STL Hot Stove: Should Daniel Cabrera, Brian Fuentes Be In the Cards For 2009?

Wow, it is REALLY hard to listen to Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf call a football game. I mean, I understand that calling any sporting event is not an easy task, but seriously…would it really be that difficult to tell me something, oh…I don’t know, enlightening…or perhaps, interesting about the game taking place on the field?

Like why, for example, Marshawn Lynch finds it necessary to stop running when he hits the line of scrimmage (and killing my fantasy season in the process) or when we can expect Favre’s new Wrangler ads? So, what do ya got, Greg and Dan? (Note: actual exchange forthcoming):

Dan: Man, there’s a lot to like about Thomas Jones…and what he likes is a lot of blocking up front.
Greg: The Jets are up to 300 yards on offense early in the 3rd Quarter. Now that’s very, very productive.

But I digress. Let’s talk about baseball.

The fellas in St. Louis have been quiet on the acquisition front since they inked Trever Miller to a $500K incentive-laden deal and traded for Khalil Greene (taking on the entire $6.5 million he’s owed). Brian Fuentes remains firmly within Tony La Russa’s sights, but, GM John Mozeliak was more guarded in his assessment:

“We’ve said all along that if there’s a chance we can address the closer role, we’re going to try…We’re open and willing to explore. We also are not giving up hope on some other fronts as well should we not be able to accomplish this.”

I would have a tough time drinking the Kool-Aid if they commit 3 years and $40+ 30 million to a 33 year old reliever. Not to belabor the point, but even with the bullpen problems of 2008, I don’t see the point to signing a big-ticket closer. It’s such a volatile position, and we already have the arms to get those tough outs on the team. I’m willing to ride the Perez/Motte/Kinney train rollercoaster into next Spring and see what happens. If they can’t get the job done, it’s not like there won’t be a closer available when Pittsburgh or San Francisco or Washington are having their annual fire sales in June. I simply don’t understand locking up a closer, who’ll pitch 70 innings during a good year, to a long-term deal…unless the name on the back of his jersey reads “Rivera” or “Sutter”.

Regarding our new shortstop, I was lukewarm on Khalil to begin with, and I’m still not very optimistic, but…at least there’s a bit of offensive upside with him (certainly something you can’t say about new Orioles SS Cesar Izturis). Still, there’s not a whole lot to like about Greene. His defense is not as good as Izturis’, but Cesar played above his ability last season, and I imagine there will be some regression with his age and a switch back to the DH league. Thus, any defensive “drop-off” from Izturis to Greene should be limited.

But this trade wasn’t about defense. No, the real reason the Cards picked up this “close-out special” is the career .427 SLG Greene brings with him (as compared to a baffling .331(!) from Izturis). Unfortunately, that slugging percentage does NOT come equipped with any ability to reach base or hit a baseball with any frequency.

Khalil Greene had a nice rookie campaign in 2004, hitting .273/.349/.446 with 15 HR and 65 RBI over 139 games (he finished 2nd in the RoY voting). Since that season, though, he has posted an OBP above .300 exactly once, and had the worst season of his career in 2008, playing in only 105 games and hitting .213/.260/.339…brutal! Worth noting however, Greene was nearly as valuable offensively last year in 105 games as Izturis was in 135, (67 OPS+ for Cesar, 64 for Greene). That said, I think the team is getting a player in Greene who provides an overall upgrade at the position (provided he can stay healthy…and thats questionable). I don’t think a line of .245/.300/.450 wouldn’t be unrealistic to expect, and that would be a nice addition to the lineup. As of December 15th, I remain cautiously optimistic. To be continued…

Finally, before I go, there’s an intriguing name floating around in Free Agentland as of last week. The Orioles did not offer a contract to Daniel Cabrera before the December 13th deadline (I guess because they felt comfortable with that veritable pitching stockpile they have featuring…um…Jeremy Guthrie…Garrett Olson…and Brian Burres? I’ll say!). Admittedly, there’s not a lot to like about Cabrera, but let’s look at the positives, shall we?

He’ll only be 28 in May of next year, and he’s pitched 384.3 innings over the last two seasons. Granted, his ERA was north of 5.00 both years, but a portion of that is certainly due to the level of competition in the AL East coupled with having the Baltimore Orioles play behind him. Tough times are certain to follow in those circumstances. Also on the plus side, Cabrera can strike out a lot of guys. 651 over his five-year career to be exact.

