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When the news broke that Jonny Venters was having another Tommy John surgery and would be lost for this year and perhaps most of next, it was met on Twitter with… well, basically a shoulder shrug.
That’s not a knock on Venters, an extremely reliable set-up guy who has been a valuable bullpen piece the last two seasons – I wish him the best in his recovery, because he seems to be a good teammate and a good guy, and because I wouldn’t wish multiple Tommy John surgeries on anyone not named Roger Clemens. It’s just been that kind of season so far. Brian McCann missed the first month. Jason Heyward had emergency appendectomy surgery a couple of weeks ago – those two still haven’t been in the lineup together this season, and it’s the middle of May. Brandon Beachy, who’s actually ahead of schedule from his own Tommy John surgery, will be back in June, probably. Freddie Freeman missed a couple of weeks. And on and on. «Read the rest of this article»
December 26, 2012 |
ByJenifer Langosch/MLB.com
ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals will arrive at Spring Training with few position battles to sort out, a luxury that is the byproduct of minimal offseason turnover.
The second base situation, however, cannot be considered so settled.
With Skip Schumaker now a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cardinals’ depth chart at the position has dwindled by one. Schumaker’s departure came four months after the Cardinals dealt Tyler Greene, meaning that only one of the three players who competed for the second base job last spring remains in the organization.
That would be Daniel Descalso, who is currently positioned as the favorite to win the starting second base job in 2013. However, neither manager Mike Matheny, nor general manager John Mozeliak has promised away the job just yet.
“As far as second base goes, we have some very viable candidates, and we just go give these guys opportunities without drawing up conclusions at the beginning,” Matheny said. “There are opportunities. We’re going to give opportunities to all the players and just see how the pieces come together.”
One of the biggest remaining variables is the Cardinals’ level of activity this offseason. Club officials have confirmed that the organization has looked into acquiring another middle infielder, one who could play second or spell Rafael Furcal at short. But Mozeliak has also cautioned against assuming that a major move is forthcoming, saying earlier this month that “we’re not spending as much time as people think in this market.”
Rather, the Cardinals are taking an opportunistic approach when considering a middle infield addition. The list of middle infielders still available on the free-agent market is mostly underwhelming, which leaves the trade market as the one avenue left if the Cardinals desire an impact player.
More likely, though, is that the Cardinals keep the battle internal.
Descalso will obviously be in the mix, as could Matt Carpenter, Pete Kozma, Ryan Jackson and even Kolten Wong. Those latter four have only a combined 78 innings of Major League experience at second base.
Carpenter may be the most interesting variable, as his level of comfort at the position won’t be entirely known until Spring Training. Sent home with the directive of putting in extensive work at second base this winter, Carpenter intends to arrive at Jupiter, Fla., days before the start of camp to prove that his work has been fruitful.
Of the daily work he’s done so far, Carpenter described it as “great.” He then added: “Obviously you can’t simulate a real game, but there’s definitely confidence built when you are working with something every day. There’s a comfort level being built.”
It could well come down to whether the Cardinals want to emphasize the bat or the glove in their selection of a second baseman. If the Cardinals prefer the sounder defensive option, Descalso would likely get the nod. Carpenter has more offensive potential and could be a key piece in the lineup.
Kozma played more second base in the Minors than Jackson, though both should get some time at the position this spring. Questions remain, though, about how either would fare in an everyday role over a full Major League season.
Then there’s Wong, the wild card of the bunch.
The potential of a former first-round Draft pick is seemingly higher than anyone else in this second base mix, but the timing might not yet be right for him to make a Major League impact early in the 2013 season. Wong, who spent all of 2012 in Double-A, is more likely to begin the season as the starting second baseman at Triple-A Memphis.
Should the Cardinals have a need at second base at midseason, don’t be surprised if Wong becomes a serious part of the discussion.
This second base situation sets up to mirror the multi-player competition that took place last Spring Training. But while that competition did not conclude with a definitive answer, the Cardinals would prefer one of these candidates to emerge the clear choice in 2013.
“It did turn into a revolving door at times [in 2012],” Matheny said. “Just what we’re looking for is for that position to be taken. We have talented guys on this club that can do it. It’s just a matter of putting them in position to where they can show what they can do and take advantage of the opportunity.”
