So far, the hot stove has been cool for the St. Louis Cardinals, but this week’s Winter Meetings may bring some change to the 2023 roster. Our weekly history feature reviews key transactions and Rule 5 additions made during prior Winter Meetings.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch reports that the St. Louis Cardinals’ agenda for the Winter Meetings that began on Sunday in San Diego include getting together with agents of several free agent catchers, including Willson Contreras and Christian Vasquez. Goold stated that discussions with the Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics, teams with catchers available in trade, are also planned.
Goold reports that the Cardinals have no plans to shop for a starting pitcher and remain only on the fringes of the shortstop market. The Cardinals are interested in re-signing pitcher Jose Quintana but have competition for his services. The Cardinals are also interested in adding to the bullpen with pitchers who have swing and miss stuff.
A left-handed bat to back up Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado is also a goal for the front office.
Transactions
There are no transactions to report.
Injury Report
There are no new injuries to report.
Looking Ahead
The 2022-23 offseason has begun, and all unsigned eligible players have elected free agency.
The Cardinals finalized the 40-man roster in preparation for the Rule 5 draft, scheduled for December 7. Outfielder Moises Gomez and LHP Connor Thomas were added to the roster.
The deadline for tendering contracts to all unsigned players has passed. The Cardinals declined to offer contracts to RHP Alex Reyes and CF Ben DeLuzio. Both are now free agents.
The next event on the offseason agenda is the annual Winter Meetings. These meetings are scheduled for December 4-7 in San Diego. This is a key period when teams explore and make deals for players, either in trade or free agency. The final day of the meetings are when the Rule 5 draft takes place. Further, the first draft lottery will take place during the meetings on Tuesday, December 6.
On December 4, the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee met, and they elected Fred McGriff into the Hall of Fame. A number of bigger names from baseball’s past were passed over. No former Cardinals were up for consideration.
The committee sometimes changes but this bodes very poorly for Bonds and Clemens https://t.co/yQAzqh0Ukv
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 5, 2022
Congratulations to Fred McGriff 👏
The newly-elected Hall of Famer joined us on #MLBTonight after learning he was headed to the @baseballhall! pic.twitter.com/iih7VvVf8v
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 5, 2022
On December 6 and 7, the recipients of the 2023 Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters, and the BBWAA Career Excellence Award for writers will be announced.
Blast from the Past
The annual Winter Meetings began on Sunday in San Diego. This event has been the venue for some very notable transactions made by the Cardinals. The Winter Meetings are also when the annual Rule 5 draft takes place.
This week’s Blast from the Past recollects transactions by the Cardinals and acquisitions in the Rule 5 draft during the Winter Meetings. A brief history of the Winter Meetings is also included.
Offseason meetings is a long-standing tradition in Major League Baseball that dates back to 1876. The first recorded annual organized meetings took place in New York City in 1927. They were repeated for the next three years in New York City before moving to Chicago in 1931. The meetings alternated between the two cities through 1938. The 1939 Winter Meetings were held in Cincinnati. For the next five years they returned to either Chicago or New York City. It wasn’t until 1950 that the meetings were held in various cities across the United States and that trend continues today.
In only two years did the meetings did not take place in the usual manner. Both of those times were very recent. In 2020 the meetings were held virtually due to the COVID pandemic. In 2021 the meetings were cancelled due to the lockout.
The Winter Meetings are noted mostly for teams making player transactions such as trades and free agent signings. However other events also occur that are not well known to fans. Various trade shows hawking wares related to baseball are also a staple of the meetings. Major League teams often initiate personnel hiring for the front office and other places during the meetings. Events related to the Baseball Hall of Fame also take place.
Specifically related to the Cardinals, some very notable transactions in team history took place during the Winter Meetings. Following is a list of a few of the most notable trades or signings that took place at those meetings.
- During the 1980 winter meetings in Nashville, then-General Manager Whitey Herzog engineered an 11-player trade with the San Diego Padres. That trade sent Terry Kennedy, John Littlefield, Al Olmstead, Mike Phillips, Kim Seaman, Steve Swisher, and John Urrea to San Diego in return for Rollie Fingers, Bob Shirley, Gene Tenace, and Bob Geren. Fingers was dealt to the Brewers four days later along with Ted Simmons and Pete Vukovich for David Green, Dave LaPoint, Sixto Sezcano, and Lary Sorenson.
- Also during the 1980 meetings, Herzog signed free agent catcher Darrell Porter. Two years later, Porter was named the 1982 World Series Most Valuable Player. Herzog traded for future Hall of Fame closer Bruce Sutter as well.
- At the 1981 Winter Meetings, Herzog acquired shortstop Ozzie Smith and others from the San Diego Padres in exchange for Garry Templeton and others.
Adam Wainwright - Skipping decades ahead, at the 2003 Winter Meetings, the Cardinals acquired minor league pitcher Adam Wainwright from the Atlanta Braves. The Cardinals also added pitchers Jason Marquis and Ray King in that deal. The Braves received outfielder J.D. Drew and catcher Eli Marrero.
- The 2011 Winter Meetings were notable in a manner not desirable to Cardinals fans. At that time, free agent superstar Albert Pujols agreed a 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels.
- Other signings at Winter Meetings that were very impactful later include Chris Carpenter in 2002, and catcher Mike Matheny in 1999. The two were former teammates with Toronto.
As noted above, the Rule 5 draft also occurs during the Winter Meetings. Following is a list of some of the Rule 5 draft players acquired by the Cardinals in the major league phase of the draft.
- 1965: Joe Hoerner. Hoerner was a relief pitcher for the Cardinals for four seasons and was the closer during their 1967 World Championship season.
- 1970: Cecil Cooper. Cooper was one who got away. The Cardinals drafted him in the 1970 Rule 5 draft from the Red Sox but returned him before the 1971 season started. Cooper played six seasons in Boston and then was traded to the Brewers. While in Milwaukee, Cooper finished in the top five of the MVP vote three times, made four All Star games, won two Gold Gloves and three Silver Sluggers.
Matt Bowman (USA TODAY Sports Images) - 1982: Kurt Kepshire. Kepshire was a starting pitcher for the Cardinals for two seasons, 1984 and 1985.
- 1985: Clint Hurdle. Hurdle is most well known as being the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2011-2019. His play in St. Louis was limited to 78 games in 1986.
- 2003: Hector Luna. After playing for St. Louis for 2 ½ seasons, Luna was traded back to Cleveland for Ronnie Belliard.
- 2007: Brian Barton. Barton played in 82 games for the Cardinals in 2008 and was traded to the Braves in 2009.
- 2011: Erik Komatsu. Komatsu made 21 plate appearances for the Cardinals and then was placed on waivers and claimed by the Twins.
- 2015: Matt Bowman. Bowman is the most recent player the Cardinals acquired via the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft. The reliever spent three seasons with the Cardinals and was claimed off waivers by the Reds in 2018.
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