Looper Spring Insight

[Radio63]

You think that it's possible that we signed Looper intending to make him a starter? I don't think we ever really thought he was the next great closer; no one was offering him closer money. And we paid a lot if all we were buying was a set up guy.

So what if this was always the plan? Give him a year to get his arm back in shape and to regain some confidence. And then turn him into a starter. The rationales for this move--his size, his assortment of pitches, his mental makeup--were all knowns well before this winter.

If this is the case, it is classic Cardinal thinking: what we did with Carp, what we're doing with Mulder and Wells, what we did with Morris, etc.

[cardfaninfla]

we could possibly end up with the ultimate Duncan rotation with Carp, Wells, and Looper having their career reclaimed by him and 2 youngsters in Wainwright and Reyes being turned from minor leaguers to major leaguers. If this works out, then it's incredible how much we can get out of so little

Maybe what should be said is how incredibly little other teams get out of what they've got. Daddy Dunc pulls this off, and he redefines what a pitching coach is all about. They'll be copying his methods for years.

Just to temper the optimism a bit, as much as we love Duncan, nobody tops Mazzone, even despite his one bad year in Baltimore.

I am waiting a bit on Mazzoni to see what he does without having Smoltz, Maddux, and Glavin to anchor his staff. He did have reasonably good success with other rotation guys as well, but he always had that core of pitching to work with.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

we could possibly end up with the ultimate Duncan rotation with Carp, Wells, and Looper having their career reclaimed by him and 2 youngsters in Wainwright and Reyes being turned from minor leaguers to major leaguers. If this works out, then it's incredible how much we can get out of so little

Maybe what should be said is how incredibly little other teams get out of what they've got. Daddy Dunc pulls this off, and he redefines what a pitching coach is all about. They'll be copying his methods for years.

Just to temper the optimism a bit, as much as we love Duncan, nobody tops Mazzone, even despite his one bad year in Baltimore.

I respect that opinion. But food for thought. Dave Duncan has taken people off the scrap heap and reinvented people like Looper again and again and again. Mazzone rode the same quality horses for over a decade. Not to take anything away from Mazzone's accomplishments, but the Duncan model of being able to see the potential and get the most of that potential could / should be copied by a lot of organizations to get a lot more bang for their pitching buck. It just makes sense.

That's why I think if he pulls this off this year when so little was expected and the prognosis is at least looking not so bleak, it should turn a lot of heads. But what the hell do I know?

[JL21]

Some reading on "The Mazzone Effect" and proof that it's not just the Big Three.

http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/20 ... _eff_1.php

[Fan_In_NY]

You think that it's possible that we signed Looper intending to make him a starter? I don't think we ever really thought he was the next great closer; no one was offering him closer money. And we paid a lot if all we were buying was a set up guy.

So what if this was always the plan? Give him a year to get his arm back in shape and to regain some confidence. And then turn him into a starter. The rationales for this move--his size, his assortment of pitches, his mental makeup--were all knowns well before this winter.

If this is the case, it is classic Cardinal thinking: what we did with Carp, what we're doing with Mulder and Wells, what we did with Morris, etc.

I hate to say it, but I think you are wrong. I dont think the Cards thought last offseason that the pitching market would have been thin and so expensive. Plus some of the in house candidates pitched so poorly that they werent worth resigning.
They gave him a good amount of money (and obviously more than other teams or else they wouldnt have had been able to sign him) but relievers were getting similar deals. He was brought in as a former closer who was pitching injured and unfortunately he couldnt fill the setup role. But maybe being a starter will make it worth it....