Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. announced the decision, emphasizing that both parties had “cordially and respectfully parted ways.”[1]

“The Cardinals and Walt Jocketty are turning the page today with mutual admiration and appreciation for each other,” Dewitt said. “In speaking with Walt this morning, we were in agreement that our relationship – which has produced one of the finest eras in the history of Cardinals baseball – had likely run its course.”[2]

The move came less than a year after the Cardinals won the 2006 World Series – the franchise’s first championship since 1982 – and just three days after the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on the internal strife.

St. Louis had just concluded a disappointing, injury-plagued 2007 season. Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder missed significant time due to injury and Scott Rolen underwent shoulder surgery late in the year. Without their top two starting pitchers, the Cardinals finished 78-84 and finished third in the NL Central.

The Cardinals’ on-field struggles mirrored the challenges taking place in a front office that was divided between Jocketty’s side and that of analytics-focused executive Jeff Luhnow. When DeWitt promoted Luhnow to serve as vice president in charge of scouting and player development, roles previously held by Jocketty, the sides became even more pronounced.

“He clearly didn’t agree with the decision. He said that publicly,” DeWitt said. “My view is that one person should run both (player) procurement and development. He felt like it should be split. We had a little different philosophy and vision with some baseball issues.”[3]

DeWitt initially hoped the matter would resolve itself. Instead, assistant general manager John Mozeliak emerged as the only one who could bridge the gap.[4]

“It’s not a healthy environment when you’re worried about who you’re seen speaking to,” a Cardinals minor-league employee told the Post-Dispatch. “If you speak to someone, you risk making someone else in the front office mad. If you don’t speak, you alienate the person in front of you. It’s tough when you’re in the middle of something like that.”[5]

Initially, DeWitt dismissed the reports of friction.

“There’s tension in the front office, but I would guess there is tension in other front offices to a degree,” he said. “That’s the way it is. Everyone is pushing for the same thing: to have as productive a system as possible.”[6]

However, when announcing Jocketty’s dismissal, however, DeWitt acknowledged that his working relationship with Jocketty had deteriorated since Luhnow’s promotion.

“I think it was just a progressive thing over time,” DeWitt said. “Certain changes are made and people grumble about it and move on. I don’t think that was the case in this situation. It got worse. It’s tough enough to do well when everything’s in sync. It’s really hard when everybody’s not on the same page. Walt recognized that as well.”[7]

Jocketty’s firing ended the longest and one of the most successful GM tenures in Cardinals history. Under his leadership, St. Louis achieved a .536 winning percentage (1,117-968) and reached the postseason in seven of 13 seasons (1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006), culminating in the 2006 World Series championship.

Jocketty had also hired manager Tony La Russa and made trades for players like Mark McGwire, Rolen, Will Clark, Larry Walker, and Jim Edmonds.

“It was a hell of a run, a tremendous time here,” said Cardinals President Mark Lamping, who hired Jocketty. “Walt and I talked a while today after the meeting. Neither one of us thought we would last 13 years.”[8]

“Walt will be remembered as the Cardinals GM during one of the most successful and memorable periods in team history, and we’ll always be extremely grateful for his contributions to our many triumphs over the past 13 seasons,” DeWitt said. “Walt’s a friend and will continue to be a friend. I told him I would give him a strong recommendation if I were called about a future position.”[9]

DeWitt announced that Mozeliak, Jocketty’s assistant GM for the previous five seasons, would hold the position in an interim role and was a candidate to succeed Jocketty. Luhnow was not a candidate for the permanent position.[10]

The newly open job was sure to be highly coveted. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch shared a long list of potential successors to Jocketty, including Mozeliak, Mariners special assistant to the general manager Dan Evans, Tigers assistant general manager Al Avila, Red Sox special assistant to the general manager Allard Baird, Twins senior advisor to the general manager Terry Ryan, Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., Dodgers assistant general manager/scouting director Logan White, Phillies assistant general manager Mike Arbuckle, Dodgers assistant general manager Kim Ng, and Padres special assistant for baseball operations Paul DePodesta.[11]

Whoever inherited the job would face immediate complications. La Russa’s contract had expired and he planned to return to his home in California before making a decision regarding whether he would return.[12] On the field, the Cardinals needed one or two top-of-the-rotation starting pitchers and additional lineup protection for Albert Pujols.[13]

Despite Jocketty’s historic success, longtime Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz acknowledged it was time for the Cardinals to make a change.

