Jerry Crasnick Agrees With Me

Nice to see ESPN's Jerry Crasnick steal my thunder! Garland would be a good fit for the Cardinals...where have we heard that before? Hey wait, I said that!

Jorge Says No! (last week):

-The Cardinals struck gold last season when they signed SP Kyle Lohse during spring training to a modest 1 year/$4 million deal. The move shored up the Cardinals rotation and allowed the Cardinals to compete for a playoff spot into September. I think that signing Jon Garland would be a shrewd move for the Cardinals, alot like signing Lohse was a year ago. You what your going to get with Garland: very few K, lots of innings, lots of hits, very few walks, and lots of ground balls. He will never be confused for an ace, but then again, he will cost alot less than Javier Vazquez. His style would fit very well with the Cardinals, who shored up their already stellar defense by acquiring Khalil Greene yesterday. In addition, Garland would offer more stability to a rotation that has many questions: Will Chris Carpenter be healthy? Will Todd Wellemeyer repeat his break though 2008 season? What will they get out of Joel Pineiro in 2009?

Crasnick (via ESPN.com):

The Cardinals could ultimately emerge as a fit for free agent Jon Garland, given St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan's track record for getting the most out of pitchers ranging from Jeff Weaver to Kyle Lohse. Garland went 14-8 for the Angels this season, but his ERA (4.90), strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.53) and other underlying numbers weren't pretty. The consensus in baseball circles is that he could benefit greatly from a shift to the National League. It's doubtful that the Cardinals would want to go beyond a two- or three-year deal, however, given the money the team is obligated to pay Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter and Lohse in the coming years. Garland could also be a possible fallback for the Brewers, Dodgers and other clubs with starting pitching plans that are currently in a state of flux.

Hey, great minds think alike...or so I hope.

And yes, it's finals week for me, so I might have gone a bit crazy by now.