photo: Tommy Edman (Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports)
As fans await the St. Louis Cardinals’ off-season activity, Tommy Edman is in the running for a Gold Glove, though a possible return of Yadier Molina leads the headlines. In our history feature, the highly successful 1940s Cardinals teams are remembered.
New and Notes for the Cardinals offseason
This section will feature offseason news items each week that do not require extensive coverage.
– Gold Glove Award finalists were announced this past week. The Cardinals have only one player who is among the top three finishers at his position. Tommy Edman is a finalist for the NL utility player Gold Glove Award.
After receiving the Gold Gloves at third base in each of his prior 10 years in the majors, Nolan Arenado will not win the award in 2023.
Edman played four different positions over the course of the 2023 season. Most of his innings in the field were spread relatively evenly across second base, center field and shortstop. He also played 44 innings in right field.
Edman has one Gold Glove to date in his major league career, which he won in 2021 at second base. He was a finalist for the 2022 utility award, which was won by teammate Brendan Donovan.
The winners of the 2023 Gold Glove Awards will be announced on Sunday, November 5 at 6:30 CT on ESPN.
– On October 19, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced the 2024 nominees from the Baseball Era Committee. One former Cardinal was among the nominees, Bill White. White played for the Cardinals from 1959-65 and again in 1969.
These nominations, however, are not for their contributions as players, but for their contributions as managers, executives, and umpires. White was the President of the National League from 1989-94. He also spent five decades in broadcasting, which included a sports program on KMOX while he was still playing for the Cardinals.
White was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2022.
The results of the Baseball Hall of Fame Committee vote will be announced live on MLB Network on at 6:30 CT on Sunday, December 3.
– It has been widely reported that former Cardinals’ catcher Yadier Molina has discussed with the Cardinals the possibility of returning to the organization in some capacity, possibly as a coach.
Martin Kilcoyne of FOX-2 News in St. Louis was the first to break the story. Molina has since confirmed that he had discussions with the organization when he returned to St. Louis for the retirement ceremony for Adam Wainwright. No specifics were given as to what role, if any, was discussed.
Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat reported that Molina would prefer to become the bench coach, a position that is currently filled by Joe McEwing. The organization has neither confirmed nor denied this report.
The Cardinals are not expected to make any announcements until after the World Series.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch has reported that the Cardinals have expressed interest in pursuing free agent pitchers Sonny Gray and Aaron Nola this offseason.
Goold also reported that the Cardinals have scouted Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and are interested in exploring a reunion with Jordan Montgomery.
It should be emphasized that many teams will be looking for pitching this offseason, especially starting pitching. The Cardinals have been historically hesitant, if not unwilling, to wade into competition for high-priced pitching. At least three, if not possibly all four of the aforementioned hurlers are likely to command hefty salaries.
Goold further added that St. Louis has interest in talking to Tampa Bay about a trade for Tyler Glasnow.
To be serious about their expressed goals, the Cardinals will have to be willing to greatly increase their spending range and payroll for any offseason pitching acquisitions. It is not cynical for Cardinals fans to express skepticism that the Cardinals will in fact put their money where their mouth is.
Transactions
There are no new transactions to report.
Injury Report
There is no new injury news to report.
Looking Ahead
The two Championship Series began on Sunday, October 15. The Rangers are playing their division rival Astros in the ALCS with the deciding Game 7 on Monday evening. The NLCS features the Diamondbacks against the Phillies. The Phillies lead three games to two.
The Championship Series will wrap up no later than October 24.
The World Series begins on October 27 and end no later than November 4.
Once the World Series is over, the offseason begins. Five days following the end of the World Series, free agency begins. Excepting retiring Adam Wainwright, the Cardinals have only one free agent, reliever Drew VerHagen. Taylor Motter, who is a minor league free agent, was designated for assignment on September 5 and did not finish the season in St. Louis.
Teams have a five-day exclusive window to negotiate with their free agents. After that window concludes, free agents may negotiate and sign with any other team. This is also the period in which teams may make eligible free agents the Qualifying Offer. The QO is expected to be around $20.5 million.