“If you’re looking for me to shred Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt, you’ve come to the wrong place,” he wrote. “If you want me to declare that the sky is falling, you’ll be disappointed. If you want me to savage Jeff Luhnow as some know-nothing neophyte just because Jocketty didn’t care for him, well, you won’t be happy. There are no bad guys here, no heroes or villains. It’s just the end of a once-successful era.”[14]

On October 31, four weeks after announcing Jocketty’s firing, the Cardinals named Mozeliak general manager.

“I want (the fans) to know we are committed to winning – and creating a successful environment that will allow us to compete,” Mozeliak said. “Everyone knows the landscape’s changing at the major-league level, and we have to adapt. As we move forward, we are prepared to do so.”[15]

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[1] David Wilhelm, “Cardinals and Jocketty part ways,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 4, 2007.

[2] David Wilhelm, “Cardinals and Jocketty part ways,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 4, 2007.

[3] David Wilhelm, “Cardinals and Jocketty part ways,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 4, 2007.

[4] Joe Strauss, “So much to do,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 30, 2007.

[5] Joe Strauss, “So much to do,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 30, 2007.

[6] Joe Strauss, “So much to do,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 30, 2007.

[7] David Wilhelm, “Cardinals and Jocketty part ways,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 4, 2007.

[8] David Wilhelm, “Cardinals and Jocketty part ways,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 4, 2007.

[9] David Wilhelm, “Cardinals and Jocketty part ways,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 4, 2007.

[10] David Wilhelm, “Cardinals and Jocketty part ways,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 4, 2007.

[11] “Replacement Hopefuls,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 4, 2007.

[12] Joe Strauss, “So much to do,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 30, 2007.

[13] Joe Strauss, “So much to do,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 30, 2007.

[14] Bernie Miklasz, “Given Jocketty’s unhappiness, his departure isn’t surprising,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 4, 2007.

[15] Joe Strauss, “Mozeliak is named Cards GM,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 2007.

The post Walt Jocketty: Why the Cardinals GM was fired in 2007 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

The move came just 23 starts into Contreras’s tenure as the team’s catcher. With Contreras batting third and serving as the designated hitter on the day of the club’s announcement, the Cardinals fell 6-5 to the Tigers in 10 innings, extending their losing streak to eight games and dropping them to a National League-worst 10-24 record.

“One thing I want to make super clear, we are not losing ball games because of Willson Contreras,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “This is a guy that’s putting in an amazing amount of work to be able to … become more familiar with our pitches, but also how we do things.”[1]

The Cardinals were clearly finding wins difficult to come by in their first season since Molina’s retirement. Following the retirement of the 10-time all-star and nine-time Gold Glove Award winner, the Cardinals made clear that their top offseason priority was to sign a starting catcher. That search led them to Contreras, whose contract represented the largest free-agent deal given by the Cardinals to a player from outside their organization.

While Contreras had earned three previous all-star nods behind the strength of his offense, he appeared committed to meeting the Cardinals’ defensive expectations. Even as Cardinals pitchers such as Miles Mikolas and Adam Wainwright left spring training to play in the World Baseball Classic, Contreras declined the opportunity to play for his native Venezuela so he could work with his new teammates.

Reports from spring training also indicated that Contreras was making adjustments at the team’s request, including changes to his hand positioning as he received the ball and setting up closer to the plate. At the time he was removed from the position, FanGraphs.com stats showed that he had 2.8 defensive wins above replacement to that point in the season, good for sixth in the majors.[2]

In the days before the Cardinals’ announcement, Contreras even set up a video call with Molina to discuss how he could help the Cardinals’ pitching staff turn around its early-season struggles.

“He told me to trust my game, trust my feelings, and call pitches with a reason,” Contreras said. “I take the losses personally because I came here to win.”[3]

Nonetheless, the decision to move Contreras out from behind the plate was made after discussions between Contreras, Marmol, and president of baseball operations John Mozeliak.[4] The same day they announced Contreras’s new role, the Cardinals called up Tres Barrera from Triple-A to back up Andrew Knizner.

“It’s tough. It’s tough,” Contreras said. “Like I said, I’m an employee and I know that my primary position is catcher. If they want me to DH more, I can do nothing about it but be the best hitter I can be.”[5]

In the days following the Cardinals’ announcement, it became clear that Contreras’s situation was fluid. Though the team initially indicated that Contreras would see time at both designated hitter and as a corner outfielder, Mozeliak walked that back in an interview with The Athletic.