Now, Daniel Cabrera is not a prospect, but he does have potential given the right situation. His control, which has never been great, was terrible last season, and he generally seemed like he was struggling all the time. Nonetheless, he’s shown flashes of brilliance in the past, and has the ability to strike out 150-160 hitters over 180-200 innings in a season. I don’t see why a ticket out of Baltimore and some advice from Dave Duncan couldn’t turn things around, even slightly.

A move to the Senior Circuit, with the luxury of facing the pitcher 2-3 times/game could probably shave 0.5-1.0 run off of Cabrera’s ERA, making him a younger, cheaper Braden Looper, with a better ability to miss bats. Cabrera made $2.87 million last season, and probably shouldn’t expect too much of a raise. Do I like him on a 1-year deal at $3 million or 2 years at $6.5? Yes I do. Very much, thank you.

Well, what do you all think?

1. Do we need Brian Fuentes’ left arm to reach the post-season in ‘09 or can the team walk a tight rope with the youth movement?
2. Should Mozeliak kick the tires on Daniel Cabrera or should we keep looking for another arm in the rotation?

Roster spots are going fast!

UPDATE: Per MLBTradeRumors, It seems 11 teams have expressed interest in signing Cabrera. The only specific team mentioned is the Pittsburgh Pirates. I would hope the Cardinals are among the remaining 10.

Cardinals Arbitration Update: Mozeliak Takes “Pass” On Team’s Free Agents

Well, hey…would you look at that? A little Cardinals news that, mercifully, doesn’t revolve around 50-inning lefty specialists or medicore middle infielder speculation. I’m more excited than Bernie Miklasz at a Kraft Services table.

Anyway, the deadline for MLB teams to offer arbitration to their players passed this afternoon, and our boys in Red and White declined to extend the courtesy to top free agents Jason Isringhausen, Russ Springer and Braden Looper.

The lack of an offer to Isringhausen, a Type B Free Agent, comes as no surprise given his recent injury-plagued history, and Springer, despite being a Type A Free Agent (meaning the team would have been compensated with 2 draft picks had he been offered arbitration and then signed with another club), just turned 40 years old and was pushed out by the glut of returning righties in the bullpen (Chris Perez, Ryan Franklin, Jason Motte, Kyle McClellan and Brad Thompson to name just five).

Not offering arbitration to Looper (Type B) does come as a slight surprise, however. He made $5.5 million in 2008, while throwing almost 200 innings and going 12-14 with a 4.19 ERA. He’s not a guy that’ll put the team on his back and win them a ring, but he was serviceable as a back of the rotation guy. (According to the Post-Dispatch’s Joe Strauss, he’s currently looking for a 3-year deal and would likely not have accepted the team’s arbitration offer.)

Nonetheless, there’s an inherent risk in offering arbitration to a player, since his 2009 salary will ultimately be determined by an unbiased third-party and not market forces. This means that a club could be on the hook for a lot of dough if they lose the arbitration hearing (see: Howard, Ryan).

This was certainly a major concern to Cards’ GM John Mozeliak:

“The big thing for us is we want to remain flexible and also look at what we feel might be the best way to improve this team.”

“The one thing that I was cautious about was, if we decide to offer arbitration, there is a chance they might have accepted. Especially if you look at the pace of this market to date.”

Moving on to news nearly as shocking as A-Rod backing out of his Kabbalah counseling with Madonna, the Cardinals declined to offer arbiration to Ron “Walk-double-single-3-run triple” Villone, Juan Encarnacion, Felipe Lopez, Cesar Izturis and Mark “Damaged Goods” Mulder

(Personal aside: Man, I could NOT be more happy to see Mulder gone. What a painful saga to watch unfold. I mean, good grief, had no one in the Cardinals organzation heard of a “sunk cost” before? You think maybe someone could have looked it up sometime between 2006 and now, possibly? No? Ok, that makes sense. Just keep running him out there because you made the investment. Anyway, good luck to Mr. Mulder in finding a new Bar Napoli and a bevy of jersey chasers each night in his next town. Not that I’m bitter about that situation or anything…)

Finally, in yet even more unsurprising news, another minor leaguer was suspended 50 games after testing positive for a banned substance (Methandienone). This time the player was Cardinals’ middle infielder Wilfred Vivas, who played on the team’s Venezuelan Summer League club last season. Vivas the 68th player to have been suspended this year under the minor league drug program (40 of whom have played in the Venezuelan Summer League – red flag anyone? Selig? Mitchell? Do I sense another committee in the the league’s future?)

