St. Louis Cardinals MLB Notebook – Week of November 29-December 5

photo: Jim Kaat

As the prior labor agreement expired, the St. Louis Cardinals joined the other 29 teams in locking out the players. The 2022 Hall of Fame class includes former Cardinals Jim Kaat and Minnie Minoso. Our history feature looks back at prior Cardinals Most Valuable Player Award winners.



MLB owners lock out players as CBA expires

At 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 1, the Collective Bargaining Agreement between Major League Baseball owners and players expired. The agreement went into effect in 2016 and ran for a duration of five years. As of the time the Agreement expired, negotiations between the parties had been unable to settle on a new agreement. Minutes later, Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that all 30 teams had voted to institute a lockout, bringing about the first labor stoppage in baseball in 26 years.

The lockout is the ninth work stoppage in MLB history and the fourth lockout. The last MLB lockout occurred in 1990. A lockout is a management tool, often used to pressure the union into coming to terms for an agreement. A lockout is not required by any law and is the voluntary choice of the owners.

Reports just prior to the expiration of the agreement were that the owners and the union met briefly on Tuesday, but no movement toward an agreement occurred. Media reported that the owners did not put forth any counter to the last proposal from the union nor made any new offers.

Key issues are financial, including earlier compensation for players, as well as salary floors and ceilings to encourage competitiveness.

Since the lockout began, all websites for the 30 MLB teams were scrubbed of any references to current major league players. Photos that accompanied players names on each team’s roster were removed. The Winter Meetings that were scheduled to begin this week in Orlando were canceled, and the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft was delayed indefinitely.

Other activities of the offseason are subject to cancellation should the lockout continue into the New Year. Voting and the announcements of election to the Baseball Hall of Fame will occur as scheduled.

With respect to the Cardinals specifically, the annual Winter Warm-Up, scheduled to take place in January, has not been canceled at this time, but almost certainly will be should the lockout continue into the New Year.

Negotiations for a new Agreement can and will continue between the owners and the MLB Players’ Association. All other contact between players and team personnel is prohibited. It is hoped that the lockout will not affect spring training and the regular season schedule. None of the prior lockouts in MLB history have resulted in cancellation of games.

Check this weekly report for updates to negotiations to end the lockout.

Two former Cardinals elected to Hall of Fame

On Sunday night December 5, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced that six players were selected for induction to the Hall of Fame by the Early Baseball Era Committee and the Golden Days Era Committee.

Jim Kaat

From among the four players selected by the Golden Days Committee, two were former Cardinals. Jim Kaat and Minnie Minoso played for St. Louis in the later days of their notable careers. The other two players named to the Hall are Gil Hodges and Tony Oliva. In addition, two players, former Negro leagues star Buck O’Neill, and Bud Fowler, were chosen by the Early Days Committee.

The 83-year-old Kaat concluded his playing years with the Cardinals, pitching four seasons from 1980-1983. The left-hander posted a won/loss record of 19-16 and an ERA of 3.82 in 92 games for the Cardinals, 17 as a starter. Kaat, who earlier starred for the Minnesota Twins and was later a broadcaster, won his only World Series in his 25-year career with the 1982 Cardinals.

Minnie Minoso

Minoso, who passed away in 2015, played one season of his 20-year baseball career with the Cardinals, in 1962. He missed two months due to a crash with the outfield wall that resulted in a fractured skull and a broken wrist. Minoso, a former White Sox standout, finished that season with a slash line of .196/.271/.278 in 108 plate appearances.

Candidates must receive 75% of the vote from the 16 committee members to be selected, which is at least 12 of the 16 possible votes. Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and former St. Louis shortstop and Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith were voting members of both committees. Post-Dispatch writer Rick Hummel was a voting member of the Early Days Committee.

Former Cardinals who fell short of selection include Ken Boyer, Roger Maris and Dick Allen, with the latter receiving 11 votes.

The Induction Ceremony for the 2022 Hall of Fame class will take place on July 24, 2022, in Cooperstown, NY.

Trade and Acquisition Rumors

There are no trade or acquisition rumors to report. Due to the lockout, owners are not communicating with players and their agents.

Transactions

  • 11/30 – Jose Rondon elected free agency. The veteran infielder had been non-tendered, meaning the Cardinals did not offer him a contract for 2022. Among those likely to compete for his former job as reserve infielder are recent free agent signing Anderson Tejeda and prospects Nolan Gorman and Brendan Donovan.

José Rondón

Injury Report

There are no new injuries to report.

Looking Ahead

As of 11:59 p.m. ET on December 1, the MLB/MLBPA Collective Bargaining Agreement expired and no new agreement was reached by that time. Shortly after, the Commissioner’s Office announced that the owners of all 30 teams voted unanimously to institute a lockout of MLB players effective immediately.

As a result of the lockout, all major league transactions are halted indefinitely. Players and team personnel are prohibited from communicating with each other and players are not permitted to use team facilities. The parties may continue to negotiate to reach an agreement that would end the lockout.

