St. Louis Cardinals
Record: 83-79, 3rd, NL East (21 GB)
Postseason: --
Ballpark: Busch Stadium (99 hits, 89 HR)
Runs scored: 673 (7th)
Runs allowed: 707 (7th)
Pythag record: 77-85 (+6)
Recap: St. Louis expected a return to glory in '69 (they won it all in 1967) but a huge spate of injuries deep-sixed any hopes they might have had.
History: The Cards spent most of their NL history as also-rans but suddenly emerged in the mid 60s as a dynasty. They won 4 pennants in 5 years between 1963 and 1966, also winning the World Series every year they finished first in the NL. They slumped all the way to 7th and an 80-82 record in '68 and last year, injuries or no, kind of stamped in the inertia of averageness.
Outlook: If the Cards could only stay away from injuries, maybe they could get it going. At this point, maybe that's asking too much. At the same time, they really revamped their roster and are "all in" in poker terms for 1970.
Rotation
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+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | age | throws | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Octavio | Vargas | 37 | L | 12 | 12 | 0.500 | 0 | 4.07 | 33 | 33 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 241.0 | 1015 | 249 | 116 | 109 | 19 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 74 | 8 | 141 | 7 | 3 | 9.3 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 5.3 |
| Jimmy | McCauley | 34 | L | 16 | 6 | 0.727 | 0 | 2.94 | 28 | 26 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 193.0 | 793 | 166 | 73 | 63 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 72 | 4 | 113 | 11 | 0 | 7.7 | 0.7 | 3.4 | 5.3 |
| Mike | Johnston | 33 | L | 6 | 9 | 0.400 | 0 | 4.05 | 17 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 124.1 | 522 | 135 | 64 | 56 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 38 | 5 | 88 | 3 | 0 | 9.8 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 6.4 |
| Valentin | Qiu | 26 | L | 8 | 3 | 0.727 | 1 | 3.16 | 19 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 122.1 | 513 | 126 | 47 | 43 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 38 | 2 | 82 | 4 | 0 | 9.3 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 6.0 |
| Brian | Osborne | 26 | L | 4 | 9 | 0.308 | 0 | 5.04 | 19 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 119.2 | 505 | 133 | 67 | 67 | 15 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 48 | 2 | 55 | 3 | 0 | 10.0 | 1.1 | 3.6 | 4.1 |
| Aaron | Cellini | 25 | L | 4 | 7 | 0.364 | 0 | 4.33 | 15 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 104.0 | 436 | 93 | 56 | 50 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 55 | 3 | 54 | 9 | 2 | 8.0 | 1.0 | 4.8 | 4.7 |
| Dusty | Collins | 24 | L | 2 | 5 | 0.286 | 0 | 6.16 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57.0 | 274 | 58 | 49 | 39 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 52 | 2 | 24 | 7 | 1 | 9.2 | 0.2 | 8.2 | 3.8 |
| Cole | Pritchard | 32 | L | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 5.14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 30 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10.3 | 2.6 | 5.1 | 2.6 |
| Brett | Fernandez | 26 | R | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0 | 5.68 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.1 | 30 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11.4 | 0.0 | 8.5 | 2.8 |
| T.J. | Monahan | 33 | L | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3.4 | 0.0 | 3.4 | 5.1 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
All injuries aside, the Cardinals had the 3rd worst starting rotation by ERA in the National League last season and if they're to restart that dynasty, they'll have to improve here. Jimmy McCauley was 16-6 with a sub-3.00 ERA last yer, although asking him to be the staff ace might be a bit of a stretch for the soft-tossing 34-year-old. To help supplement that they traded for 23 year old Mario Garcia, who went 14-11 and 3.36 for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1969. Philadelphia was simply overflowing with young studs in their rotation so it was an obvious place to pull off a trade.
Octavio Vargas used to be the staff ace but at 37 years of age he's now no more of an average pitcher who gets tired quickly. He did throw 8 complete games a season after getting just 4 in 35 starts, and it's possible that they were letting him stay in too long in 1969. Josh Young was acquired from Cincinnati and the Cards are banking on him not losing 15+ again the way he has over the last 3 out of 4 years. He was very much a pitch to contact guy last year, with his K rate falling in half from its 1968 totals of 5.8 per 9 to 2.5 last year. He does still have excellent control (2.2 BB/9) although for all the lack of Ks he fools his catcher a *lot* (a league-leading 16 wild pitches last year). Jason LaPointe rounds out the rotation for 1970; he spent 1969 shuffling between long relief and spot starting, proving to be a little more effective in the latter role than in the former.
