Lefty Relievers

The free agent season has begun, and the Cardinals remain poised to be in conservative mode once again. The biggest rumblings within the organization are now regarding a lefthanded reliever, according to Derrick Goold:

The agent for Atlanta reliever Will Ohman, whom the Cardinals pursued at the trade deadline, said he had talked with the Cardinals on Thursday about their interest in the lefthander. He expected to hear from them again this weekend. Other lefty relievers the Cardinals are believed to have interest in are Reds reliever Jeremy Affeldt, who is likely to command a multiyear deal, and veteran Arthur Rhodes.

It's been discussed here before, but Jeremy Affeldt makes a ton of sense for the Cards this off-season. He's not a Type A free agent, meaning we would save our first round draft pick, and he will not cost us an arm and a leg like Brian Fuentes would. He gets ground balls (1.97 GB:FB), has good velocity (94.6 mph fastball), and he can get strikeouts (9.19 K/9 last year). As to what he might cost, I'd suggest 2 years at $3-3.5m per year, a little less than what Ron Mahay was able to get from the Royals last year. We can afford that, especially given our need at lefthanded reliever now.

Dennys Reyes, discussed here, would be my second choice at reliever, over Will Ohman and Arthur Rhodes. He might be a bit pricier than Affeldt, as he has had a pretty dynamite past three years with the Twins. For my money, I'd offer Affeldt a 2-year/$7m deal and sign a second tier LOOGY for under $2m. Is that Rhodes? Brian Shouse? I don't know.