The annual GM Meetings are scheduled for November 7-9 in Scottsdale, AZ.
Blast from the Past
The Cardinals did not make the postseason in 2023. The reasons for that have already been hashed over and the historically bad season analyzed in every quarter. Now that the postseason is underway without the Cardinals, the Blast from the Past will make a U-turn, and rather than bemoan the lost season, will celebrate those seasons in which the Cardinals did play in October.
This series will look at the Cardinals in the postseason by decade. The period from 1900-1920 was a tough two decades for the St. Louis franchise. It wasn’t until Sam Breadon purchased the Cardinals in 1917 that they began the ascent into the successful franchise of today.
From 1920 until the present, the Cardinals made the postseason 32 times. In only two decades since then did they not made a single playoff appearance, the 1950s and the 1970s. In all other decades but one they have gone to the postseason multiple times.
The third installment in this series looks at the decade of the 1940s. The teams of the 1940s were arguably their best since becoming the Cardinals in 1900. In terms of record and win percentage, the teams from 1942-44 were the most successful in the history of the franchise.
The Cardinals went to the World Series four times during the 1940s, including the aforementioned 1942-44 teams, plus the 1946 team. St. Louis won three of four of those championships.
The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals were owned by Sam Breadon. The GM was Branch Rickey. The manager was Billy Southworth.
Future Hall of Famers on this team were Southworth, Stan Musial, and Enos Slaughter.
The 1942 squad finished the season with a record of 106-48-2, a franchise record. They finished in first place in the NL, two games ahead of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The 1942 World Series pitted the Cardinals against the New York Yankees. St. Louis took the series 4-1 for their fourth World Series title. The Yankees won Game 1 and the Cardinals swept the remaining four games.
The Cardinals returned to the World Series in 1943. The 1943 Cardinals were owned by Breadon. The GM was William Walsingham Jr., Breadon’s nephew. Rickey had departed for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The manager remained Southworth.
The Cardinals finished with a record of 105-49-3 in 1943. They were in first place in the NL, 18 games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds.
The team’s future Hall of Famers were Southworth and Musial. Slaughter was away, serving in World War II.
The 1943 team again played the Yankees in the World Series, this time losing 4-1. The Cardinals won Game 2 at Yankee Stadium.
For the third consecutive year, in 1944, the Cardinals went to the World Series.
Breadon, Walsingham Jr. and Southworth continued in their leadership roles.
The team finished with a record of 105-49-3, the exact same record as in 1943. They finished in first place in the NL, 14.5 games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Future Hall of Famers on the 1944 team were Southworth and Musial.
The 1944 World Series featured the Cardinals against their AL cross-town rival, the St. Louis Browns. The Cardinals were victorious for the fifth time, 4-2. All games were played at Sportsman’s Park, which the Cardinals shared with the Browns. The Cardinals won Games 2, 4, 5, and 6.
The 1944 Series was nicknamed “The Trolley Series, “The Streetcar Series” and “The St. Louis Showdown”. It was the only the second World Series featuring two teams from the same city other than New York (also Chicago in 1906).
Finally, the Cardinals went to their fourth World Series of the 1940s in 1946. The 1946 team was owned by Breadon and the GM was Walsingham Jr. The new manager was Eddie Dyer, hired after Southworth took a better paying manager job with the Boston Braves.
The 1946 team finished with a record of 98-58. They finished in first place in the NL, two games ahead of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Future Hall of Famers were Musial, Slaughter, and Red Schoendienst. Southworth was gone and Slaughter returned from the war. (Musial had joined the Navy in 1945 and was away for that season).
The 1946 World Series pitted the Cardinals against the Boston Red Sox. The Cardinals won the Series 4-3, taking games 2, 4, 6 and 7. Red Sox great Ted Williams appeared in the series but was ineffective because he was playing injured.
1946 marked the sixth World Series title for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals did not make the postseason in the 1950s, so next week’s installment looks at the decade of the 1960s.
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