Bullpen
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+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | age | throws | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Jason | LaPointe | 30 | L | 10 | 6 | 0.625 | 0 | 3.82 | 38 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 150.2 | 628 | 147 | 70 | 64 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 58 | 2 | 95 | 5 | 1 | 8.8 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 5.7 |
| Luis | de la Cruz | 32 | L | 3 | 4 | 0.429 | 13 | 2.49 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 79.2 | 340 | 86 | 27 | 22 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 1 | 44 | 8 | 0 | 9.7 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 5.0 |
| Ricardo | Monroy | 33 | R | 4 | 6 | 0.400 | 7 | 5.37 | 32 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 68.2 | 319 | 88 | 44 | 41 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 42 | 5 | 51 | 3 | 0 | 11.5 | 0.8 | 5.5 | 6.7 |
| Aaron | McCourt | 32 | L | 5 | 4 | 0.556 | 3 | 4.63 | 45 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 58.1 | 246 | 67 | 35 | 30 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 3 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 10.3 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 4.5 |
| Adam | Eastin | 30 | L | 6 | 4 | 0.600 | 15 | 2.32 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 54.1 | 226 | 43 | 18 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 7.1 | 0.5 | 4.0 | 4.6 |
| Caleb | McDonald | 28 | L | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 4.56 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 25.2 | 113 | 24 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 8.4 | 1.1 | 5.3 | 5.6 |
| Melvin | Navarro | 26 | L | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0 | 4.11 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 15.1 | 67 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 5.3 | 1.2 | 7.6 | 5.3 |
| Gerard | Sharp | 34 | L | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 0 | 5.87 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7.2 | 32 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11.7 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.3 |
| Rick | Legere | 25 | L | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 1.69 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5.1 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 5.1 |
| Lyle | Flannigan | 29 | L | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.7 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 5.4 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + -------- + ----------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
Adam Eastin, the former stopper for the White Sox, was picked up in the expansion draft by the Expos and then sent to St. Louis in June for Melvin Navarro. Eastin wasn't quite as incredible in St. Louis as he'd been in Montreal (a 0.81 ERA in 19 appearances) but he was still more than good enough to displace Luis de la Cruz, who was shipped off to Philadelphia in the John Stuart deal. Now they plan on building their pen from the likes of Valentin Qiu, who is one of many guys to miss a lot of last year, and Eric Griffin, who the team hopes will be more effective for the Cards as a reliever than he was for the Cubs as a starter.
Catcher
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | bats | age | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| C | Lee | Citro | L | 31 | 126 | 464 | 59 | 124 | 17 | 1 | 7 | 45 | 49 | 1 | 67 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 0.267 | 0.340 | 0.353 |
| C | Jose | Medina | L | 26 | 39 | 128 | 13 | 36 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.281 | 0.338 | 0.391 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
The big name here is of course not listed: John Stuart, who established himself as the pre-eminent catcher in the National League last year, arrived from Philadelphia in the blockbuster trade of the 69-70 offseason. Stuart is still only 28 years old and has already reached the All-Star Game 4 times. It would not be overly surprising to see him pick up an MVP trophy in his future. They did have to part with Lee Citro, who is no slouch himself, but sometimes you have to give up a lot to get a lot more. His backup Jose Medina is a good hitter who has a less than stellar defensive reputation primarily because of a weak arm.
Infield
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | bats | age | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| 1B | Lorenzo | Martinez | R | 31 | 94 | 322 | 48 | 76 | 12 | 1 | 23 | 64 | 64 | 8 | 49 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.236 | 0.370 | 0.494 |
| 1B | Justin | Stone | R | 30 | 41 | 160 | 34 | 47 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 29 | 19 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0.294 | 0.368 | 0.488 |
| 1B | Nate | Welch | L | 43 | 93 | 99 | 7 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 1 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.192 | 0.298 | 0.253 |
| 1B | Steve | Casio | R | 32 | 15 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.158 | 0.200 | 0.158 |
| 2B | Chris | Johnston | L | 35 | 126 | 518 | 72 | 159 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 41 | 4 | 30 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 0.307 | 0.360 | 0.382 |
| 2B | Tom | Depew | R | 24 | 83 | 318 | 36 | 96 | 11 | 3 | 9 | 45 | 17 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0.302 | 0.333 | 0.440 |
| 2B | Danny | Muth | L | 35 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.250 | 0.357 | 0.500 |
| 3B | Mike | Morrison | L | 28 | 127 | 516 | 56 | 160 | 27 | 2 | 3 | 53 | 20 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 0.310 | 0.333 | 0.388 |
| 3B | J.D. | Street | L | 28 | 34 | 104 | 10 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.308 | 0.360 | 0.404 |
| 3B | Coleman | Agnew | L | 33 | 34 | 68 | 6 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.265 | 0.296 | 0.294 |
| SS | Akiho | Fujimoto | L | 31 | 55 | 199 | 21 | 59 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 19 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 0.296 | 0.359 | 0.347 |
| SS | Joe | Wicker | L | 24 | 63 | 186 | 23 | 42 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0.226 | 0.297 | 0.366 |
| SS | T.J. | Dion | L | 35 | 35 | 76 | 8 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.211 | 0.348 | 0.329 |
| SS | Jose | Samora | L | 33 | 36 | 65 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.138 | 0.205 | 0.200 |
| SS | Chance | Hopka | L | 27 | 15 | 44 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.227 | 0.292 | 0.227 |
| SS | Geoff | Haddad | L | 27 | 13 | 32 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.281 | 0.343 | 0.375 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Losing Justin Stone for most of the season was an absolute disaster for St. Louis. 100 more games from him would probably have had them pick up at least 5 games in the standings all by himself. Does this sound like hyperbole? Please bear in mind that prior to last season this guy led the league in HRs and RBI in 4 of the previous 5 seasons, led in runs all 5 years from 1964 to 1968, and at age 30 already has 351 ding-dongs. Also he has the 2nd highest single season HR total of all time, having knocked 58 balls out of the park in '64. He is a *6* time MVP. Yeah, they need him back. Fortunately he showed no signs of being particularly injury prone before going down last year.
