Cardinals, Giants acquire players

[Migrant Redbird]

San Diego Union Tribune: Shortstop Greene heading to St. Louis

The Padres are expected to get two relief pitchers in return for Greene, with early speculation indicating one could be Double-A right-hander Luke Gregorson, who was 7-6 with a 3.35 ERA last season in the hitter-friendly Texas League. Gregorson, who isn't on the Cardinals' 40-man roster, struck out 78 with 26 walks in 75 1/3 innings.

But this trade is primarily about moving Greene's $6.5 million salary in anticipation of a much smaller payroll in 2009. The deal may not be announced until later Thursday or Friday.

According to one club official, the commissioner's office may need to approve the deal, which likely means that the Padres could be offsetting Greene's salary by at least $1 million.

The move could improve the club's chances of retaining ace pitcher Jake Peavy or gaining leverage in trade talks involving Peavy, who is guaranteed $11 million next year and $63 million over the next four years.

St. Louis Post Dispatch: St. Louis Cardinals trade for Khalil Greene

The Cardinals addressed their question at shortstop by acquiring one of the league’s largest enigmas.... the Cardinals traded for San Diego Padres shortstop Khalil Greene on Wednesday night.

The Cardinals have yet to publicly confirm the deal for Greene, who has to take a physical exam.

Greene will cost the Cardinals organization two pitchers, neither of whom was on the major-league roster at the end of last season. The identity of the pitchers is not yet known.

Speculation is that relief pitcher, Mark Worrell (no relation to Todd or Tim Worrell), is one of the two minor league pitchers. Mark, a 12th round pick in 2004, is notable primarily for hitting a 3 run homer in his first professional at bat, against the Nats last season. (See why I hate the DH; this exciting event would never have happened with an AL team.)

Scout.com: Mark Worrell: The Voice of Frustration

DM: How frustrating was it to see the big league club suffering to hold on to victories?

MW: It made feel pretty bad actually. The Cardinals, that bullpen, struggled a lot this year. They were always looking for answers and stuff like that. I don’t know why they didn’t look at me with my numbers dominating down here. It was better than some of, numbers wise, better than some of their up-and-coming prospects. They chose to overlook me. I am going to go ahead and speak my mind from now on because I would rather be somewhere else. I think they should have given me a shot and I did all the stuff to get that shot. Obviously, they didn’t want to give it to me.

DM: How disappointing was it to not get called up in September?

MW: It was really disappointing. My last 13-to-14 appearances I didn’t give up a run, perfect. I guess perfect isn’t good enough for the Cardinals.

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Cards complete deal for Miller

A deal delayed is now a deal done as the Cardinals completed the signing of lefty reliever Trever Miller today to a one-year deal

The physical Miller had several weeks ago with the Cardinals revealed what the team doctor believes is a tear in the labrum in his left shoulder. Having discovered the injury -- which hasn't caused Miller any soreness or limited any of his offseason workouts -- the Cardinals renegotiated the deal from the original two-year offer.

Miller, 35, agreed to a one-year that will pay him $2 million if he reaches all of the appearance-based incentives. His original deal, he said, was worth two years and a total of $4 million.

MLB.com: Renteria signs two-year deal with Giants

The Giants culminated their courtship of shortstop Edgar Renteria by signing the 13-year veteran to a two-year, $18.5 million deal Thursday.

[PaulBako]

San Diego Union Tribune: Shortstop Greene heading to St. Louis

St. Louis Post Dispatch: St. Louis Cardinals trade for Khalil Greene

Speculation is that relief pitcher, Mark Worrell (no relation to Todd or Tim Worrell), is one of the two minor league pitchers. Mark, a 12th round pick in 2004, is notable primarily for hitting a 3 run homer in his first professional at bat, against the Nats last season. (See why I hate the DH; this exciting event would never have happened with an AL team.)

Scout.com: Mark Worrell: The Voice of Frustration

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Cards complete deal for Miller

MLB.com: Renteria signs two-year deal with Giants

Were you happy about getting Greene?

[Migrant Redbird]

Were you happy about getting Greene?

Haven't thought much about it yet. I wasn't among those advocating Greene, figuring that he wasn't a good option. Now, I will need to look at him more closely before I make up my mind, and find out which minor league pitchers we gave up for him.

There is a good possibility that Greene is merely another one year solution until we develop some major league capable middle infielders from our system. He'll be a free agent in 2010 unless the Cards sign him to an extension. It doesn't sound like he made himself too welcome in San Diego last season.

