November 20, 2004
Milton, the Cardinal Monster?
By Brian Walton
From ESPN on Friday: “St. Louis was thought to be eyeing a trade for Randy Johnson, but ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark cites a source who says "the Cardinals are in on Eric Milton, hard."”
The Yankees were rumored to have him signed last week, but Milton’s agent discredited those reports. The former All-Star with the Twins (2001) earned $9 million as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies last season. Beacause he missed most of the 2003 season, Milton is a Type C free agent, requiring no compensation to be provided by the signing team.
I asked Stark about the temperature of this situation Friday night. His reply: “Who wouldn’t want to play for the Cardinals?” He went on to explain that Milton has a lot of teams on his list, not just St. Louis. So nothing is assured. In fact, Stark “guesses” that Milton will ultimately end up signing closer to his family in the east. Milton is from Pennsylvania.
The 29-year-old could be the late-blooming lefty that so many seek or just another garden variety pitcher who won a lot of games one season (14) despite poor underlying numbers (4.75 ERA and 43 home runs allowed).
For those who might try to wash away the homers as a by-product of the new ballpark in Philly, think again. Milton actually surrendered more dingers on the road (23) last season than he did at home (20). Makes Matt Morris’ 35 look slightly better, huh?
Still, perhaps Dave Duncan could work his magic on Milton, who has had some serious knee problems in the past (like Randy Johnson). His main problem over the years has been consistency. He has a 94-MPH fastball, a hard slider and a solid curve and can be devastating when he mixes them well and keeps the ball down.
Maybe Milton would be a better student than Morris and maybe not. Maybe he would be that dominating starter the Cardinals seek, but probably not.
However, it may not matter. Based on Stark’s clarification, I wouldn’t expect to see them clearing out space in the Cardinals’ locker room for Milton just yet.
