Jeremy Guthrie Interests Cardinals and Tigers
By Editorial Staff
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX sports has reported that the Cardinals and Tigers have shown interest in Orioles’ right hander Jeremy Guthrie.
After hovering around .500 to start of the season, Baltimore has once again taken a nose dive. The club is currently sporting a record of 40 and 58 and as usual has found itself in the position of seller.
Detroit is leading the AL Central by 2 games, but has been mostly carried by its offense. Justin Verlander is the only Tigers pitcher who’s started multiple games and has sustained an ERA below 4.35. Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello certainly have the ability to put up better numbers, but haven’t consistently delivered this season for Detroit.
The Cardinals have also been aided by one of the league’s best lineups, as they are currently in a 3 way tie for first place in the NL Central. St. Louis has a trio of arms that have been solid performers this season in Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse and Chris Carpenter, but the back end of the rotation has its share of question marks.
Jake Westbrook (5.04 ERA) has been pretty awful and while Kyle McClellan was stellar earlier this year, the right hander is approaching his innings limit as he’s made the change from bullpen arm to starter in 2011. St. Louis would like to add a starting pitcher to allow McClellan to shift back into a relief role.
Guthrie would certainly look good in the back end of either team’s rotation. On the year the right hander has put up and ERA of 4.33 with and 1.35 WHIP over 137.1 innings of work. Due to a severe lack of run support Guthrie is sporting a record of 4 and 14.
While those numbers may not seem to be very eye-popping, the 33 year old has shown an ability to succeed in the league’s toughest division. Guthrie has averaged over 190 innings pitched and an ERA of 4.07 in his 4 seasons with the Orioles. If you exclude Guthrie’s awful 2009, that earned run average drops to 3.73.
Still Guthrie only has managed a career SO/9 ratio of 5.5 and has a tendency to give up the long ball, surrendering 1.2 home runs per 9. Even when he was putting up sub 4 ERA’s, Guthrie never posted an xFIP below 4.18.
The stats mentioned above present a problem when Guthrie’s name is brought up in trade talks. While Guthrie is the ace of Baltimore’s staff and has been a workhorse for the team, others argue that he’s nothing more than a 4th or 5th starter.
For the Orioles to give up Guthrie they will be looking for pitching in return and likely a higher level prospect to justify the move. Tigers minor leaguers Andy Oliver and Charlie Furbush have come up in rumors, but it’s doubtful Detroit would begin negotiations by putting those names on the table.
While the Orioles need pitching, another intriguing player Morosi throws out there is first baseman Ryan Strieby. The 25 year old has a career .816 OPS in the minors and is currently blocked by Tigers’ slugger Miguel Cabrera.
The Cardinals also have several interesting prospects, but again the issue could be coming to an agreement with Baltimore regarding the value of Guthrie.
It remains to be seen what the Orioles will do with their starter, but I would think they’d have to a get a decent piece in return to move him. Guthrie’s a fan favorite and is a great clubhouse guy, and Andy MacPhail and Buck Showalter won’t be shipping him off this summer just for the sake of making a move.
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