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ST. LOUIS -- A third potential free agent will return to the Cardinals rather than hitting the open market.

Joel Pineiro agreed to a new two-year pact with St. Louis on Monday, re-upping rather than opting for free agency. Pineiro, 29, was acquired from Boston at the July 31 trade deadline and turned in a solid two months in his first exposure to the National League. The right-hander went 6-4 with a 3.96 ERA, 40 strikeouts and 12 walks in 63 2/3 innings.

"We felt very strongly at the time of the trade that Joel had the ability to improve our starting rotation once he had time to condition himself for that role," interim general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement issued by the team. "We are extremely pleased to have re-signed Joel and project him to be a steady performer for us, much like he did down the stretch this past season."

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/a ... p&c_id=stl

2 years, 13M=booooooooooooooooooo

Jesus. $13 million when he could break down at any moment.

Still not as bad as last year's Jeff Weaver signing.

What makes you think that Pineiro is any more likely than anyone else to break down at any moment?

I think it's a pretty good signing. Not a fantastic signing, but pretty good.

He's probably better than anyone we are likely to get on the free-agent market this winter. And I like that he's only signed for two years...if he doesn't work out, he won't obstruct the team's future progress for very long.

Face it, the Cardinals are in a terrible position regarding pitching right now. We are paying a not-so-small fortune right now to Carpenter and Mulder, who we might not get a damn thing out of next season, and there is no one in the farm system who looks like he can help us in 2008, and we don't have a lot of trade assets to compete with other teams for whoever might be available in trade this winter. Giving two years to Pineiro is not so bad under the circumstances. Give him and Wellemeyer a good long look, our best chance of dramatic improvement in the short term is probably for one or both of them to establish themselves as decent to good starting pitchers.

My point of view, Pineiro in 2005 and 2006 had an ERA slightly under 6 in 350 IP. He was a failed reliever in Boston, then comes to St. Louis and has 2 months of average starts. When we got him from Boston he would have been lucky to get 1M contract this offseason, amazing what 11 starts can do for you.

Also, Rick Porcello who has ace potential (and is already a top 30 prospect) whom the Cardinals could have drafted would have cost $7M, yet they give 13M in guaranteed money to someone who I would be happy if he gave us a ERA under 5 next year. Now you can say thats just the market, but this team isn't going anywhere different with Pineiro, why not spend it on the future, with someone who has superstar potential and not replacement level potential.

I'd like to see the Cardinals take chances on guys like Porcello, but that's really a separate issue.

The relevant issue is that we have some big holes in our starting rotation and not much means to fill them anytime soon. Pineiro is a stop-gap. We are paying him pretty much the going rate for an average starting pitcher, for only two years. And I think there's a decent chance that Pineiro will earn the money--he was better than average for the third of a season he spent with us, he has had some good seasons in the past, he is still pretty young and his arm seems fine...maybe he gets back on track and pitches like the guy Seattle had in 2003.

Or maybe not, in which case we flush him after the 2009 season. I'm not too worried about Pineiro blocking Blake Hawksworth from the Cardinals' rotation next year. If our farm system still isn't producing legit arms for the Cardinals rotation by 2010, then I will be pretty disgusted, but signing Pineiro doesn't prevent the Cardinals from drafting and developing some good pitching prospects.

To me I don't really expect the Cardinals to compete next season anyways, which is another reason I don't like this move. This season I thought the Cardinals were lucky to even get past 75 wins.

I just don't think the overall makeup of the front office is right when you're willing to spend 13M on a replacement level player, and not willing to spend 7M on a potential ace.

Also, if some team were to give John Thomson a chance I think he could possibly perform just as well as Pineiro for only 300k. God I hope Pineiro exceeds my expectations though.

mizzoupacers wrote:What makes you think that Pineiro is any more likely than anyone else to break down at any moment?

He did in Seattle.

I thought Pineiro's goose was cooked once he joined the Sox; I didn't realize he still had this year left in him. But no way he replicates what he did. Absolutely no chance in my mind.

I don't know what happened to Pineiro in Seattle, but the guy I saw this year looked like he had a good arm, and there was never a hint of any health problems, and he is at an age where a lot of players are right in the middle of their prime years.

I don't see why I shouldn't expect him to be somewhere between 4.00 and 4.50 with his ERA next year and eat a lot of innings. If he can do that, then this is a good signing.


Here we go, Jeff Gordon gets it, at least as far as the Cardinals' starting pitching situation is concerned:

link

See thats the thing though, Pineiro isn't "solid pitching", he had an ERA just under 6 in 350 IP in 2005 and 2006 and failed as a reliever in Boston.

Granted he was somewhat "solid" for the Cardinals but frankly I'll take the 2 and a half seasons of terribleness (new word?) and weigh that more than the what 10 starts he had for us.

On a completely other note, I'm thinking the GM job is Mozeliak's now, with these moves.