Alright, that’s it from here. Things should really start picking up over the next couple of weeks as the arbitration hearings start setting the prices for free agents and we move towards the Winter Meetings. The Cardinals have 4 spots left to fill on the 40-man roster, and have shown some interest in Andy Pettitte (and to a lesser extent Randy Johnson) of late. The deal with Trever Miller remains hung up over “health concerns” that materialized at his physical.

So, who do you think should fill those final spots? After all, the Astros just signed Mike Hampton to a 1-year deal, so we have to keep up with the mediocrity, right? I wonder if Mike Maroth or Kip Wells is still available?

Cardinals Hot Stove – Much Ado About The ‘Pen

First of all, I hope everyone is enjoying their shortened week. My guess is that this post will find many of our fair readers traveling across the country to reconnect with friends and family, binge eat, and, ideally, pound a case of beers on the couch while watching some NFL action on Thursday.

I, myself, flipped the bird to the rest of my classes this week and took off for Dayton, OH, where I’ll be spending the holiday with my girlfriend’s parents (before a much-anticipated homecoming to St. Louis later in the week). But, just because the rest of the population is winding-down for Thanksgiving doesn’t mean that baseball GMs are taking a holiday. Certainly not John Mozelik, who continues to work the wire while ironing out the “fine print’ on a deal to bring Trever Miller to St. Louis.

This morning, Mo made an offer to another LOOGY who’s name has recently been coming up in the local press: Arthur Rhodes. Now, there’s no need for me to beat around the bush with this deal, so I’ll just tell you right upfront: I don’t like it one bit!

Rhodes is 39 years old, having made his debut for the Baltimore Orioles in 1991– back when little Ricky Reuben was spending most of his time staging epic G.I. Joe battles and long before statistics and cyborgs ruined baseball. In 2007, Rhodes signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners, with an invitation to Spring Training, but ended up missing the entire season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery in late April. As a result, Rhodes became a free agent again in 2008, and resigned with the Mariners. He did not make the roster out of Spring Training, but was added to the active roster on April 14. On July 31, he was traded to the Florida Marlins for 23 year old, right-handed starter Gaby Hernandez.

Now, my problem with this deal is not the ability of Rhodes or his contract demands, but rather the age and injury risk he comes with. (One quick caveat: Rhodes topped out, salary-wise, at $3.7 million in 2006, but would have only made $1 million in ‘07. If he’ll take a 1-year deal, at something like $1.5 million, I think there may be some merit to signing him.)

Last season, Rhodes pitched 35.3 innings between Seattle and Florida. He struck out 30 batters against 16 walks, and held lefties to a paltry .157/.253/.200 line against. His career line against lefties is also above-average as well at .221/.289/.325, so he’s a capable specialist.

Looking over his career, however, he’s mostly he’s been mediocre or worse (1999 in Baltimore comes immediately to mind as a low point). Now, when looking at a pitcher’s career numbers one statistic that I always like to use as a quick barometer of ability is ERA+ (or OPS+ for hitters). ERA+ is an adjusted earned run average that is normalized and accounts for home park effects. A stat like ERA+/OPS+, because it is normalized to the league average, allows for an “apples-to-apples” comparison of players from different eras of the game. (After all, pitchers were used quite a bit differently when Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax were throwing 20 complete games in the ’60s versus now, when Roy Halladay lead the league in ‘08…with 9.)

Using those three above examples, you’ll see that when Gibby won his first Cy Young and MVP in 1968, his ERA+ was 258. When Koufax won his first Cy Young and MVP in 1963, his ERA+ was 159. And finally, when Roy Halladay won his Cy in 2003, his ERA+ was 145. In analyzing this data, what we can say is that each of these players were between 45-158% more productive than the average major league starter in their respective season (average ERA+ always = 100). Further, among these 3 Cy Young seasons, Gibson had the most productive, while Halladay’s was *less* productive (in context). ERA+ allows for this direct comparison in a way that a stat like ERA simply cannot — for example, we know Gibson was fantastic in ‘68, but comparing his ERA to Koufax’s in ‘63 or Halladay’s in ‘03 is an exercise in futility that doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story of how these men pitched. The game of baseball, despite the efforts of many, continues to evolve. (Note: This same analysis applies to hitters as well, when looking at OPS+.)

