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Best # 3: Trading for Mark McGwire

McGwire hit an amazing 70 home runs in 1998.

St. Louis traded for McGwire on the Trade Deadline day (July 31). Big Mac was in the final year of his contract when the Cards traded for him, and he ended up signing a long-term deal to stay in St. Lou. The 1998 season was when he really broke out, hitting a then-record 70 home runs and being half of the Home Run Chase with Sammy Sosa (the record was broken in 2001, when Barry Bonds hit 73 dingers). Big Mac followed up that amazing ‘98 season with yet another one in ‘99, hitting 65 while Sosa hit 63. In his final two years, he played fewer games (hitting 32 homers in 89 games and 29 homers in 97 games respectively), and he retired after the 2001 season because of injury issues. When Big Mac retired, he had made a name for himself in St. Louis. Of course, his retirement paved the way for an unknown named Albert Pujols – and the rest is history.

Worst # 3: Signing Tino Martinez

Before Albert Pujols, there was Tino Martinez. Tino was an accomplished 1st baseman before he signed with St. Louis. He was a member of the Yankees’ dynasty in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Having lost his job to Jason Giambi (who the Yanks signed in the 2001 offseason), Tino elected to sign with the Cardinals in the ‘02 offseason. His production significantly declined during the two years he called St. Louis home. In 2002, he played 150 games, hit .262, hit 24 home runs and had 75 RBIs (a significant decline from the year before, when he hit .280, had 34 home runs and knocked in 113). In 2003, he hit .273, smashed 15 long balls (the fewest in a season for his career), and had just 69 RBIs. Tino was traded to Tampa Bay in 2004 to make way for Albert Pujols. While I have great respect for Tino Martinez, the two years he played in St. Louis were not the greatest.

Last one for today.

Best # 4: Cards trade for Scott Rolen

This guy was good in STL. Real good.

Scott Rolen was traded to St. Louis in 2002 from Philadelphia for Placido Polanco, Mike Timlin and Bud Smith. At the time he was dealt to the Redbirds, he had an accomplished career. When he left St. Louis in 2008, he became more of a legendary figure.

Rolen had some offensive power, but he was mostly known for his arm. He’s still the best 3rd baseman I’ve ever seen defensively. Scotty Ro rarely made a bad throw. His accuracy is great, especially for how strong his arm is. Like Jim Edmonds, Rolen had his career year in 2004. In 142 games that season, he batted .314, had 34 home runs and knocked in 124 runners. I found that it was really unfortunate to see his relationship with manager Tony LaRussa deteriorate in 2006, and led to his being traded in the 2008 offseason. I still miss seeing Rolen’s # 27 out in the field.

Worst # 4: Cards sign Ron Villone

Ron Villone... a good guy, but not a good pitcher.

The most recent to don # 27 for St. Lou was left-handed reliever Ron Villone. Let’s just say, in short, that he did not have the best of years in 2008. This guy could not throw a strike, and from what I saw, frequently walked players. In 75 appearances, Villone was 1-2 with a 4.68 ERA, striking out 50 and walking 37. Whenever Ron came into a game, trouble would soon show up, even if no one was on base. He’s a nice guy (he tossed several balls to kids at a Tigers game I was at), but he’s not a great pitcher. (Oddly enough, I happened to find the picture above with Comerica Park in the background. This was not the game I was at, but I found it funny that there’s a coincidence)

I decided to combine Travis and Jeff’s ideas, just to add to the fun.

Since current Cardinals GM John Mozeliak has not been the team’s GM for very long, I will be having a bit of both Mo and former GM Walt Jocketty. Today…

Best # 5: Adam Kennedy and Kent Bottenfield traded for Jim Edmonds (2000)

One of the best center fielders the Cards have ever had

At the time Jim Edmonds was traded to the Cardinals in 2000, he was a great center fielder. By the time he was done being a Cardinal in 2008, Jim accomplished a lot. In 8 seasons with the team, he played 1,105 games, had 3,968 at bats, and hit 241 home runs. Jim had his best season with the Redbirds in 2004, in which he hit .301, had 42 home runs and knocked in 111. Jimmy Baseball also made one of his most memorable catches that season, in which he robbed Jason LaRue of a home run in center (I was at that game and had a great view of that catch, and it is still the best I’ve seen to this day).

Worst # 5: Signing Adam Kennedy and his second stint with the team (2007)

Not so good the 2nd time around.

