Cappy For Anthoney Reyes

[erbacaine04]

From MLBTRADERUMORS.com

 

Cardinals Sign Cesar Izturis

According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cards have signed shortstop Cesar Izturis to a one-year deal. The amount is $2.85MM with another $650K in incentives. You know the story with Izturis - anemic bat, stellar glove. He'll offer a bit more than Brendan Ryan would've and doesn't cost much. If John Mozeliak finds something better it will be easy to pull the plug.

This also signals the end of David Eckstein as a Cardinal, as expected.

Strauss adds that the team has "strong interest" in acquiring the Brewers' Chris Capuano. That's a reasonable target and a nice buy-low idea. The Brewers would like to unload him given their starter surplus and his rising salary. In a radio interview on 590AM, Post-Dispatch columnist Rick Hummel indicated it could be an even swap for Anthony Reyes.

[patrickgpe]

well its in the other thread but that sounds like pure speculation by a writer.

[Oldcity]

That doesn't seem to make much sense to me, since Reyes doesn't really fill a need.

[patrickgpe]

he'd be a long reliever in the pen with a huge upside, ala a Parra.

[Oldcity]

Guess I didn't think him as a reliever since he started most of the year in St. Louis.

[trwi7]

he'd be a long reliever in the pen with a huge upside, ala a Parra.

 

He's 26 years old and is coming off of two bad years. Why trade a starter for a bad starter?

[erbacaine04]

he'd be a long reliever in the pen with a huge upside, ala a Parra.

He's 26 years old and is coming off of two bad years. Why trade a starter for a bad starter?

 

Some feel he could end up being a hell of a Bullpen arm maybe even a closer with his stuff.

[patrickgpe]

i said that in the other thread, he hasn't done much overall. When he has been good, which doesn't happen much, he has been very good. There is no room for him in the rotation, so if this is true, which is just speculation by a writer, i think he would be a long man.

[RyDogg66]

Trade a young starter with a history of success coming of a down year, for a young starter with a history of stinking, coming off a down year. I'll pass, and so should Melvin. They only way Im interested in Reyes is if he is being towed by Scott Rolen.

[JohnBriggs12]

"Reyes doesn't fill a need"

 

If you need $3 million and to add bad lefthanded starting pitchers to the rotation of a division rival, it really does fill a need. Reyes and Capuano were both less than acceptable as starters last year. One is 29 and likely had his best season. The other is 26 and may still have an upside.

[RyDogg66]

"Reyes doesn't fill a need"

 

If you need $3 million and to add bad lefthanded starting pitchers to the rotation of a division rival, it really does fill a need. Reyes and Capuano were both less than acceptable as starters last year. One is 29 and likely had his best season. The other is 26 and may still have an upside.

Or he could be Ben Hendrickson. No thanks.

 

[Big Reed]

I can't see trading a lefty starter who had a bad year for a righty starter who had an even worse year. The Cards' management was saying great things about reyes at the begining of last year, but he didn't come close to their expectations. I can believe the Cards might want Cappy. I can also believe a St louis paper would never publish a rumor of St Louis threat throb Rolen for Cappy. The fans in St louis love Rolen and would be very upset. there has to be more to it than a one for one pitcher swap. How about if the Cards threw in Pujols for Fielder?

 

or maybe something a bit more realistic as in Ishrinhausen for Cappy? St louis gets its starter, and the brewers get a decent ok closer. St louis does have other relievers who could replace ishringhausen, and ones with last names easier to spell.

[trwi7]

"Reyes doesn't fill a need"

 

If you need $3 million and to add bad lefthanded starting pitchers to the rotation of a division rival, it really does fill a need. Reyes and Capuano were both less than acceptable as starters last year. One is 29 and likely had his best season. The other is 26 and may still have an upside.

 

Capuano has at least had some success. Reyes has had absolutely none. He looks more like Ben Hendrickson at this point than a solid starter.

[splitterpfj]

I wouldn't do this, I'm for giving Reyes a shot in the pen, but I like Cappy more than that.

[JohnBriggs12]

Anyone that refers to Capuano as "Cappy" can't really be objective can they?

 

Everytime I point out that Capuano has been horrible since July of 2006, I get bombarded by people calling him Cappy who point to some stats that might suggest otherwise. To a point those are valid.

 

Let me turn this around and point out that Reyes is much better than his record. He's pitched 206 innings in the majors and has allowed fewer hits than innings pitched (198). His career whip of 1.35 is better than Capuano's 1.36 and is better than the year Capuano won 18 games. The BA against vs. Reyes is a more than respectable .258 vs. Capuano's .266. I could go on.

