Renteria, Cardinals Are $8 Million Apart
By Joe Strauss Of the Post-Dispatch
December 11, 2004
GM Walt Jocketty sets a "soft deadline" for negotiations, and
he says the
Cards also need to plan to go on without Renteria.
Signaling an end to organizational patience, Cardinals general
manager Walt
Jocketty on Friday imposed a "soft deadline" for free agent shortstop
Edgar
Renteria to re-sign with the club, a dramatic shift from the optimistic
tone
Jocketty had upon arriving at Major League Baseball's winter meetings.
Jocketty met for about 45 minutes with Renteria's agent, Jeffrey
Lane, and
was unimpressed by demands for a four-year deal worth about $10 million
annually. The Cardinals recently improved their offer for the
three-time Gold
Glove shortstop to about $32 million over four years.
Jocketty referred to the sides' differences as "significant" and
suggested he
is ready to head in another direction.
"We're at a point ... where we need to find out whether we're
going to have
Edgar or not because we can't keep putting things off," Jocketty said
early
Friday night. "We've got too many things that we have to try to get
done, so we
're proceeding in two different directions -- one with Edgar on the
team and one
with Edgar not on the team. Then we'll decide in the end what's the
best
direction to go in."
The meetings have produced a rapid-fire series of signings that
has created
sticker shock for a number of teams. The Arizona Diamondbacks may have
helped
Renteria's market by signing third baseman Troy Glaus for four years
and $45
million.
"Things are moving too fast," Jocketty said. "We don't want to be
left
watching from the outside."
Competition for Renteria now includes the Boston Red Sox, Anaheim
Angels and
Detroit Tigers. Reluctance to enter a bidding contest for the shortstop
also may
factor into Jocketty's stance.
Friday's comments were decidedly less upbeat than Jocketty's
prediction on
Thursday of Renteria re-signing.
"I was more optimistic earlier than I am today," Jocketty said.
"But in these
meetings, things change quickly. So at this time tomorrow things might
be a
little more favorable. Right now, I'm not as optimistic as I was last
week."
Jocketty made no mention of setting a time frame for a deal until
after
Friday's meeting with Lane.
"I don't think we necessarily gave a deadline but we gave them
maybe a soft
deadline," Jocketty said.
Lane did not return phone calls Friday.
Until now, the Cardinals have had limited contact with agents for
shortstop
Orlando Cabrera. That might change if Jocketty leave the meetings
without
Renteria under contract. Failure to sign Renteria also could free the
Cardinals
to pursue free agent second baseman Placido Polanco and a starting
pitcher.
"There are some guys we'd spend (for) if we had Edgar, and
there's a group we
'd sign if we didn't have Edgar," Jocketty said.
The swirl surrounding the Cardinals' interest in Oakland A's
righthander Tim
Hudson slowed on Friday as the Atlanta Braves reportedly dropped from
his pack
of pursuers. While the Cardinals count themselves out of the running
for
Diamondbacks ace Randy Johnson, a baseball source offered one scenario
in which
the Cardinals became the third team in a trade with the Diamondbacks
and New York Yankees that would bring Yankees pitcher Javier Vazquez to St. Louis while
Johnson went to New York. A Cardinals starting pitcher would go to
Arizona.
Jocketty intends to meet today with John Boggs, agent for free
agent catcher
Mike Matheny, but reiterated Friday that the club's standing two-year
offer for
about $4 million is the best it can do.
The market for Matheny might be growing. The Los Angeles Dodgers,
Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates are believed to be three
of the
four National League teams interested in the three-time Gold Glove
catcher. The
Dodgers may either sign a free agent catcher or attempt to trade for
the
Phillies' Mike Lieberthal. The Pirates recently traded catcher Jason
Kendall to
the Oakland A's for pitching.
"Prior to Dec. 7, I didn't think the market had shown itself for
Mike," Boggs
said. "In the two days since we got here, I've gotten a much better
feel for how
his market is evolving. There is interest from a number of clubs who
look at who
's available and notice a Gold Glove catcher sitting there."
Renteria became the Cardinals' priority as soon as he filed for
free agency.
Jocketty says that negotiations for Renteria have prevented him
from tackling
other needs, such as a front-line starting pitcher and a starting
second
baseman.
"I think we put ourselves in that position, until we had a better
idea," he
said, adding, "I think all the National League teams have a shortstop
-- except
one."
Jocketty said the club is "down the road a bit" in weighing
potential
successors to Tony Womack at second base. Womack accepted a two-year,
$4 million
offer from the New York Yankees on Tuesday while the Cardinals waited
to make an
initial bid, partly because of their involvement with Renteria.
The Baltimore Orioles have a surplus at second base with Brian
Roberts and
Jerry Hairston. Orioles general manager Jim Beattie last week anointed
Roberts
the team's starter. The Orioles' preference has long been Roberts; but
a
low-salaried Hairston also could be a lure. The Cardinals have yet to
entertain
turning over the position to either Bo Hart or Hector Luna.
Roberto Alomar, Pokey Reese and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Alex
Cora also are
potential fits, but the club has contemplated bringing back Polanco
ever since
it traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies in July of 2002 for third
baseman
Scott Rolen. Jocketty has spoken with Polanco's agent, Adam Katz.
Back to 2004 Articles Page