Category Archives: St. Louis Cardinals

Fan optimism slipping about Pujols’ Cardinals future

Over the past months, the contract situation of Albert Pujols, superstar first baseman of the St. Louis Cardinals, was front and center in baseball news. That is, it was dominating headlines until the player’s self-imposed February 16 negotiating deadline came and passed.

During that time, a series of related polls ran here at The Cardinal Nation Blog. Let’s take a look at what the readers had to say with their votes.

Not surprisingly, the fan view of when Pujols’ new contact will be signed slipped to the right over time. I first asked the question as 2010 ended, on New Year’s Eve, and again on Valentine’s Day.

Initially, the majority of the voters expected the club and player to come to terms before spring negotiations ended.

By February 14, the immediate optimism had waned. This polling date was still two days prior to Pujols’ deadline, but also before the free agent-to-be scored points with some by patiently answering media questions upon his arrival in camp and re-iterating his hope to remain with St. Louis.

Where/when will Pujols sign? 12/31/10 2/14/11 Change
With St. Louis prior to season 57% 18%
With St. Louis during season 3% 1%
With St. Louis after season 16% 41%
Total with St. Louis 76% 60% -16%
With another club 22% 34% 12%
No opinion/don’t know 2% 6% 4%

From the end of the year, reader confidence in Pujols returning to St. Louis in 2012 eroded from over 75 percent to just 60 percent. Three of every four changed votes shifted to an opposing club, while the fourth moved to “undecided.”

As of February 14, just over one-third of the voters believe Pujols is gone.

Another area of voting that attracted considerable interest was in setting the contract terms for what is viewed to be a winning upcoming fall offer by the Cardinals to Pujols.

Here are the results of the fan proposal with the leading percent of the vote for each element in parentheses:

  • Eight year guarantee (39%) with two additional option years to be vested (36%)
  • Average annual value of $26 million to $27 million (32%)
  • 10 or less percent of the total value deferred (35%)
  • Front-loaded (higher annual salary in early years) (56%)
  • Ownership stake upon retirement (49%)
  • Bonuses for games played and awards received (63%)

To create another point-in-time view of reader opinion, please share your opinion in the following three polls. New data points since last vote include the season-ending injury to Adam Wainwright and the trade speculation surrounding Chris Carpenter if the 2011 season collapses.

You can decide how much, if any, those two conditions matter before sharing your current prediction of what will happen with Pujols and when.

[poll id=”66″]

[poll id=”65″]

[poll id=”64″]

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Cardinals organization roster matrix: 2011 spring training

NOTE: This version of the roster matrix is no longer current. It reflects the 2011 spring training actions and should be considered a historical reference document. For the active roster matrix covering the 2011 regular season, click here.

With the hot stove season wrapped up and players reporting to camp, it is time for another refresh of the St. Louis Cardinals system roster matrix. This version will reflect all changes made from the start of 2011 spring training until the regular season gets underway. The previous matrix reflects the rosters at the conclusion of the 2010-11 off-season moves.

If you are new to the blog and not familiar with the Cardinals organization roster matrix, here is quick summary:

As the 2011 camp opened, the St. Louis Cardinals had 289 players under contract from top to bottom, including a full 40-man roster. The matrix places each one at his current assigned level in the system based on his placement at the end of last season as well as by position. It is kept updated daily or as transactions occur.

Nowhere else will you find this current and comprehensive single-page view of the entire Cardinals organization.

Don’t be concerned about the order of the players’ names within a team. They don’t signify anything other than often a rough approximation of alphabetical order.

The players remaining in major league camp, whether on the 40-man roster or as non-roster invitees, are called out in bold.

Full team rosters and player profiles at The Cardinal Nation

Remember that to get detailed profile information on every single one of these 289 Cardinals players, simply check out their free player profiles freshly updated now at The Cardinal Nation.com / Scout.com. You can see bios, photos, videos, articles, news items, links to current season and career stats and much more – everything you need to know about a player in one place.

Click on the following links to be taken to one of the nine team pages at The Cardinal Nation, updated for 2011:

Full-season clubs
St. Louis Cardinals
Memphis Redbirds
Springfield Cardinals
Palm Beach Cardinals
Quad Cities River Bandits

Short-season clubs
Batavia Muckdogs
Johnson City Cardinals
Gulf Coast League Cardinals
Dominican Summer League Cardinals

Once there, just click on a player’s name to be taken to his individual profile page. For example, here is Shelby Miller’s profile.

Looking ahead and back

Now that you’ve found this page once, remember one of three ways to get back here. Bookmark the page, type “Roster Matrix” in the dark blue search box at the upper right or use the dropdown menu at the top of the page: “Players/Staff” > “Depth Charts/Roster Matrix”.

For details behind past 2009 and 2010 rosters and transactions, check out the earlier versions of the Cardinals organization roster matrix as follows.

Link to previous matrices: Jan–March 2009, April 2009, May 2009, June 2009, July 2009-February 2010, Spring camp 2010, Opening season 2010, First half 2010, Short-season 2010, 2010-11 off-season

Notice this time, the organization of the matrix is a bit different as I am highlighting the 40-man roster, the major league camp non-roster invitees, then those selected for regular minor league spring training. The latter group remains in their final 2010 locations.

In the middle is a group of currently inactive and unassigned players.

Following that, we have the 2010 short-season players not invited to regular spring training, but likely ticketed for extended spring training which starts in April, and finally the Dominican Summer League roster, temporarily swelled by the demise of the Venezuelan Summer League Cardinals in 2011.

There will be a new roster matrix once the regular season begins.

Transactions

2/25: New matrix. Organization total 289.

3/6: Nine players to minor league camp: Ps Kevin Thomas, Scott McGregor, Shelby Miller, Cs Nick Derba, Steven Hill, Audry Perez, Robert Stock, IFs Donovan Solano, Zack Cox. 52 remain in MLB camp – bolded names.

3/11: Seven players to minor league camp: Ps Adam Reifer, Francisco Samuel, Mikael Cleto, P.J. Walters, Adam Ottavino, David Kopp and SS Pete Kozma. 45 remain in MLB camp – bolded names.

3/15: NRI RHP Ian Snell retired. 44 remain in MLB camp – bolded names. New system total: 288 players.

3/17: Four players to minor league camp: C Bryan Anderson, OF Adron Chambers, OF Amaury Cazana, IF Ramon Vazquez. 40 remain in MLB camp.

3/19: P’s Mark Diapoules and Houston Summers released. New total: 286 players.

3/21: Ten players to minor league camp: C Tony Cruz, IF Matt Carpenter, Mark Hamilton, OF Shane Robinson, Ps Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, John Gast, Raul Valdes and Blake King. 30 remain in MLB camp.

3/22: RP Josh Squatrito released. RHP Fidencio Flores signed. New total: 286 players.

3/24: Six released: IFs Jose Martinez, Devin Goodwin, OFs Antonio DeJesus, C.J. Beatty, Ps Nick McCully, Charllan Jimenez. New total: 280 players.

3/25: RHP Adam Wainwright placed onto 60-day disabled list.

3/26: OF Amaury Cazana loaned to Minatitlan of the Mexican League.

3/28: LHP George Brown released. OF Nick Stavinoha reassigned to Memphis. RHRs Eduardo Sanchez and Fernando Salas optioned out. Contract of RHR Miguel Batista purchased from Memphis.  IF Nick Punto to 15-day DL. (Not all transactions have officially been executed, but all have been announced.) MLB roster now at 25. New system-wide total: 279 players.

3/29: RHP Miguel Tapia and OF Ross Smith released. New organization total: 277 players.

3/30: LHP Sean Watson signed to minor league contract. New total: 278.

3/31: 1B Francisco Rivera released. New total: 277.

4/1: DSL RHP Luis Perdomo signed. New total: 278.

4/2: 1B Curt Smith and C Ivan Castro released. New total: 276.

4/3: RHPs Jason Novak and Thomas Eager to restricted list.

4/5: Name change: Eduard Estalis to Jose Almarante.