Okay, now armed with our knowledge of ERA+, let’s return to our featured player. Arthur Rhodes has a career ERA+ of 105 over 17 MLB seasons. So, he’s just slightly better than the average middle reliever. His high mark for ERA+ is 242 in 2001 (when he struck out 83 hitters over 68 innings for that 116-win Mariners club), and his low is 86, which came in 1999 (when he walked 43 men and gave up 43 hits in just 53 innings of work). Truly, I believe that the takeaway from all of this is that, at 39 years old, and for 40 innings a season, unless he’ll come real cheap and for a short duration, it doesn’t make much sense to sign Rhodes to the deal he’ll likely require.

He’s about a year removed from serious arm surgery (hmm…have we heard this before in the Cardinals organization?), and he’s about to be over-the-hill. Now, I’m not ageist, but when a club invests (extremely) finite resources into a player, you’d like it to be someone who’s track record doesn’t include a major injury and spotty performance over the last 3-4 seasons.

Hopefully the right decisions will be made, though…as, the last time I checked, Isiah Thomas was NOT in the Cardinals’ front office.

…And quickly, a few final thoughts on Hot Stove murmurs overheard recently:

1. Derrick Goold threw out the name of Brandon Lyon as a possibility for the currently vacant closer spot in the Birds bullpen. Lyon will turn 29 in August of next season, and had down year in 2008, despite collecting 26 saves for Arizona: 59.3 innings pitched, 75 Hits, 44/13 Strikeout/Walk ratio, 4.70 ERA, 98 ERA+. In 2007 he was much better in a non-closing role, posting a 2.68 ERA and 176 ERA+. He made $3.125 million in 2008, and, while this is an educated guess, I think he probably is looking for around a 3 year deal.

2. The Cardinals do have internal options for the ‘pen, of course, in Chris Perez and Jason Motte. Both made their debuts for the big club last season, and pitched well (Motte, especially – small sample size, granted).

Perez will only be 22 at the start of ‘09 (he turns 23 in July), and struck out 42 hitters in only 34 innings at the major league level (after flying through the Cardinals system in 2007 — he did throw 25.1 innings at Memphis earlier in the year.) Perez is, in all likelihood, the closer of the future, as he has an overpowering fastball that hitters just can’t catch up with. The biggest (legitimate) concern with him, however, is wildness. He walked 22 batters in the big leagues last season (34 IP), and walked 41 (!) over just 54.2 innings between AA-Palm Beach and AAA-Memphis in 2007. Having watched him pitch himself into some serious jams in the 9th, one can only hope that LaRussa will give him enough time to work things out — and that he does!

Jason Motte is one intimidating dude. He’s got a wild red goatee, was a former catcher, and reminds me of Brian Wilson (the SF Giant, not the Beach Boy) on the mound. Motte, like Perez, has a big league fastball that regularly sits in the mid-90s. He’s a bit older than Chris – he’ll turn 27 in June – but can be just as effective. At AAA this season he struck out 110 batters over 66.2 innings (26 walks). After being called up to the bigs, he pitched in 11 innings for the Cardinals, striking out 16 hitters against only 3 walks (and 5 hits), and looking just as dominant as that sounds.

Even with Perez’s control problems, I just don’t see how it could make any sense for this team to consider Brandon Lyon. He’s older than both of the club’s internal options, isn’t cost-controlled, and has nowhere near the ability to miss bats like either Motte or Perez can. I’ll take a few bumps along the way to pay two flamethrowers the league minimum to get three outs, thank you.

(Final note, even though you stopped reading 3 paragraphs ago: Should the club go with Perez and/or Motte for the closer/set-up role, they’ll discuss bringing Jason Isringhausen back. He’ll be 36 next September and plans to meet with team doctors next week to get clearance to begin upper-body work with his surgically repaired shoulder. Let’s hope there’s still plenty of space in the training room next year.)

