The Ankiel Assignation

Back in 1999, the St. Louis Cardinals had an arbitration case against pitcher Darren Oliver, which they won.  Mark McGwire was coming off his legendary season.  Ray Lankford was patrolling the outfield.  And a young phenom pitcher was, later in the year, going to make a stunning debut, coming in second in the Rookie of the Year voting.

This is where, in a movie, they'd flash up "Ten Years Later" on the screen.

McGwire is a recluse in California, continually dealing with (or, more accurately, staying out of sight from) steroid accuasations.  Lankford retired a few years back.  And the young phenom pitcher is an outfielder who is going to be the first arbitration case since the Oliver decision.

Rick Ankiel does pose an interesting question for the arbitor, but probably not as interesting as last year's would have been.  Coming off his first season as an outfielder would have made arbitration comparables difficult to come by.  After two years as a hitter, though still a little unique, there are more reasonable comparisons than Babe Ruth.

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Ankiel is asking for $3.3 million, the Cards are offering $2.35.  Some have asked why the Cards don't just pay the man.  Is less than a million really worth going to arbitration over?

First of all, I'm fairly sure the Cards have talked to Ankiel and, by extension, Scott Boras, about meeting in the middle.  That's what a lot of arbitration cases wind up being, a negotiating ploy to find some common ground.  And, of course, this could still happen again this morning and the hearing would be avoided.  Boras, however, may be saying enough considerations to the Cardinals, it's time to maximize earnings.

The other possibility is that the Cardinals know Ankiel is not long for the team.  Whether he is traded this season or leaves as a free agent at the end of 2009, the odds are good he won't be in the outfield in 2010.  Which, as a big Rick fan, saddens me, but I understand where the front office is coming from.

Since he's not a long-term part of this team, though, the organization may not worry about the hurt feelings that might come out of a hearing like that.  They aren't losing anything by alienating him to the point where he wants out.

Being that the organization is counting costs closely (I've heard that they have dropped their payroll target to the mid-90s instead of 100+ million due to the economy and related factors), the risk that they might get on Ankiel's bad side is probably more than offset by the monetary savings.  Of course, worse case scenario they lose the hearing and make Rick mad, but winning a case does tend to let you look at the other side with a little more empathy unless they've done something quite egregious in the hearing.

I'm going to say the Cards win the argument today due to Ankiel's struggles down the stretch (even if they were injury-related) and the lack of experience in the outfield.  I wouldn't put money on it, though.

In other, good news, Chris Carpenter threw yesterday off a mound yesterday.  Better news: he reported no pain, nothing out of the ordinary.  It's a nice first step and helps bolster those thoughts of a healthy Carp for the season.  It doesn't mean he will be, but we'd much rather have this result than already have him grabbing in pain, right?

A long Joe Strauss Live! yesterday.  Some good stuff as well as a number of depressing questions.  Check it out when you've got the time.

Playing pepper today with the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies--how about that, both Series teams on the same day.  You can't miss it, so be sure to come back later!