The St. Louis Cardinals Organization Roster Matrix (effective 04/05/11): bold = major league roster

40-man (39+1)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
C Carpenter Franklin Molina Pujols Schumaker Theriot Freese Holliday
Lohse McClellan Anderson Hamilton Descalso T Greene Punto (15DL)
 Berkman
Westbrook Boggs Laird

Kozma Cox
 Rasmus
Wainwright (60DL)
 Motte T Cruz



Jay
Ja Garcia (L) Tallet (L)




Craig
Walters T Miller (L)




Chambers
Cleto Salas





Kopp Sanchez





Samuel






Reifer






King





Augenstein
NRI (21)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Lynn Batista S Hill R Vazquez Solano
 Cazana (MX)
(Snell retired) Derba M Carpenter Robinson
Dickson Stock Stavinoha
Ottavino A Perez
Valdes (L)
Thomas
S Miller
Kelly
McGregor
Gast (L)
Early camp (19)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Blair Swagerty L DeLaCruz Adams R Jackson Pham
A Ferrara (L) Wright (L) Stanley L Mateo Luna
Rosenthal Reid Teran A Castellanos
Jenkins Longmire
C Martinez Taveras
Reg camp (124)
Memphis (6)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Fick Bynum Rapoport
Norrick (L)
Parise
Rundles
Springfield (21)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Additon (L) Delgado Cutler C Smith (released) Jo Martinez1 (released) Ramirez Curtis Ant. DeJesus (released)
Gorgen Eager (RL) A Brown Jo Garcia Swauger
Kulik (L) Buursma Scruggs Jones
Mijares (L) S Freeman (L) Henley
Frevert
Palm Beach (22)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Schneider Mulligan Espinoza Rivera (released) Bolivar N Vasquez Beatty (released)
G Brown (L released) Bradford Bogany
(Diapoules released) Rauschenberger R Rodriguez
Nieto Simpson Ingram
Ri Castillo M Tapia (released)
Zawacki Pichardo
Bittle
Hooker
Quad Cities (26)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Rondon Novak (RL) Castro (released) Goodwin (released) Ahmady Lara
Fornataro Calhoun (L) Stidham R Smith (released)
Bibona (L) J Smith Obregon Swinson
Cardenas (L) Corrigan Walsh R Rosario
Rada Parejo
Terry Conley
Blazek
Kiekhefer (L)
Greenwood (L)
Matos
Batavia (19)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Ju Edwards (L) Butler Klein V Sanchez Bergman Y Castillo J Rodriguez Biserta
Moss (Squatrito released) J Castillo Valaika O’Neill
McCully (released) (Summers released) Edmondson
Russell Lyons (L) Melker
Johnson City (25)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Copeland (L) Benes Tartamella D Medina S Rodriguez Elkins Cerreto S Ramos
H Hernamdez (L) Corpas G Garcia R DeLaCruz V Hill
Ang. De Jesus A Lucas R Ruiz Williams
Daugherty (L) Revesz (L) C Valera
C Johnson
Jimenez (released)
Siegrist (L)
Nadeau (L)
Whiting
GCL (3)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
R Martinez Moscatel Tuivailala
DSL (2)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Almarante Gil
Unassigned (3)
P P C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
M Harris (MIL) Patterson (RL) P Vasquez (RL)
EST (6)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Avendano A Garcia Rbto Reyes
Guzman
Nazario (L)
Watson (L)
GCL (22)
P 2010 P C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
B Martinez B Freeman (L) Montero Pimentel W Perez Martin H Garcia Bryant
A Castillo Aguilar Washington Vargas Dodd
Pasen J Lucas Vivas
Santana Mendoza
Uribe (L) M DeLaCruz (L)
Brand
Nuernberg
DSL (52+5)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
A Tapia A DeLaCruz (L) Baez Rblys Reyes Agustin B Hiraldo (RL) Araujo
Paulino A Gonzalez L Perez R Medina Capellan
S Lopez A Toribio Barbuena Celestino
F Gonzalez Ceballo Encarnacion
Perdomo Bautista J Pena
DeLeon Ro Castillo
DeLosSantos D Diaz
E Hiraldo
Segundo
JC DeLaCruz (RL)
P Pena (L RL)
D Rodriguez (L RL)
Rudecindo (RL)
F Flores
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
S Garcia Almeida Velazco B Valera Pina R Garcia Acevedo
Bier Canache J Gomez Argenal
Montanez I Brito Jo Martinez2
Villanueva (L) De Aguas (L)
Ulacio Escudero
Oraa Gerdel
Jh Polanco
Planchart
Solarte
Villegas

Codes
(DL): injured – on the disabled list
(TI): temporary inactive list
(SL): suspended list
(RL): restricted list
(MIL): military list
(TO): tryout player not under contract
(L) left-handed pitcher
bold: remaining in major league camp
(#+#) number of active players on the roster plus number of inactive/not under contract (DL+TI+SL+RL+MIL+TO) players

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Cardinals World Series odds slipping

Though I am a very casual bettor at best, as in two lottery tickets in a big year, I do keep an eye on what the oddsmakers are reflecting about the upcoming baseball season. It is also worthwhile to see change over time registered by those willing to invest their cash as it represents another measure of reaction to baseball events occurring around us.

Betting site thespread.com posts the 2011 World Series odds of all 30 teams. What makes their listing most interesting is they compare the current odds to what the opening odds were. While the site doesn’t indicate the date on which bets were first taken, it may have been shortly after the conclusion of the 2010 Series.

At opening, the St. Louis Cardinals were at 14/1, tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for fifth. Ahead of them were the usual suspects: the New York Yankees (4/1), Philadelphia Phillies (6/1), Boston Red Sox (10/1) and the World Series champion San Francisco Giants (10/1).

Since then, the Cardinals apparently were not as popular as expected among bettors as one is now able to secure 20/1 odds on them winning the 2011 Series. St. Louis is tied for sixth with the Rays and Minnesota Twins.

Top teams whose odds have trended in the other direction include the Phils (from 6/1 to a current-MLB best 13/4) and Red Sox (from 10/1 to 4/1).

What might have driven this change in the oddsmakers’ line on the 2011 Cardinals?

First of all, perhaps the initial placement of 14/1 was just too aggressive and didn’t attract enough play.

Another possibility is that their opponents were viewed to have improved more than they. The additions of Cliff Lee by the Phillies and Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford in Boston might help explain the shift in odds for those two front-running clubs.

Closer to home, the Milwaukee Brewers shot up from 65/1 to 25/1. The acquisitions of Zack Greinke and Shawn Marcum had to be a major driver. While the Cincinnati Reds stood relatively pat over the winter, their odds have eroded slightly from 20/1 to 25/1.

One other logical factor would be a view that the Cardinals themselves are considered less competitive today than earlier in the off-season. At first blush that would seem odd as their recent personnel changes are generally considered to be no worse than neutral and the club begins camp with an almost entirely healthy roster.

So what else might be behind it? Let’s see, what is the biggest story surrounding the 2011 Cardinals?

Might Albert Pujols’ contract situation and the resulting concerns about ongoing in-season distractions and their potential impact on the club’s on-field results be influencing the bettors?

Only those willing to lay down their money know for sure.

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Balancing top prospects and winning baseball

The recent signing of former Minnesota Twins infielder Nick Punto by the St. Louis Cardinals provided another reminder of the similarities between the two teams. They are both Midwest-located, good fundamental-playing, middle-market, well-run organizations that are typically Central Division contenders in their respective leagues.

I came across a news item that reminded me of one current difference, however. An article about the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings’ annual shareholders meeting held last weekend highlighted a dreadful 2010 season for both the Twins Triple-A and Double-A clubs. The two limped home with 49-95 and 44-98 records, respectively.

I do not profess to be an expert on the Twins organization nor want to pass judgment about their player development processes, but those records seem to indicate a shortage of talent and/or a lack of depth that inhibited them from fielding competitive teams at the upper levels of their system.

Still, coming into 2010, Baseball America had ranked the Twins seventh among the 30 MLB organizations. Apparently, their top talent is lower in the system and/or concentrated in a handful of individuals. In the new 2011 rankings that were recently introduced, Minnesota slipped a bit but still remains in BA’s top half, at number 14.

The Red Wings article points out how the Twins specifically targeted minor league free agents this winter, bringing 17 new players into the top ranks of their system in preparation for the 2011 season. The clear intention is to put a more competitive product on the field in Rochester and Double-A New Britain via an influx of minor league veterans.

St. Louis is a study in contrast.

Despite the Cardinals system having been ranked substantially lower than the Twins – 29th by BA one year ago and 24th this year – St. Louis’ top two minor league clubs not only posted winning records last season, but they also made the playoffs. While Minnesota’s top two clubs posted an aggregate .325 winning mark, Memphis and Springfield finished the 2010 regular season at a combined .549.

The Cardinals did it predominately with players they originally scouted and signed. Over the last five years, the organization has added fewer and fewer minor league free agents. Their current count for 2011 is just eight external signees, many to help shore up a depth exposure in the middle infield. Further, it seems a virtual certainty that at least two of the additions, Jim Edmonds and Miguel Batista, will never don a Memphis uniform.

Of course, it is important to distinguish between Triple-A and Double-A team won-loss records and an assessment of the level of top prospects across an entire minor league system. The former is more of a measure of quantity while the latter focuses on the quality of a relative few.

Still, all things considered, shouldn’t the Cardinals’ often-maligned player development function receive some credit for playing consistently good ball with rosters primarily filled with home-grown players?

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Still flipping out over Flip

In case you missed it, on Thursday, the Tampa Bay Rays announced the signing of free agent infielder Felipe Lopez to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training camp.

Like the vast majority of the seven free agents cast loose from the St. Louis Cardinals after the disappointing 2010 season, Lopez was apparently forced to accept a minor league deal if he wanted a job this coming season.

Of course, Lopez was different from the Jeff Suppans, Pedro Felizes and Randy Winns in that he didn’t actually survive until game 162 in 2010. Considered an attitude problem in the clubhouse and with diminished results on the field, Lopez was unceremoniously released on September 21.

The move appeared most unusual given that as an impending free agent, Lopez seemed to have value. His performance in 2009-10 according to the Elias formulas would deem him a Type B free agent.

The Cardinals apparently did not want to risk the possibility that Lopez might accept an offer of arbitration, which would lock him into a return to St. Louis in 2011. Without making that offer and a decline by Lopez, the Cardinals could not receive a compensatory pick for him. Rather take the chance by going down that path, instead the Cardinals cut their losses while cutting Lopez loose.

The Boston Red Sox understood the Type B opportunity and quickly added Lopez despite their playoff chances having already been dashed. Like the Cardinals, they were basically just playing out the remainder of a season that fell short of expectations.