December 20, 2012 |
ST. LOUIS — Hopeful that the trade can benefit both parties, Skip Schumaker, speaking shortly after the Dodgers finalized a deal to acquire the utility infielder/outfielder, expressed gratitude for the opportunities the Cardinals had given him for more than a decade. Schumaker also conveyed his excitement about a new opportunity in an ideal location.
The Cardinals traded Schumaker to Los Angeles last Wednesday for Minor League infielder Jake Lemmerman. Schumaker’s departure ended an 11-year tenure with an organization that drafted and developed him out of the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Schumaker went on to make his Major League debut with the Cardinals in 2005, establishing himself as a versatile bench player and valued teammate.
“It’s tough leaving St. Louis, because I’ve made some lifelong friends and my wife has made lifelong friends and my kids have, too,” Schumaker said. “I grew up in this organization, and it’s tough to say goodbye to a really good thing. But it’s something that I think had to happen from both sides, and other than being in St. Louis, I couldn’t think of a better situation for my family than to be traded here. I grew up watching the Dodgers and rooting for the Dodgers.”
Schumaker and his family also still maintain their permanent residence in Southern California, approximately an hour-long drive from Dodger Stadium. That will allow Schumaker to live at home during the season. He said it’s a no-brainer that he’ll make the daily commute.
“I have to be pretty thankful that [general manager John Mozeliak] and the Cardinals were looking out for my best interest,” Schumaker said. “There could have been another 28 teams he sent me to, and he sent me to a contender and close to home. I’m used to winning in St. Louis and I don’t think I could have gotten used to losing somewhere else. I feel very fortunate to have landed where I did.”
When Schumaker signed a two-year contract with the Cardinals exactly one year ago, he never intended finishing out the deal elsewhere. But it became evident during the second half of the 2012 season that Schuamker’s role was permanently diminishing. He started only 29 games after July (none in the postseason) and watched Daniel Descalso emerge as the team’s everyday second baseman.
Curious about how the Cardinals viewed Schumaker’s standing for 2013, his agent, Nez Balelo, met with Mozeliak during the offseason. Schumaker, through Balelo, did not demand a trade, but it became evident that both clubs saw it as mutually beneficial to separate.
“I feel like I’m a good role player on a good team,” Schumaker said. “I just didn’t see how I was going to fit anymore when there were other guys that were in my normal spot that would take my at-bats. I saw the writing on the wall and then thought maybe they were thinking the same thing as me.”
In joining the Dodgers, Schumaker will be reunited with Los Angeles’ new hitting coach, Mark McGwire, who began working with Schumaker even before he returned to the Majors in a coaching role, and longtime friend and former Cardinals teammate Nick Punto.
Schumaker said he has not yet discussed his potential role on the team with manager Don Mattingly and general manager Ned Colletti, but he expects that he’ll serve as the team’s fourth outfielder and backup second baseman.
“I just feel like there might be a more defined role, which is what you’re looking for,” Schumaker said. “You don’t want to go in and not know where you fit, and I think that’s where I was in St. Louis.”
Schumaker ends his Cardinals career with a .288 batting average, .345 on-base percentage and 211 RBIs in 810 games. He’ll face his former club for the first time during a three-game series in Los Angeles from May 24-26. The Dodgers then travel to St. Louis in early August.
Asked how he hopes to be remembered by those in St. Louis, Schumaker offered the following:
“I knew my role, and I never got away from that,” he said. “I felt like I was a team player and did everything the organization asked. I never complained. I did what was asked and did whatever I could to help the team win. That’s it. And that’s all I should be remembered for. I don’t think people are going to miss me too much, but I hope I was a good teammate.”
December 18, 2012 |
ST. LOUIS — Desiring to add a versatile right-handed hitting veteran player to the 2013 club, the Cardinals found a fit in Ty Wigginton, whom the club signed to a two-year contract on Friday. The club made the signing official after Wigginton traveled to St. Louis to undergo a team physical.
Wigginton, 35, has played all four infield positions and both corner-outfield spots during his 11-year career, which began with the Mets in 2002. Most recently, his playing time has come primarily as a corner infielder/outfielder. He spent the 2012 season in Philadelphia, where he hit .235 with 11 homers and 43 RBIs in 360 plate appearances.
