Cuddyer should be Phillies primary focus
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Cuddyer should be Phillies primary focus
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
They held a parade for the Cardinals in St. Louis on Sunday and any time a team celebrates a championship, it's quite natural to hold that team up under the light to see if there is anything to learn.
It's of no consolation here in Philadelphia that the World Series title still goes through this city. Since 2008, the Phillies have either won the World Series or lost in the postseason to the team that won the World Series. The focus here is that the Phillies have only won once and the postseason losses have come earlier in each of the last three seasons.
None of that matters now. The planning for 2012 has begun and the Cardinals did do some things that should make the Phillies and every other team take notice. The thing Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. fixated on during his team's five-game division series loss to St. Louis was that the Cardinals had a lot of guys who could grind out at-bats.
Amaro was so impressed that he has made it a mandate for the Phillies to pattern themselves more after the Cardinals next season. Scrappers like Ryan Theriot, Skip Schumaker and mostly World Series MVP David Freese were certainly impressive and part of the reason why the Cardinals were able to complete their unlikely run to the franchise's 11th World Series title.
Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa also received a lot of credit for maneuvering his role players during the postseason, but maybe the man who made the most important move for St. Louis was little-known general manager John Mozeliak.
He was the guy who decided to take a chance on Lance Berkman even though the former Houston slugger appeared to be on the decline physically and at the plate. Add in the fact that Berkman was mostly considered a first baseman at this stage of his career and the Cardinals already had some guy named Albert Pujols at that position and it was an even more of a gamble.
As it turned out, Berkman was a sensational $8 million free-agent signing and the biggest reason the Cardinals emerged with the best offense in the National League in 2011. Berkman was even better in the postseason, hitting .313 with 17 runs scored and 11 RBIs in 18 games.
If Amaro wants his players to improve their approach, then it is his job to try to find somebody like Berkman this offseason to add to the Phillies' roster. Chances are, he won't find somebody that good or with such an established track record, but it was an uncelebrated addition like Jayson Werth that once helped push the Phillies over the top.
Minnesota's Michael Cuddyer, a free agent who may command more than the $8 million the Cardinals paid Berkman last season, seems like the best fit for the Phillies. He can play first base, second base, third base and the outfield and has the kind of bat that would make manager Charlie Manuel's lineup better.
Given the uncertain injury situations of Placido Polanco and Ryan Howard, Cuddyer should be the Phillies' most sought-after free agent from another team.
Another veteran maybe worth taking a risk on is San Francisco's Mark DeRosa. He'll be 37 in February and injuries have limited him to 73 games the last two seasons, but he should come cheap and is a great on-base guy when healthy. Other free agents who could help improve the Phillies bench are Jamey Carroll from the Dodgers, Jerry Hairston Jr. from the Brewers and Nick Punto from the Cardinals.
A celebrated addition like Roy Halladay via trade two years ago and Cliff Lee via free agency last year is not likely to happen during this offseason, but sometimes a seemingly lesser move can help a team just as much. For proof, see the Cardinals signing of Lance Berkman.
VOTE: Phillies: Stay or Go?- Amaro renewed Lidge, Moyer, and Blanton. Brought us Baez and Contreras. Halladay and Lee orchestrated their way to Philly on their own. Ibanez was a bust. Polanco is a bust. Pence will be a bust too. It's easier to put up fair to middlin' numbers on a bad team when nobody cares that you pretty much will swing at anything. If your team is a contender, pitchers start to use that free swinging nonsense against you. Finally, Amaro made that Howard deal which dooms the Phillies unless they are willing to eat it and get a legit hitter at 1b.
— jtj06 - Let's see if the Phillies can buy the WS Championship next season. It didn't work for them this year. Glad we didn't have to watch the Yankees and Phillies battle to see who could buy a title. It was refreshing to watch two teams play with heart not their payrolls.— taxmanndumbeth
- Your comments continue to impress. Everyday, when you sit down at the computer, gold is poured from your fingertips unto the comments sections of Philly.com . Keep it up buddy.
— DixonBunz 
Comment removed.- That's exactly the point. Berkman was a gamble for the Cards that paid off. It could have just as easily gone the other way. Give the Cards credit for signing Berkman to only a year at a time. One year deals and trade deadline trades are the way to get guys like him. I would really hesitate signing a 32 year old Cuddyer to a 3-4 year deal with all the existing infielders showing their age. He also made 10.5 million this year. A multi-year deal for Cuddyer at 11-12 million just makes no sense to me. — s
- No kidding. Spending big bucks on ordinary production isn't the way to win anything. In 2011 the Phillies spent $26 million for the left side- Polly, Rollins, and Ibanez- for production they could have gotten for $3-$4 million with young guys in there. Save the big bucks for exceptional players and let average old guys, who are in their free agent years and have no hunger, bring the other teams down. — jtj06
- Cuddayer is the only guy on that list worth anything. You forgot to mention that this year the Phils went out of their way to play the hottest team in baseball by not allowing the Braves through the door. Thanks Charlie. Nobody to blame but yourself.— Relocator
- Cuddyer is good not great. He can play a lot of positions. He's a consistently healthy version of Mark DeRosa. $8 million/a season. No way. Re-sign Rollins and Madson. Then worry about everything else.— syddan26
- Comment removed.
- hey taxman...your comments are 100% off base...the phillies TRADE for almost all of their acquisitions....other than Lee who they traded for in the first place, the ony 2 free agents were virtually parallel moves ( Ibanez-Burrell and Polanco-Feliz) ...get off this nonsense that the Phillies try and buy their titles...the yanks and red sox are far and way more egregious spenders in that regard.— TheLon
- No5mustgo, just watch what the Phillies do without Howard next April. they you'll see how important he is to the lineup.— palmyra21
- Cuddyer is a class act as a man and as a player. The Phils would be extremely lucky to have him. However, he is very loyal to the Twins and the midwest and they don't want him to leave so I'm sure they will work out some kind of deal. He's not the type to leave Minn just for more money. Oh yeah, he's a pretty good player on the field who could help the Phils at numerous positions.— Mark1npt
- DeRosa?? Are you serious?? The Phillies didn't want him a couple of years ago when he played all season, now YOU like him when is a around for half the season??? Don't be ridiculous.— billtfla
- Get younger with some bats over and against pitching. Let the kids be the staff and get some younger guys who are not big stars but healthy and have still an up side. There are some guys like that who could slip to the Phils to aid the bench and can still start too.— Koons
