Ryan Theriot? Sheesh

The St. Louis Cardinals traded Blake Hawksworth to the Dodgers for Ryan Theriot. Which perhaps means they won't be bringing Aaron Miles back, now that they have a younger, equally lousy version of him.

I'm not happy about the trade, though. Not because Hawksworth is gone, more because the Cardinals apparently envision Theriot as a shortstop. If not the starter, then someone to challenge Brendan Ryan for the position. Which sucks, because it means I once again have to realize that I root for a team that doesn't value the same things I do in players.

I agree with the Cardinals that upgrading the middle infield is a good idea. I just think they should be doing it at second base (where they have Skip Schumaker), not shortstop. And if they're going to upgrade, Theriot isn't it. I was looking at the three players' value over the last two years, since that's how long Ryan and Skip have been starters for the team at those spots. In 2009, by Baseball Reference, Theriot was worth 1 WAR (win above replacement), Skip 1.5, and Ryan 3.4. To break it down further, Theriot was +0.9 offensively, +0.1 with the glove (netirely at SS). Skip was +2.5 with the bat, -1.0 with the glove (which is ugly, a win worse than a replacement level - not average, replacement level - 2nd baseman). Brendan was 1.6 hitting, 1.8 fielding.

In 2010, Theriot played for both the Cubs and the Dodgers. With Chicago, he was -0.7 (-0.4 hitting, -0.3 fielding). In L.A., it was -0.1 WAR (-0.1 hitting, exactly replacement level fielding). Schumaker was +0.4 (+0.6 hitting, -0.2 fielding). Ryan was worth 0.9 (1.6 fielding, -0.7 hitting). So even in a year where his offense was abominable, Brendan Ryan was still a more useful player than either of the other two. But I don't know, Ryan's kind of silly, and Carp yelled at him once, and LaRussa seems to barely tolerate him, while Tony loves Skip, I assume because Skip was willing to try a different position, so he's a gritty gamer. Of course he tried another position, it gave him a shot to extend his career, and Skip Schumaker is hardly a big enough name to refuse to do so.

I get that Ryan looked helpless offensively last year. A .573 OPS is bad (the year before it was .740). But it was only his second year as starter. In Yadier Molina's second year as starting catcher (2006), he put up a .595 OPS*. He was actually worth -0.2 WAR that year (-1.6 bat, +1.4 glove), and the Cards didn't go shopping for a new catcher in the offseason. Gary Bennett was their weak hitting backup catcher in '06, and he held the same roster spot in 2007. Ryan plays the only other position on the field where defense is as valuable as it is at catcher, so why is he in danger of losing his job? Especially to Ryan Theriot? I would hope the Cardinals noticed that Theriot was less of a disaster in Los Angeles, where he exclusively played second base (small samples warnings apply, of course). Theriot's already 30, same as Skip. Depending on whose conventional wisdom you subscribe to, they've either just ended their prime (if you think that's 26-30), or they have a couple years left (if you think it's 28-32). Brendan Ryan's 2 years younger than both of them, so however you slice it, he has more of his peak years left.

At this point, I don't believe Schumaker can improve much. He has to hit a lot, probably more than he's able, to provide serious value because of his defense. Ryan just has to hit a little to make himself valuable, because he's already a top notch gloveman. It's not like the Cardinals haven't had weak hitting, slick fielding shortstops before. Ryan's not in Ozzie Smith's class, offensively or defensively**, but they got by with Cesar Izturis for a year, and his 2008 wasn't anything spectacular. He was worth +0.6 with the bat, and +0.9 with the glove (which is less than I expected, honestly). The trick is to find good hitters for the rest of the positions to compensate, then hope Ryan can rebound some. If he could post a .657 OPS, which is about halfway between his 2009 and 2010 numbers, and keep making plays in the field, he should be fine. The question is whether he'll get the chance.

Personally, I'd like to see the Cards go for Adam Dunn. I know he's a butcher in left field (and Holliday said he'd move to RF if it'll help), but the guy can hit, and again, Cardinals can lived through Chris Duncan lumbering around in left like a drunk hippo with a bad foot, I think we could live with Dunn and his 35+ home runs. As it stands, I guess they're banking on Craig and Jay being a productive platoon, and Freese actually staying healthy, which would help considerably, assuming his first two months this year weren't a mirage.

About Theriot, since he's a Cardinal now. When he was good, some Cubs' fans nicknamed him The Riot. I suppose I could change it The (Laugh) Riot, as in "it's a laugh riot they think he can play shortstop!", but considering his name is pronounced "Tarry O", I'm considering calling him "Tally Ho!" It brings to mind, for me, some British officer from the 19th Century, blindly leading his men in a doomed cavalry charge in some faraway land, because he thinks it will be ever so much fun, eh, old chap?

* Because it was a more offense heavy year, that translates to a 53 OPS+, while Brendan's 2010 was a 57. So Boog was slightly closer to league average than Yadi.

** From 1982 thru 1994, the 13 seasons Ozzie was the Cards' starting SS, his lowest WAR (by Baseball-Reference at least) was 1.9, in 1994. His highest was 6.3 in 1989, when he was worth 3,1 wins by glove alone. In those 13 seasons, he had 9 seasons with a WAR better than Ryan's 2009 total, including in his age-36 and 37 seasons.