The Cardinals organization roster matrix: regular season


Welcome to the refreshed St. Louis Cardinals roster matrix published to celebrate the start of the regular season for the major league club and the four full-season affiliates.

The initial versions of those four minor league rosters, Memphis, Springfield, Palm Beach and Quad Cities, are complete. Also included are injured and suspended players as well as those granted personal leave.

All of the invitees to Extended Spring Training camp are included together, a group that currently sits at 78 players with five more scheduled to arrive next month. The three US-based short-season rosters, for Batavia, Johnson City and the Gulf Coast League Cardinals, are left blank for the time being.

Come June, those clubs will be populated from the EST standouts as well as 2009 draftees and free agent signings. I will keep this roster matrix updated between now and then and then republish another fresh version once the short-season rosters are announced.

Most of the remainder of the EST players will return to the Dominican and Venezuelan Summer Leagues. The additional 62 players on the DSL and VSL rosters not invited to the US are listed below in their most recent league assignments.

All told, the organization currently has 282 players under contract, from St. Louis down through the Venezuelan Summer League Cardinals.

Like everything here at The Cardinal Nation, the matrix is provided at no charge. That doesn’t mean it didn’t take a lot of work to create and maintain. Please be respectful and link back here if you want to reference the matrix rather than copying it elsewhere.

Remember, this Roster Matrix can always be accessed in several ways. You can enter the term “roster matrix” in the blue search box in the upper right of the site or access this information through the top red menu bar under “Players/Staff” > “Depth Charts/Roster Matrix”.

Update 4/10: RHP Andres Rosales promoted from EST to QC to replace suspended Deryk Hooker

Update 4/13: 2B Oliver Marmol placed on Palm Beach DL, Jose Garcia promoted from EST to Palm Beach. Mark Hamilton activated by Springfield from EST, Brandon Buckman placed on the Springfield DL.

Update 4/15: Chris Carpenter to 15-day DL, Brad Thompson optioned to Memphis. Chris Perez and Mitchell Boggs promoted from Memphis to StL.

Update 4/16: LHR Royce Ring activated from Memphis 7-day DL.

Update 4/17: RHS P.J. Walters from Memphis to StL, RHR Josh Kinney optioned out. 2B Aaron Luna to Quad Cities DL, C Blake Murphy activated.

Update 4/20: OF Brian Barton traded to Atlanta for RHR Blaine Boyer.

Update 4/21: 3B David Freese optioned to Memphis to make room for Boyer in StL.

Update 4/23: RHR Kenny Maiques assigned to Extended Spring Training from Springfield. Eddie Degerman activated from PB DL to Springfield. OF Paul Cruz to Quad Cities DL. 2B Brett Lilley promoted to QC from EST.

Update 4/24: OF Amaury Marti injured (Oaxaca Guerreros of the Mexican League. LHP Katsuhiko Maekawa placed on Memphis 7-day DL.

Update 4/25: Acquired LHP Evan MacLane from Triple-A Reno (Arizona). Assigned to Triple-A Memphis. 282 players under contract.

Update 4/27: LHS Ryan Kulik promoted from PB to Spr as LHS Justin Fiske placed on DL. RHS Scott Gorgen promoted from Extended Spring Training.

Update 4/30: IF Brendan Ryan placed on StL 15-day DL. Tyler Greene promoted to StL from Memphis. OF Paul Cruz activated from DL by QC. C Blake Murphy returned to QC DL. Marco Gonzalez from Mem to Spr with Donovan Solano going the other way. OF Shane Robinson placed on Memphis DL with C Brandon Yarbrough and RHR Fernando Salas activated. SS Pete Kozma from PB to Spr. Kyle Mura to Spr DL. Trey Hearne into Spr rotation for Mura.

Update 5/1: IF Domnit Bolivar from QC to PB. IF Guillermo Toribio from EST to QC.

Update 5/2: LHP Jonny Bravo from EST to QC. RHP Chuckie Fick from QC to PB. RHP Lance Lynn from PB to Spr. Elvis Hernandez to Spr DL. PB ends tandem rotation with Mark Diapoules and Shaun Garceau to the bullpen.

Update 5/3: 1B Matt Arburr activated by PB. OF Charlie Kingrey released. New total 281.

Update 5/4: RHP P.J. Walters optioned to Mem with RHP Brad Thompson promoted to StL.

