Veterans At The Crossroads

• Padres release Jim Edmonds:

    There was a risk in the Padres trading for Jim Edmonds and expecting much more than the player on the downside he's been over the past two-plus seasons; a return to his home in Southern California and perhaps rejuvenation wasn't all that bad an idea, but the numbers were there for all to see. Here's a quote from my book:

    Jim Edmonds returns to Southern California where he starred with the Angels. Edmonds has been oft-injured and looked slow in his last few seasons with the Cardinals. In replacing Mike Cameron, Edmonds should be able to replicate the Gold Glove defense of Cameron as Edmonds is a Gold Glover in his own right. Edmonds certainly won't replicate Cameron's 20+ home run power at this point in his career, especially in San Diego's cavernous ballpark. To be brutally honest, Edmonds has looked finished at times over the past couple of seasons; it's hard to know what the Padres expect from him, but if they think they're getting the guy from 2000, or even 2003, they're in for a major disappointment.

    In addition to the predictable downfall as he reaches his late 30s, his numbers took a, shall we say, unusual jump from what they were as a member of the Angels to what they became as a member of the Cardinals. There could be other reasons than simple aging for Edmonds's decline. Someone might pick him up as a veteran bat for whom a pennant race might enliven his bat and a still solid and smart, albeit slower, defender.

• Cardinals remove Jason Isringhausen from closing duties:

     I find it somewhat odd that the Cardinals are removing a veteran closer like Jason Isringhausen from his duties because of a slump----ESPN Story----so perhaps something else is going on. (I'm not being cryptic or speculating anything more than maybe Isringhausen's hurting, but not enough to be on the disabled list.) Isringhausen isn't comparable to someone like Trevor Hoffman where a diminishing of stuff predicates such a move; Isringhausen's fastball may not be in the upper 90s like it once was, but his stuff is still more than suitable to get the job done as closer.
    I'm not about to question Tony La Russa, Dave Duncan and their methods, so they'll get by with a closer by committee (something the duo probably relishes trying to do while contending). It's interesting that some of La Russa's innovations----using starting pitchers for three or four innings and yanking them for a different type of pitcher; having the pitcher batting eighth; a closer by committee----which he's wanted to try forever are being implemented now that his roster is probably one of the weakest he's had since joining the Cardinals. It's going to be fascinating to see if it works. I'm wondering if La Russa isn't somehow pleased that the Cardinals were such a consensus pick to fall to the bottom of the division (by myself included) so he could try his strategic wizardry and see if he can pull off some magic. It's going well so far.

• Marlins sign Hanley Ramirez to six-year, $70 million contract:

    This is considered to be a good sign for the Marlins, and it is a positive that one of the top offensive players in baseball won't be traded in a salary dump as soon as he gets to the point where he's going to make serious money (for a baseball player, that is); but it also means that the Marlins probably aren't going to be able to keep some of their other solid players who are due for a big raise in the next year or two, namely Dan Uggla and Josh Willingham.

     Please check out my book The Prince Of New York's 2008 Baseball Guide also available on Amazon.com and BN.com.