“We won’t have him in the outfield,” he said. “I know that came out yesterday, but after talking with him, it’s basically going to be more in the DH role right now. And there’s light at the end of the tunnel to get back behind the plate.”[6]

The idea that Contreras could return to catching duties also represented a change. Just one day earlier, when asked whether the Cardinals hoped to return Contreras behind the plate, Marmol said, “Not necessarily.”[7]

As the Cardinals sought to clarify their plans moving forward, they faced criticism from local and national pundits.

“If you are chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., how can you not be wondering how the biggest free-agent contract ever given to a player from outside the organization has reached such a precipitous place so soon?” St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Ben Frederickson wrote. “Sorry, but I don’t like it. It feels panicked for a team that keeps saying no one should panic, and too heavily based on the opinions of pitchers who just may not be good enough. It feels unfair to Contreras, like blame is being shoveled toward the new face in the clubhouse.”[8]

Contreras’s former manager with the Cubs, Joe Maddon, was equally perplexed.

“He caught a World Series team and did it really well,” Maddon told the MLB Network. “It’s about conversation. I don’t know what is behind this particular move. I know they’re missing Yadier. I understand that. However, Willson is good. He’s real good. He listens. He’s very coachable. … To just bump him out of that role right now after being signed like he has, I just don’t get all that, but I don’t have all the information. I think Willson is very good. I’ve argued on his behalf in the past. There’s no reason to believe he’s not going to catch that team well.”[9]

Even as the Cardinals attempted to convince the public that they weren’t blaming Contreras for their struggles, they had to admit that a team that entered the season with postseason aspirations was off to one of the worst starts in baseball. In fact, only Oakland and Kansas City had worse records at the time of Contreras’s position change.

“You’ve got to have confidence with people in certain roles, that’s what it comes down to,” Mozeliak said. “We’ll be patient, but look, again, this has not gone how we would have thought. You’ve got to remind yourself it’s a long season, but it’s certainly gotten off on the wrong foot. … I do (still believe in Contreras). But some of the things we expect, some of the things about the game we’ve become accustomed to, I think he realizes it’s going to require more preparation. Now the question is, can that happen? I guess we’ll have to find out.”[10]

After the Cardinals snapped their eight-game losing streak with a 12-6 win over the Tigers on May 7, Contreras met with starting pitchers Jack Flaherty and Wainwright, who both told him that they looked forward to him returning behind the plate.

“No catcher in the history of the game has thrown the pitch and caught it too,” Wainwright said. “I definitely think you’re going to see Willson and our pitching staff settle in and be great moving forward. I really do believe that.”[11]

It was a challenge Contreras was eager to accept.

“This is the team I chose, and I chose this team for a reason,” Contreras said. “We have the talent to compete and get back to where we need to be. I’m still here. I know they made a decision. That won’t change who I am. That won’t change how I give my best to help this team win. It takes time. I know I can catch. You can get frustrated about it, or you can work. If you watch from a different perspective it’s going to take a little time, but I’m the catcher of this organization.”[12]

Throughout the next week, which included a road trip to play Contreras’s former team, the Cubs, he served as the Cardinals’ designated hitter. In the opener at Wrigley Field, Conteras drove in a pair of runs and scored another in a 3-1 victory. Two days later, he added an RBI single in a 10-4 loss.

On Friday, May 12, Marmol declined to give a timetable for when Contreras might return to the catching position, or to give specifics on the areas in he was working on.

“We’re making progress every day and sticking to our plan of getting him back to the point where we get him back there,” Marmol said.[13]

The following day, however, Marmol announced that Conteras would be behind the plate to catch Flaherty when the Cardinals opened their series against the Brewers on Monday, May 15. In total, Conteras’s removal from the position had lasted just over a week.

“We have felt really good about the progress that we’ve made, and it lines up really well for him to catch on Monday with Jack on the mound,” Marmol said.[14]

The Cardinals won the game 18-1 as Flaherty struck out 10 batters over seven shutout innings.

Unfortunately, the win did not represent a turning point in the Cardinals’ season, as they limped to a 71-91 record and last place in the National League Central Division, 21 games behind the champion Brewers.

For the season, Contreras appeared in 97 games at catcher, including 89 starts, and finished with eight errors for a .989 fielding percentage. He also threw out 14 of 56 would-be base stealers for a 25% caught-stealing rate.