Update 5/5: 1B Brandon Buckman released from Spr. RHR Marco Gonzalez to Spr DL. LHP Joe Williams signed and added to Spr. OF Shane Robinson off Mem DL with 2B Jarrett Hoffpauir on.

Update 5/7: OF Rick Ankiel placed on the 15-day DL (likely effective 5/5). OF Shane Robinson added to 40-man roster and promoted from Memphis.

Update 5/8: IF Mike Folli from Spr to Mem. OF Brian Buck released from QC, replaced by Frederick Parejo from EST. LHP George Brown sent from QC to EST, replaced by RHP Josh Wilson. RHP Marco Gonzalez activated by Spr with LHP Kristhiam Linares onto Spr DL. QC moves Andres Rosales and Miguel Tapia to bullpen. New total 280.

Update 5/9: OF Alexander Castellano to VSL from DSL. C Jesus Montero to DSL from VSL. RHPs David Brito and Carlos Noguera released from EST. New total 278.

Update 5/12: IF Brendan Ryan assigned to Mem on rehab. RHP Kyle Mura activated by Spr. Ps Carlos Gonzalez, Jose Penaloza, Adam Prange and Senger Peralta released from EST. New total 274.

Update 5/13: OF Ryan Ludwick placed on StL DL, OF Nick Stavinoha recalled from Mem. OF Jarred Bogany from EST to Quad Cities, with OF Ryde Rodriguez going from QC to EST. LHP Ian Ostlund to Mem DL.

Update 5/14: OF Joe Mather to Mem DL. 2B Jarrett Hoffpauir and LHP Katsuhiko Maekawa activated from Mem DL. 1B Javier Brito signed for Mem as minor league free agent. New total 275.

Update 5/15: Spr 1B/OF Andrew Brown placed on DL. 1B Curt Smith from PB to Spr. OF Chris Swauger from QC to PB. OF Travis Mitchell from EST to QC. RP Kenny Maiques transferred from EST to Spr and suspended 50 games. RHP Mitchell Boggs from StL to Mem, with IF Brendan Ryan activated from Mem rehab.

Update 5/16: Mem 3B David Freese to DL. 3B Brett Wallace from Spr to Mem. Amaury Cazana activated from DL in Mexico.

Update 5/18: IF Mike Folli returned to Spr from Mem.

The St. Louis Cardinals Roster Matrix (effective 05/18/09)

St. Louis (25+5) 40-man (39)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Carpenter (i)
Franklin LaRue Pujols Schumaker K Greene Glaus (i) Ankiel (i)
Lohse Thompson
Molina Thurston Ryan

Duncan
Pineiro McClellan Barden Ludwick (i)
Wainwright Motte (4) T Greene (16) Rasmus (1)
Wellemeyer C Perez Robinson (27)
Ja Garcia (9iL) Miller (L) Stavinoha (35)

