Looking at how the Cardinals have signed lefties

Photo by Chris Lee

By Derrick Goold  

TOWER GROVE • In this morning's article about the Cardinals search for a second lefty and one of the motivations behind it, I mentioned that Washington Nationals lefty Sean Burnett turned down a mutual option with the Nats so that he could become a free agent this winter. The value of that option for 2013 was $3.5 million.

Now, Burnett isn't your average everyday LOOGy.

He is very much a setup lefty, akin to Jeremy Affeldt with the San Francisco Giants. In 2012, Burnett held lefthanded-hitting opponents to a .211/.245/.289 line, and he struck 28 of the 95 lefthanded hitters he faced while walking only ... one. But, he also faced more righthanded batters than lefthanded batters, 144 to 95, while serving in a role behind the Lefty One-Out GuY, the specialist. What stands out about the value of the option that Burnett had is how it compares to the Cardinals, one of the teams in need of a lefty this winter.



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Looking at how the Cardinals have signed lefties : Stltoday