Comments on: Jimmy Baseball is back in Cardinal red

By: Steve Sommer

Steve Sommer — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:24:20 +0000

Sweet, impromptu Round Table. I probably fall somewhere in the middle of everyone here. I think Jimmy is largely a redundant piece. He’s probably something like a 1.5-2.5 win player as are Jay and Craig in comparable levels of PAs. That said, I’m also less worried than some that he will be taking PAs away from either Craig or Jay as I’m not convinced that either one is much more than the 1.5 to 2.5 win player they are now. How much growth are we stunting by not playing one of them? As long as we have cheap 4th and 5th OFers that can put up that level of performance I’m fine with things this year. As a methodology I don’t like the move, but in isolation I’m largely indifferent.

By: Rui Xu

Rui Xu — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 22:06:33 +0000

According to both ZiPS and Marcel, Jay is going to out-OPS Edmonds next year. I don’t necessarily HATE the signing, but I’m more bearish than most. Clearly, 2011 is a season built on short-term expectations, but at some point, a long-term approach is needed

By: Chuck Brownson

Chuck Brownson — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 18:09:19 +0000

I guess I feel differently. This signing does nothing for me, and I’ve always been a huge Edmonds fan. Is he appreciably better than Jay at this point? No and, at 41, really offers us nothing that Jay can’t provide us. Plus, it’s time to give Jay a shot, even if we are talking about a role as the 5th OF. Jay doesn’t need more “seasoning” at this point.

Moreover, Jimmy’s signing does nothing to fill the legitimate holes we have. Will he be able to play CF if (when!) Tony sits Rasmus against a tough lefty? Why play Edmonds instead of Rasmus? Is he better than Craig in the corner? I’d say no. What, then, does he offer us except a trip down memory lane?

I agree that, because it’s a minor league signing, it’s not that big a deal. However, it does give Tony license to play Jimmy “the veteran” at the expense of better, younger players. In fact, it gives him license to send either Craig or Jay to AAA to begin the season. Mozeliak needs to tighten La Russa’s reins, not loosen them.

By: Andy Beard

Andy Beard — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 16:19:32 +0000

I think some of the hand-wringing had to do with TLR's propensity for bringing in low-skill washed-up veterans... a sore spot for a fan base with visions of Randy Winn, Aaron Miles, Jeff Suppan, and Pedro Feliz in their minds. But you can't lump Jim Edmonds into that company. Even at age 40, he had a .368 wOBA and played (at least) average-ish defense (depending on who you trust more: B-Ref or FanGraphs). I'm all for the development of Jon Jay... but it's a realistically possibility that Edmonds is the better player, even at his advanced age. Here's a random, interesting tid-bit about Edmonds: In Rob Neyer's post about Edmonds last week, a commenter posted this statistic:

Walk rate with the Angels (93 – 99): 9.3% Blah. Walk rate after (00 – 10): 14.4% Excellent