St. Louis Cardinals

[Woy]

MLB Trade Rumors previews the Cardinals off-season.

The Cardinals enter the offseason without the need for large-scale change.

Guaranteed Contracts
Yadier Molina, C: $74MM through 2017
Matt Holliday, OF: $69MM through 2016
Jaime Garcia, SP: $23.25MM through 2015
Carlos Beltran, OF: $13MM through 2013
Chris Carpenter, SP: $12.5MM through 2013
Adam Wainwright, SP: $12MM through 2013
Jake Westbrook, SP: $9.75MM through 2013
Rafael Furcal, SS: $7.5MM through 2013
Skip Schumaker, 2B: $1.5MM through 2013

Arbitration Eligible Players (estimated salaries)
Edward Mujica, RP: $3.2MM (third time eligible)
Kyle McClellan, RP: $2.4MM (third time eligible, non-tender candidate)
Jason Motte, RP: $4.7MM (second time eligible)
David Freese, 3B: $2.6MM (first time eligible)
Mitchell Boggs, RP: $1.3MM (first time eligible)
Marc Rzepczynski, RP: $900K (first time eligible)

Free Agents
Kyle Lohse, Lance Berkman, Brian Fuentes

No general manager begins an offseason by declaring that his team could contend for a championship as-is. It'd be boastful and create unwanted attention. But if any team can contend in 2013 without making prominent offseason additions it's the Cardinals.

The Cardinals seem to be in tremendous position for the 2013 season. Their roster includes impact players in their prime such as Yadier Molina and Matt Holliday. It features an effective starting rotation with a combination of established veterans and powerful young arms. There's a collection of homegrown, pre-arbitration eligible position players who can really hit. And the roster doesn't include a single bad contract.

That said, John Mozeliak has a number of needs this offseason. The general manager will pursue left-handed relief, perhaps through free agency. Jeremy Affeldt, Sean Burnett and Randy Choate are among the free agent left-handers who could become targets in St. Louis. There's also the possibility of a trade, not that teams are generally keen on parting with reliable left-handed relief. It'd make sense for the Cardinals to offer Burnett or Affeldt a modest multiyear deal if that's what it takes.

The Cardinals could also consider upgrades at the middle infield positions. They have more internal options at second base than at shortstop, since Matt Carpenter will work out at second this offseason and prospect Kolten Wong could contribute at the MLB level by 2013. There's also trade candidate Skip Schumaker and Daniel Descalso, who spent most of the '12 season at second.

Pete Kozma's postseason performance aside, the Cardinals have legitimate questions at shortstop. Counting on Rafael Furcal to stay healthy all year probably isn't realistic at this point, leading Joe Strauss to suggest the Cardinals could add a shortstop for the short term. While this may not be an urgent need, it's worth keeping in mind.

Schumaker doesn't have a clear role on next year's Cardinals team, so he could be traded. He'd likely draw interest given his $1.5MM salary, the scarcity of free agent second basemen and his ability to hit right-handed pitching and reach base. The Royals, Orioles and Blue Jays should all consider Schumaker in my view. Matt Adams could be another trade chip, since he doesn't have a clear role on the St. Louis roster. The 24-year-old has shown lots of power at the minor league level and could appeal to teams such as the Rays and Indians. If those teams hesitate to surrender value in trades, the Cardinals can simply keep Adams as depth.

Kyle Lohse will hit free agency this offseason, and he won't be returning to St. Louis. Expect the Cardinals to extend the right-hander a qualifying offer to set themselves up for draft pick compensation in 2013. Lance Berkman will also leave as a free agent (assuming he doesn't retire). Instead, Jenifer Langosch has suggested the Cardinals could pursue a right-handed hitting power threat for the bench. Jonny Gomes and Casper Wells are among the right-handed hitting outfielders who could appeal to Mozeliak.

The GM will likely discuss a potential extension with Adam Wainwright's representatives in the coming months. At this point, Wainwright, Chris Carpenter and Jake Westbrook are all on track to hit free agency following the 2013 season. By extending Wainwright the Cardinals would lock up a reliable starter who can facilitate the transition to a younger group of arms. He pitched well in his return from Tommy John surgery, even if he fell short of the lofty personal standards he established in 2009-10. Wainwright's representatives at Aegis Sports Management could be positioned to demand four or five additional years now that Wainwright's this close to free agency.

The Cardinals' group of six arbitration eligible players includes one non-tender candidate: Kyle McClellan. It's also possible Mozeliak could trade McClellan to a team in need of pitching, though they probably wouldn't obtain much in return given his season-ending shoulder injury.

The group also includes a number of extension candidates. It might make sense to wait before extending David Freese given his difficulties staying on the field. The Cardinals could also look to cap costs by signing relievers such as Jason Motte and Mitchell Boggs to modest extensions. At this stage there's no urgency to complete deals, so unless the Cardinals are getting discounts or extending their period of team control, new contracts won't be necessary.