[PeaveyFury]

Anyone that refers to Capuano as "Cappy" can't really be objective can they?

 

Cappy was bad last year, and I don't think he'll rebound much.

[brettac1]

I kind of like Reyes. I tend to want to give a lot of opportunities to a guy with such a nice minor league track record, though. I'm not sure I would trade Capuano for him in a 1-for-1 deal, though, because he may just be Ben Hendrickson.

[And That]

Anyone that refers to Capuano as "Cappy" can't really be objective can they?

Yes, they can.

 

[chadomac]

Why does everyone doubt that Capuano will have a comeback year in 08 when he was so solid in 05 AND 06? I don't get it.

[SoCalBrewfan]

I guess for me it's not so much a matter of Capuano vs. Reyes, it's a matter of Reyes vs. another potential return if you've decided to trade Capuano. He's one of the chips the team has available to improve LF/3B/C/RP so spend him wisely if you spend him at all.

 

My beef (and that is overstating things) is with the characterization of Cappy as a horrible disaster of a ballplayer, as in the numerous references by the newspaper to his consecutive losing games streak. His numbers are obviously not spectacular. But the guy's pitched better than his W-L, clearly suffered from the Brewers' atrocious defense, and has a track record that includes some success as well as his recent struggles. He's still arby-eligible, so he'll come more cheaply (and with a shorter term committment) than would a free agent pitcher with a comparable portfolio. And consider what free agent pitchers with mediocre profiles have earned lately, in years as well as dollars, as well as the alternatives available on the open market this year. Joel Piniero had almost 300 innings of horrible pitching before coming to St. Louis in July, and 60 decent innings earned him 2/$13M despite the atrocious history. (The St. Louis defense surely helped him, as it might be expected to help Capuano.)

 

In that context, I think it's reasonable to believe that at least some of the teams contemplating the free agent pitching market are going to find Capuano a palatable alternative. Thus I tend to think he'll have some very solid value if the Brewers do indeed trade him. Some mentioned Fuentes in a Capuano deal, for example...he's present value rather than upside but I think you could certainly make a case that he has a lot more value to the Brewers than does Reyes. Reyes isn't that far removed from top prospect status, but he hasn't exactly got a solid major league track record at this point....I'd think he'd be pretty cheap if the Brewers really like him.

 

So if you really like Reyes, if you've got a compelling reason to want him on the team, do a deal. If you've determined that nobody wants Capuano and it's a matter of dumping him at all costs, just non-tender him...but I don't think that's the case by any means.

[chadomac]

I agree. He wasn't that bad last year, and he will probably improve based on his previous track record. The most quality starts out of ANY pitcher in 2005 and 2006 combined. I don't see how you can say he isn't likely to bounce back at all. I see him being our #5 in the rotation and outperforming many other #5's.

[madtowndrunkard]

If we do acquire Rolen how many games do you guys think he'll actually play? He's had SERIOUS injury problems. That shoulder of his could go at any time. I like the move if he's playing, but I think the odds of him playing more then 130 games is not good, heck I think I'd be shocked if he lasted 100 games. If by chance he does stay healthy I think we are a much better team with him in our lineup and most importantly he'd be a HUGE defensive upgrade.

 

As for Reyes, I have no interest in him at all. I'd take Cappy over Reyes actually. I've heard about Reye's talent from the scouts but none of that has translated onto the field. Would he make a good long reliever? I don't think he can start on a regular basis. He's gone 7 innings or more once in 17 starts. He's also got health issues. I think I'd rather take a chance that Cappy will get back to his 2006 form.

[sbrylski]

Anyone that refers to Capuano as "Cappy" can't really be objective can they?

 

What? Can I use A-Rod and be objective?

 

Let me turn this around and point out that Reyes is much better than his record. He's pitched 206 innings in the majors and has allowed fewer hits than innings pitched (198). His career whip of 1.35 is better than Capuano's 1.36 and is better than the year Capuano won 18 games. The BA against vs. Reyes is a more than respectable .258 vs. Capuano's .266. I could go on.

 

Those stats are defensively influenced and can fluctuate with luck. Stats cited by supporters of Christopher Frank Capuano tend to be his consistent or improving K rate and BB rate, as well as fluctuations in HR/FB, BABIP, and LOB% effected by other things than the isolated pitchers preformance. We don't pull this out of our butt to back the opinion we want to have.