The Sox played Lopez in four games and once the season was over, offered him arbitration. It isn’t known if Boston had a pre-agreement with Lopez not to accept, but either way, he didn’t. That meant Lopez was again a free agent.

Once a team signed Lopez to a major league contract for the upcoming season, the Red Sox would receive an extra 2011 draft pick between the first and second rounds.

That obviously didn’t happen.

Reactions from some in the Tampa Bay camp were as amusing as they are uninformed. One headline screamed, “Rays’ stick-it to Red Sox sign Felipe Lopez denying compensation”.

While emotions are high in Tampa due to the Rays losing star outfielder Carl Crawford to Boston as a free agent, the writer apparently let that anger get in the way of the facts. The author incorrectly believes the signing would have cost the Rays compensation except for “a loophole”.

The Rays didn’t stick it to anyone, other than perhaps themselves by adding Lopez to a new mix that already includes well-known slacker Manny Ramirez. There is no loophole. No matter what, the Rays would not have lost anything.

The reason they signed Lopez to a minor league contract is because he simply isn’t good enough to justify a major league deal. Had he been able to secure an MLB contract elsewhere, he would have been all over it. From his perspective, with camps starting in days, any job is better than none.

Again, the compensation Boston would have received had he signed a major league deal would have cost Tampa Bay, or any other signing club for that matter, absolutely nothing. All the low-risk bet cost the Red Sox was a couple of weeks of MLB-minimum salary for Lopez.

The Cardinals’ approach appears to have worked out just fine, having no missed opportunity by releasing Lopez when they did.

The real question to be asked is why in the world would the Rays want to commit to a major league salary and tie up a roster spot on a declining Lopez who will probably need some good fortune to make their MLB roster, whether a comp pick is involved or not?

It would make no sense whatsoever. It would also ruin the headlines.

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Catch Cardinals in the Caribbean Series

Starving for some live baseball action?

The Caribbean Series gets underway today, Wednesday, February 2. The annual tournament pits the winners of the winter leagues from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Mexico in a round-robin competition. Schedules include double-headers in each of the next six days from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico at 3:00 P.M. and 7:30 P.M Eastern.

The only two current St. Louis Cardinals players participating are left-handed pitcher Raul Valdes and infielder Ramon Vazquez, both of whom were signed over the winter to minor league contracts with spring training invitations.

Valdes, a native Cuban, is listed as the starter for the Dominican Republic in game one at 3:00 today, Wednesday, while Vazquez is on Puerto Rico’s preliminary roster and may be in the lineup for the 7:30 P.M. contest.

All games will be telecast by ESPN Deportes. Do not despair if the worldwide leader’s Spanish channel is not carried on your local cable system.

ESPN offers a feature called ESPN3, formerly called ESPN360. If your cable supplier is a participant in the program, and many are, you can sign up at no additional charge to see via your computer alternate ESPN programming not normally carried in your area. The Caribbean Series games are among the listed options, though telecast en Espanol. You can also view archived telecasts.

About ¼ of the way down this page is a link to the list of participating cable systems as well as instructions for signing up.

ESPN also has a very good website with series rosters, schedules and background information. While it is in Spanish, if you use Google toolbar, you can translate it into English with a single keystroke.

In addition, as always, for The Cardinal Nation subscribers, we will be breaking down the daily performances of Valdes, Vazquez as well as a number of ex-Cardinals competing in the Series.

Update: Gulf Coast League Cardinals catcher Kevin Moscatel was a late addition to the Venezuelan roster as their third catcher for the Series. It is a nice honor for the 19-year-old, who played briefly for Caribes earlier in the winter ball season.

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Photos from Cardinals Legends Camp

As in each January, the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals Legends Camp is being held at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida. The basic allure is that the average fan can participate in workouts, games and evening events alongside former Cardinals players.

This year’s camp is currently running, from January 26-30. According to its website, the event was a sell out despite the hefty price of $4495. or $5695. per camper.

Former Cardinals pitcher and FOX Sports Midwest broadcaster Ricky Horton is among the celebrity participants. Click on the link to see photos Horton has posted of the proceedings, which include a number of his 1980’s contemporaries.

Perhaps more will be added over the next few days of camp. Horton is also tweeting about the proceedings, so if you are interested, be sure to follow him on Twitter at RickyH49.

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Why do Pujols’ age questions persist?

A reminder that suspicions about Albert Pujols’ age remain, ten years after he first became a major leaguer.

Even before St. Louis Cardinals superstar first baseman Albert Pujols rocketed into national baseball prominence in 2001, questions ebbed and flowed about his age. Was he really born in January 1980 or was it earlier?

Now that as much as $300 million may be riding on his upcoming age 32-41 decade, the issue is slipping back into the forefront via the national media, albeit through the usual side door.

ESPN’s Rob Neyer most recently raised the subject via his very first answer in a Tuesday managed chat session, but as is customary in rumor reporting, the writer did not identify those whispering into his ear.

“Look, I’m going to say this now and maybe never again in this space, but … There are still some reasonably intelligent people with reasonable doubts about Pujols’ age. Just for the sake of argument, if he’s actually 33 or 34 would you give him eight years? Nine years? Ten?,” Neyer asked his worldwide audience.

It is only natural for some to wonder. After all, a number of players from the Dominican Republic have been caught with falsified ages and/or identifications. Perhaps the most recent high-profile example is infielder Miguel Tejada, who aged two years, ironically as the result of a 2008 ESPN investigation.

Prior to becoming the New York Mets’ new general manager earlier this winter, Sandy Alderson had been assigned to the Dominican by Major League Baseball specifically to try to stem the rising tide of age and identify fraud cases.

Pujols’ situation is a bit different in that he first came to the US as a teenager, at the age of 16. Before leaving the Dominican, he had been given a look by both the Florida Marlins and Oakland A’s, but was not signed. After a brief stop in New York, Pujols and his family moved to the Kansas City area, where he played two seasons of high school ball and one in community college before becoming a professional.

Back as early as the summer of 2003, even before Pujols signed his current eight-year contract that has one year remaining, there were tough questions – and strong reactions – about his alleged age.

Sports Illustrated ran a piece in July 2003 in which Pujols’ former coach Marty Kilgore of Maple Woods Community College lashed out at the accusations.

“Anything people want to check, go back to the Dominican Republic and pull what they can pull,” says Kilgore, who remains a close friend of Pujols’. “All I know is I’ve seen all the green cards and birth certificates — and his word is good enough for me.

“I’ve been dealing with this ever since he got here. You had parents and kids complaining, questioning his age. Jealousy. Because we got a big strong kid that can do something. He’s got an accent — they don’t understand him. Hell, nobody wanted him. Everybody wanted to hold him down. They still want to make an excuse for this guy being as great as he is.

“One of the greatest baseball players ever to put on a jockstrap and they don’t want to buy into it. What they don’t get is Albert’s life is so simple. He loves his wife [Deidre] and baseball. He doesn’t get sidetracked. If this kid stays healthy, in 15 years he can tell them all to go kiss his butt. Screw his age.”

Since then, exactly half of those 15 years, or 7 ½ years, have elapsed. Back to 2003…

Kilgore staunchly vouches for Pujols’ 23 candles.

“I mean 23 or 25, what difference does it make? But the fact is he’s 23,” says Kilgore. “What ticks me off is it’s a character issue. He takes it that way and I take it that way. This is a personal slam on what he says.”

Pujols’ high school coach, Dave Fry, and Phil Caldarella, a school district official and summer league coach, agree.

“I was around him every day at the school,” Caldarella says. “He may look like a man, but he was just a kid.”

Could these educators have been wrong? Could they have been duped? Were they not motivated to ask the tough questions?

Could Pujols have subsequently eluded post-9/11 crackdowns on foreigners’ paperwork? (He became a US citizen in 2007.)

With the reputations of so many sports heroes having been tarnished or destroyed, are people hopelessly conditioned to assume guilt before innocence?

Perhaps, but after ten years during which Pujols has had the highest possible visibility as baseball’s best player and given the segment of our society that elevates those who bring others down, by now would not have someone unearthed even a shred of evidence to validate the suspicions?

With the Cardinals and Pujols’ representatives getting into very serious, potentially record-breaking territory with the money in his new contract, wouldn’t Major League Baseball and the Cardinals especially, who have so much riding on this, have checked out Pujols’ background in every way imaginable?

Despite this, the unsubstantiated whispers continue, just as they first surfaced over a decade ago.

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[poll id=”48″]

[poll id=”49″]

Cardinals new dynamic ticket pricing plans set

The St. Louis Cardinals have selected the vendor for their new dynamic ticket pricing starting in 2011.

Back in November, the St. Louis Cardinals announced they would be joining the ranks of other teams across a number of professional sports using dynamic ticket pricing starting this coming season.

Anyone familiar with how airline seats are priced and sold already understands the basic concept – charge more when demand is high and drop prices when demand is lower.

The challenge for clubs is to make these changes quickly and in a manner most advantageous to maximizing profit. Of course, the team spins it as being a fan-friendly action. Thank God they are looking out for the peeps.

“Our number one goal is to provide our fans with the best values possible and fill the stands at Busch Stadium,” said Joe Strohm, Cardinals vice president of ticket sales.

