What’s Next: Colby Rasmus, Victor Martinez, Carlos Guillen, and more

Last week, we took a short break from our usual format to bring you coverage of the Manny Ramirez trade and a look at his Hall of Fame case. This week it’s back to the basics. Let’s see what’s going on around the major leagues.

Cardinals Dealing with Turmoil

In St. Louis, the Cardinals have fallen to the very edge of elimination in the NL Central race. Though they took two of three from front-running Cincinnati over the weekend, the Cards are still looking up at a six game deficit with just 26 games left on their schedule.

Not only has the St. Louis offense been sputtering for much of the season, but manager Tony LaRussa is in the process of alienating yet another Cardinals player. After tiffs in the past that have resulted in the loss of talent such as Scott Rolen, Ray Lankford, and Jim Edmonds, La Russa has locked horns this time with the young and extremely talented centerfielder Colby Rasmus.********************

Rasmus is in just his second season in the big leagues and isn’t arbitration eligible for another year. After a solid rookie campaign in 2009, Rasmus has improved his production across the boards this year, already surpassing his career highs in doubles, home runs, RBI, stolen bases, and walks despite having roughly 100 fewer at bats so far this year. After posting a slash line of .251/.307/.407/.714 in 2009, Rasmus has raised those levels to .268/.354/.496/.850 this year and is becoming one of the bright young stars in the game.

But Rasmus has a reputation of not always giving his best. It’s something that dogged him in his minor league career and there are several media outlets that have said similar things about his major league career. there is no doubt about his talent, but Rasmus insists upon using his father as a personal coach. That, coupled with his (at least perceived) lack of urgency in his approach to each game, has caused a good deal of the conflict between player and manager.

Reports surfaced earlier in the month that Rasmus had asked to be traded, but since then, despite La Russa confirming those reports, Rasmus has denied that he made such a request.

Is this a case of a spoiled young player resisting a manager doing his best to motivate? Or could it be that La Russa, with his history of driving players out of the Cardinal family, is simply at it again? For now, La Russa says that his relationship with Rasmus is now where near the level where it would be one or the other coming back to the Cardinals next year. At this point, the two seemed to have put their differences aside and are intent on playing out the season together.

Still, there is an awful lot of smoke here for there to be no fire. My guess is that either Rasmus will be traded in the off-season, or La Russa may decide that 2010 was his final year with St. Louis. The best solution for the Cardinals may be to jettison both. La Russa has drawn the ire of players and fans alike over the past few years and he’s hinted at retirement before. Rasmus probably isn’t entirely innocent in this fiasco, either, and St. Louis can expect a very good haul should they decide to trade away a budding star.

Martinez Offered Extension

In Boston, The Red Sox have issues of their own to face this winter. Boston is facing difficult decisions on several players, most notably catcher Victor Martinez and third baseman Adrian Beltre, both are free agents after this year.

Since acquiring Martinez in a trade from Cleveland last summer, the Red Sox have made little effort to sign an extension with their catcher. Martinez has maintained that he would like to stay with Boston, but progress has been slow at best.

Martinez confirmed to Boston’s WEEI that the Red Sox have offered a two-year deal to him, but he went on to say that he didn’t see himself signing a contract of that length. Martinez, 31, says he wants to play five or six more years and would like to stay behind the plate, rather than moving to a first base or DH gig. Martinez hasn’t had a tremendous year at the plate, but his offensive numbers are better than the rest of the free agent catchers and his track record is far better than any of them.

While he wants to stay in Boston and wants to be a catcher, Martinez also said that his top priority would be playing for a club with a strong chance to win a World Series. If Martinez does decide to stay in Boston, a lot of where he winds up playing will depend on what Theo Epstein and company decide to do with Beltre.

LiK. Martinez, Beltre figures to draw a great deal of interest from other clubs. If the Red Sox re-sign their third baseman, Kevin Youkilis would remain at first and Martinez (should he re-sign) would keep the catching gear on. If Beltre signs elsewhere, Boston could move Youkilis to third and free up first base for Martinez. Both Martinez and Beltre project as Type-A free agents, so that could limit their markets, but both players figure to be high of the off-season shopping lists of many clubs.

One club that will be very interested in Martinez, and maybe Beltre, is the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers have gotten very little production from their catchers this year and one would guess that veteran Gerald Laird will be a strong non-tender candidate this fall. Alex Avila has made strides in his first full year as a big leaguer, but he’s far from a finished product with the bat.

The Tigers have placed Martinez near the top of their shopping list according to Lynn Henning and it wold make sense for both sides. In Martinez, the Tigers would get a legitimate bat to protect Miguel Cabrera in the lineup and having Avila around as well would allow them to use Martinez as a DH on days he wasn’t catching. In Detroit, Martinez would presumably get the four-year deal he’s seeking on a club that has shown they are not afraid to spend to build a winner.

Guillen Out of Work?

The Tigers have roughly $60 million in payroll coming off the books at the end of the season and while they certainly have holes to fill, a lot of their roster is set with talented young players. One of the biggest questions they will need to address is in second baseman Carlos Guillen, who will likely miss the rest of the year with a knee injury sustained during a collision while turning a double play last month.

Since joining the Tigers, Guillen has been besieged with injury problems. In his seven seasons with the Tigers, Guillen has topped the 130 game mark just three times and has played in more than 150 games just twice, most recently in 2007. After that season, the Tigers moved him to first base, then third, then left field, then second, all in an attempt to keep him healthy. It hasn’t worked. Guillen played in 113 games in 2008, then 81 games last year and only 68 games in 2010.

But Guillen is owed another $13 million in 2011 so the Tigers figure to have to find a place for him to play. Since he has missed so much time this year, the Tigers have had to use an assortment of players at second base. Notably among them are Will Rhymes and Ryan Raburn, and both of those men have played their way into the conversation for regular playing time next year.

If the Tigers go out and spend big on a free agent or three this winter, and we have to assume they will at least make a play for several big names, it could be that Guillen becomes the odd man out. Over the past two seasons, Tigers owner Mike Ilitch has swallowed the rather hefty contracts of Dontrelle Willis ($12.5 million), Nate Robertson ($10 million), and Gary Sheffield ($14 million), so while I’m sure he would like to avoid doing that again, there is precedent to think he might be willing to eat Guillen’s deal as well.