As to shortstop prospects, we have 21-year-old 2007 1st round pick, Pete Kozma, who hit .284/.363/.398/.761 at A (Quincy) last year; 28-year-old Brian Barden, who hit .285/.349/.421/.770 for AAA Memphis last season after what was apparently a successful move from 3rd to SS; 24-year-old Tyler Greene, who hit .234/.325/.297/.622 in 111 at bats after being promoted to AAA and .259/.307/.449/.756 at AA before promotion; and 27-year-old Brendan Ryan, who hit .289/.347/.406/.671 in 199 PAs with the Cards in 2007, but slumped so badly last year (.244/.307/.289/.596) and got demoted back to AAA. My picks are Barden -- getting a little old for a prospect -- and Kozma who won't be ready before 2010 at the earliest. I'd like to see Barden compete with Greene for the starting job at SS next spring. There's also the possibility that Ryan could rebound, but he irritates Tony La Russa, not a prescription for success in St. Louis.

I hate to lose Worrell, if that's one of the guys going to the Padres, but I'm pretty sure the Cardinals don't rate him as highly as Jason Motte or Chris Perez as a potential closer. I also wasn't aware of Worrell's inflammatory comments about being unhappy in the Cardinals organization; those were pretty dumb comments in my opinion, unless he really did need to get to another team.

I have a very low opinion of Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan myself when it comes to handling players and especially young pitchers -- maybe Mark Worrell shared my opinion. He undoubtedly got an earful from former top prospect Anthony Reyes, who sounds much happier since the Cards dealt him to the Indians.

The Worrell remarks are just one more piece of evidence in the flimsy case I've built against keeping La Russa as the Cardinals manager. If I post it on the SLSF website, I'll probably get more negative rep points for my "hatefulness" towards La Russa, with comments such as "troublemaker"; "Stats do not equal real life...learn that please and spare us"; "Are you retarded or just stupid?"; "Since it affects you, it MUST affect Izzy too...great anaology (whatever)" (comparing my osteo arthritis to that of Isringhausen); and a few more which have scrolled off the reputation page. Funny stuff!

[Migrant Redbird]

The MLB.com article on the trade.

... St. Louis will send relief prospect Mark Worrell and a player to be named later to San Diego.

.... "I am both excited and honored to have a chance to play and contribute for such a storied franchise as the St Louis Cardinals," Greene said in a release issued by St. Louis. "The tradition in St Louis speaks for itself and I am hopeful to be a strong contributor for the Cardinals.

.... Greene will make $6.5 million in 2009, with the Cardinals on the hook to pay all of it. St. Louis would thus be left with approximately $10-15 million more in payroll room to find a second baseman and perhaps another starting pitcher and/or another left-handed reliever. Greene will be eligible for free agency after the 2009 season.

.... Worrell, who will turn 26 in Spring Training, was a 2004 draftee by the Cardinals and spent the past two seasons at Triple-A Memphis. He posted a 7.94 ERA in very limited exposure in his first shot at the Major Leagues last year.

The other player may not be named until the end of Spring Training. According to Padres general manager Kevin Towers, San Diego will choose from a list of three players, two of them pitchers.

[mweb]

2/18.5 seems quite steep for Renteria.

Seems like a good deal for the Cards, although I'm not that much of a Greene fan.

[Migrant Redbird]

Seems like a good deal for the Cards, although I'm not that much of a Greene fan.

It's a one year rental, unless the Cards can sign Greene to an extension. It would seem to be premature to do that until we know if his 2008 season was an aberration or not, by which time he will be a free agent.

I'm cautiously optimistic that Greene will be a good acquisition. He has fairly good road splits and should benefit from getting away from Petco Field. He didn't play enough last season to make The Fielding Bible +/- leaders and trailers lists, but he tied Jimmy Rollins in both 2006 and 2007, +12 in 2006 and +7 in 2007. Of course, Rollins led the majors in 2008 with a +23.

What I don't like at all is the PTBNL provision, allowing the Padres to wait until April 2009 to pick from a list of 3 players. It's entirely possible the Cards fans may get all exuberant about a rookie player's performance next spring, only to discover on April 1st that the Padres are taking him away from us.

[Frobby]

What I don't like at all is the PTBNL provision, allowing the Padres to wait until April 2009 to pick from a list of 3 players. It's entirely possible the Cards fans may get all exuberant about a rookie player's performance next spring, only to discover on April 1st that the Padres are taking him away from us.

Just tell the guy you really like to dog it during spring training!

[Pedro Cerrano]

And another terrible contract handed out by Brian Sabean. Wow!

[Ruzious]

2/18.5 seems quite steep for Renteria.

Absurd is the word that came to my mind. He's got no range for SS anymore - hasn't for a couple of years. And he doesn't hit well enough to be more than mediocre elsewhere. He's just servicable with very little upside and future.

[Migrant Redbird]

Just tell the guy you really like to dog it during spring training!

Another Cardinals fan suggested the Padres will go ahead and name their choice as soon as the Rule 5 draft was over -- the Cards only had 35 players protected last I heard -- and that otherwise the 3 players would be buried in spring training and given little opportunity to impress anyone.

Still think that the cutoff date for the Padres to choose should have been before pitchers reported to spring training or, at the very latest, after they've had their ST physicals.