“Whenever I played St. Louis, I’ve always respected the way they played the game and how they went about playing their game,” Wigginton said on Friday, shortly before boarding a flight back to his home in North Carolina. “Obviously, all the winning over the years in St. Louis makes this a special place.”
Wigginton said he weighed offers from about four teams before settling on signing with the Cardinals, who contacted him early in the free-agent process and maintained a dialogue throughout.
The addition of Wigginton will give the Cards’ bench both some experience and a right-handed bat with power potential. Both were areas in which the club was deficient last season, as Shane Robinson and Tony Cruz were the team’s best right-handed hitting options off the bench for the majority of the campaign.
General manager John Mozeliak entered the offseason specific in noting his intentions to upgrade the bench with a right-handed bat.
Wigginton’s career has taken him to New York (2002-04), Pittsburgh (04-05), Tampa Bay (06-07), Houston (07-08), Baltimore (09-10), Colorado (’11) and Philadelphia en route to St. Louis. He has finished with at least 15 home runs in six different seasons and has a career .263 batting average.
As a pinch-hitter, Wigginton went 5-for-33 with three RBIs in 2012. Over his career, he has a .233 batting average in 103 pinch-hit opportunities.
“Early in my career when I pinch-hit, it was usually because I had an off-day,” Wigginton said. “But last year, more than anything, I started to realize it’s kind of a fun, new challenge. I look forward to that challenge and getting better at it.”
December 13, 2012 |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In a Winter Meetings week where free agency’s biggest chips didn’t fall and several clubs committed significant dollars to players falling in the middle tier, the Cardinals stayed removed from the headlines and maintained a narrow focus.
The team’s primary objective upon arriving in Nashville was to find left-handed help for the bullpen. Club officials departed on Thursday having achieved that by securing the services of Randy Choate, who was added to the roster last Friday after passing a physical in St. Louis.
“As a group, we talk about remaining disciplined and staying true to our process,” general manager John Mozeliak said. “In this environment, some irrational thinking happens. That’s the problem of these Meetings — sometimes it’s because you get the ping-pong effect. There are 30 teams under one roof, and things escalate rather quickly.”
The Cardinals’ early read on the free-agent market was that the available lefty relievers would be snatched up fairly quickly. Knowing there would be competition in the thin market, the Cardinals were willing to offer Choate a three-year deal.
St. Louis also laid the groundwork for possible upcoming offseason transactions. The team still intends to improve its bench by adding a veteran right-handed bat, though it may take several more weeks for the club to find the right fit. There’s also a strong chance a middle infielder will be added before Spring Training opens in February.
The team will continue to take offers for outfielder/second baseman Skip Schumaker, who has talked to the club about desiring the opportunity to receive regular playing time. With the composition of the Cardinals’ current roster, it doesn’t look like the opportunity will exist in St. Louis.
“What we’re trying to do is really just try to optimize the type of return we might get for him,” Mozeliak said of Schumaker. “If we can get Major League talent, we’ll definitely consider that. If we can’t find that, we will look for someone who can fit into our Minor League system.”
Here’s a recap of the organization’s activity in Nashville:
Deals done: The Cardinals reached a three-year, $7.5 million agreement with Choate last Wednesday and intend to make the signing official last Friday. The Cardinals already have an opening on their 40-man roster, so it will not be necessary to make a corresponding move in order to make the deal official.
St. Louis has also signed a pair of players — corner infielder/outfielder Jamie Romak and outfielder Justin Christian — to Minor League deals. Christian’s agreement includes an invite to participate in Major League camp next spring. Romak, who spent more than half of the 2012 season with the Cardinals’ Double-A affiliate, will compete for a Triple-A job. Christian has a strong chance to be a part of the Cardinals’ Triple-A starting outfield next season.
Rule 5 Draft activity: As expected, St. Louis did not make a selection in the Major League portion of the Rule 5 Draft. The club also did not lose any of its unprotected players in that round.
In the Triple-A portion of the Draft, the Cards plucked third baseman Matthew Cerda from the Cubs and left-handed pitcher Jay Voss from the Tigers’ organization. The club also lost catcher/first baseman Steven Hill to Oakland in that phase of the Draft. Hill, who appeared in nine games for the Cardinals in 2012, was taken off the team’s 40-man roster last month.
