Reds Lock Up Bronson; Cardinals Making Moves

After already having picked up Bronson Arroyo's option for 2011, the Reds went ahead and extended him for two more years beyond that, giving him a new 3 year $35 million contract. This will take Arroyo to his 36th birthday, and I would assume the Reds will try and keep him here for the remainder of his career. After all, he has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the history of the club. He's thrown at least 200 innings in all five of his seasons in the Queen City, and won at least 14 in four of the five years, including having won at least 15 in a row for three straight seasons. Arroyo won a career high 17 games last year, and posted a career best 1.15 WHIP (Walks plus Hits per Innings Pitched). He's the best pitcher the Reds have had in years, and is the unquestioned leader and staff ace, though he isn't the prototypical shutdown ace. Arroyo is 70-60 in his career as a Red, and will undoubtedly get to 100 wins in his career with Cincinnati. One day, we may see #61 up in that ring of retired numbers.

And here's a shocker throughout the baseball world: Jayson Werth, formerly of the Philadelphia Phillies, has signed a 7 year $126 million contract with the Washington Nationals. This is the same Werth who hit .296 this year, with 27 homers, 85 RBIs, and an NL best 46 doubles. He helped the Phillies to the 2008 World Series title, becoming a pivotal piece to their title run. He is undoubtedly a solid player that would help any lineup. But, this deal came out of nowhere and surprised me. Why? Not from Werth's perspective. The Nationals were willing to overpay for him, and he is going to a young team with a lot of talent that could be a contender in a few years. But why did the Nationals do this? Werth isn't a centerpiece type of player. He's not Joey Votto, he's Jay Bruce. He flashes the potential to be a great player, but never becomes it. The only difference between him and Bruce is that Werth is 31, and Bruce is still 23. This deal has Alfonso Soriano written all over it. The Nationals aren't in position to make the playoffs for another two or three years, and Werth will begin deteriorating by then. He's going to a massive ballpark, where fly balls go to die. Jayson will give them three or four good years, before he begins to deteriorate, just like Soriano has in Chicago. He will become a liability to a good, young, contending team in four years. Then the Nationals are stuck with an aging has-been that they have to play because of his contract. I love the aggressiveness of the Nationals, just not the decision, or the contract.

Meanwhile, to Cincinnati's west, St. Louis has begun to make its move, in an attempt to regain the Central crown. They traded for infielder Ryan Theriot, and plan to play him at shortstop, signalling the end of Brendan Ryan's time in St. Louis. They also signed former Houston Astros star, Lance Berkman to a one year $8 million contract. What? I understand they're trying to upgrade what is truly a pathetic offense, but there's only so much you can do here. They already have an okay defensive third baseman, and are now planning to play, essentially, a second baseman with not a lot of range at short, in Theriot. Meanwhile, the guy they will get rid of, Brendan Ryan, was one of the slickest fielding shortstops in the league. Maybe St. Louis would be okay with Theriot at short, if they didn't have a converted outfielder (Skip Schumaker) playing second base, who was absolutely terrible there in 2010. And, they will play the 33 year old Lance Berkman in left field, when the Astros moved him from the outfield to first base four years ago, because his knees and weight were an issue, and he could no longer adequately field the position. Then, St. Louis will move a guy in Matt Holliday, who was an okay left fielder, to right field, where he doesn't have the arm or speed to play. This has disaster written all over it for the Cardinals' defense. They now have five below average defensive players, for a pitching staff that pitches to contact. But that will be made up by the offense right? Theriot is a singles hitter, and Lance Berkman has been on the decline for two years. Not only that, but St. Louis continues to add these slow moving sluggers to their lineup. They now have 5 players that would rank in the top 37 of double plays grounded into (Pujols - 23, Molina - 19, Berkman - 18, Holliday - 13, and Theriot - 13). So, on the surface, many would argue that the Cardinals have significantly upgraded their offense. On paper, yes, I suppose they have. But that is a lot of baserunners they will lose via the double play. And for an offense that struggled to score last year, that could be a big problem. Especially with the lack of defense the Cardinals will be showcasing now.