Be safe and enjoy the time off everyone. I’ll be back soon with more Hot Stove banter. If you have an links or tips for the MLB offseason you’d like covered in this space, send them my way. Your thoughts in the comments are always read and appreciated.

Cardinals Hot Stove – Trever Miller: A Hot Commodity, Apparently

As the Cardinals’ management enters Day 5 of the “Great Trever Miller Negotiations of 2008″ (GTMN08), I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at what kind of pitcher the club will be getting should he sign with the team. (Fun side note to these protracted talks: The other potential suitor for Miller? Walt Jocketty’s Cincinnati Reds, of course.)

Before getting to Miller, though, I thought you would be interested to know that there was an actual signing by the team this week…two signings, in fact: Charlie Manning and Ian Ostlund. Both are 29 year old lefties who have spent most of their careers in the minors.

Manning actually got his first shot in the Big Leagues last season, pitching 42 innings for the Washington Nationals, and held lefties to an opponent batting line of .203/.284/.392 (that’s: Average/On-Base Percentage/Slugging Percentage, in case you’re wondering), while striking out 37. Unfortunately, he also walked 31 hitters.

Ostland, on the other hand, has no experience in the “Big Show,” having spent all 8 of his pro seasons at various levels of the Detroit Tigers system. In 2008 he had a nice season with AAA Toledo, striking out 77, while walking only 17, batters in 69.2 innings. At that level and his age, however, those numbers lose a lot of their shine. Hopefully the team can get a few solid innings out of at least one of these guys. The two signings resulted in Mike Parisi and his 8.22 ERA being outrighted. (Good times when he was on the mound last season.)

Alright, now let’s take a closer look at the “poor-man’s Brian Fuentes.”

Trever Miller will turn 36 years old in May of the coming season. He has 10 years of major league experience, most recently with Tampa Bay, and he was designated a Type B Free Agent after the 2008 season. I’m a bit hazy on the finer points of the Free Ageny rules, but I believe that when Miller signs with a different team this off-season, the Rays will be given a “sandwich” draft pick, between the first and second rounds of the June Draft. Before returning to Tampa Bay in ‘08, where he had spent the 2004 and 2005 seasons, he pitched for NL Central Division rival Houston, where he struck out 102 batters (against just 36 walks) in 97 innings pitched over two seasons.

It is unquestionable that Miller is an above average lefty-specialist, or LOOGY, as they’re often called. His career line against left-handed hitters is .235/.327/.382, and he was even better than that in 2008, with lefties hitting just .209/.305/.308 against him.

One other thing is clear about Miller’s game: He’s learned how to strike out big league hitters. After Miller made the jump from the AL to the NL in 2006, his number of strikeouts per plate appearance jumped 10%. Now, that isn’t completely unexpected as pundits refer to the NL as the “Senior Circuit” for a reason (I think it’s because Jaime Moyer pitches there…), so one could expect his strikeouts to increase against weaker competition. However, he’s been able to keep that number of Ks/PA, at age 35, consistently higher than it was in his mid-twenties.

Also, and I promise this will be the last statistic I mention in this piece, Miller actually pitched his best baseball last season if you look at “FIP” – which stands for Fielding Independent Pitching. This is a great metric that “helps you understand how well a pitcher pitched, regardless of how well his fielders fielded.” The reason I like this stat so much is because it takes defense out of the Earned Run Average equation, thus not punishing or rewarding a hurler for the performance of his teammates. FIP is even more valuable when considering a Free Agent who, likely, will not have the same defense behind him that he did in the previous season. Anyway, all of this is to say that, in 2008, Miller’s ERA was 4.15, which is very average, but his FIP was 3.33, which is very much above-average. Unfortunatley, 2008 was the only season that Miller posted a FIP that was lower than his ERA, meaning that he’s actually been *slightly* worse than his ERA would indicate.

I think the final question, then, becomes: “Stew, you’ve written 3,000 words about various statistics and things I really don’t care about…Just tell me whether or not I should get excited about this guy!”

Ok, that’s fair. And my answer is…Yes, I think he would be a nice addition to the bullpen.

The Rays bought out his contract for $400,000 rather than exercise a $2 million option, but that’s mostly because they have plenty of young lefties, like J.P. Howell and phenom David Price, rather than a knock on his ability. The market for average-to-above average LOOGYs is generally old and practically non-existent, so even at 36, Miller is capable, and brings plenty of experience with him. He’ll probably command a 2-year deal, maybe around $5-6 million total, and I believe we’ll have him on the roster early next week.