Cerda played 111 games in 2012, the majority of those with Chicago’s Double-A affiliate. He hit .241 and posted an on-base percentage of .374. Cerda, a fourth-round selection in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft, will compete with Jermaine Curtis for the organization’s Triple-A starting job at third base.
“He’s a good on-base-percentage guy, hits for average and is solid defensively,” said farm director John Vuch, who also noted that he was atop the team’s wish list in that portion of the Draft.
After a breakout season in 2011, Voss underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2012. The Cardinals have read encouraging reports about Voss’ rehab and expect that he’ll be ready to pitch shortly after the start of the season. Voss, a 25-year-old left-hander, will initially pitch out of the bullpen, though the Cardinals haven’t ruled out the possibility of eventually moving him into a starting role.
“Both of these guys have some upside that if it pans out, they could have a future,” Vuch said. “Right now we’ll see them in the Minor Leagues.”
Goals accomplished: In landing Choate, the Cards secured a lefty specialist for the bullpen. The club arrived at the Winter Meetings having set this as the primary goal, knowing that the market for lefty relievers was likely to dry up fast. Choate will join Marc Rzepczynski as a second lefty in the ‘pen and will give the Cards the traditional left-on-left specialist the team lacked in 2012.
Unfinished business: The club’s attention now turns to building its bench, which still could see the addition of a middle infielder and right-handed-hitting veteran this winter. Players fitting both of those roles remain on the team’s radar. The Cardinals may, however, wait a while before addressing their bench needs; by doing so, the club can wait for free agents who are currently seeking starting jobs to lower expectations as Spring Training nears.
The team is also still gauging outside interest in Schumaker, who appears likely to be dealt before the start of Spring Training.
Team’s bottom line: “While we feel good about how the last few days went, there’s still some work to be done. Honestly, we felt like we laid the groundwork to reach some of the things we need to. As we look to the next few weeks until Christmas, I certainly feel like we have a good picture of what’s going on in the landscape.” – Mozeliak
December 10, 2012 |
ByJenifer Langosch/MLB.com
ST. LOUIS — It was one year ago at this same Winter Meetings setting that Mike Matheny began his indoctrination. A somewhat surprise hire as Cardinals manager given the absence of previous experience, Matheny arrived at Dallas’ Hilton Anatole poised to soak in all that came with the new position.
With the Albert Pujols negotiations taking precedence, it turned out that Matheny hardly had an opportunity to leave the team’s hotel suite.
“Last year, the only outside air I saw was when I did my interview like this,” Matheny said as he began a 30-minute conversation with reporters on Tuesday. “Besides that, I was locked in my bedroom with the rest of the staff trying to go through a pretty monumental negotiation.”
History has documented the outcome of that negotiation, but Matheny can now look back on it as the first movement on the learning curve that he has experienced over the past 12 months. He arrived in Nashville on Monday no longer a rookie manager and without the detractors who questioned his readiness for the position.
For less than two months earlier, Matheny had guided an 88-win Cardinals team to within one win of a return to the World Series.
“My philosophy going into this is to not get in their way,” Matheny said. “I think, as we look back and see we were one win away from the [National League] pennant, that I must not have gotten them all the way. I think that’s the best evaluation I can give.”
Lessons were learned, though, and Matheny delineated some of them on Tuesday, having had enough time since the end of the postseason to appropriately reflect.
Matheny said he intends to be more deliberate in resting his team’s veteran position players, some of whom experienced physical breakdowns as the season progressed. It’s a group that, most notably, includes Rafael Furcal, Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday.
While Furcal was the only one of the bunch to actually land on the disabled list, Beltran and Holliday dealt with persistent nagging issues. Both still regularly lobbied to remain in the lineup, and Matheny, more often than not, obliged. That was especially the case late in the season when the team was making a run for the second NL Wild Card.
“As we saw, a couple of our guys really struggled and labored through some different periods of the season,” Matheny said. “I was riding them hard. I was pushing them hard. … I can see how it did wear on them, and there’s a fine balance there. Even as a player, you go through the same thing. You just want to play. There’s a time for a manager to step in and do the right thing, which can help make an investment into the future of the season and that they’ll finish as strong as they start.”
