Holes To Be Filled

Baseball season came to an abrupt halt this week. As you know, I am a Cardinal fan. Watching the Redbirds crash into the windshield of the Washington Nationals was painful….but enlightening.

The four-game sweep made it clear that the current roster is not capable of hoisting the franchise’s 12^th World Series flag. There are several roster moves that must occur during the hot stove months.

Here you go.

Matt Carpenter will not start again for St. Louis. He barely batted his weight most of the year…and he will make $18-million dollars next year. He needed to bat my weight. The Cards won’t pay that for a bench player. Better to pay a bunch of his salary in another major league city. Besides, you’ve found Tommy Edman, who works for the major league minimum.

So long Michael Wacha…he won six and lost seven. You have plenty of young arms that can give you that. He made $5.3 million last year. Thanks for the memories, Bud.

Same goes for Dexter Fowler, set to make around $16-million next year. Here’s my rule of thumb----short of trades for Bruce Sutter and Lou Brock….never….never sign a Cub. Much like Carpenter, the Cards are going to have to promise to pay some part of Fowler’s future salary in order to get his bags on the Greyhound.

And Marcell Ozuna. He’s not worth a contract. Make the minimum offer so you can collect a draft pick. Then tell him to pack his neon green long sleeve shirt, put his hat on straight and frustrate another fan base.

There you go. Addition by subtraction. So how do you fill those spots? I’m not the boss. Mr. DeWitt pays John Mozeliak millions to fill the holes I’ve created.

By the way, Mo…cause I’m sure you listen. Get this done by the start of spring training…..February 12^th.