The lockout has also led to the cancellation of the Winter Meetings, scheduled to begin this week in Orlando.  The major league phase of the Rule 5 draft is postponed indefinitely. Depending on how long the lockout continues, the exchanging of salaries for arbitration purposes, which occurs in mid-January, may also be delayed or altered by the terms of a new agreement.

There will be little to no major league activity to report for the foreseeable future as long as the lockout continues.

Blast from the Past

In the final installment of the series on MLB awards, Blast from the Past looks back at the Most Valuable Player Award. A brief history of the award and a summary of past Cardinal winners will follow.

A precursor to the Most Valuable Player Award was called the Chalmers Award, named after Hugh Chalmers of Chalmers Automotive. The award was given to the player with the highest batting average in Major League Baseball. The first Chalmers Award was given to Ty Cobb in 1911. Annual awards were given out from 1911-1914.

Bob Gibson’s 1968 National League Most Valuable Player Award

In 1922, the American League began giving out an award for the player “who is of the greatest all-around service to his team”. The winners were voted on by an eight-member committee of baseball writers. The National League began the award in 1924. Both awards were discontinued by 1929. Three Cardinals won NL honors: Rogers Hornsby in 1925, Bob O’Farrell in 1926, and Jim Bottomley in 1928.

The modern day Most Valuable Player Award began in 1931. Seventeen St. Louis Cardinals have been named MVP since 1931, the second most of all 30 teams after the New York Yankees.

Two Cardinals received the MVP award multiple times. Stan Musial won in 1943, 1946, and 1948. Albert Pujols was named three times, in 2005, 2008 and 2009, being the only Cardinal to win back-to-back.

Frankie Frisch

Frankie Frisch of the Cardinals was the first NL winner in 1931. The second baseman hit .311/.368/.396 that season and led the league in stolen bases with 28.

Right-handed pitcher Dizzy Dean was the NL MVP in 1934. Dean posted a NL-leading record of 30-7 with an ERA of 2.66. Dean also led the NL in strikeouts with 195.

Outfielder Joe “Ducky” Medwick was named the 1937 NL MVP. Medwick led the NL in multiple categories, including hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, batting average, and slugging and is the last NL player to win the Triple Crown.

Pitcher Mort Cooper was the 1942 NL MVP. The right hander had a NL leading 22 wins and ERA of 1.78 in 35 starts for the Cardinals. He also led the NL with 10 shutouts.

Stan Musial

Following Musial’s third MVP win in 1948, a Cardinal did not receive the award again until 1964 when third baseman Ken Boyer was selected. He slashed .295/.365/.489/ with 24 HRs and an NL leading 119 RBI in 707 plate appearances.

Orlando Cepeda and Bob Gibson received the award in back-to-back years in 1967 and 1968. Cepeda slashed .325/.399/.524 with an NL-leading 111 RBI in 644 plate appearances. Gibson pitched to an MLB record 1.12 in 1968 as well as led the NL in strikeouts with 268 in 34 starts.

The next Cardinal to earn the MVP was Joe Torre in 1971. Torre paced the NL in hits (230), RBI (137), and batting average (.363) in 707 plate appearances.

Albert Pujols (USA TODAY Sports Images)

Cardinals first baseman Keith Hernandez tied with the Pirates Willie Stargell for the 1979 NL MVP Award. Hernandez’ NL leading stats that year were runs scored (116), doubles (48) and batting average (.344).

Willie McGee was the 1985 NL MVP. McGee led the NL with a batting average of .353 in 652 plate appearances. The outfielder also topped the NL in hits (216) and triples (18).

The most recent Cardinal recipient of the NL MVP was Pujols. The three-time winner led the NL in runs scored in 2005 with 129 and posted a slash line of .330/.430/.609 in 700 plate appearances. In 2008, he was first in the NL in SLG (.653), and OPS (1.114). The next year Pujols took the award with an NL leading 47 home runs, and NL-best OBP, SLG, and OPS of .443, .658, and 1.101 respectively. He also topped the NL with runs scored with 124.

No Cardinals have won the award since 2009.


Exclusively for members of The Cardinal Nation

TCN 2022 St. Louis Cardinals Prospect #39 – Logan Gragg


2021 Prospect Guide now 20% off!

Now available, The Cardinal Nation 2021 Prospect Guide is back for a fourth year. It includes over 250 pages of in-depth commentary about the very best St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguers, including dozens of color photos.

20% off Blowout Sale now underway on the spiral-bound, printed version.

TCN’s 2021 Cardinals Prospect Guide – 20% Off Blowout Sale


Not yet a member?

Join The Cardinal Nation for the most comprehensive coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals from the majors through the entire minor league system.

Follow Marilyn Green on Twitter @Marilyncolor.

© 2021 The Cardinal Nation, thecardinalnation.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.