Adam Kennedy had once been a good prospect for the Cardinals when they traded him for Jim Edmonds in 2000.  Adam spent 6 years in Anaheim, winning a World Series with the team in 2002. When Kennedy returned to St. Louis in 2007, fans were hoping that he would be what he had been in prior years. And oh boy, were they wrong! Kennedy had a miserable year in 2007, batting just .219 (hitting 61 times in 279 at bats) while hitting only 3 home runs and knocking in 18 (all in 87 games). It was arguably the worst year of his career. He was slightly better in 2008, hitting .280, hitting 2 long balls and 36 RBIs. Kennedy was good defensively, but he is arguably coming off the worst offensive years in his career. The Cardinals cut him just a short while ago, and he recently signed with Tampa Bay on a minor league deal.

Shortly after telling Cardinals 3rd base coach (and Puerto Rico manager) Jose Oquendo that he would not play for Puerto Rico in the WBC, Joel Pineiro has been told that he has secured the # 5 spot in St. Louis’ starting rotation. TLR (manager Tony La Russa) announced today that Pineiro won the battle after being the favorite for that spot. He joins Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Todd Wellemeyer and Kyle Lohse.

Hey, there could be a worse # 5 starter for the Redbirds...

Also, Skip Schumaker is still vying for the team’s starting 2nd base job. The team is committed to making him their starting 2nd baseman, and even he is up for the idea.

“That’s the No. 1 thing. I wouldn’t be doing this, putting all this work in if I didn’t feel like there was a chance to do it every day and to win a spot. I know it’s going to take a lot of time. I’m working the kinks out every single day. It’s not an easy thing to do. If I take every day as a working day to move forward, then I’m going in the right direction. But I wouldn’t be doing all this if I didn’t think I had a shot.”

From the outfield to 2nd? It could happen.

Ever since the offseason began, St. Louis began telling the faithful that Adam Kennedy would be the starting second baseman. No Orlando Hudson, no re-uniting with Mark Grudzielanek, nothing. Then, a couple weeks ago, Kennedy was released. Now the spot remains unfilled, and the Cards are looking at outfielders Skip Schumaker and Joe Mather as the starting 2B. That’s right, I said outfielders. Oh, the tragedy.

Who everyone thought would be the starting 2nd baseman for the Cardinals is now with Tampa Bay on a minor league deal.

Up until this point, I had been rather patient with GM John Mozeliak. The ever-strange 2nd base situation, however, got me pretty ticked off. What befuddles me is why St. Louis repeatedly said Kennedy was the man, and a short while later, release him while going after no replacement. What makes this even stranger is the fact that the Cards are looking toward a guy who hasn’t played the infield since college (Skip Schumaker, who didn’t even play 2nd in college) and another outfielder. Now Adam’s gone, and there’s no 2nd baseman that you can go after? Not Mark Grudzielanek, who did a great job with the Cardinals in 2005? Not Orlando Hudson, who’s the best that free agency has to offer? C’mon, Mo! Spend some money!

What I’ve seen out of the Cardinals’ front office this offseason is the fact that they don’t want to spend money, despite having a good payroll and addressing team needs earlier in the offseason. Had Walt Jocketty still been around, he would’ve taken care of 2nd base already. These are the kinds of days when I miss Walt. It seems he actually cared about winning, while Mo and Co. care about nothing more than making money. I was actually quite surprised to see this story from ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick on how Cardinals fans are angry at what’s transpired this offseason. I’m glad that Jerry wrote that, and I hope Mo is reading it.

St. Louis has signed some players as contenders for the starting 2B job, but there’s no big name in contention. According to ESPN.com’s depth chart, Joe Thurston (a former minor league star) is the Cards’ starter at 2nd. After that… Brendan Ryan, Schumaker, and Brian Barden. Only one of those players (Ryan) has had any 2B experience in the majors. He played well last year (at least, in the first half) and I’m very disappointed that St. Louis has not given him a chance.

Sorry if this is more of a rant, but I’m not happy. The Cards’ 2006 World Series title feels like so long ago.

It's only been 3 years? Feels like an eternity.

They’ve let many of their best players leave – Jeff Suppan, David Eckstein, Russ Springer, and many more – to rebuild the minors. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing. But when your team’s fans expect to win, and win a lot, doing what the Cardinals have this offseason is not acceptable. It better turn out as the front office is hoping it to be, because otherwise things may not be pretty in STL next season.

Hi. I’m Joel, your new Cardinals blogger. I’ll tell you a little bit about myself, but I’m going to keep it brief.

I’m 17 and a junior in high school. I live in Michigan, but I’ve been a Cardinals fan all my life, and a die-hard one at that. How did I become a Cardinals fan? It’s rather simple, really. My dad is a die-hard Cards fan himself, and I was a McGwire fan during the 1998 home run chase. Since then, I’ve bled Cardinal red.

The reason I joined MLBlogging was because I like baseball, and I hope to be a sports journalist someday. I’ve had the dream of being a journalist for as long as I can remember – longer than most people have known what they want to do for a living.  Okay, to put a number on it, since around the age of 7.

Enough about me, and now to the real Cardinals – of which, there’s not much to talk about.