According to Fangraphs.com’s defensive value stats, for the 2023 season Contreras provided 12.5 offensive runs above average but was 5.0 runs below average defensively. The same stat had rated Contreras as 3.5 runs above average defensively in 2021 and 0.4 runs below average defensively in 2022.

If the Cardinals were concerned, however, they didn’t demonstrate it with their roster construction heading into the 2024 season. Both Knizner and Barrera were released during the offseason, leaving Contreras as the clear starting catcher with rookie Ivan Herrera slated to make his first opening-day roster as the backup.

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[1] Jeff Jones, “What Cardinals’ catcher promotion means for Contreras,” Belleville News-Democrat, May 7, 2023.

[2] Derrick Goold, “What recasting Contreras reveals about pitching woes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 7, 2023.

[3] Derrick Goold, “What recasting Contreras reveals about pitching woes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 7, 2023.

[4] Derrick Goold, “What recasting Contreras reveals about pitching woes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 7, 2023.

[5] Derrick Goold, “What recasting Contreras reveals about pitching woes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 7, 2023.

[6] Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal, “Exclusive: Cardinals’ John Mozeliak on why Willson Contreras’ move to OF is off,” The Athletic, May 7, 2023, https://theathletic.com/4496561/2023/05/07/cardinals-john-mozeliak-willson-contreras.

[7] Ben Frederickson, “The Redbirds should back up, not over, Contreras,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 9, 2023.

[8] Ben Frederickson, “Cardinals pin their hopes on stunning move,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 7, 2023.

[9] Ben Frederickson, “The Redbirds should back up, not over, Contreras,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 9, 2023.

[10] Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal, “Exclusive: Cardinals’ John Mozeliak on why Willson Contreras’ move to OF is off,” The Athletic, https://theathletic.com/4496561/2023/05/07/cardinals-john-mozeliak-willson-contreras.

[11] Derrick Goold, “Contreras, amid turmoil: ‘I’m the catcher,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 9, 2023.

[12] Derrick Goold, “Contreras, amid turmoil: ‘I’m the catcher,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 9, 2023.

[13] Lynn Worthy, “Nootbaar could see potential of Yoshida during WBC,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 13, 2023.

[14] Lynn Worthy, “Cards rally again,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 14, 2023.

The post Willson Contreras is no longer a catcher: May 6, 2023 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

The move came just a month after the Cardinals traded Sandy Alcantara, Daniel Castano, Zac Gallen, and Magneuris Sierra to the Marlins for Marcell Ozuna. With Ozuna penciled into left field beside Tommy Pham and Dexter Fowler, Grichuk was positioned for a fourth-outfielder role.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Grichuk was a perfect fit for the job due to his ability to play all three outfield positions while providing power off the bench. However, he also pointed out that Harrison Bader and Tyler O’Neill offered similar versatility.[1]

Grichuk in St. Louis

Originally the Angels’ 24^th overall pick in 2009, Grichuk came to St. Louis alongside Peter Bourjos in the trade that sent David Freese and Fernando Salas to the Angels. Grichuk debuted in the majors as a 22-year-old in 2014 and enjoyed his best season in St. Louis in 2015, batting .276/.329/.548 with 17 homers and 47 RBIs in just 350 plate appearances.

In 2016 and 2017, Grichuk shuffled between St. Louis and Memphis. Though he hit 46 homers over those two years, he also struck out 174 times in 858 at-bats, a rate of over 20%. As a result, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Jeff Gordon described Grichuk’s tenure in St. Louis as “teasing Cardinal Nation for 3 ½ years by mixing supersonic homers with rally-killing strikeouts.”[2]

“There were just a lot of ups and downs during that time where I felt he struggled to find that traction,” Mozeliak said. “We always thought from a baseball tools set, he was quite gifted. But the game is based on performance.”[3]

The Cardinals’ outfield logjam also factored into the trade. In addition to Ozuna, Pham, and Fowler, prospects like Bader and O’Neill were emerging. Bader, a third-round draft pick in 2015, made his major-league debut in 2017 after hitting 20 homers in Memphis that season. O’Neill, acquired from the Mariners in a trade for left-handed starting pitcher Marco Gonzalez, blasted 31 home runs between Tacoma and Memphis in 2017.

Grichuk admitted the Cardinals’ crowded outfield situation made him uncertain about his role, which affected his confidence at the plate.

