the fun never stop!?! What an interesting week!

Secure the Hall of Fame.
http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2009/1/27/737889/is-kurt-warner-hall-of-fam