Edgar's Big Day
The Cardinals will learn today whether or not Edgar Renteria has accepted a contract offer from the Boston Red Sox, a franchise that graduated this year from "cursed" to "merely terrible" with their first championship in 86 years. At this point, the shortstop would have to accept a considerably smaller sum of money to remain a Cardinal.Regardless of whether or not he re-signs, his decision should set off a flurry of activity by the club. The Cards have reportedly been pursuing two different signing scenarios that hinge on Renteria's return.
Edgar should be forewarned, however. History tells us that leaving the Cardinals when the team still wants you back has produced some dubious results. By my count, there are still only four top-tier free agents who have spurned the Cardinals on the free agent market...
Bruce Sutter to Atlanta in 1985,
Jack Clark to the Yankees in 1988,
Vince Coleman to the Mets in 1991, and
Andy Benes to Arizona in 1998, after his agent missed the signing deadline.
It was the worst professional decision these players ever made.
posted by CM @ 10:10 AM
3 Comments:
I saw the Cardinals lost Matheny today. Losing him, along with the possibility of Renteria, seems to seriously weaken the Cardinals defense. Isn't their defense what kept their less than overpowering pitching staff in a number of games this last season? It seems like LaRussa's boys are going to, once again, look more and more like an American League team.
Yadi Molina should do a nice job behind the plate- equal to, or better than, Matheny at throwing out runners. No one has ever blocked balls as well as Matheny, and it remains to be seen how well the pitching staff will respond to Yadi, but when you've developed a young player through your system- and you're a mid-market team- you've got to give the kid his shot at the job. One thing I don't question is Molina's maturity. I saw him get in Manny Ramirez's face in Game 4 of the WS after Ramirez had been tipping pitches as a runner at second base. This was a rookie telling the soon-to-be-named Series MVP how to properly play the game.
If I'm a Cardinals fan, I'm fine with Matheny skipping town but Renteria has to be a franchise guy. Every attempt must be made to keep a shortstop that is basically a five point player. He plays hard and smart and he's a consistent, dependable presence in the middle of a streaky lineup.
The suspense is killing me. Why no decision yet? I'd like to make up my mind on a season ticket package as soon as possible.
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