“That wasn’t good for anybody’s confidence or anybody’s state of mind stepping into the box,” he said.[4]

Grichuk in Toronto

Moving to Toronto gave Grichuk a fresh start as their expected starting right fielder, replacing departed free agent Jose Bautista.

“It’s sad leaving St. Louis, but for my career, it’s the best move,” Grichuk said. “We played in Toronto a few years back and I loved it. I loved playing indoors. The city seemed really nice and I enjoyed the few days I was there. I’m excited.”[5]

Gordon, however, questioned whether trading Grichuk was the right decision, suggesting the Cardinals could have kept him as a fourth outfielder while upgrading their bullpen through other means.

“Odds are, Grichuk would have gotten plenty of work for the Cardinals this season had he stayed put,” Gordon wrote. “He may never become more than a .240-type hitter, but he can be (an) asset hitting at that level. He is a strong defensive outfielder capable of playing all three spots. He can hit mistake pitches into the 618 area code and he runs well when he does reach base. … So what was the rush to move him? Sure, the Cardinals would love to get Jose Martinez some at-bats after his breakout season. But that breakout came after he spent a decade kicking around the minors, so he is not a sure thing to repeat his offensive heroics.”[6]

Mozeliak, though, felt the acquisition of Leone addressed a pressing need for bullpen depth.

“Randal Grichuk was somebody we always had a lot of hope for,” Mozeliak said. “(But) as we started to really think about 2018 and you realized with the acquisition of (Tyler) O’Neill and Harrison Bader doing what he did last year, we really felt like we had (the outfield) covered. And, of course, Jose Martinez can play the outfield. If we were looking for playing time for Grichuk, it just didn’t seem like it was going to be a great fit. Ultimately, we just decided that if we could move him, would we be able to acquire an arm that we felt could make a difference in our bullpen? Once we identified that (in Leone) and also getting someone we perceived as a prospect, we thought this made sense.”[7]

Leone and Greene

Both teams were dealing from a position of relative strength. Originally a 16^th-round draft pick by the Mariners in 2012, Leone went 8-2 with a 2.17 ERA as a 22-year-old rookie in 2014. He struggled in 2015 and 2016, as the Mariners dealt him to the Diamondbacks and the Blue Jays then claimed him off waivers ahead of the 2017 season.

Leone, a 2012 Mariners draft pick, bounced back in 2017 after struggling through 2015 and 2016. He became one of the American League’s most reliable set-up men with a 2.56 ERA over 70 1/3 innings. For the Cardinals, who had just lost Seung-hwan Oh and Trevor Rosenthal, Leone offered a potential solution for the back end of their bullpen.

“We hear very good things about his makeup,” Mozeliak said. “We hear he’s very competitive. He should be a high-leverage pitcher.”[8]

Though the Jays didn’t want to part with Leone, they had the bullpen depth to overcome his departure. Toronto Star columnist Richard Griffin suggested that Joe Biagini, Al Alburquerque, and Carlos Ramirez could fill the role Leone had been projected to play in 2018.[9]

“We were definitely working from a position of depth and we had multiple teams contact us about that,” Atkins said. “Now we’ll have to look and backfill for Dominic. He had an incredible year for us. We expect him to have another incredible year and it will be for another team. It was a very tough loss for us. It’s the overall depth and guys that are in our system that we feel strong about that can help – then some of the players that are in the market as well.”[10]

Meanwhile, the 22-year-old Greene represented a project for the Cardinals’ development staff. A seventh-round pick in 2013 out of Santa Monica (Calif.) High School, Greene posted a 5.29 ERA over 132 2/3 innings for Double-A New Hampshire and was named to the Eastern League all-star team in 2017. Baseball America ranked him as Toronto’s seventh-best prospect.

“When you look at him, you’re not going to like his numbers, but he’s a legit 95 to 98 (mph) type,” Mozeliak said. “He could give us some versatility as a starter or reliever.”[11]

Greene was primarily held back by his lack of control. In 501 1/3 minor-league innings, he had walked 226 batters while striking out 377. However, his arm strength led Mozeliak to compare Green to Alcantara, whom the Cardinals had just traded as one of the key pieces in the deal for Ozuna.