Matheny may get a second go at a second-base competition, too, next season, depending upon what (if any) additions the Cardinals make this winter that could shake up the outlook of that position. Matheny employed a second-base rotation of Tyler Greene, Daniel Descalso and Skip Schumaker for much of 2012, not settling on a regular until late in the year.
Descalso, along with Matt Carpenter, Kolten Wong and Pete Kozma, could be in the mix for playing time at second next year. Assuming that Furcal does not experience any health setbacks, second base is set to be the only position of question heading into Spring Training.
“We have some very viable candidates, and we just go give these guys opportunities without drawing up conclusions at the beginning, especially right now in the Winter Meetings,” Matheny said. “There are opportunities. We’re going to give opportunities to all the players and just see how the pieces come together.”
The priority when it comes to filling that position will be on the defensive end, Matheny said, given how many offensive pieces the Cardinals have in place elsewhere.
The key then is finding a way to ensure better overall consistency from the rest of the offensive unit. Despite placing near the top of the NL in several offensive categories, the Cardinals experienced several prolonged offensive outages, which hampered the team’s ability to get on many extended winning streaks.
“Believe me, we stayed up nights at times trying to figure it out when we saw an offense throw 15 runs up and then go three games in a row without scoring a run,” Matheny said. “It’s frustrating. It’s frustrating for them. It’s frustrating for our staff. It’s frustrating for our fans.
“But what we do is we watch the control variables their effort, the scouting report, what they’re doing to prepare. All that’s in place, we know we’ve covered our bases. There’s human error in this thing. That’s how it works. It’s a hard game. No one needs to remind me how tough hitting is. But I know our guys believe, as I believe, we’re better than what we showed all the time.”
December 6, 2012 |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Expecting an already limited market for left-handed relievers to thin even further by the end of the Winter Meetings, general manager John Mozeliak made his move on Wednesday.
With their first dip into free-agent activity this offseason, the Cardinals reached an agreement with left-hander Randy Choate. The southpaw, 37, will receive a three-year, $7.5 million contract after he passes a physical, which is scheduled for Friday in St. Louis. The organization is delaying comment about the deal until after it becomes official.
St. Louis has few holes to fill on its roster before 2013, but finding a second southpaw to join Marc Rzepczynski in the bullpen was among the team’s top priorities. The Cards were eyeing a specific sort of lefty, too, one who could fill a lefty-on-lefty specialist role.
Choate fit that bill better than any other available southpaw reliever, including Sean Burnett, who doesn’t profile so much as a lefty specialist. Though the Cardinals did meet with agents representing other lefty relievers, Choate was the team’s target from the start.
Choate will be 40 by the time this contract expires, but he also will not be putting the innings load on his arm that most relievers do over the course of the season. Choate made 80 appearances in 2012, which he split between the Marlins and Dodgers, but tossed only 38 2/3 innings because of how he was used.
Choate limited left-handers to a .158 batting average last year, and over the course of his 12-year career, left-handed hitters have batted .201 off him. By using Choate almost exclusively against left-handed hitters, the Cards will free up Rzepczynski to be a more flexible middle-innings option. Edward Mujica and Mitchell Boggs will remain in setup roles ahead of closer Jason Motte.
With the bullpen now settled, the Cardinals can turn their attention to the bench, which still needs to be pieced together. While St. Louis is unlikely to pull off a trade or sign another free agent before departing Nashville on Thursday, groundwork has been laid for future transactions.
Having vetted the available bench options, Mozeliak said it’s more likely the organization will upgrade through signing additional free agents rather than making a trade, though the latter option hasn’t been entirely dismissed. By waiting until deeper in the offseason, the Cardinals expect that players who are currently seeking starting opportunities will eventually reduce those demands.
St. Louis, which can’t make such everyday promises to position players, can then jump into the mix when expectations change.
“I think the one thing you have to remember is there is going to be opportunity to still add to your club in January,” Mozeliak said. “In no way do we feel we have to have our club set by the time we leave Nashville.”
The Cardinals would like to add a veteran right-handed hitter and could boost the team’s outfield depth with such an addition. The organization also remains interested in adding to its middle-infield options. As the Cards look to address their bench, they’re also mindful of personality.
With the club having already lost the affable Lance Berkman and likely to trade popular clubhouse figure Skip Schumaker, the Cardinals will seek bench players who can also contribute in the clubhouse environment.
