St. Louis Cardinals: An Innovative Approach to Fixing the Bullpen

Wade Davis is one of the most dominant relievers in recent memory and needs to be on the St. Louis Cardinals.

I set up the conversation about Wade Davis with Greg Holland (which is ironic because Davis previously set up for Holland) because Holland provides a decent framework for Davis and his fit with the St. Louis Cardinals.  Davis and Holland are basically the same age – both turning 32 this fall/winter.

Of course, there are other problems with Davis.  First, Joe Maddon (who is as bad as Dusty Baker when it comes to the destruction of pitcher’s arms) ran Davis into the ground this postseason.  This should not be a big problem, however, because Davis came up as a starter with the Rays.

Still, there may be some concern that this increased Davis’ injury risk.  If you say risk, I say discount on the contract – but the St. Louis Cardinals will certainly factor this in.

Davis, like Holland, is only a year or two removed from complete dominance in Kansas City.  Indeed, this past season with the small bears, he rocked a 2.30 ERA.  He did give up six home runs, but his strikeouts per nine innings were the second highest of his career – that is a trend I really like.

There is no doubt that Davis would be the closer on this team if we could sign him, but what would it cost?

My fellow writers were all over the map on the prediction for the Davis acquisition cost.  The proposed deals range from three years at $27 million to four years at $58 million (yes, the Melancon deal).  The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.  I predict that Davis will land a four-year, $50 million deal.