The more I think about it, the more I don't want Fuentes. I really hope somebody else signs him before the Cardinals make a huge mistake. Perez is going to be our closer, so why not let him close now when we need him. We have much more pressing needs than a closer. Our Starting pitching is a much bigger need. I would love to have Carpenter back healthy this year, but there is no guarantee that he will be. We thought that he would be back for the second half of last season and he wasn't. If Carpenter isn't healthy then we only have 3 starting pitchers. Adam Wainwright is a top of the rotation pitcher. Kyle Lohse is an average to above average pitcher at best. Todd Wellemeyer is an average to below average pitcher at best. So, if Carpenter isn't healthy... we have 1 good pitcher and a couple of bottom of the rotation pitchers. We need 2 more Starting pitchers, and those don't come cheap. We can spend $11Mil of the $10-$15 Mil left to spend, but that leaves very little left if any for a starting pitcher, let alone 2 of them. Sure, it would be nice to have Fuentes, but we can't afford him. It doesn't really matter if you have a good closer, if you can't get past the first eight. We could try trading an outfielder or two for a couple of starting pitchers, but there aren't very many teams willing to trade good starting pitchers. We need a couple of above average pitchers for the rotation. I wouldn't mind having Looper back, but we can't afford him if we sign Fuentes. Just say no to Fuentes.