The Cardinals are going to wait and see who will close for the team in ‘09,  and the most likely candidates are Chris Perez, Jason Motte, Josh Kinney and Ryan Franklin. Given that Motte is an unknown (who, as of last year, could only throw a fastball), Kinney has an injury history, and Franklin is shaky, I’d give the edge to Perez – but that’s just my own feeling.

Troy Glaus reported to camp, but he’ll still be out until late April, maybe even the first week of May. Things are looking good for him, so it sounds like everything is going to plan. Look for David Freese (who the Cards acquired in the Jim Edmonds trade to San Diego last season) to be the Opening Day starter at 3rd base.

Ryan Ludwick avoided arbitration and recently signed a 1 year deal for about $3.7 million. Here’s an interesting fact – the Cards have not gone to arbitration since 1999, when they last won their case with former Redbirds pitcher Darren Oliver.

Finally, Albert Pujols and Joel Pineiro will not play in the World Baseball Classic. Pujols will not play for the DR because of insurance reasons, while Pineiro withdrew his name from the Puerto Rican roster because he felt disrespected after being told that he would not be in their starting rotation.

That’s all the news for today. Goodnight, and Go Cardinals!

Albert Pujols still said on Sunday that it is confirmed that he will not be playing for the World Baseball Classics.

Underwriters of the World Baseball Classics are reluctant of insuring Pujols’ participation, due to the latter’s nerve transposition surgery in his right elbow last October. Pujols admitted that if he is not insured, then he will not be suiting up for the Dominican Republic, although there was a slight chance that he might be able to play in the Classic. 

“My main priority is here, to make sure that I’m ready for my season,” Pujols said. “Obviously it’s always good to represent the Dominican Republic. I’ve already done it once. I need to make sure everything goes the right way. I’m not going to go out there and play without insurance. I don’t think that’s a smart thing, myself coming from an injury. … I need to make sure right here in the next couple weeks how my elbow reacts to training here every day. I train during the offseason and it’s not the same as here in Spring Training.”

Manager Tony La Russa expressed his concern about Pujols playing in the Classics. Pujols may be currently feeling fine, but the manager feels that it is too risky for Pujols to play high pressure games instantly. Instead, it would be better for him to gradually play and taking things slow for a moment than to jeopardize the elbow again.

He admitted to that same instinct, saying that it was reason enough to be warned and cautious before going to any random decisions.
“I know that I can control myself, but I’m concerned about that the same way too,” he said. “Obviously when the games start, as you know, I don’t take it easy in the game.”

All other decisions will not rely on Pujols alone, which, in one part is a good thing. Without any expectations whatsoever to the insurance policy, he is positive that playing in the Classics is now out of his way.

“If they can’t get insurance, I’m definitely not going to play,” Pujols said.

Just five days before the opening of Spring Training, second baseman Adam Kennedy was granted by the Cardinals his unconditional release last Monday, making it the Franchise’s most daring move of the off season, and they are still required to pay Kennedy for the remainder of his contract.

Kennedy is now eligible to sign with any team he wishes. In a usual scenario, any released player who signs with another club, it is the role of the new team to pay the said player the Major League minimum, and the original team fills in the slot for the rest of the contract. Kennedy is allocated $4 million in 2009 for his last season of a three year contract with the Cardinals.

Kennedy batted .280 with a .321 on base percentage and a .372 slugging percentage last year and sensing that his playing time was being cut, requested to be traded. Unable to work out a deal, the Cardinals held Kennedy until Monday.

“I tried to exhaust the trade market,” General Manager John Mozeliak said. “We thought we might have something happening that really came to an end this weekend. At that point it was just time. It was more fair for both parties to do it now than wait a couple weeks.”

The Cardinals are now facing to fill the spot Kennedy had left them. With no real favorite to man the second base, the potentials in which the Cardinals would be having are Brian Barden, Brendan Ryan, outfielder Skip Schumaker and Joe Thurston.
Other options for the Cadrinals are free agents Orlando Hudson, Ray Durham and former Cardinals player Mark Grudzielanek.

“Right now, we’re going to go with what we have,” Mozeliak said. “We would like to do this internally if we could, and we do have confidence that we can.”
On the lighter side though, if outfielder Skip Schumaker shows his qualifications playing second base, it could clear the Cardinals’ way for top priority Colby Rasmus to suit up for Opening Day.

Manager Tony La Russa was consulted in lieu with the Kennedy scenario, and was in favor of releasing Kennedy. The General Manager also stated that (the move) is a key point in order to make sure that everyone on the roster is on the same track.
“It was something that Tony and I have talked about the last few weeks in trying to put our best foot forward with our team,” Mozeliak said.
“I do think this was an opportunity to inject some energy into that position and really show that we are moving this club in a newer direction.”