Even a well-built team such as this one has offseason needs. Mozeliak will attempt to add left-handed relief and sort out his team's middle infield in the coming months. Still, compared to last offseason -- a winter that included a managerial search and high stakes negotiations with the organization's franchise player -- this year will probably seem pretty quiet.

[Woy]

A look back at how John Mozeliak righted the Cardinals ship when it could have sank.

When John Mozeliak was promoted to the general manager’s office before the 2008 season, the chair was uncomfortable.

In a harsh and tragic follow-up to the 2006 World Series championship, the 2007 Cardinals went 78-84 and finished a distant third in the NL Central. That was hardly the worst part. Relief pitcher Josh Hancock died in a drinking-and-driving wreck on April 29. On Aug. 30, outfielder Juan Encarnacion was struck in the face by a foul ball that caused severe damage to his left eye socket. The injury ended his career.

After a tension-filled summer wrought with front-office infighting, Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr. fired GM Walt Jocketty at season’s end. Jocketty had resented losing control over the draft and player development, and his feud with scouting director Jeff Luhnow created an organizational fissure that couldn’t be resolved.

Less than a calendar after winning the World Series, Jocketty was out. DeWitt interviewed several outside candidates and seemed to be zeroing in on Cleveland assistant GM Chris Antonetti as the choice. But the Indians convinced Antonetti to stay, and DeWitt gave the job to Jocketty’s assistant, Mozeliak.

Manager Tony La Russa wasn’t exactly thrilled by the seismic shakeup. Jocketty and La Russa were close allies that had formed a winning partnership, and TLR didn’t care for Luhnow.

La Russa decided to return in 2008 after being offered a huge raise by DeWitt.

The organization was still roiling when Mozeliak took over for Jocketty. The new GM faced a difficult challenge on multiple fronts.

Mozeliak had to broker an uneasy peace between La Russa and Luhnow. It was a complicated arrangement. DeWitt valued La Russa’s leadership and record of impressive achievement, but DeWitt also wanted the franchise to put more emphasis on scouting, drafting and developing young players.

The old-school La Russa went along with the program, but maintained skepticism. And Mozeliak had to find a way to oversee the dramatic change in philosophy without alienating La Russa. To pull this off, Mozeliak had to display considerable dexterity and diplomacy.

Mozeliak succeeded.

I offer the history lesson for a reason: it’s easy to forget about the tumultuous period of transition that could have ripped the franchise apart. It’s difficult to win in a calm setting, but in his early days as GM Mozeliak had to deal with a potentially volatile set of circumstances. He handled the assignment with impressive skill.

So when people ask me if I think Mozeliak has done a good job as GM, it’s rather easy to answer the question. Mozeliak hasn’t done a good job as GM; he’s done a great job.

Over Mozeliak’s first five years, the Cardinals have maintained their level of success. This was never going to be a full-scale youth movement. Because the Cardinals are determined to continue winning, there will always be room for big contracts (Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina, Kyle Lohse, Chris Carpenter.) Vacancies will be filled by imported veterans such as Lance Berkman, Carlos Beltran and Jake Westbrook.

The organization, however, has given expanded opportunities to young players. That in turn led to the difference-making emergence of David Freese, Allen Craig, Jon Jay, Matt Carpenter, Daniel Descalso, Jaimie Garcia, Jason Motte, Mitchell Boggs, Lance Lynn, and Joe Kelly.

Mozeliak has successfully balanced the roster; the Cardinals have an appealing mix of experienced, proven players and youthful, ascending talents.

The player-development plan is working, and there’s another wave of wave of young talent on the way. I don’t know if any major-league franchise can match the Cardinals’ collection of young power arms: Lynn, Kelly, Trevor Rosenthal, Shelby Miller, Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha. Depending on their progress and/or comeback from injuries, the list could be lengthened to include Tyrell Jenkins and Jordan Swaggerty.

On the player-position side, the Cardinals are legitimately excited by the seemingly imminent graduations of outfielder Oscar Tavares and second baseman Kolten Wong. And down the road there’s a potentially powerful third-base bat in teenager Carson Kelly. Matt Adams, the slugging first baseman, may get a shot at some point.

The infusion of young talent is real. It isn’t hype. The 2012 Cardinals even benefited from the surprisingly effective play from rookie shortstop Peter Kozma, who had tumbled from the list of top prospects. But Mozeliak has also made adept moves to plug in more expensive pieces. The 2011 Cardinals wouldn’t have won the World Series without Berkman. Without Beltran, the 2012 Cardinals don’t make the playoffs and advance to Game 7 of the NL championship series.