Two last notes before I go watch the Rams get blown out by the Bears:

• The Giants are negotiating with Edgar Renteria. As a general rule of thumb, I prefer not to pursue any of the same players as Brian Sabean. If he wants to sign a player that’s a good enough reason NOT to sign him if you ask me. Jeez…that guy, Sabean. He’s like the anti-Theo Epstein.
• The Dodgers are going to let lefty reliever Joe Beimel leave. He had a great season in 2008, posting a 2.02 ERA in 49 innings. He doesn’t strike out as many guys as Miller, and does walk his share of hitters, but he is much younger at 31. Beimel has drawn interest from the Mets, Reds, Tigers, and Rockies, in addition to the Cardinals. MLBTradeRumors says he is looking for a 3-year deal.

Mangled Middle Infield: Cardinals May Sign Lopez and Renteria

Well, full disclosure: I was totally able to ride my buddy Mark’s coattails to get this fine blogging gig at Midwest Sports Fans, so I wanted to pass on my gratitude to him straightaway. (We’ll probably split my ad revenues from the site once I learn how to divide nothing between 2 people.) Secondly, I’d like to thank Jerod for offering me this platform to speak on my sports obsession, the St. Louis Cardinals.

As a quick background: I’m a native of St. Louis (Parkway North High ‘02), steadfast in my belief that Imo’s is the greatest pizza in the world, and I count Stan the Man, Willie McGee, and Albert Pujols among my heroes. In 2006, I was given my “sabermetric baptism” when I read Michael Lewis’s “Moneyball,” and I haven’t viewed baseball the same ever since. (Seriously, it was like Salomé removing one of her seven veils or Neo at the end of the first Matrix…I mean, Nate Silver’s PECOTA system made me nearly wet myself. Life-altering to say the least.)

Anyway, biblical intros and sci-fi references aside, I want to start this post off by throwing two names at you: Edgar Renteria and Felipe Lopez. Both of these former All-Stars (and current Free Agents) may very well comprise the Cardinals double play combo in 2009. And this would be great news…if only it were 4 seasons ago.

Unfortunately, as the 2009 Hot Stove Season begins to heat up, this is the current state of affairs in Cardinal Nation. In fact, multiple outlets have reported that the team has an offer on the table for Lopez, so it appears that he will be our man at the keystone next year. And really, I guess Lopez isn’t so bad since one can make a decent case for signing him: At 29, he is one of the youngest available 2B/SS on the market, he had a nice final quarter of the season with the Birds, hitting (small sample size alert!) .385/.426/.538 with 4 homeruns and 21 RBI in 169 plate appearances. Further, Baseball Prospectus rated him at just over 20 runs above replacement in 2008 (among the likes of Alexi Ramirez, Clint Barmes, and Akinori Iwamura).

Looking ahead to 2009, erstwhile sabermatrician Tom Tango just released his 2009 Marcels Projections , which predicts a line of .263/.330/.446 with 8 homeruns and 44 RBI for Felipe in 2009. That seems pretty accurate, and with a little luck, we could have a second basemen posting an OPS above .800. Except…except for the fact that he made $4.9 million last season. How much and how long are we willing to go with Felipe Lopez’s defense at the keystone? Is there enough offensive upside left to justify committing millions to a poor defender over multiple years? Where are you Pete Kozma ?

Even more disconcerting, however, is the interest the Cardinals have shown in Edgar Renteria, who had his worst offensive season in 8 years in 2008, and finished the season as one of the worst defensive regulars at SS. According to vivaelbirdos , best estimates put Renteria at 4-5 runs above replacement next season, or about 2 wins. In the current market, this is worth around $8-10 million for one season, far exceeding what I think this team should be paying a 33 year old shortstop with a diminished skill set. Even if the number was closer to $4-6 million, why not put that toward another lefty in the pen, or for a back-end starter with a higher upside?

I’ll leave you with those questions to discuss in the comments. Thanks for coming by, and be sure to check back here often for analysis and reactions to the 2009 Cardinals’ off-season.

Stay warm out there.

[tags]st. louis cardinals, felipe lopez, mlb, hot stove, edgar renteria[/tags]