One avenue through which the Cards are not likely to add is in today’s Rule 5 Draft. Mozeliak projected the Cardinals’ involvement in the Rule 5 Draft as “unlikely” until the Minor League portions of it. The Cardinals do have one opening on their 40-man roster if they were to choose to make a selection.
December 4, 2012 |
ByJenifer Langosch/MLB.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With no need or desire to go after this winter’s top crop of available free agents, the Cardinals remained under the radar during a relatively quiet Day 1 at the Winter Meetings on Monday.
General manager John Mozeliak and the team’s baseball operations department descended upon the Music City late Sunday night with their priorities clearly outlined. The team still seeks a left-handed reliever and expects to know before everyone scatters on Thursday whether the free-agent market is going to be the best place to address that need.
Improving the club’s middle-infield depth and finding a veteran right-handed hitter remains objectives, as well.
In speaking to reporters from his suite late Monday afternoon, Mozeliak said that he believes “this week will help bring some conclusions” in terms of the left-handed relief market.
Sean Burnett remains the most attractive available lefty reliever, though a hesitancy to commit too heavily to him in terms of dollars and years could preclude the Cardinals from making a serious run. Asked about the possibility of handing out a multi-year deal to a reliever, Mozeliak said it’s still too early to determine if the Cards will move in such a direction.
The ascension of young lefties Sam Freeman and Kevin Siegrist might not make such a long-term commitment necessary.
Free-agent relievers, in general, have done well already this offseason. Jeremy Affeldt and Jonathan Broxton are among those who positioned themselves to receive lucrative, multi-year deals. Even Joakim Soria, who missed all of the 2012 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, is reportedly close to finalizing a two-year deal with the Rangers.
The Cardinals understand how all of these multi-year contracts have had a trickle-down effect on the rest of the market.
“Clearly, the market is moving a little bit, and how you adjust is obviously critical if you’re going to get deals done,” Mozeliak said. “We’re aware of it. We recognize it. I think as the next few days unfold, we’ll see if we can be players in it.”
The shortage of free-agent lefty relievers has prompted the Cards to look at trade options. The club will not, however, pay too steep price (i.e. give up one of its top young pitchers) in order to secure one.
As the Cardinals work to construct their bench, they do so with an eye on another middle infielder and a veteran bat, preferably a right-handed one.
“We do think that would be a good complement for our club,” Mozeliak said of adding a right-handed hitter. “Clearly our bench last year was young, so if we could find that veteran presence to hit from the right side, I do think it would make sense for us.”
Mozeliak was asked if there was a preference on what position such a bench player would fill.
“Obviously, the more positions a player can play, the more flexibility he gives to the manager,” he responded. “That’s desirable. But I think the more critical part is the late-inning bat off the bench.”
Mozeliak took questions on several other topics Monday, including the following:
He downplayed any expectation that he would meet with Steve Hammond, Adam Wainwright’s agent, during the Winter Meetings to discuss a contract extension for the right-hander.
“This week,” Mozeliak said, “I think is going to be more focused in additions to the roster than discussing anything in terms of contract extensions.”
Wainwright’s current contract runs only through 2013, and there seems to be mutual interest to get an extension finalized before the righty would become a free agent.
Asked if the organization’s young pitching had been attracting interest from other clubs, Mozeliak laughed. “Quite a bit,” he said. And while the Cardinals are not looking to deal from that particular position of strength, Mozeliak said the team would consider any offer if it’s at a fair price.
“But,” he added, “I just think the ask on some of this is not logical for us. Candidly, I like our depth with the pitching. I think it’s a good place to be. If there was something that made sense for us that could address a need that we couldn’t address through what we’re currently exploring, then that’s different.”
While utiltyman Skip Schumaker has not formally requested a trade from the Cardinals, Schumaker’s agent, Nez Balelo, has spoken with Mozeliak about “looking for perhaps a better place to get more opportunity.” Schumaker is set to earn $1.5 million next year.
If he stays, Schumaker would provide a versatile bat off the bench. The Cardinals do not, however, plan to consider using Schumaker as an everyday second baseman. Schumaker’s playing time diminished substantially during the second half of the 2012 season, after the club increased Daniel Descalso’s exposure at second base.