Reyes (L)
Boyer
Memphis (24+4)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Walters (17)
Todd (7) Anderson (3) Brito
Hoffpauir
Solano Craig (18) Jay (12)
Hawksworth Kinney (20)
Pagnozzi Rowlett Freese (5i) Shorey
Mortensen (11) Salas (31) Yarbrough Wallace (2) Mather (i)
Parisi (i) Scherer
Ottavino (15) Ring (L)
MacLane (L) Maekawa (L)
Boggs (10) Ostlund (iL)
Manning (L)
Others (1)
Cazana 
(Mexico)
Springfield (24+8)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Dickson E Hernandez (i) Hill (34) A Brown (i) Descalso Kozma (8) Folli Jones (6)
Herron (25) M Gonzalez T Cruz (36) Hamilton Jo Martinez (37ti) Rapoport
Hearne Degerman C Smith (40) Ant. DeJesus
Fiske (iL) Parise Henley
Lynn (14) Samuel (21)
Kulik (L) McCormick (i)
Dew (i)
Norrick (L)
Linares (iL)
Furnish (L)
Williams (L)
Mura
Maiques (susp)
Palm Beach (25+1)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Broderick Sanchez Derba Rivera Marmol (i) Sedbrook Curtis Chambers
R Castillo (19) Eager Vazquez Arburr Jo Garcia Bolivar Pham
Additon (26L) King Peterson
Gorgen (22) Reifer (24) Swauger
Kopp (28) Freeman (L)
Diapoules
Garceau (29)
Fick
Quad Cities (25+4)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Daley, Jr. T4 Carpenter Cutler Morales Luna (39i) Vasquez (13) Parejo
Bravo (L) T3 Delgado Espinoza A Castellanos Toribio Edwards (23)
Hooker (32 susp) Mulligan Murphy (i) Lilley P Cruz
J Wilson T3 Rosales Bogany
McGregor T2 M Tapia Mitchell
Nieto T2
Cardenas (L) T1
Thomas T1
Veres T4
Bradford (i)
Ext. Spring (63)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
A Cruz A Castillo A Perez D Medina Landin Alvarez Teran Babrick
Ang. De Jesus Castro Rigoli L Mateo Y Castillo R DeLaCruz (38)
Arredondo Buursma Cawley Scruggs Mambell Gomez
Blazek L DeLaCruz Mosquera Hage
Diaz Calero Moscatel Obregon Ingram
Fornataro Frevert Polanco R Ruiz Ja Martinez
Maertz Lara
Mayes
Javier Munoz R Rodriguez
Leach Orozco R Rosario
Ortiz Riportella
North Shepherd
Notti Pichardo Swinson
R Gonzalez
Rada Rondon
Richardson Russell
Rios Y Gonzalez
Santos
Zawacki J Castellanos (L)
G Brown (L) Siegrist (L)
A Ferrara (L)
EST (May 15) (5)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Estalis Alcala Valera Rivero
J Castillo (susp)
Batavia (TBD)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Johnson City (TBD)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
GCL (TBD)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
DSL (34)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
A Tapia Concepcion V Ferreira Pimentel Avila Cabrera H Martina
Franco E Rivera L Perez Hiraldo G Hernandez Villar Beras
Jimenez M Martinez Montero J Lopez Encarnacion
Pasen Pinard W Perez J Pena
Urena D Rodriguez (L) Martines
Herrera (L) Mercedes (L) Reyes
L Rosario (L) P Pena (L) Sandoval
Uribe (L) Taveras
VSL (26+1)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Avendano Cedeno R Perez M Marquez O Medina H Garcia Argenal
Bier F Marquez Rivas Vargas Yegues Cortez
Nieves Guzman Viloria Vivas (susp) Fonseca
Colorado (L) Oraa Velazco Inojoza
Weffer (L) R Alvarado A Castellano
Ramos
Solarte

The matrix: breaking the code

Players with injuries that led to a stint on the disabled list are noted with (i). The number in parentheses after each club’s name is the quantity of players assigned there. (ti) means the player is on the temporary inactive list. “susp” denotes players suspended.

The names of those on the 40-man roster are listed in BOLD.

After some names, you will see a number in parentheses. That denotes my personal ranking of the player in the annual Top 40 Cardinals Prospects voting at Scout.com. (At The Birdhouse, my individual scores as shown here were weighted one-fourth in determining the final Scout.com ranking.)

Paired members of the tandem starting rotations at Palm Beach and Quad Cities are denoted by “Tn”. Pairs are assigned “n” values 1 through 4 or 5 based on their initial assignment sequence.

When assigning positions, I put players in just one column. My attempt was to acknowledge where they are expected to play during the majority of the season.

To delineate the left-handed starters and relievers, I adopted the practice of placing the lefties at the end of the starters and relievers lists, designated by the letter (L).

Don’t read anything into the order of the names within any column, other than the LHPs at the end. They are generally presented alphabetically. The order has no correlation to playing time, duration on the roster or anything else.

This isn’t the final source on the spelling of players’ names. I have tried to remain consistent with what we use at Scout.com and what is designated at MiLB.com. Especially with the academy players, the information from the Cardinals themselves can even include mistakes.

Don’t forget the wealth of (free) information about each player that we maintain in the Scout.com player data base. It is too unwieldy to maintain every link to almost 300 player profiles directly from the matrix, but do keep using the Scout profiles as the source for additional information on individual players.

I will always designate the most current date when the matrix was last updated, but I am not necessarily planning to maintain a log of every transaction that occurs across the system all year, though I will keep the matrix current.

The good news is that I don’t have to document all the moves. UConnCard already does that over on the Scout.com message board. My goal will be to stay in sync with that list of moves visually. So remember the link to the transaction log, especially if/when detailed questions come up.


Link to previous matrix
: January – March, 2009