New news on this front occurred on Thursday, when it was announced that both the Cardinals and Oakland A’s have selected their vendor to manage the process.

Qcue [kyoo kyoo] from Austin, Texas will be the provider of the “dynamic pricing engine” that will manage ticket prices for the 2011 season. The Cardinals are far from the first to hop onto this bandwagon, joining other teams from Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and NASCAR as Qcue clients.

Qcue’s algorithms adjust prices in real time as they monitor ticket demand. Conditions such as pitching matchups, weather, opponents, day of the week, sales to-date and other factors are taken into account. The software communicates directly with Tickets.com, MLB Advanced Media’s wholly-owned online ticket seller, allowing teams to change prices almost instantaneously.

According to stats on Qcue’s website, 40 percent of seats end up unsold while 10 percent of tickets are re-sold on the secondary market at an average of double the face value. Clubs see opportunity in cutting into each.

The Cardinals haven’t had problems selling tickets any time recently, though 2010 brought seemingly more specials than in the past. The team drew 3,301,218 to Busch Stadium last season, the fourth-highest attendance in Major League Baseball. It was the 14th time in franchise history and seventh straight season the team topped the three million mark.

The stakes are especially high for the Cardinals. Despite being in the 24th-largest metro market of 30, the team ranks in the top five in MLB in local revenues, according to team president Bill DeWitt III. That category includes food, beverage and of course, ticket sales.

During his Winter Warm-Up presentation, DeWitt noted that his club is more dependent on these local revenues than many others and announced the Cardinals are implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) system to enable them to track individual customer histories and target specialized initiatives.

MLB also has their fingers in the lucrative ticket resale segment of the market as they enter their fourth season of a five-year deal with EBay’s StubHub Inc. unit signed in 2007.  Season ticket holders looking to resell individual game tickets are assessed a fee equivalent to 15 percent of the sale price while buyers see 10 percent tacked onto their purchase. I suspect clubs have also used this avenue to move excess inventory. It is masked as Stubhub does not disclose sellers’ identities to buyers.

First and foremost is filling up the stadium the first time around.

“Qcue’s solution not only gives us greater day-to-day ticket pricing flexibility but also broadens the ticket-buying fan base, rewards fans for buying earlier in the season and protects season ticket holder value,” Strohm said.

I am not so sure about the assertion of rewarding early buyers, as ticket prices could just as easily go down for certain games as the season progresses.

The benefits of dynamic ticket pricing to the team is clear. For the customer, it is much less so.

Acquiring tickets is being turned into an investment-style guessing game for the prospective buyer. At any sporting event, like on an airplane, each person in a given row may have paid a different price for an identical seat, yet no one other than the ticket seller themselves know who got the best deal.

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Cardinals Winter Warm-Up Sunday and Monday photos

A repeat of the first day – with different photos, of course. St. Louis Cardinals player and executive photos from Sunday and Monday’s final two sessions of the 2011 Winter Warm-Up at St. Louis’ Hyatt Regency at the Arch.

Bill DeWitt, Jr., Ryan Franklin, Jaime Garcia, Matt Holliday, David Kopp, Kyle McClellan, Albert Pujols, Shelby Miller, Skip Schumaker, Ryan Theriot, Tony La Russa and Adam Wainwright are included in order below from Sunday. Monday photos include Allen Craig, Shane Robinson, Bill DeWitt III and John Vuch.

The Cardinal Nation subscribers should check out on the main site where I recapped comments from each of the above Sunday speakers. I did the same Saturday and for Monday as well. Full audio interviews will be posted in the upcoming days.

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Cardinals Winter Warm-Up Saturday player photos

The title says it all. St. Louis Cardinals player photos from Saturday’s first day of the 2011 Winter Warm-Up at St. Louis’ Hyatt Regency at the Arch. One coach and executive are also included.

Pictured in order: Lance Berkman, Chris Carpenter, Daniel Descalso, David Freese, Jon Jay, Kyle Lohse, Trever Miller, John Mozeliak, Jose Oquendo, Colby Rasmus, Nick Stavinoha, Brian Tallet and Jake Westbrook.

The Cardinal Nation subscribers should check out my log entry on the main site where I recapped comments from each of the above. I will do the same for Sunday and Monday as well. Full audio interviews will be posted in the upcoming days.

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Cardinals Caravan stop in Champaign

Our friend Josh Jones took his young son to see the Cardinals Caravan in Champaign, IL on Friday, January 14 and sent along these photos. Several of them were also from 2010 and I have updated that info below.

Our young reporter helps Kyle McClellan and Zack Cox sign

Fredbird meets his match

Bryan Anderson

Mitchell Boggs in 2010

Daniel Descalso in 2010

Steve Kline

Kerry Robinson

Lance Lynn last year

Matt Carpenter

McClellan and Cox

Colby Rasmus from 2010

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TCN blog reader top stories of 2010: Final voting

As suggested by you, the readers of this blog, this is the last in a series of posts in which you can vote for your top St. Louis Cardinals stories of 2010. We are using the same list of stories that I used in my countdown, but you will set your own priority here.

Your final five stories, numbers six through ten, can each be selected below. Note they are five individual votes.

For more background on any of the stories, click on the link to the blog’s top 20 countdown.

Here are your top five selected to date.

Your #1 story of 2010: The collapse – favored defending champs miss playoffs
#2: The Holliday signing – seven or eight years
#3: The Ludwick–Westbrook trade –Jay emergence, Westbrook re-signing
#4: The Penny / Lohse injuries
#5: Colby Rasmus not traded

Link to The Cardinal Nation Blog’s top 20 stories of the year countdown

[poll id=”41″]

[poll id=”42″]

[poll id=”43″]

[poll id=”44″]

[poll id=”45″]

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TCN blog reader top stories of 2010: Voting for #5

As suggested by you, the readers of this blog, this is the fifth in a series of posts in which you can vote for your top St. Louis Cardinals stories of 2010.

We are using the same list of stories that I used in my countdown, but you will set your own priority via a daily vote here. We will go as deep into the list as you would like. For example, we can stop the voting at your top five or ten based on your interest level.

Your #1 story: The collapse – favored defending champs miss playoffs
#2: The Holliday signing – seven or eight years
#3: The Ludwick–Westbrook trade –Jay emergence, Westbrook re-signing
#4: The Brad Penny / Kyle Lohse injuries

[poll id=”40″]

Link to The Cardinal Nation Blog’s top 20 stories of the year countdown

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TCN blog reader top stories of 2010: Voting for #4

As suggested by you, the readers of this blog, this is the fourth in a series of posts in which you can vote for your top St. Louis Cardinals stories of 2010.

We are using the same list of stories that I used in my countdown, but you will set your own priority via a daily vote here. We will go as deep into the list as you would like. For example, we can stop the voting at your top five or ten based on your interest level.

Your #1 story: The collapse – favored defending champs miss playoffs
#2: The Holliday signing – seven or eight years
#3: The Ryan Ludwick – Jake Westbrook trade – Jon Jay emergence, Westbrook re-signing

[poll id=”39″]

Link to The Cardinal Nation Blog’s top 20 stories of the year countdown

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TCN blog reader top stories of 2010: Voting for #3

As suggested by you, the readers of this blog, this is the third in a series of posts in which you can vote for your top St. Louis Cardinals stories of 2010.

We are using the same list of stories that I used in my countdown, but you will set your own priority via a daily vote here. We will go as deep into the list as you would like. For example, we can stop the voting at your top five or ten based on your interest level.

Your #1 story: The collapse – favored defending champs miss playoffs
#2: Matt Holliday signing – seven or eight years

[poll id=”38″]

Link to The Cardinal Nation Blog’s top 20 stories of the year countdown

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TCN blog reader top stories of 2010: Voting for #2

Readers select their top stories of the year for the 2010 St. Louis Cardinals.

As suggested by you, the readers of this blog, this is the second in a series of posts in which you can vote for your top St. Louis Cardinals stories of 2010.

We are using the same list of stories that I used in my countdown, but you will set your own priority via a daily vote here. We will go as deep into the list as you would like. For example, we can stop the voting at your top five or ten based on your interest level.

Your #1 story with 57% of the vote: The collapse – favored defending champs miss playoffs

Link to The Cardinal Nation Blog’s top 20 stories of the year countdown

[poll id=”37″]

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TCN blog reader top stories of 2010: Voting for #1

Readers select their top stories of the year for the 2010 St. Louis Cardinals.

As suggested by you, the readers of this blog, this is the first of a series of posts in which you can vote for your top St. Louis Cardinals stories of 2010.

We will start with the same list of stories that I used in my countdown, but you will set your own priority via a daily vote here. We will go as deep into the list as you would like. For example, we can stop the voting at your top five or ten based on your interest level.

Each day, I will add another voting option to the choices, the next story from my countdown. To get started, you can select any one of my top seven as your #1.

Here they are:

[poll id=”36″]

Link to The Cardinal Nation Blog’s top 20 stories of the year countdown

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The Cardinal Nation Blog top stories of 2010 #1: The collapse

The St. Louis Cardinals were expected to repeat as division-winners in 2010. Instead, they missed the playoffs entirely.

In a way, my selection of the biggest story of the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2010 may appear a bit anti-climactic. In my line of thinking, the finish to any given season is positioned by default to become the top story of the year, but needs to proven by the actual events. In 2010, I think it definitely came to pass.