Mozeliak’s quality work includes the deal that sent an aging Jim Edmonds to San Diego for a young minor-league third baseman, Freese. Given what Freese has done here, this will go down as one of the best trades in franchise history.

Mozeliak’s insistence in relying on prospects also applied to the manager’s job. When Mozeliak had to replace the iconic La Russa, a certain Hall of Famer, he made an unconventional and somewhat controversial decision to hire the promising but inexperienced Mike Matheny. That decision appears to be a home run.

Because of the depth assembled by Mozeliak, the 2012 Cardinals were able to compensate for the free-agent loss of superstar Albert Pujols. With Craig, Matt Carpenter and Adams taking most of the at-bats, the Cardinals got 21 homers, 109 RBIs and a .293 batting average from the first base position in 2012.

By declining to match the Los Angeles Angels’ 10-year, $240 million offer to Pujols, Mozeliak created payroll flexibility for the future. That enabled him to sign the industry’s best catcher, Molina, to a five-year, $75 million contract extension. With Pujols gone, the Cardinals were able to give a full-time opportunity to Craig, who responded by leading the major leagues in RBI rate in 2012. (Craig had an RBI for every 5.1 at-bats, and led the majors with a .400 batting average with runners in scoring position.)

In Mozeliak’s first five seasons as GM, the Cardinals had the NL’s second-best winning percentage. Only Philadelphia won more games. The Cardinals made it to the playoffs three times in the five seasons, have won 18 postseason games, and captured the 11th World Series title in franchise history.

When Mozeliak succeeded the ousted Jocketty, it was natural to wonder if the Cardinals would slip, and lose ground. It hasn’t happened. I would never insult Jocketty or demean the work he did here by insisting that Mozeliak is a better GM.

That said, Mozeliak obviously was the right choice to take over during such a sensitive, tricky time. Given the thorny challenges that have confronted Mozeliak over the past five seasons, I don’t see how another GM could have possibly done a better job than Mo.

[Woy]

Cardinals announce new alternates for the 2013 season.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOX) — The “birds on the bat” will continue to be a classic, signature look for the St. Louis Cardinals as they plan to unveil new uniforms at a Friday morning press conference. Making their first major update since 1998, the jersey featured (to the left) will be worn on Saturday home games.

There have been few logos throughout the franchise’s history that have evolved over time mainly featuring two redbirds perched on a bat along with the various “STL” designs on the hat. Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III talked about reaching this decision:

The Saturday home game jersey displays “St. Louis” rather than “Cardinals” for the first time since 1932. DeWitt told KMOX the redbirds seen on the new jerseys have a more detailed embroidery meaning there will also be a change to the home and away jerseys.

The alternative jersey does not have a player number in the front, but the home and away front numbers will be slightly shorter. The back of the jersey will remain the same.

The Cardinals Official Team Store will be selling all the new uniform items starting Friday at 10:00am. The team store is the exclusive seller of the items in the St. Louis area until after Thanksgiving when it will be available at other area retailers.

Rather have the baby blues they wore this year, but I'm okay with these.

[NAHSTE]

Wish they went with the St. Louis script for the road greys, but I like it. Heard they were ditching one of the blue hats. You heard about that yet Woy?

[Woy]

Wish they went with the St. Louis script for the road greys, but I like it. Heard they were ditching one of the blue hats. You heard about that yet Woy?

Yeah, I'm not too fond of the red hats on the road as well, but I think they're still keeping the blue hat as an alternate 'every now and then' one.

And I like the unis the more I look at them. That piping is gorgeous.

[Woy]

A few minor notes from the farm:

• The Texas League (AA) champion Springfield Cardinals were named Baseball America's Minor League Team of the Year. The team consisted of top prospects like Oscar Taveras, Kolten Wong, Carlos Martinez and Trevor Rosenthal at points during the season.
• Oscar Taveras was named the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year. Arguably the best hitting prospect in the minor leagues, the 20-year-old Taveras posted a slash line of .321/.380/.572/.953, hit 23 homeruns, drove in 94 runs and had 67 extra-base hits in 124 games. He also showed enough in centerfield that has scouts believing he could play there for a few years in the big leagues, when they originally confined him to just a corner outfielder.
• Seth Maness was named the Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Absent from most of the organization's top prospect lists, the 24-year-old Maness continued his dominance in 2012 with a 2.97 ERA, 14-4 record and 112 strikeouts in 169.2 innings. The most ridiculous stat of Maness's is the number of walks he allowed - one in 46 innings at Palm Beach, and nine in 123.2 innings at Springfield. That kind of control would make him an immediate favorite of former pitching coach Dave Duncan's.

[Woy]

Can we teach Matt Carpenter how to play second so we can get his bat in the line-up?

Apparently we can.

Time to get the crew back and update this thread more.