The Cards' starting 2B of 1968, Danny Muth, suffered a career-ending injury early last year, opening up the spot, at least for the time being, to Chris Johnston. Johnston has definitely seen better days but he hit a good, solid .307 and can still pick it at second base. The Cardinals nevertheless brought in Pietro Palmarocchi from Pittsburgh to challenge Johnston and insure against him having the kind of sudden loss of ability that happens to older players sometimes.
Mike Morrison lacks power but otherwise fills in all the checkboxes for the Cardinals at third base. A gun? Check. Soft hands? Check. The ability to hit for enough average that he could contend for a batting title? Check. A good motor, so that you'll never catch him slacking? Check, check, triple-check.
Tom Depew and Akiho Fujimoto will fight for the shortstop job and it's unfortunate that only one of them can win. Depew is the bigger prospect and hit .302 in a good second half. Unfortunately he doesn't field particularly well, although he could fill into that as he gets more experience. Fujimoto is a Japanese independent leaguer who also hit well. As of right now he's the better fielder but a lack of arm strength will prevent him from ever being substantially above average at the position.
Outfield
Code:
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | bats | age | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| LF | Hector | Vasquez | L | 28 | 77 | 224 | 28 | 71 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 30 | 14 | 2 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0.317 | 0.358 | 0.438 |
| LF | Danny | Jimenez | L | 32 | 12 | 26 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.308 | 0.394 | 0.462 |
| CF | Joel | Schaben | R | 32 | 123 | 514 | 72 | 160 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 40 | 22 | 2 | 21 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 0.311 | 0.353 | 0.385 |
| CF | Jose | Silva | L | 29 | 48 | 89 | 11 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0.225 | 0.284 | 0.303 |
| RF | Casey | Satterfield | L | 23 | 122 | 454 | 59 | 132 | 19 | 1 | 20 | 77 | 52 | 7 | 80 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0.291 | 0.361 | 0.469 |
| RF | Carlos | Hernandez | L | 27 | 91 | 348 | 49 | 111 | 19 | 4 | 6 | 39 | 23 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 0.319 | 0.358 | 0.448 |
| RF | Matt | Wilson | R | 34 | 33 | 132 | 22 | 42 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.318 | 0.364 | 0.508 |
| RF | Marcus | Lawson | L | 30 | 23 | 63 | 9 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.270 | 0.303 | 0.365 |
| RF | Ryan | Ashbaker | L | 26 | 12 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.136 | 0.130 | 0.182 |
| RF | Parker | Sweeney | L | 23 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + --------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Lorenzo Martinez returns to left field after a season spent between the injured reserve and first base. Martinez at 31 has got some terrible range but the Cards already have Justin Stone at first base, assuming he'll be healthy this year, and you don't pull a guy with Martinez' power out of the lineup under any circumstance. Last year he had 23 HRs in 322 at bats but even that is a low ratio for him: this is the guy who cracked 65 homers back in 1962. He in fact had a string of 6 consecutive seasons where he hit at least 40. Sure, that string ended in 1967 but the only reason he hasn't gotten back to those heights since has been injuries.
The Cards had to let Joel Schaben go in order to pick up John Stuart but, not to be outdone in centerfield, they went out and traded for Cleveland Indians CF Ray Herring. The guy they moved for him, Carlos Hernandez, might actually be the superior fielder, but the Cards do not feel they are in a situation where they want to take chances on someone with very little major league experience there. It should be said that although Herring does have experience, he doesn't have a particularly great reputation afield. He was the AL Silver Slugger in CF, however.
Moving Hernandez was also done so that the Cardinals could plop Casey Satterfield into right field. Satterfield finished 2nd in the NL in ROY voting and won Rookie of the Month following a torrid .423 string in July. With the makeup to be a .300/20/100 guy, he's still only the 3rd best hitter on this roster.