Unlike many other stories in the top 20 countdown, this one took six months to unfold. It was more of a long, tortuous story than one that arrived with a bang.

There has been and will continue to be plenty of opportunity to debate when the turning point in the season occurred, what the biggest contributors to the downfall were, when the season was truly lost and so on (see poll below and reader top story voting that begins here Tuesday).

Yet, standing back, the biggest story of the year is clearly that the favorite in a weak division, anchored by some of the very best players in Major League Baseball and led by a future Hall of Fame manager, underachieved to the extent they sat home in October for the third time in four years.

Sure, there were injuries and setbacks along the way, but were they really any more extreme than other clubs had to face? The Cardinals’ core players generally remained healthy and productive throughout the season.

The Cardinals got out of the gates quickly, building a five-game lead in the National League Central by May 3. Two weeks later, even before injuries to Brad Penny, Kyle Lohse and David Freese, they had fallen into second place. The Cards and Cincinnati Reds battled back and forth for the next 2 ½ months. St. Louis gave up the lead for good on August 14 and by September 1 was eight games out.

It appeared the club spent the season on perpetual cruise control, unable to step on the gas when a burst of energy was needed. This was most evidenced by a demonstrated ability to play well when the competition was at its highest level, yet perform at their absolute worst when facing the poorest teams – a fatal condition even the manager could not explain.

Optimists will point out that the 2010 Cardinals finished at 86-76, ten games over .500, just five games behind Cincinnati. However even the most cursory peek under the surface exposes the flimsiness of that façade. The record was buoyed by a season-closing 9-2 stretch, salvaging a winning season during what was essentially garbage time.

The ugly truth is that St. Louis could not consistently beat the teams they were supposed to beat. They stumbled to a confounding 46-50 mark (.479) against clubs that finished with a losing record.

Despite residing in what many believe is MLB’s weakest division, NL Central foes Milwaukee, Chicago and Houston claimed series wins over St. Louis, victories the Cardinals should have gobbled up and would have in other years.

Down the stretch, the team had absolutely nothing left. From August 14 through September 22, they went into an embarrassing 3-20 freefall against losing clubs as any faint post-season hopes completely evaporated.

Why could the Cardinals not play .606 ball (40-26) against all teams like they did against the very best? If they had, 2010 would have been a 98-win season, the best by any club in baseball.

Was it the personnel, or if not, what was it?

What can be learned from this?

Rather than rehash each of the many twists and turns of the past season, since they were already covered in detail in the rest of the top 20 countdown, I prefer to look ahead to 2011.

The Cardinals made the decision to essentially keep in place the same team and management for next season, with some “chemistry” adjustments. The club’s core players are either a year more experienced or simply a year older, depending on your perspective.

Compared to the roster that began the 2010 campaign, these are the major changes implemented since:

Changes among supporting players:

Other changes projected but not yet formalized:

Decide for yourself if you think these moves and expected moves are enough to reroute the Cardinals’ course for 2011.

Remember that the rest of the NL Central isn’t standing still. The Reds return the vast majority of their up-and-coming division-winning squad from last season and always offensively-potent Milwaukee has moved aggressively to address their starting pitching deficiency.

Link to The Cardinal Nation Blog’s top 20 stories of the year countdown

In honor of the completion of my annual top 20, I am including two polls, one looking backward, the other looking ahead.

[poll id=”34″]

[poll id=”35″]

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Setting the 2011 Cardinals batting order

Looking for clues as to the most likely batting order for the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals.

A recent Post-Dispatch article touted in detail a number of reasons why new St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lance Berkman should bat second in manager Tony La Russa’s 2011 order. Perhaps after that article was complete, the skipper mucked up the works by stating his intent to put Berkman in the fifth spot, and as cleanup hitter in the rare occasion that Matt Holliday sits out.

La Russa has repeated the same thoughts in multiple radio interviews since while acknowledging he understands why some think that Berkman’s .400 OBP would also be appealing near the top. Ultimately, he explained his prevailing need is for a hitter behind Holliday to protect him as does Holliday for Albert Pujols.

Though La Russa seems clear about Pujols-Holliday-Berkman at 3-4-5, he hasn’t divulged his entire 2011 order. With the rest being open to speculation, it provides the basis for this article.

One line of thinking is that with the switch-hitting Berkman likely batting from the left side most often, there would be value in following him with a right-handed hitter in the number six spot.

Prior to his untimely injury last season, right-handed hitting David Freese was the regular fifth-place hitter and he also batted sixth and seventh less frequently. If finally healthy and productive, one might see Freese as that right-handed hitting #6 behind Berkman.

If so, where would this leave the man who took over the fifth spot and ended up batting there the most often for the club in 2010, left-handed hitting Colby Rasmus? The centerfielder also appeared in the second and sixth spots at times last season.

During a Tuesday evening KMOX radio interview during which he again explained his preference to hit Berkman fifth, La Russa did not state where Colby will be in his new order, but implied fifth may not be it. The manager said he would have to “see how Colby has progressed,” noting that with the fifth spot comes “a lot of responsibility.”

My bottom third would consist of Yadier Molina, Skip Schumaker and the pitcher, perhaps with the latter two reversed if La Russa feels the need to demonstrate his individuality again this coming season.

That would leave the top two spots for newcomer Ryan Theriot, he of the .348 career on-base mark and the last man standing, Rasmus. Despite Theriot expressing a clear preference to bat second (repeated several times before also mentioning leadoff) during a Tuesday evening KMOX interview, the new shortstop seems the likely first hitter. In the aforementioned interview, Theriot attributed his poor 2010 to being asked to become more of a run producer than a tablesetter, which he said he said he tried, but was neither comfortable nor successful in the role.

As noted in the Post-Dispatch article we started with above and many times over the prior years, La Russa craves “danger” from his number two hitter. My conclusion is the player in that spot will be Rasmus. Can Colby consistently provide that danger in 2011?

In the beauty of symmetry, two right-handed hitters would follow each lefty in this proposed order.

1 Theriot SS RHH
2 Rasmus CF LHH
3 Pujols 1B RHH
4 Holliday RF RHH
5 Berkman LF SH
6 Freese 3B RHH
7 Molina C RHH
8 Schumaker 2B LHH
9 Pitcher P RHH (exc Garcia)

How do you see it?

[poll id=”12″]

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Cardinals organization roster matrix: 2010-11 off-season

NOTE: This version of the roster matrix is no longer current. It reflects the 2010-11 off-season actions and should be considered a historical reference document. For the active roster matrix covering 2011 spring training, click here.

The St. Louis Cardinals full system roster view reflects changes made during the entire 2010-11 off-season.

matrix-grid-crop-200With the hot stove season upon us, it is once again time for a refresh of the St. Louis Cardinals system roster matrix. This version will reflect all changes made from the end of the 2010 regular season. The previous matrix reflects the rosters at the conclusion of last season.

If you are new to the blog and aren’t sure what the Cardinals organization roster matrix is all about, here is quick summary:

As the 2010 season came to its close, the St. Louis Cardinals had 320 players under contract from top to bottom, with 43 of them on the 40-man roster. The matrix places each one at his current assigned level in the system based on his assignment the end of last season as well as by position. It is kept updated daily or as transactions occur.

Nowhere else will you find this current and comprehensive single-page view of the entire Cardinals organization.

Don’t be concerned about the order of the players’ names within a team. They don’t signify anything other than often a rough approximation of alphabetical order.

The players on the 40-man roster are called out in bold.

Full team rosters and player profiles at The Cardinal Nation

Remember that to get detailed profile information on every single one of these 320 Cardinals players, simply check out their free player profiles freshly updated now at The Cardinal Nation.com / Scout.com. You can see bios, photos, videos, articles, news items, links to current season and career stats and much more – everything you need to know about a player in one place.

Click on the following links to be taken to one of the ten team pages at The Cardinal Nation:

Full-season clubs

St. Louis Cardinals
Memphis Redbirds
Springfield Cardinals
Palm Beach Cardinals
Quad Cities River Bandits

Short-season clubs

Batavia Muckdogs
Johnson City Cardinals
Gulf Coast League Cardinals
Dominican Summer League Cardinals
Venezuelan Summer League Cardinals

Once there, just click on a player’s name to be taken to his individual profile page. For example, here is Adam Ottavino’s profile.

Looking ahead and back

Now that you’ve found this page once, remember one of three ways to get back here. Bookmark the page, type “Roster Matrix” in the dark blue search box at the upper right or use the dropdown menu at the top of the page: “Players/Staff” > “Depth Charts/Roster Matrix”.

For details behind past 2009 and 2010 rosters and transactions, check out the earlier versions of the Cardinals organization roster matrix as follows.

Link to previous matrices: Jan–March 2009, April 2009, May 2009, June 2009, July 2009-February 2010, Spring camp 2010, Opening season 2010, First half 2010, Short-season 2010

2010-2011 off-season transactions

10/4: New matrix. Organization total 320.

10/5: 14 releases: RHP Trey Hearne (Spr), OF Rich Racobaldo and IF Colt Sedbrook (PB), RHR LaCurtis Mayes and RHR Chris Notti (QC), OF Jon Edwards, RHP Matt North, RHR Travis Lawler, RHR David Kington (Bat), C Yorbel Alcala, LHS Moises Colorado, OF Anthony Fonseca, OF Alberto Rivero, OF Joe Babrick (GCL). New total 306.

