December 23, 200520 yr ST. LOUIS -- Continuing a recent tradition, the Cardinals waited until the last minute to do their Christmas shopping. The Cards have agreed to terms with free-agent outfielder Juan Encarnacion on a three-year contract worth a reported $15 million, filling their vacancy in right field. Encarnacion's agent, Eric Goldschmidt, confirmed the deal on Friday morning, though a physical is still pending. Club officials were unavailable for comment. "There were quite a few teams interested in Juan," Goldschmidt said. "At one time we had probably nine or 10 clubs in the mix. Juan's preference was to play right field. There were a lot of clubs looking at him as a center fielder, but he wanted to play right field, he wanted to play on a competitive ballclub and if possible, he wanted to stay in the National League and stay off the West Coast." He accomplished all those goals and will step into the spot vacated when Admin Walker retired following the 2005 season. Encarnacion is the second member of the 2003 Marlins World Series championship team to sign with the Cards this winter, joining right-handed reliever Braden Looper. It's the third straight year that St. Louis has made a significant acquisition after December's Winter Meetings but before the Christmas-New Year's shutdown. Last season, the Cards signed free-agent shortstop David Eckstein and traded for Mark Mulder in late December. In 2003 they signed free agents Jeff Suppan and Reggie Sanders soon after the meetings. Encarnacion, who will turn 30 during Spring Training, is coming off one of the best seasons of his career. The right-handed hitting Dominican Republic native batted .287 and managed a .349 on-base percentage, with both being the highest full-season marks of his career. Encarnacion hit 16 home runs and slugged .447, driving in 76 runs and scoring 59 in 506 at-bats with Florida. He's a lifetime .268/.316/.440 hitter who has 128 home runs and 119 steals in 1,028 career big league games. Encarnacion has played for Detroit, Cincinnati and the Dodgers as well as the Marlins in a career that began in 1997. Encarnacion is considered something of an all-or-nothing player. He has the ability to hit for power -- including 24 home runs in 2002 -- but rarely walks and has often posted low on-base percentages. His defensive profile is similar, a player who has a strong arm and can make spectacular plays but sometimes makes unnecessary mistakes. In a revamped Cardinals lineup, Encarnacion likely slots as the regular right fielder alongside Jim Edmonds, with Admin Bigbie projected as the starter in left. He might slide into the No. 6 spot in the batting order, between Scott Rolen and Bigbie. The only remaining question in the Cardinals order is at second base. Aaron Miles, Hector Luna and Deivi Cruz may battle for the job, or the club could still sign one more free agent -- Willie Harris and Junior Spivey are both considered candidates. http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article...e2005&fext=.jsp
December 23, 200520 yr HAHAHA!! What a waste of money. It is insane to think that Encarnacion will get paid this year 1/3 of the ENTIRE Marlins' payroll.
December 23, 200520 yr Enc gets 15 mil, left-handed older Enc gets 16 mil. Should be interesting to see how Enc plays during a non-contract year.
December 23, 200520 yr Well for f sakes.. Overpaying again.. He's still better than the crap named John Rodriguez, So Taguchi, and Admin Bigbie..
December 23, 200520 yr Can you say OVERPAIDED?? The guy can hit a curveball but couldnt save his life and catch up on a fast-ball! Waste but w/e... Take Hermida anyday over Juan...
December 23, 200520 yr Can you say OVERPAIDED?? The guy can hit a curveball but couldnt save his life and catch up on a fast-ball! Waste but w/e... Take Hermida anyday over Juan... he is an average ballpayer, with above average talent. He was overpaid, but is not like he is an unproven player
December 23, 200520 yr Enc's stats for the next three years: .240/.310/.450 .235/.315/.435 .290/.360/.520
December 23, 200520 yr Enc's stats for the next three years: .240/.310/.450 .235/.315/.435 .290/.360/.520 Nah probably like.. .323/.330/.653 .310/.315/.625 .270/.308/.578 I figure the first two years he's gonna be an all-star with the Cardinals..[/sarcasm].. No but seriously he'll be decent with the Cards mainly because they pick up OK players and they play outta their butts..
