photo: Manager Yadier Molina (Press Magallanes BBC)
As the wait until the free agent period continues for the St. Louis Cardinals, the club has reportedly spoken with Yadier Molina about returning as a coach. Our weekly history feature revisits the Cardinals in the post-season during the 1930s.
New and Notes for the Cardinals offseason
This section will feature offseason news items each week that do not require extensive coverage.
- The postseason is underway and when it concludes the first order of the offseason is free agency. Unlike past seasons, the St. Louis Cardinals do not have a long list of potential free agents that may or may not be returning for 2024. Excepting retired Adam Wainwright, the only player on the active roster when the season ended who is eligible for free agency is Drew VerHagen. The right hander signed for two seasons in March 2022. His contract ended with the 2023 season. There has been no indication of whether the Cardinals are interested in re-signing the reliever.
- Taylor Motter, who played in 29 games during the season, is also a free agent, declaring minor league free agency after being designated for assignment on September 5. Like VerHagen, the Cardinals have given no indication of intent to bring Motter back for 2024.
- The Cardinals had originally planned to conduct their usual post-season press conference on Monday, October 9, but it was postponed with no set date scheduled. Cardinals beat writer Jeff Jones tweeted that the presser was postponed “because they have no immediate news to announce”. Jones stated they will wait until later in the month, or perhaps after the World Series.
- Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch reported that C Ivan Herrera, thought to be out of options, is eligible for a fourth option year pursuant to Rule 7(c) of the Major League Baseball Rules. That rule states that a player is eligible for a fourth option year if the player has played less than five full seasons in the Major and Minor Leagues. Herrera spent his first his first two seasons in short season Rookie ball, which do not count as a full season (a full season must be at least 90 days active, which Rookie ball is not). His first full season was 2019. Because of the pandemic, the 2020 season doesn’t count as a full season. Therefore, Herrera was only active for the 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons, one season short of the five full seasons as stated in Rule 7(c).
- The Cardinals’ baseball training facility in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, was the target of an armed robbery on Friday, October 13. The robbers took money, cell phones, and jewelry from players at the complex. Baseball equipment was also taken. The players and staff were shaken up, but no one was harmed. The Cardinals plan a review of the security provisions in the wake of this assault.
The DR facility was opened in 2015 and is the host for the Cardinals Dominican Summer League team. The facility houses players during the offseason while they participate in workouts and school.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale says the Cardinals “will strongly pursue Minnesota Twins free agent Sonny Gray this winter.”
Nightengale added that St. Louis and the Yankees, Jordan Montgomery’s former teams, are among those clubs that are expected to try to sign the free agent lefty this offseason.
Martin Kilcoyne of FOX-2 in St. Louis reports that the Cardinals have discussed with retired catcher Yadier Molina the possibility of his return to the organization. Neither the specific coaching role nor the level of interest is known.
Thanks for all the feedback. To recap, Molina joining #StlCards coaching staff next season is possible. The two sides have talked about it. But I don’t know if it will happen. https://t.co/UxKgGiaG6j
— Martin Kilcoyne (@martinkilcoyne2) October 13, 2023
Transactions
There are no new major league transactions to report.
Catcher Tres Barrera, outrighted to Memphis in June, declared minor league free agency on October 13.
Injury Report
There are no new injuries to report.
Looking Ahead
The postseason is underway. The Championship Series began on Sunday, October 15. The Rangers play their division rival Astros in the ALCS. The NLCS features the Diamondbacks against the Phillies.
The Championship Series will wrap up no later than October 24.
The World Series will begin 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. The Cardinals have one free agent, reliever Drew VerHagen. Taylor Motter, who is also a 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 believed to be in an amount 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 is looking 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 the ascent began into the successful franchise it is today.
From 1920 until the present, the Cardinals made the postseason 32 times. In only two decades since then they did not make a single postseason appearance, the 1950s and the 1970s. In all other decades but one they have gone to the postseason multiple times.
The second installment in this series looks at the decade of the 1930s.
The Cardinals played in the World Series three times, 1930, 1931, and 1934. This period featured teams that were given the nickname “The Gashouse Gang”. The Cardinals teams of this era reportedly would come on to the field wearing dirty and smelly uniforms. A Gashouse in those days was a factory that turned coal in gas for lighting and cooking. The plants were noted for emitting foul smells and were often located near railroads in poorer neighborhoods.
The 1930 team was owned by Sam Breadon and managed by Gabby Street. The GM was Branch Rickey. They played in Sportsman’s Park.
The squad had a 92-62 record, in first place in the eight-team National League. They finished two games ahead of the Chicago Cubs. Every Cardinal with more than 300 at-bats finished with a batting average over .300. This is the only time in history that has happened.
The 1930 squad featured six future Hall of Famers – Jim Bottomley, Frankie Frisch, Jesse Haines, Chick Hafey, Burleigh Grimes, and Dizzy Dean.
The Philadelphia Athletics were the Cardinals opponent in the World Series. The Athletics were managed by Connie Mack. To this day, Mack holds the record for the most wins by a manager.
The Cardinals lost the Series 4-2. The Cardinals won Games 3 and 4 in Sportsman’s Park.
St. Louis returned to the World Series in 1931. The owner, manager, and GM were all the same as in 1930.
The 1931 team finished in first place in the NL with a record of 101-53. They were dominant, finishing 13 games ahead of the second place New York Giants. The team featured the same Hall of Famers as the 1930 team with the exception of Dizzy Dean, who did not pitch that season, but returned in 1932.
The 1931 Cardinals once again faced the Athletics, this time beating Philadelphia 4-3 for their second World Series championship.
St. Louis’ third trip to the World Series that decade was in 1934. The team was still owned by Sam Breadon and Branch Rickey continued as GM. Frankie Frisch was the manager. Frisch became the manager after Gabby Street was fired in July of 1933.
The team finished with a record of 95-58 and in first place in the NL, two games ahead of the Giants.
Gone from 1931 were Bottomley and Hafey. Returning were Dean, Haines, Frisch, and Grimes. Added were Hall of Famers Dazzy Vance, Joe “Ducky” Medwick, and Leo Durocher, for a total of seven.
The Cardinals defeated the Detroit Tigers in the 1934 World Series, 4-3. Only one of their wins came in Sportsman’s Park.
The 1930s came to an end with no more trips to the World Series. The next decade, the 1940s, feature what are considered the best teams in Cardinals history, from 1942-44. The Cardinals went to the World Series four times that decade and won three championships.
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