10/6: Mem LHS Evan MacLane declared free agency. New total 305.

10/12: OF Shane Robinson outrighted to Mem.

10/13: RHP Bryan Augenstein claimed off waivers from Arizona. New total 306.

10/21: VSL releases: Marlon Sucre, Hayrich Martina, Lainer Bueno, Tharick Martines and Limbert Rivas. DSL releases: Jorge Lopez, Luis Polanco, Victor Ferreira and Christian Concepcion. New total 297.

11/1: Nine MLB free agents: Ps Brad Penny, Jake Westbrook, Jeff Suppan, Dennys Reyes, Mike MacDougal, C Jason LaRue, IFs Aaron Miles and Pedro Feliz and OF Randy Winn. New total 288.

11/3: OF Joe Mather (STL) claimed off waivers by ATL. New total 287.

11/4: C Matt Pagnozzi outrighted. Eligible for minor league free agency. New total 286.

11/6: Five minor league free agents: P’s Oneli Perez, Rich Rundles, Josh Kinney and Matt Scherer and IF Ruben Gotay. New total 281.

11/16: Free agent RHS Jake Westbrook signs 2-year deal with 3rd year option. New total 282.

11/17: Five players added to the 40-man roster: Ps David Kopp, Adam Reifer, Eduardo Sanchez, SS Pete Kozma and OF Adron Chambers.

11/19: Two players added to the 40-man roster: P Blake King, C Tony Cruz. Four players outrighted (off 40-man): P Adam Ottavino, C Steven Hill, OFs Nick Stavinoha and Daryl Jones.

11/23: LHP Raul Valdes signed to minor league contract with MLB spring training invite. New total 283.

11/30: IF Ryan Theriot acquired from LAD for P Blake Hawksworth. Signed FA LHP Brian Tallet. New total 284.

12/4: FA OF/1B Lance Berkman signed. New total 285.

12/9: Washington selects RHP Brian Broderick (Spr) in Rule 5 Draft. StL selects LHP Jean Mijares from Min.

12/12: Seattle acquires SS Brendan Ryan for RHP Mikael Cleto. Both on 40-man. Cleto to Spr for this document.

12/14: StL signs FA C Gerald Laird. New total 286.

01/14: FA RHPs Miguel Batista, Ian Snell sign minor league deals with spring camp invites. New total 288.

01/15: FA IF Ramon Vazquez signed to minor league contract with spring camp invite. New total 289.

01/16: FA IF/OF Freddie Bynum signed to minors deal. New total 290.

01/21: FA IF Nick Punto signed to major league contract. New total 291.

01/24: FA LHR Rich Rundles signed to minors deal. New total 292.

01/28: FA IF Ronald Ramirez signed to minors deal and assigned to Springfield. New total 293.

2/3: FA RHR Wilson Matos signed to minors deal and assigned to QC. New total 294.

2/4: FA OF Jim Edmonds signed to minors deal with spring camp invite. New total 295.

2/8: Dominican RHP Fernando Gonzalez signed. New total 296.

2/10: Dominican OF George Araujo and Venezuelan SS Leobaldo Pina signed. New total 298.

2/12: VSL LHP Angelo Echeverria released. DSL RHP Luis Mata and OF Andres Beras released. New total 295.

2/18: OF Jim Edmonds retired. New total 294.

2/23: VSL RHPs Kevin Cueto, Geudy Guerra, Jose Perez, Edubray Ramos and SS Kevin Gonzalez released. New total 289.

2/24: LHP John Gast and RHP Scott McGregor given NRIs to MLB spring camp.

The St. Louis Cardinals Organization Roster Matrix (effective 02/24/11)

* 21 non-roster major league camp invitees
+ 19 early minor league camp invitees

St. Louis (29) 40-man (40)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
C Carpenter Franklin Molina Pujols Schumaker Theriot Freese Holliday
Lohse McClellan Anderson Hamilton Descalso T Greene Punto Berkman
Westbrook Boggs Laird



Rasmus
Wainwright Motte




Jay
Ja Garcia (L) Tallet (L)




Craig
Walters T Miller (L)






Salas













Memphis (22+2)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Lynn * Fick T Cruz R Vazquez * Bynum Solano * Chambers
Augenstein Sanchez S Hill * Cazana *
Dickson * Samuel Rapoport
Ottavino * Parise (DL) Robinson (DL) *
Valdes (L) * Norrick (L) Stavinoha *
Snell * Reifer
Batista *
Rundles (L)
Springfield (25+7)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Additon (L) Delgado Derba * C Smith (DL) Jo Martinez1(DL GCL) Kozma Curtis Ant. DeJesus
Kopp Eager L DeLaCruz + A Brown Jo Garcia Ramirez M Carpenter * Swauger
Thomas * King Cutler (DL) Scruggs Jones
Kulik (L DL) S Freeman (L DL) Pham (DL) +
Mijares (L) Frevert Henley (DL)
McGregor * Buursma Luna +
Gorgen
Cleto
Palm Beach (20+5)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Schneider Mulligan Espinoza Rivera (DL) R Jackson + Bolivar N Vasquez A Castellanos +
G Brown (L) Bradford P Vasquez (RL) Beatty
Diapoules (DL) Rauschenberger R Rodriguez
Nieto Simpson Bogany
Ri Castillo M Tapia (DL) Ingram
Zawacki Pichardo
Bittle (DL)
Hooker
Quad Cities (26+6)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Rondon Novak (DL) Stock * Adams (DL) + L Mateo + Ahmady Lara
Fornataro Calhoun (L) Castro Goodwin R Smith
Bibona (L) J Smith Stanley + Stidham (DL) Swinson
Kelly * Corrigan Obregon R Rosario
S Miller * Rada Walsh Parejo
Cardenas (L DL) Terry Conley (DL)
Blazek
Kiekhefer (L DL)
Greenwood (L)
Matos
Batavia (25+3)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Ju Edwards (L) Butler Klein V Sanchez Bergman Y Castillo J Rodriguez Biserta
Moss Avendano J Castillo Valaika O’Neill
Gast (L) * Swagerty + A Perez * Edmondson
Russell Wright (L) + Longmire +
Blair + Reid + Melker (DL)
A Ferrara (L) + Squatrito (DL)
McCully Summers
Lyons (L DL)
Johnson City (33+1)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Copeland (L) Benes Tartamella D Medina S Rodriguez Elkins Cerreto V Hill
H Hernamdez (L) Corpas Teran + G Garcia R DeLaCruz S Ramos
Ang. De Jesus Guzman A Garcia R Ruiz Williams
Daugherty (L) A Lucas C Valera Taveras +
C Johnson Nazario (L) Rbto Reyes
Jimenez
Rosenthal + Revesz (L)
Nadeau (L) Patterson (RL)
Whiting
Siegrist (L)
Jenkins +
Unassigned (1)
P P C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
M Harris (MIL)
GCL (26)
P 2010 P C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
B Martinez B Freeman (L) Montero Pimentel W Perez Tuivailala Cox Bryant
A Castillo Aguilar Moscatel Washington Vargas Martin H Garcia Dodd
Pasen J Lucas Vivas
Santana Mendoza
Uribe (L) M DeLaCruz (L)
Brand
R Martinez
Nuernberg
DSL (28+6)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
A Tapia A DeLaCruz (L) Baez Rblys Reyes Gil (RL) B Hiraldo (RL) Araujo
Paulino A Gonzalez L Perez R Medina Capellan
C Martinez + A Toribio Barbuena Celestino
S Lopez Ceballo Agustin Encarnacion
F Gonzalez Bautista J Pena
D Rodriguez (L RL) Ro Castillo
DeLeon D Diaz
DeLosSantos
E Hiraldo
Estalis
JC DeLaCruz (RL)
Segundo
P Pena (L RL)
Rudecindo (RL)
VSL (22+2)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
S Garcia Almeida Velazco B Valera Pina R Garcia Acevedo
Bier Canache J Gomez Argenal
Montanez I Brito Jo Martinez2
Villanueva (L) De Aguas (L DL)
Ulacio Escudero
Oraa (DL) Gerdel
Jh Polanco
Planchart
Solarte
Villegas

Codes
(DL): injured – on the disabled list
(TI): temporary inactive list
(SL): suspended list
(RL): restricted list
(MIL): military list
(TO): tryout player not under contract
(L) left-handed pitcher
bold: on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster
(#+#) number of active players on the roster plus number of inactive/not under contract (DL+TI+SL+RL+MIL+TO) players

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Could Dan Uggla become another Fernando Vina?

Even considering a trade for Florida’s Dan Uggla would require a major change in strategy for the St. Louis Cardinals, but it has been done before.

Albert Pujols and Dan Uggla at the 2008 Home Run Derby (Rich Pilling/MLB Photos via Getty Images)30-year-old Dan Uggla and the Florida Marlins are preparing for a divorce. The All-Star second baseman is one season away from free agency and wants more than the reported four-year, $48 million contract the Fish offered.

The St. Louis Cardinals don’t appear to be a fit. They say they aren’t in the market for a second baseman, apparently content with keeping converted outfielder Skip Schumaker there. Indications are that the club’s major expenditure this winter will be on a starting pitcher, Jake Westbrook or his replacement, along with a less-splashy upgrade at shortstop.

Perhaps the Cardinals should reconsider how they allocate their available cash.