December 3, 2012 |
ST. LOUIS — A year after arriving at the Winter Meetings under the glare of the national spotlight, the Cardinals will travel to Nashville, Tenn., for this week’s Winter Meetings with a much more modest list of goals.
Gone is the urgency of negotiating with a superstar. In its place is the much more manageable task of finding complementary pieces for a ballclub that is retaining most of its 2012 core. In particular, that means finding left-handed relief help, boosting the bench and fortifying the middle infield.
“It’s a far different landscape,” general manager John Mozeliak said, “than a year ago.”
The Cardinals’ offseason activity thus far has been mostly administrative, tweaking the 40-man roster and officially parting ways with the club’s only two free agents — Lance Berkman and Kyle Lohse. Aside from signing Rob Johnson to a Minor League deal, the Cards have not been involved in any signings.
There is little indication, too, that any additional impact additions are on the horizon, even though Mozeliak confirmed that conversations are ongoing regarding several players. With many key offseason transaction dates falling earlier this year due to changes made in last year’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, the chance for a flurry of Winter Meetings activity is increased.
Finding a second lefty reliever to join Marc Rzepczynski in the bullpen will not be easy given the available list of free agents. With Jeremy Affeldt already off the board, remaining left-handed options include Sean Burnett, Randy Choate, Michael Gonzalez, J.P. Howell, George Sherrill and Will Ohman. It’s a mostly underwhelming group through which to sift.
The weakness of the market could force the Cardinals into looking elsewhere to fill such a hole.
“I think we knew going in that the lefty relief market wasn’t a great place to be shopping, just in the sense that there’s not a lot out there,” Mozeliak said. “As we look at a lot of our options, it may come from a trade. [We are] still interested in finding one, though.”
With the organization confident in Rafael Furcal’s ongoing recovery from an elbow injury, the need to find another shortstop has diminished. As a result, the Cardinals can instead focus their efforts on finding an infielder who could play either middle-infield spot. This would increase the club’s depth at both positions.
“That’s still something that we’re kicking around,” Mozeliak said in regards to focusing attention in that area.
The Cardinals’ bench can be fortified without having to spend significant dollars. Adding a right-handed hitter with some power would be ideal given the makeup of the club’s current roster.
St. Louis has enough flexibility within its payroll to be able to add all such pieces, since no high-cost additions are needed. Though the club eliminated close to $24 million by letting go of Lohse and Berkman, it will take on a comparable amount of salary by accounting for raises due through other contract increases and the arbitration process.
In the end, the team’s payroll will likely total somewhere near the $110 million figure.
The Cardinals could very well spend four days at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville this week without making any sort of splash. But with baseball executives and agents all under one roof for several days, there will certainly be discussions and potential groundwork laid.
The Winter Meetings will close on Dec. 6 with the Rule 5 Draft. In order to select a player in that Draft, the Cardinals will have to keep a spot open on their 40-man roster. Currently, the club has 39 players on its roster.
December 2, 2012 |
ByMatthew Leach/MLB.com
In three years as a coach, Mark McGwire has achieved something he long wanted: he’s just a guy doing his best to help the team win. McGwire does his work — quite successfully the past two seasons — and stays out of the spotlight.
Even with a move from St. Louis to Los Angeles, the famously private McGwire is no longer a star attraction for reporters. He was a huge story when he was hired by the Cardinals prior to the 2010 season, but with each passing year his profile has lowered.
That McGwire made the move from the place where he is most beloved tells a lot about the former slugger. McGwire, now the Dodgers’ hitting coach, chose to be close to his family rather than remain in Cardinals country, where he remains an icon.
McGwire’s lower profile as a coach coincides with him no longer being the near lock for enshrinement in Cooperstown that he appeared to be 10 years ago. Then again, he’s also no longer the lightning rod that he was two years ago after admitting to steroid use.
These days, the iconic slugger is one of many names under consideration, so far receiving more than enough support to stay on the ballot but not enough to put himself in the picture for future induction. Entering his seventh year on the Hall of Fame ballot, the question is whether McGwire will start the kind of climb that could get him into the Hall by the time his allotted 15 years on the ballot are up.
McGwire, who retired as the No. 5 home run hitter of all time (he’s now 10th), looked like he could be headed for Cooperstown immortality when he called it a career following the 2001 season. Since then, the subject of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball became a front-burner issue, and McGwire was the first casualty in Hall of Fame voting.
