A Time For All Cardinals To Rest

The Arizona Cardinals had a bye this week. I'm sure that'll help a few of their players heal up for the second half of the season. Of the eight games left, they have one each against their rivals in the NFC West, and the Rams and Niners' games are both in Arizona. So hopefully they can manage to win at least one divisional game this year. Other than that, they have to go to Philly in a month, and they haven't played any of their AFC South games yet, though that's the next 3 games. They ought to be able to beat the Jags and probably the Texans, since that'll be in Arizona. I'd feel better about their odds against the Titans if it was a home game, but the Colts are coming to town instead. Not sure that'll make a difference.

The offense is in the bottom third of the league, and the defense is in the top-third. So the offense has improved slightly from last year, and the defense is worse somewhat. They've both regressed, towards the middle, but from opposite directions. It would help if Palmer would stop throwing picks at a Skeltonian rate of once every 20 passes or so, but I'm not sure there's any reason to expect that. Up to this point, the rate stats suggest he's been a slightly worse QB than Kolb was last year, though significantly better than the others. So he's better, but in the way getting kicked in the junk is better than having your foot blown off by a shotgun. I'm hopeful about this Andre Ellington fellow. Har dnot to be about a guy with over 300 yards rushing that's averaging 8 yards a carry. Mendenhall's barely averaging 3. I imagine a better rushing game would take some pressure off Palmer, or at least reduce his opportunities to throw dumb passes.

On the baseball side of things, the Cardinals took that best chance they could hope for and promptly lost the next two games. That's one way to avoid relying on Joe Kelly in Game 7. The offense failed to show up at all, which is disappointing, but maybe not surprising. No real bench, no SS who can hit, Freese and Jay both struggling. Just too many holes, even if the rest of the guys were doing well.

So it's the offseason now. They already bought out Westbrook's contract. So long, Jake, Joe Kelly will carry on your lineage of groundballs and no strikeouts. I'd be fine with the Cardinals going into next season with a rotation of Wainwright/Wacha/Miller/Lynn/Kelly, which doesn't even touch on Carlos Martinez, Trevor Rosenthal, Seth Maness, Tyler Lyons, Jaime Garcia, or John Gast. True, the last two likely won't return from shoulder surgery until sometime in the middle of next season, at the earliest, that Rosenthal probably pitched so well in the 'pen the Cards will just leave him there, and that Maness may not have the stuff to face hitters multiple times in one game (though others have succeeded with worse stuff). But they are all at least possible answers for the rotation, and those are just guys who pitched for the major league club. There are undoubtedly guys who were in AAA this year, or will be next year who could be brought up as well.

I'm curious if the Cardinals will retain Axford or Mujica. At one point, Mujica was pitching so well it seemed unlikely they could afford him. Some other team would throw a foolishly huge contract at him. Then he went in the tank, and Matheny ignored him for the entirety of the playoffs. Now he might be significantly cheaper, but do they still want him, or need him? It might be cheaper to let Axford walk, and if there's no market for him, resign him cheaply later.

I'm fine with the Cards offering Beltran a qualifying offer for a one-year deal, but no more than that. He's going to be 37, and his range in the outfield is already a disaster. He's like Lance Berkman was during his time here: completely reliant on his bat to provide value, because his legs and glove aren't bringing anything to the table. I doubt Taveras will get to start next year with the major league club, given the abbreviated nature of his season in AAA, but he ought to be called up at some point, barring disaster. So Beltran shouldn't really be necessary past next year, if that. Besides, the Cardinals need to find themselves a shortstop. That's priority 1. It's not Kozma or Descalso, they have no confidence in Ryan Jackson, which leaves Greg Garcia, or finding a free agent or trade partner. Between Westbrook's buyout, Furcal and Chris Carpenter's contracts ending, as well as Beltran's, they ought to have some money to afford someone good.

If he weren't signed at a ridiculously high amount for practically another decade, I'd say go for Tulowitski. I don't really want the Cardinals to still be paying him nearly 20 million when he's 40. They wouldn't do it for Albert Pujols, who actually had intrinsic value to the franchise beyond his on-field performance, so I wouldn't do it for some hired gun SS who has more injury history than Albert did. Plus, I'm sure the Rockies would ask for the moon in prospects, which I'd only pay if they covered A LOT of Tulo's salary. I'm not sure what constitutes "a lot" exactly. Half? Two-thirds? I'd at least want the Cardinals' contract commitments to him to be no more than 13 million a year or so. Right now, from 2014 thru 2020, he's owed $130 million, so almost 19 mil a year. So get the Rockies to pay 40 million of that, maybe even 30, and I might be interested. SO more like one-third to one-fourth.

But I don't if the Rockies are even interested in trading him. He's really good, and if they think they can contend next year, maybe it's better to keep the finished product, rather than the prospects.