The team has a history of acquiring impact offensive players who were looking for a change, only to later convince then to re-sign with the club. Some arrived via trades during the season, such as Mark McGwire, Scott Rolen and Matt Holliday. Others were dealt to St. Louis in the off-season, including Edgar Renteria and Jim Edmonds.

Another notable winter addition was made on December 20, 1999 when the Cardinals acquired then-30-year-old second baseman Fernando Vina from the Milwaukee Brewers.

In return, St. Louis yielded one established major leaguer and two prospects – pitchers Juan Acevedo and Matt Parker and catcher Eliezer Alfonzo. Acevedo had started and closed for St. Louis. Alfonzo eventually reached the majors as a reserve while Parker never panned out.

Acquiring Vina not only gave the Cardinals an All-Star second baseman and leadoff hitter, it also allowed them to displace scrappy, fan-favorite Joe McEwing, better as a utility man. “Super Joe” had been miscast as the regular second sacker in 1999 prior to Vina’s arrival. The trade also freed up second base prospect Adam Kennedy, a key component in the subsequent acquisition of Edmonds from the Angels.

As an aside, albeit an interesting one, note the similarities between McEwing’s 1999 season while starting at second base and Schumaker’s 2010. Super Joe actually showed more pop with the bat and had better basic defensive metrics, yet was still replaced by a superior player the next season.

2B Year G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Fld % RF/9
McEwing 1999 152 513 65 141 28 4 9 44 7 41 87 0.275 0.333 0.398 0.730 84 0.980 5.40
Schumaker 2010 137 476 66 126 18 1 5 42 5 43 64 0.265 0.328 0.338 0.667 83 0.973 5.05

As Vina and the Cardinals mutually enjoyed the relationship, they cemented the marriage, keeping the second baseman off the free agent market. Vina signed a $15 million deal in 2000 covering the next three seasons.

Vina batted .300 his first two years, topped the league in fielding percentage and won a pair of Gold Gloves in his four seasons with St. Louis. The club averaged 95 wins in his first three campaigns, reaching the playoffs each year including the NLCS twice, territory the Cardinals haven’t seen since 2006. Vina departed as a free agent following an injury-plagued 2003 season during which he later admitted having used HGH.

To put Vina’s $5 million average annual value deal into perspective, it represented approximately 6.4 percent of the Cardinals’ payroll in the 2001-03 seasons.

It was clearly a different time, but the contract was noteworthy because before and since, the club used second base as a low-salaried, transient spot. Vina demonstrated that spending more on the position could be a good decision.

Back to the here and now, Uggla is a different kind of player than Vina and is a considerably more expensive option, too. He might fetch $10 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility, which if so, would work out to nine or ten percent of the Cardinals’ projected 2011 player budget.

It would also mean the Cardinals would have to get comfortable with an in-house fifth starting pitcher for 2011, perhaps Kyle McClellan. They could bring in several make-good, bounceback types as insurance but would be forced to give up on signing Westbrook or comparable.

It all gets down to belief or lack of belief in the organization’s current strategy, first illustrated this past summer with the Ryan Ludwick-Westbrook trade. Looking back at how to best improve upon the 2010 Cardinals, does the club need to add more offense or more starting pitching?

Having averaged 31 home runs per season over his five-year Marlins career, Uggla would bring a proven power bat to the Cardinals lineup. With Florida, he produced while batting second and fifth. In St. Louis, Colby Rasmus could be placed in the other spot with Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday in between.

This is certainly not a no-brainer. There are plenty of reasons to write off the idea without even exploring it first. The uncertainty of Pujols’ long-term contract situation alone could make the front office uncomfortable over the prospect of taking on another high-salaried player.

There would be an immediate acquisition cost for Uggla in terms of players lost that may be steep, but there could also be some recovery down the line. If he didn’t work out, the Cardinals could either deal him again next summer or if he later chose not to re-sign, take a pair of compensatory picks in the 2012 draft.

Making such a bold move would require substantial risk-taking, but there is also considerable upside. The current core of Cardinals will not be in their prime years that much longer. This would be a “win-now” type of action.

The formula has worked before. Why not consider it again?

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Cardinals choosing Skip over Brendan

The St. Louis Cardinals look to upgrade at shortstop over second base for 2011.

Brendan Ryan and Skip Schumaker (AP/Morry Gash)The St. Louis Cardinals struggled up the middle in 2010 offensively at both shortstop and second base and were not strong defensively at the latter position. Many observers feel this should be a target area for improvement in 2011.

The question is the best way to do it.

If indications from the Cardinals manager come to pass, shortstop Brendan Ryan may be replaced while second baseman Skip Schumaker remains.

To date, Ryan has been a one-dimensional defensive player while Schumaker is a former outfielder who can play all three positions there. Despite a ground ball-oriented pitching staff, the Cardinals may be preparing to forfeit Ryan’s Gold Glove-quality defense while keeping Skip’s sub-optimal glove at second. The idea seems to be that the loss of Ryan can be more than compensated by acquiring a better-hitting shortstop and the hope of a bounceback season from Schumaker with the bat.

On the ITD Morning After radio show on Wednesday, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said the following.

“…I think Skip has done an amazing job. You know we won 92 games with him at second base his first time out there and this year you know he was more comfortable making routine plays, and he’s still getting used to the position…”

Regarding Ryan, the manager’s comments were far more pointed.

“…when he struggled at the plate like Skip did early… you know Skip, he refused to, he bent a little bit you know, but he didn’t break, and I think it broke Brendan quite a few times. You know he just let those at bats drive him nuts and he’d take it out defensively so again, if there’s somebody better, then Brendan’s job is at risk.”

In his weekly Q&A session on Wednesday, the Post-Dispatch’s Joe Strauss suggested another factor is stacking up against Ryan – his impending arbitration salary may be a mismatch with his perceived value. Oddly, Schumaker was in a comparable place last winter, but secured a two-year commitment from the Cardinals. As such, Skip is under contract for $2.7 million next season after being paid $2 million in 2010.

Strauss also suggested there would be no reason for the Cardinals to keep Ryan as a reserve if another shortstop is acquired (and he wasn’t traded away as part of the deal).

One possible implication of Strauss’ arbitration value comment is that Ryan could be a non-tender candidate if not traded. I just don’t get it. It is very difficult for me to come up with an explanation for how Ryan could be worth less money to the team than what they gave Schumaker.

If you had the assignment to replace one of the two starting middle infielders, what would you do?

  • Would you make Schumaker a utility infielder/outfielder, acquire a second baseman and keep Ryan at short?

or

  • Would you deal Ryan as part of a package for a shortstop with a bigger bat and keep Skip at second?

It seems pretty clear what La Russa wants.

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St. Louis returns to Springfield for spring exhibition

The St. Louis Cardinals will be taking on their Double-A club in Springfield, MO on March 29.

Back on October 4, when I highlighted the tentative 2011 Spring Training Schedule for the St. Louis Cardinals, I noted the following:

“There may be several end of spring exhibitions added later as the Cardinals travel north, perhaps with minor league clubs. As of now, however, the Cards are off between their final Florida contest on Monday, March 28 and the regular season opener against San Diego at Busch Stadium on Thursday, March 31.”

The first update to that initial plan has been announced by the Springfield Cardinals. St. Louis will return to the southwest Missouri city to take on their Double-A affiliate on Tuesday, March 29 at 7:07 P.M, the minor league club announced in a Tuesday press release.

The “07” start time will be standard for Springfield in 2010 as they celebrate their seventh season of existence in the Texas League. The team is owned by their St. Louis parent.

St. Louis previously visited Springfield for pairs of end-of-spring exhibitions in 2005 and 2008, seasons one and four, however the 2011 match-up will be a single game only.

The only way to guarantee a seat to the March 29 game is by purchasing 2011 Springfield Cardinals season tickets, now on sale by contacting (417) 863-0395. Single-game tickets, including ones for the exhibition game, are expected to go on sale in late February or early March, reports the Springfield News-Leader. The Cardinals’ complete regular-season schedule can be viewed here.

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Are Titanium necklaces valuable?

Do the colorful necklaces worn by professional athletes meet their manufacturer’s claims?

In Men’s Fitness magazine, I came across an interesting article entitled “Are Baseball Necklaces Bogus?” The piece describes the colorful titanium-based necklaces seemingly sported by every player in the game. The manufacturer, Phiten, a Chinese company, states the benefits include energy boost, quicker injury recovery and relief of muscle aches.

From their product catalog:

“Our products work with your body’s energy system, regulating and balancing the energy flow of all the internal structures. Most times people will reach for chemical and medical solutions to block out physical discomfort. Phiten offers a way to alleviate discomfort, enjoy a speedy recovery or even counteract fatigue in a unique, 100% non-medicated way.”

PhitenWhile in New York with the Cardinals at Citi Field this past summer, a very athletic woman representing Phiten was working her way through the clubhouse with brochures and cards along with sample necklaces and wrist bands. While I certainly don’t look like I could be confused for uniform personnel, I was issued a set as well (see photo of my still-unused items). Soon, clubhouse attendants and ballboys alike were attired in the officially MLB-licensed team-colored and logoed Phiten products.

In their brochure, Phiten touts sponsorships from Josh Beckett, Brandon Webb, Justin Morneau, Tim Lincecum, Joba Chamberlain and Justin Verlander, among athletes from other sports.

