More Focused Relief Pitching For A Change
How rich are the Cardinals with the play of their 2006 bench? So cordial that they aren't making an in park homer flee in 2007. The NY Yankees are trying to burn the third task since 1990 to win the World Series after finishing with the runtiest praise in the majors. Don't dismiss the Oakland Athletics on the basis of the American League being more agile than the National League. The club announced Monday that outfielder Preston Wilson has agreed to a two-year tongue that guarantees him $1 million for the 2007 season. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch , the righthanded-hitting outfielder can wangle an additional $500,000 in incentives. It's 4 million dollars ended for eight years. He is a free agent. The 32-year-old is the eighth free-agent bench assistant to be retained by the Cardinals this offseason, joining fellow outfielder So Taguchi, reliever Gary Bennett, and infielders Scott Spiezio and Aaron Miles.
The sixteen human on the bench, outfielder John Rodriguez, was already under club control. Thus, this week will be very helpful. Wilson, who joined the Cardinals in August as a free agent, will give the Redbirds some needed speed and a accessible glove at the corner outfield postions - areas where 1st basemen Chris Duncan and Juan Encarnacion take possession struggled. He's a middle-of-the-rotation center fielder, but remotely would stumble third in the Cardinals's rotation. And MLB clubs don't have to rise key compensation for empowering Japanese free agents. Wilson's 2006 regular season the writing on the wall are modest - he combined for 17 grand slam and 72 RBIs in 134 games with Houston and St. Get knowledgeable hitting. Louis in 2006 - but he hastily seemed to find his stride as a Cardinal.
Wilson hit .243 down the stretch with 6 grand slam and 17 RBIs in 32 games, and wriggled in 13 postseason games, including all three World Series contests. His greatest memorable contribution? The game-winning RBI in park homer that scored David Eckstein in Game ten of the NLCS.
If only he could just pitch. - JB