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Rumor: Kelly Johnson for Ryan Ludwick

From Dave O'Brien at the AJC (being extra cautious to make sure everyone knows this is just a whisper):

Here’s a rumor you might be hearing soon. I repeat, might be hearing.

Kelly Johnson for Ryan Ludwick. Hey, you ask about whispers, I give you whispers. I’ll let you know if I hear it said above a whisper.

Interestante. Ludwick had one hell of a season last year -- 37 dingers and 113 RBIs while hitting .299 and protecting Albert Pujols in the lineup. So he's someone who could definitely protect Chipper Jones so long as Ludwick's 2007 numbers are a sign of things to come.

The Cardinals would have to somehow jettison second baseman Adam Kennedy, who is still signed for next year at $4 million. Ludwick is arbitration eligible this year, just like Kelly Johnson. If this is a true rumor then I'm definitely for it -- trade an average-fielding streaky-hitting second baseman for a power-hitting middle-of-the-order left fielder. He also hits right-handed, and as I've mentioned before I think it's important for any power bat we add to be right-handed to balance our lineup.

Now take a moment to drool:


G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG
2008 - Ryan Ludwick 152 538 104 161 40 3 37 113 62 146 4 4 .299 .375 .591

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Wow.

I’ll believe it when I see something more solid. But I’m with you gondeee; I’d be all over this trade.

by soup du jour on Nov 4, 2008 6:17 PM EST reply actions  

Why would STL want to do this? I guess he’s blocking Colby Rasmus, but they don’t have much depth apart from Ankiel.

Gondee, I think Ludwick hit in front of Pujols, which may have inflated his numbers slightly. I’m assuming he’d hit 4th in Atlanta.

by TradeAndruw on Nov 4, 2008 6:23 PM EST reply actions  

In 2008, Ludwick had...

34 games batting 2nd
14 games batting 3rd
69 games batting 4th
16 games batting 5th

He had a handfull in some other lineup spots, but he still hit .295 with 20 homeruns in that fourth spot.

by gondeee on Nov 4, 2008 6:27 PM EST up reply actions  

Damn! I was just about to correct myself. How’d you pull those numbers so quickly?

by TradeAndruw on Nov 4, 2008 6:29 PM EST up reply actions  

NOOOOOOOOOOO! NO! NO NO NO NO NO!

NOT. RYAN. LUDWICK.

Following the Braves...one long hard drink at a time.

by bigjoe on Nov 4, 2008 6:28 PM EST reply actions  

Why not? I don’t see why the Braves wouldn’t do this deal. Ludwick has good peripherals and has always shown good power. Granted I don’t think he’ll repeat the HR effort, especially if he played in Atlanta, but he’s a good cheap option in the outfield.

by scstrato on Nov 4, 2008 6:37 PM EST up reply actions  

DOB Says that Ankiel may also be available, and may interest ATL.

by gopherbroke on Nov 4, 2008 6:36 PM EST reply actions  

KEEP KELLY

I dont understand why you guys would be all over this trade. We can get a guy like Dunn or Ibanez or maybe trade for Ordonez. Why- WHY!- trade one fot he better second basemens in the league. I agree Ludwick would be the better hitter, but who would start at second? and Ludwick is 30 with some injury problems, so its not a guarenteed thign with Ludwick. We have to hold on to Kelly.

by SayHeyWerd on Nov 4, 2008 6:36 PM EST reply actions  

Second this

I love Kelly, and I’d like to keep him. SeyHeyWard makes some good points about Ludwick and even I don’t think he’ll come close to producing like he did last year. But seeing how his numbers weren’t inflated in a contract year, I’m almost willing to give Ludwick the benefit of the doubt here.

by Sparhawk on Nov 4, 2008 7:12 PM EST up reply actions  

“but who would start at second?”

Prado I suppose, my preference would be to get Renteria and stick him there. I wouldn’t call KJ one of the better 2Bs in the league, though he has that potential.

by TradeAndruw on Nov 4, 2008 6:42 PM EST reply actions  

Interesting...

I have to say, I like Ryan Ludwick. I love Kelly and worry about Prado taking over 2B full-time, but this trade rumor makes some sense. If we make this kind of deal, it frees up a ton of cash for free agent starters…

Here we go again: http://thefulldeck.blogspot.com/

by ejruiz on Nov 4, 2008 7:58 PM EST reply actions  

I like this trade

Ludwick has like 2 years of service time I think? So 4 years of him vs 3 of Kelly? This is a big right handed bat and he won’t cost 10-15 million a year. I’d say Ludwick vs Anderson/Blanco/Diaz/BJones in left is an upgrade over Kelly vs Odarp/Infante/Lilli and you get an extra year. If Ludwick is under control for less time though, that’ll obviously affect things.

Ludwick might be injury prone though. That’s how he’s been his career and why it’s taken so long for him to blossom so you have to consider that as well.

by VictorW on Nov 4, 2008 8:50 PM EST reply actions  

Ankiel

On mlbtr there saying Ankiel could also be avalible. If this trade were to go down, I wouldn’t know who I’d rather have. Something scares me about Ludwick, I’d probably take Ankiel.

by SayHeyWerd on Nov 4, 2008 9:19 PM EST reply actions  

i’d much, much rather have ankiel.only thing is, he’s only under control for next season before he hits FA…ludwick has a longer clock, but is a worse player

Following the Braves...one long hard drink at a time.

by bigjoe on Nov 4, 2008 9:20 PM EST reply actions  

I hate to admit it ...

but I was surfing through the AJC blog and apparently someone with STL has shot down this trade. DOB mentions that the Braves ARE interested in Ludwick, but maybe not so much in Ankiel.

For what it’s worth, I would much rather have Ludwick than Ankiel. I’m not going to get into the “who’s the better player” argument … I just think Ludwick, and his right handed bat, fits better with what we need. Especially considering the NL East has so many strong lefty pitchers, another left handed bat doesn’t do us as much good.

by scstrato on Nov 4, 2008 10:30 PM EST reply actions  

This only scares me because I’m really afraid Ludwick is going to be a “one-hit-wonder.” Kind of like Francouer. Wouldn’t it be great having both corner outfielders looking like deer in headlights at the plate?

by Rhyno18 on Nov 4, 2008 10:38 PM EST reply actions  

An excellent breakdown

Ludwick is the kind of guy I really don’t like – an older player who had a monster season driven, in large part, by a high batting average. I know I just wrote a post about Dempster saying “expect regression” and the same applies here. I think his 2007 numbers (.267/.339/.479) are probably a much stronger indication of his abilities. If that’s the case, and I strongly believe that it is, what we’re getting is a corner OF who will give us an OPS around .815. In return, St. Louis will get a 2B who will give them and OPS of… around .815. Not a good deal for us with all the free agent OF available.

by BraveBronco0121 on Nov 5, 2008 4:45 AM EST up reply actions  

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