When McGwire returned to the game to be the Cardinals’ hitting coach in 2010, he repeatedly apologized for his use of steroids. Although some argued that he didn’t go far enough, McGwire came forward in a way that few of his contemporaries have. And yet he stepped backward, rather than forward, in the voting.
The 2011 results — the first after his public admission — saw McGwire receive a lower vote total and vote percentage than in any of his previous years on the ballot. McGwire received 115 votes, 19.8 of the electorate, after holding steady at 21 percent or more in his first four years. He dropped slightly again in 2012, to 112 votes, good for 19.5 percent. That was the 10th-highest total among last year’s candidates.
His first time around, “Big Mac” was named on 23.5 percent of ballots, ranking ninth among all candidates. McGwire’s second year on the ballot, 2008, saw virtually the same result. Once again he finished ninth in the balloting. He received 128 votes, or 23.6 percent.
In McGwire’s third year as a candidate, his vote total and percentage both dropped, but he bounced back. In the 2010 balloting, McGwire once again returned to exactly 128 votes, which this time was good for 23.7 percent of the vote. Then he dropped off in ’11, and a little more in 2012.
A candidate must receive 75 percent of the vote from eligible Baseball Writers’ Association of America members to gain election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Barry Larkin was the only BBWAA inductee in 2012, receiving 86.4 percent of the vote. Jack Morris (66.7 percent in 2012), Jeff Bagwell (56.0 percent) and Lee Smith (50.6 percent) are the top returning vote-getters from last year’s ballot.
The odds for McGwire grow longer in 2013 because of an influx of prominent names on the ballot. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Craig Biggio, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa and Mike Piazza all are on the ballot for the first time. Voters are permitted to support no more than 10 players, so the addition of qualified candidates affects the vote totals of holdover players.
During his playing career, McGwire admitted taking androstenedione, a steroid precursor, but nothing stiffer than that. In January 2010, he stepped forward, admitting to steroid use and apologizing for it. McGwire staunchly maintained that his statistics were not inflated by his use of the drugs, but his contrition was hard to miss.
“I wanted to talk about this five years ago, but I wasn’t in position to do it,” McGwire said after his nationally televised admission. “I think everybody that’s a human being has held something in that they wanted to release for quite some time. … I’m ready to turn the page and move on with my life. It’s something that I totally regret. I can’t say that I’m sorry enough to everybody in baseball and across America, whoever watches this great game.”
As a player, McGwire was a true offensive force and, perhaps, an under-appreciated fielder. He was a 12-time All-Star, a Gold Glove winner in 1990 and he finished in the top 10 in Most Valuable Player balloting five times.
He ranks eighth all-time in slugging percentage, 10th in home runs and first in at-bats per home run. McGwire played on six playoff teams, three pennant winners and the 1989 World Series-champion A’s. His .263 career batting average argues against induction, but by most other numbers, his was indisputably a Hall of Fame career.
“For me, there isn’t anything that’s changed about, No. 1, how much I believe in him, and No. 2, what that means as far as his career and his production and some of the historic things he did,” said Tony La Russa, who managed McGwire in both Oakland and St. Louis. “I’m hoping that he gets that honor sooner rather than later.”
When McGwire made his full-season debut in 1987 for a young and emerging Oakland team, he was a phenomenon, hitting 49 homers, most of them mammoth and majestic. He drew 71 walks, showing the strike-zone judgment that would be nearly as much a part of his profile as his power. And he did while playing his home games in a brutal hitter’s ballpark several years before the offensive explosion of the 1990s.
McGwire followed that up with 32, 33 and 39 homers for the pennant-winners from 1988-90, then struggled badly in ’91. A rebound brought 42 homers in ’92, but McGwire battled injuries throughout ’93 and ’94.
When McGwire returned healthy in 1995, though, he was a force like never before. He hit for a higher average than he had in the past. He drew even more walks. And he hit homers at a rate even he hadn’t previously managed. From 1995-2000 — his last really effective season — McGwire went deep 316 times, an average of once every 8.06 at-bats.
McGwire was a dominating force in the lineup until injuries finally took him down. He struggled through 2001 before hanging it up at age 38.
