

Booher: Lee makes perfect sense for Cardinals

10:03 PM, Jul. 27, 2013  |  Comments
Kary BOOHER Kary Booher. Nathan Papes/News-Leader
Kary BOOHER Kary Booher. Nathan Papes/News-Leader
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Why not just go for it? Why not go get Cliff Lee from the Philadelphia Phillies, install him smack-dab in the starting rotation and win this whole dang thing?

That's what I'm hoping that St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak pulls off before Wednesday's trade deadline.

Go all John Wayne and get even more menacing - with a menacing left-hander - and not waste this golden opportunity, even if it means plundering into that No. 1-rated farm system.

This is a team with the best record in baseball, with few weaknesses, if you can call them that, and overall creates its own luck.

But it still needs one more guy, a starting pitcher but not any starting pitcher. It needs Lee.

OK, so I recognize this whole suggestion probably is a longshot and, of course, it doesn't help my own narrative now that the Phils scratched Lee from Saturday's start because of a stiff neck. Go figure.

Even before then, the suggestion probably would have drawn a laugh from Mozeliak, if not swift reaction from fans, including from the same old-timer who last month left me a message, but not his name.

This was after I mentioned Lee's name surfaced in media reports.

Snarled the old-timer, and yes you could hear the snarl, "Don't trade pitching. Or Oscar Taveras. His contract is too high. No. And he's 35 years old or so. Do not trade for him.


Those amusing calls never get old. And I'm assuming he's not alone.

Mozeliak and the fan base likely would balk about taking on Lee's remaining mega contract, reportedly worth $90 million until 2016. Hard to pay a king's ransom to someone who's never been a Cardinal before. (But, hey, it's not my money.)

I get that. And usually agree with it. Best to develop homegrown talent in order to keep a competitive team on the field. Their manageable contracts allow ownership to spend elsewhere.

It's the formula that has worked so well under the Mozeliak administration, which is to be applauded. The GM and those who flank him have developed the model franchise, backed basically with a Marines-sized infantry unit called the farm system.

But ?

Which is more important to Cardinals fans - owning the No. 1-rated farm system in the game? Or celebrating a 12th World Series championship?

Ask yourselves this: After bona fide ace Adam Wainwright, is there a Chris Carpenter in this rotation, a guy who can flat dominate in the postseason?

Jake Westbrook is quality, yes; Shelby Miller intriguing but young. But which Lance Lynn will show up?

And remember last year. The Cardinals fell one game short of winning the National League pennant simply because they ran out of starting pitching.

That's why Lee is so appealing. The lefty recently had almost 50 more 0-2 counts this season than any pitcher in baseball, according to a Philadelphia news outlet.

Plus, Lee already is a 10-game winner, in a career in which he has enjoyed 17- and 22-win seasons. More importantly, he is battle-tested in the postseason, with a 7-3 record and a 2.52 earned run average in 11 starts.

You can't say that about oft-injured Jake Peavy or Bud Norris or most others.

That said, I don't understand why anyone would completely lock the door to the minor leagues and quarantine every prospect.

This isn't to lobby for a trade of Baby Pedro, er, Carlos Martinez and his electric stuff. (He's off limits, right?) But there's gotta be some kind of deal to be made, and it's not as if more prospects are not on the way.

Besides, think back to the Cardinals' 2004 club that won the pennant. It was uber-talented. But that didn't stop then-GM Walt Jocketty from shipping three farmhands, including future big-league left-hander Chris Narveson, in order to secure outfielder Larry Walker.

And Lee's money?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Cardinals draw about 40,000 on school nights. That's not going to fall off. So the war chest will be healthy.

So, sit on what you've got going into the playoffs? OK. The Cardinals are still formidable.

But with Lee? Wow. They'd be the favorites.

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