Cardinals trade for Khalil Greene

[yoshii8]

The Cards have acquired Khalil Greene from the Padres, apparantly for two relief prospects. I don't think much of this deal, Greene was terrible last season, but a change in scenery might help Greene improve.

http://www.stltoday.com/s...75150029C606?OpenDocument

[RyDogg66]

All i can say about Greene is that even when he has been good he has been pretty bad. Yeah, he hit a lot of HRs in 2007, but a .291 OBP isnt going to win you many games.

[jwill535]

but he has pretty hair, so he has that going for him.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Khalil Greene looks like Sean Penn.

[MessiahRp]

So much for that Sean Burroughs, Khalil Greene left side of the infield tandem.... I remember how San Diego was so high on both guys as if they were going to be the cornerstone of that club. I think they had similar feelings for Xavier Nady but as it turns out they weren't patient enough to wait for him to develop.

 

Rp

[homer]

Someone posted his home/road splits in another thread and they are pretty drastic. He could have a nice year for the Cards.

 

Here they are (thanks to Danzig):

 

2007

Home--.670 OPS

Road--.840 OPS

 

2006

Home--.628 OPS

Road--.863 OPS

 

2005

Home--.684 OPS

Road--.772 OPS

[joepepsi]

Take it for whatever you want, but he does have a career .802 OPS on the road. And he is a damn fine fielder.

[RyDogg66]

I dont really see how the park can affect much outside of slugging. Sure, some balls that might have been HRs are now doubles, or even outs, but the larger ballpark might also lead to more bloop singles. (Colorado being the difference, as it is more a function of the air than the park). Greene might have JJ Hardy power, but if he hits .250 he will be lucky to have an OBP over .300 and that is the part of his game that is the stinkiest.

[Gobias Industries]

As long as they didn't give up too much, it's certainly an upgrade. As others have said, Petco probably depressed Greene's numbers a bit, and he's going to a team that gave Cesar Izturis over 400 ab's last year.

[Tbadder]

The only thing that concerns me here is that Greene does have above average physical ability, and the Cards have a tendency to make a silk purse outta a sow's ear. So, I don't like this one bit.

[bjkrautk]

I'm going to retroactively blame this trade for my flipping San Diego and San Francisco in the (fake) Renteria to SF thread.

 

Depending on how the money works out (he made $4.5 mil in '08), St. Louis may be well served by buying low on Greene. If they can get the 2005-2007 version, playing passable defense, and providing some pop, it will be a good deal for them.

 

Looking into the numbers, as his HR totals shot up in '07, his selectivity went down (from 3.9 P/PA in '06 to 3.56). Although his pitch selection bounced back (3.78 P/PA in 2008, right around his career norms), he kept trying to hit the ball out of the park (GB/FB of .64, significantly off his career .79 figure). Assuming the Cardinals can bring him back to his old approach, there's at least cause to believe he can revert to form.

[TooLiveBrew]

Greene might have JJ Hardy power, but if he hits .250 he will be lucky to have an OBP over .300 and that is the part of his game that is the stinkiest.

 

He surely doesn't carry a very nice OBP, but as mentioned is a slick fielder at short & can provide some pop at the bottom of the lineup. And he's entering his age-29 season... and his injury (broke his hand punching something in frustration) wasn't horrible for future performance. I like this move for the Cards for a couple of RP prospects. They want to win now & the chances of this trade looking terrible a few years from now is probably not very strong.

 

Fwiw, the link in the lead post doesn't take me to the story.

[SeriesFinale]

but he has pretty hair, so he has that going for him.

Last year (2007), while down in San Diego watching the Brewers get swept, my wife and I watched one game from the club section, where they had these engravings of silhouettes of baseball players etched on glass. I thought it was supposed to be random players until I came across one that was clearly, clearly Khalil Greene.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

Anyway, yeah, I'm a little concerned about Greene becoming St. Louis' next Eckstein. Just a little, though.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Knowing the Cardinal's luck with retread players, Greene will turn into a top tier SS this year.

[Invader3K]

I'm not that impressed...most of the analysts don't seem to think Greene is going to become the big time SS he was originally billed as. The Cards have had luck with these guys before, that's for sure. Maybe LaRussa can get something out of him.

 

Barring some huge moves, the Cardinals still don't worry me too much next year. I think they're still at least a year away from being serious contenders again.

[endaround]

Is there any reason to believe Ludwick at age 29 suddenly became a 900 OPS guy? Meaning the Cards have to make moves just to keep level.

[joepepsi]

Is there any reason to believe Ludwick at age 29 suddenly became a 900 OPS guy?

Actually there is. Ludwick was a top notch hitter at every level in the minors. He hit 29 home runs at A+ ball as a 21 year old in 2000. The next year in AA he hit 25. In AAA in '02 and '03 he posted OPS's of .912 and .927. I think it's been pretty clear all along he would hit in the majors. Why all these organizations never gave him a chance is a mystery.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Ludwick wasn't the only player that played significantly above expectations last year though for the Cardinals. Molina, Lohse, Ankiel, Schumaker, and Wellenmeyer all played way better than anticipated and had career years. The chances of all of those players putting up the numbers that they did this year is slim in my opinion.

[pmg4]

I have always had the feeling the Greene is murder on Brewers pitching. He's one of those guys I hate to see at the plate, so I don't like this move one bit.

 

Does anyone have stats about whether he has been particularly good against the Crew, or maybe against the Central?

[TSack27]

Does anyone have stats about whether he has been particularly good against the Crew, or maybe against the Central?

In 25 games against the Brewers - .236 AVG, .333 OBP, .404 SLG, .738 OPS

 

He had better career numbers against the central teams that were typically below than the Brewers (PIT & CIN), and worse against the teams that typically finished above the Brewers during that time period (CHI, HOU, STL).

 

For a full view, scroll down to opponents at his baseball-reference.com profile