December 24, 200520 yr The overall value isn't the surprising thing....he'll make $3.5 million in 2006, $5 million in 2007 and $6.5 in 2008. At the rate free agents are getting overpaid, $3.5 isn't too bad this year, and those other figures probably won't seem as bad when they come up, based upon the growing market. I'm most surprised that it was three guaranteed years. I would have thought two guaranteed with either a team or vested option for a third year. Just surfed through the Harball Times' numbers to see what was there. JE was 26th in the NL, 13th among OFs, in Gross Production Average, .284. (.265 is considered average; .300 a 'star'). JE was 24th in the NL in runs created.... 20th in runs created per game. JE was 16th in the NL in batting average on balls put in play (.334). JE was 6th in the NL in RISP, .331. JE was 19th in the NL among OFs with 19 win shares. On the negative side.... Hardball Times has Jones' projected OPS for 2006 at .701, which would be a danged shame.... with an upside projected OPS of .749. It's possible he'll hit 6th for the Cardinals, with a lineup of 1)Eckstein 2)2B (Spivey/Luna/Miles/Cruz/?) 3)Pujols 4)Rolen (if healthy) 5)Edmonds 6)Encarnacion 7)Bigbie/ LF 8)Molina 9) SP (maybe switch molina up to 7 if he does well). In 2005, when Enc hit in the 6 hole, he hit .373 with a .400 OBP
December 24, 200520 yr The overall value isn't the surprising thing....he'll make $3.5 million in 2006, $5 million in 2007 and $6.5 in 2008. At the rate free agents are getting overpaid, $3.5 isn't too bad this year, and those other figures probably won't seem as bad when they come up, based upon the growing market. I'm most surprised that it was three guaranteed years. I would have thought two guaranteed with either a team or vested option for a third year. Just surfed through the Harball Times' numbers to see what was there. JE was 26th in the NL, 13th among OFs, in Gross Production Average, .284. (.265 is considered average; .300 a 'star'). JE was 24th in the NL in runs created.... 20th in runs created per game. JE was 16th in the NL in batting average on balls put in play (.334). JE was 6th in the NL in RISP, .331. JE was 19th in the NL among OFs with 19 win shares. On the negative side.... Hardball Times has Jones' projected OPS for 2006 at .701, which would be a danged shame.... with an upside projected OPS of .749. It's possible he'll hit 6th for the Cardinals, with a lineup of 1)Eckstein 2)2B (Spivey/Luna/Miles/Cruz/?) 3)Pujols 4)Rolen (if healthy) 5)Edmonds 6)Encarnacion 7)Bigbie/ LF 8)Molina 9) SP (maybe switch molina up to 7 if he does well). In 2005, when Enc hit in the 6 hole, he hit .373 with a .400 OBP Really not that bad of a deal. Stop it with your sour grapes guys - I thought he'd go for another million a year. If he hits .285 and goes for 20+ HRs, the Cards will be pleased.
December 24, 200520 yr Congrats to Ency. He really got a sweet deal...much better than expected. I wish him well.
December 24, 200520 yr Encarnacion is a good player, he isnt that bad. He is very good in Defense, just doesnt hit for very high average but gets the job done most of the time and was clutch for us. I dont think they overpaid for him, he is only making 5 million a year.
December 28, 200520 yr They'll be missing Admin Walker this year Yea like we missed him last year .. I mean his 15 HR's and 52 RBI's, 66 runs and 100 games cant any way be replaced possibly can they? Very unlikely.. UGH.. But most of all we'll miss his 3/28's in the playoffs with only 1 RBI.. Yikes.. Talk about a huge loss..
December 28, 200520 yr I think at this point in Walkers career this is a great upgrade. Enc needs to learn how to hit fastballs a bit better tho for him to be a real threat at the plate. Hopefully he can provide you with some nice grand slams like he did for the Fish! I also always thought Enc was hit or miss with defense. He was either stellar at times or just looked plain lost like he was day dreaming. Regardless he has a killer arm and should be a nice addition to an outfield with Edmonds.
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