Their product lines are vast, from Body Supports, to Titanium discs, tape and strips, to massage lotion, and of course, a wide variety of necklaces and bracelets.

What’s the catch?

Again, from Men’s Fitness:

“No scientific evidence exists to back up Phiten’s claims, and the “aqua-titanium” technology the company uses to dissolve titanium into water isn’t approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.”

No one seems to know whether these items work or if are they just a fad-driven movement fueled by superstitious athletes.

Any opinions out there?

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What is behind the Cardinals’ minor league issues?

Questioning reasons assigned to focus areas for the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Cardinals beat writer Joe Strauss’ weekly Q&A sessions cover a wide variety of team-related topics and are a must-read for the team’s fans.

When the subject of the minor leagues come up, however, sometimes I feel that cause and effect relationships are being drawn in what appears to be an absolute manner about subjects that are more complex than can be neatly summarized in a few sentences.

Here is one such example.

“…Rather than remaining transfixed on minor-league records (the Cardinals led the industry in minor-league win percentage last season), greater emphasis will be placed on development…”

Is this supposed problem statement accurate and is its proposed resolution an appropriate pairing?

Is the fundamental problem a lack of focus on development or a lack of coordination between the preferred teaching approaches of the major and minor league staffs? The latter definitely seemed the case in the pitching area as the ongoing disconnect between Dave Duncan and the minor league instructors received continued heavy public scrutiny.

It seems an unwarranted attack on the professionals across the minor league system to imply they were single-mindedly focused on winning at the expense of developing their players. I spent time with most of the Cardinals minor league affiliates this summer and did not see evidence of this alleged fixation.

In fact, I don’t think I could define the set of actions in the real world that would illustrate this concept. Would it mean stacking rosters? Starting the best players every day? Not messing with the approach of players who are doing well? Signing large quantities of minor league veterans? Exactly what would an all-out focus on winning actually mean? If someone sent out a memo to that effect, I would love to read what it says.

It is rumored there will be a return of two important positions that have been open in the Minor League Field Coordinator, last filled by Jim Riggleman three years ago and Hitting Coordinator, previously held by Dan Radison in 2009. That is a positive, but should one leap to the conclusion that it will be done to reverse a supposed past over-emphasis on winning?

From the outside looking in, it indicates the organization can be damned either way. In the recent past, they were viewed as rushing players, promoting them before they are viewed to be ready for the next level. In 2010, they seemed to slow down the process, leaving players in place longer and in some cases, reversing promotions that proved to be too aggressive. An increased level of roster stability may have been a factor in improved won-loss records.

A later question in the same session allowed Strauss to zero in on what I believe is a more likely explanation than a supposed fixation on won-loss attainment. But even that was not presented without further drawing of unsupported conclusions as to why.

“Critics of recent Cardinal drafts note a lack of size (power) and athleticism (speed) due to a stats-based approach. My sense is there is an approaching adjustment away from “safe” picks who may reach the majors as complementary types toward higher-risk, higher-impact guys. At some point, the organization’s enhanced commitment within Latin America should reap dividends.”

The lack of size and athleticism seems a fair observation, but how do we know the reason is because of the use of stats?

Precisely who are these alleged critics and where did they say this?

Don’t the higher-risk, higher-impact guys have good stats, too?

Such comments as the above seem to reinforce the tired, old “one way or the other” arguments of scouts versus stats of five or six years ago rather than an acknowledgment of today’s reliance on a blend of the two – an approach that is commonplace across all of baseball, not just in St. Louis.

The second sentence in the above quote is what I believe may be a key factor behind the earlier comment regarding the minor league records.

A system heavy with “safe” picks may very well be a reason the minor league results have improved. The downside, of course, is fewer of these players are viewed to be future impact major leaguers. This is a quantity versus quality question that I think may have merit.

Just this week, I spoke with a minor league manager on this very subject. When I complimented him on a fine season, he reminded me of the overriding importance of player development. He then recalled a team he once managed that posted a terrible won-loss record, but ended up producing five future major leaguers.

It seems unlikely there is a single reason behind this quantity versus quality question, however. It is easy to point an accusatory finger at the “stat geeks” but the issue could have just as likely been a reluctance to invest the necessary over slot signing bonuses demanded by the top players in the draft. Critics of the system usually trot out the 2007 first-round draft selection of relatively-inexpensive Pete Kozma over big-bucks, big talent Rick Porcello to drive home this point.

As was also touched on ever-so-briefly in the excerpted answer above, the increased investment in Latin America must be considered in the overall picture. With a finite amount of financial resource, tradeoffs have to be made. If more money is spent in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, it only stands to reason there will be less to allocate on the US amateur draft.

To that end, I am currently working on writing up The Cardinal Nation’s annual awards across the Cardinals minor league system. Among them are three awards for the rookie Starting Pitcher, Reliever and Position Player of the Year. Two of the three winners are graduates of the overseas academies, playing their first seasons in the USA, while only one is a member of the 2010 draft class.

In conclusion, I don’t disagree with much of what Strauss was getting at, but I do question where, why and how firmly the blame is being attached. I believe there is combination of many factors that must be adjusted and fine-tuned together to enable system-wide improvement across the board.

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Feast or famine: The 2010 Cardinals increased run-scoring

Looking at when the 2010 St. Louis Cardinals’ offense scored their runs indicates an increased number of blowouts compared to 2009.

Mark McGwire (Getty Images)During a Monday in which Mark McGwire’s return as hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals for 2011 was announced, there was a Twitter-driven backlash against those critical of the coach and his inconsistent 2010 offense.

Cited was the truth that the Cardinals scored more runs than in 2009 in a year during which offense was down across the game. The reality for the Cardinals was a meager increase of six runs scored over 162 games, or up 0.8 percent. However, it was more impressive when put up against the backdrop of a 2.4 percent decline in scoring across the National League. (details here)

Still, after having watched most of St. Louis’ games this past season, it felt to me like the offense often didn’t score when needed. Given the small increase in total runs scored, this might imply they crossed the plate more often when those runs were less valuable.

To test that thought, I calculated the average runs scored by the Cardinals over the last four years, broken out between games the Cardinals won versus the ones they lost. Even though the hitters don’t have any impact on the pitching or runs scored by the opposition, I also looked at the average run differential, again separated between wins and losses.

Cards Wins Avg R/G Avg R Diff Losses Avg R/G Avg R Diff
2010 86 6.21 3.90 76 2.66 3.16
2009 91 5.95 3.62 71 2.66 3.37
2008 86 6.67 3.55 76 2.70 3.30
2007 78 6.67 3.85 84 2.44 4.81

Though the Cards won five fewer games this season than last, they averaged one-quarter of a run more in each win. They also increased their margin of victory in those contests by just a bit more, .28 runs per game, to the highest winning edge in at least the last four years.

Looking at their losses, the Cardinals scored the exact same average amount of runs per defeat in both 2009 and 2010, while closing the gap in the average loss by .21 runs per game this past season compared to last.

The average run differential in losses of 3.16 runs was the club’s tightest margin in at least the last four years. That should be attributed to better Cardinals pitching, not an improved offense, since again, run-scoring in the losses was flat year-to-year.

In other words, one might conclude that on the average, the 2010 Cardinals improvement in run scoring was “wasted”, as they increased their bulge in games they were likely en route to have won anyway.

More blowout wins in 2010

The analysis above was still based on averages across the 86 wins and 76 losses. I wanted to try to get more granular in my review. So, to take this one step further, I looked at the run differential in each of the Cardinals wins over the last two seasons. They break out as follows.

Win margin 1-R 2-R 3-R 4-R 5-R 6-R 7-R 8-R 9-R 10-R 13-R Total games won
2010 20 13 9 11 9 10 4 7 1 2 0 86
2009 24 13 16 9 12 3 7 0 5 1 1 91

win-margin-chart-2Grouping the numbers really tells the story. Here is the same data, split between the quantity of games in which the Cardinals won by five or fewer runs compared to the ones they won by six or more scores.

Cardinals 1-5 run wins % total wins 6+ run wins % total wins
2010 62 72.1% 24 27.9%
2009 64 79.0% 17 21.0%

As the data clearly indicates, the Cardinals increased their number of blowout victories in 2010 over 2009, both in terms of absolute wins (up from 17 to 24) and especially in percentage of wins (from 21 percent up to 28 percent), while taking fewer close contests.

This reinforces my earlier point that more of St. Louis’ runs in 2010 seemed to be “wasted” in comparison to the year before.

Fewer blowout losses

For completeness, let’s take one more cut at the data, this time looking at runs scored in Cardinals losses over the last two seasons.

Loss margin 1-R 2-R 3-R 4-R 5-R 6-R 7-R 8-R 9-R 10-R 11-R 14-R Total games lost
2010 22 12 15 9 11 1 3 1 1 0 0 1 76
2009 21 12 12 6 7 4 4 1 2 1 1 0 71

loss-margins-chart-1When we roll up the data into the same categories as above, losses of five or fewer runs compared to defeats of six or more runs, the Cardinals had fewer blowout losses in 2010 compared to 2009.

Cardinals 1-5 run losses % total losses 6+ run losses % total losses
2010 69 90.8% 7 9.2%
2009 58 81.7% 13 18.3%

In summary

Bottom line, it isn’t necessarily all that valuable just to score more often. It is better to do so in games where the additional runs might truly alter the outcome.

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