[Highlander]

St. Louis Cardinals

SP1- Roy Halladay (28)- The #1 pick of the Cardinals is this HOF pitcher who played from 1998-2013. This import is right in the middle of his career and should lead to a number of good seasons. It would be cool to see Roy become a longterm coach/manager, etc in the league after he retires instead of what happened to him in real life. So sad.

SP2- Allen Sothoron (27)- Allen pitched from 1914-1926 and was a very good pitcher for some of those seasons. He was a little more up and down as his career progressed, but based on this import and his 4th round selection, he should be a solid guy here.

SP3- Juan Marichal (22)- Without looking back, this may be the only team with 2 HOF pitchers, but I know a couple of other teams did have multiple HOFers. At any rate, I am not sure there will be a better pair in the league than Halladay and Marichal….if Juan is able to finish his development in a positive way. As we see here, Juan is only a #3 starter, but was the 2nd pick by the Cards. Juan’s great career went from 1960-1975 and this import is his rookie season, so while he should be good right away, he has the potential to be great down the line….especially if his control fully develops to its potential

SP4- Bob Muncrief (29)- Bob pitched from 1937-1951 and was more of a swing man. He had some very good seasons, including the one for his import here. He was a 6th round pick, so the Cardinals really invested in their pitching and it seems to have paid off. A couple of other teams have very good pitching as well…I know I really liked another staff earlier in these reports, but this staff seems really tough.

MR- Gil Meche (31)- Gil pitched from 1999-2010 and had some success here and there, but not so much in the year of this import. With Gil as the only member of the bullpen for now, this may be the weak link for this Cardinal pitching staff. He was only a 23rd round pick as well, so they aren’t expecting him to do much. I am guessing a few of the reserve pitchers will be needed before long.

Reserve- Steve Gerkin (32), Rick Grapenthin (25), Roberto H Hernandez (28), Spencer Howard (26), Jose Paniagua (28), Wily Peralta (31), Mike Remlinger (30), Aaron Sanchez (26), Ike Van Zandt (25), Rob Whalen (23)


C- Ozzie Virgil (32)- Ozzie played from 1980-1990 and was somehow a 5th round pick. He’s not a great catcher and while he has some very good power, the rest of his hitting isn’t very good. Plus, at 32, he is near the end of his playing days from his original career. Maybe he’s got a few more in him here, but he really falls short as a 5th rounder for me.

1B- Raul Ibanez (26)- Raul played from 1996-2014 and imports here near the beginning of his playing days. He was a bit of a late bloomer, so he still has plenty of potential development. If he can reach it, he will be a huge value as a 13th rounder. He can also play some OF.

2B- Andrew Young (26)- A 10th round pick, Andrew played just in 2020 and 2021 without much success. I’m not sure what was seen in him for even a 10th rounder, as he’s pretty below average in most everything except gap power and power. Even his defense is pretty subpar.

3B- David Freese (27)- Freese was active from 1999-2009 and spent some of his best years as a Cardinal. He was a 3rd round pick and should be a good player….not a star, but very solid.

SS- Luke Appling (23)- Talk about potential! Luke is the 3rd HOFer on this team and he is starting out at the beginning of his 1930-1950 career. He’s not that great yet, but has some huge potential as a hitter and should be a solid if unspectacular SS. I still remember seeing him hit a HR over the fence in an old timers game on TV at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. It was a small stadium, so the ball only went about 320 feet, but Luke was 75 years old!

LF- Kevin McReynolds (24)- Kevin is another good potential guy. He should be solid right away, as his 1983-1994 career was pretty good right from the start, but he can get even better. He was a 7th round pick and could be a bargain.

CF- Sam Jethroe (35)- Sam only played from 1950-1954 because of the color barrier. He was a great player and was able to show that in his 1st three seasons in the majors. He may not play long in this league, but he should do well as a 12th round pick.

RF- Nemo Leibold (27)- Nemo played from 1913-1925 and while he was never a true full time player, he did get a lot of time as a very good OFer at all 3 spots. He could hit and is very good at getting on base in this import. He was taken in the 15th round and is another guy on this team that could be a bargain.


Bench
C- Hank Conger (22).....Round 18…..2010-2016
1B- Lance NIekro (26)....Round 17…..2003-2007
2B/SS- Ken Hamlin (24)....Round 28…..1957-1966
2B/3B- Tommy Watkins (26)....Round 32….2007
2B/SS- John Dowd (21)....Round 37….1912
OF- Chuck Essegian (28)....Round 9…..1958-1963
OF- Charlie James (24)....Round 19….1960-1965
OF- Dave Marshall (24)....Round 21….1967-1973
OF- Dave Nicholson (27)....Round 16….1960-1967
OF- Jason Repko (29)....Round 27…..2005-2012
OF- Sal Frelick (23)....Round 22….2023-present
OF- Pat McNulty (27)....Round 20….1922-1927

Reserve- Chris Herrmann (31), Ray Cosey (24), Guy Lacy (28), Packy Rogers (24), Socrates Brito (26)