“Same sort of arm strength,” Mozeliak said. “When you look at their stats, Sandy’s been a little better. But too high a walk rate and too low of a strikeout rate – odd for someone who throws hard.”[12]

How the Trade Worked Out

The Cardinals never did solve the Greene puzzle. In 2018, he posted a 4.09 ERA between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis. That November, the Royals selected him off of waivers. In 2021, Greene made 24 combined appearances for the Orioles and Dodgers, posting a 7.11 ERA over 25 1/3 innings.

Greene started the 2022 season in the Orioles’ minor league system before he was released in June. He pitched for Caneros de Los Mochis in the Mexican League in 2023 and for the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate in 2024.

Leone pitched two seasons for the Cardinals, posting a 4.50 ERA over 24 innings in 2018 and a 5.53 ERA in 40 2/3 innings in 2019. In November 2019, the Cardinals released him. Since then, he has pitched for the Indians, Giants, Mets, Angels, Mariners, and White Sox.

Grichuk spent four years with the Blue Jays, batting .243 with 90 homers and 257 RBIs over that span. He posted career highs with 31 homers and 80 RBIs in 2019, though he hit just .232/.280/.457 that season. In March 2022, the Blue Jays traded him to the Rockies, and at the 2023 trading deadline the Rockies traded him and C.J. Cron to the Angels for two prospects.

Grichuk played the 2024 season with the Diamondbacks, where he hit .291/.348/.875 while playing primarily against left-handed pitching. In 279 plate appearances, he hit 12 homers and drove in 46 runs.

[1] Todd Eschman, “Cardinals deal Grichuk to Toronto in effort to bolster the bullpen,” Belleville News-Democrat, January 20, 2018.

[2] Jeff Gordon, “Rush to make this deal seems a little puzzling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[3] Rick Hummel, “Grichuk Traded To Jays,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[4] Laura Armstrong, “Outfield pieces fall into place,” Toronto Star, January 24, 2018.

[5] Rick Hummel, “Grichuk Traded To Jays,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[6] Jeff Gordon, “Rush to make this deal seems a little puzzling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[7] Rick Hummel, “Grichuk Traded To Jays,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[8] Rick Hummel, “Grichuk Traded To Jays,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[9] Richard Griffin, “Deeper but no closer with Grichuk,” Toronto Star, January 20, 2018.

[10] Richard Griffin, “Deeper but no closer with Grichuk,” Toronto Star, January 20, 2018.

[11] Rick Hummel, “Grichuk Traded To Jays,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[12] Rick Hummel, “Grichuk Traded To Jays,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

The post Why Randal Grichuk was traded to the Blue Jays in 2018 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

In wooing Fowler from the rival Cubs with a five-year, $82.5 million contract, the Cardinals exceeded the five-year, $80 million contract they had reached with starting pitcher Mike Leake the previous offseason. It was part of a relatively splashy offseason for the Cardinals, who signed reliever Brett Cecil to a four-year, $30.5 million deal a few weeks earlier.

“There is this perceived notion that we’re never going to get players in the free-agent market,” Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said. “This year we spent more than $100 million in aggregate. The commitment from (chairman Bill) DeWitt down is real. I hope what people realize is that we’re committed to winning, we are committed to trying to improve, and we do recognize the areas we can do that, and we hope we addressed it.”[1]

Fowler’s contract included annual salaries of $14.5 million plus a $10 million signing bonus to be paid in $1 million installments on July 1 and October 1 in each year. It also included a full no-trade clause and variety of bonuses, including $25,000 for a Silver Slugger Award, $50,000 for making the all-star game and for winning a Gold Glove Award, $100,000 for being named League Championship Series MVP, and $150,000 for being named World Series MVP. He also would receive a $250,000 bonus for winning the NL MVP Award, $150,000 for placing second, and $100,000 for finishing third through fifth.[2]

Fowler, who sought a similar long-term contract prior to the 2016 season but wound up returning to the Cubs on a one-year, $8 million deal, knew that Chicago would not be an option in 2017 after the Cubs signed former Cardinal outfielder Jon Jay one week earlier.

“I kind of had a sense,” Fowler said. “They made a courtesy call before they signed Jay. I’ll be forever grateful I was a Cub.”[3]

Meanwhile, Cubs fans were equally grateful that Fowler had remained in Chicago in 2016. Batting leadoff, he hit .276 and scored 84 runs with a .393 on-base percentage that ranked sixth in the National League. In the Cubs’ march to the World Series title, Fowler went 9-for-27 (.333) with six runs scored vs. the Dodgers in the NLCS, then added a pair of solo home runs in the World Series, which marked the Cubs’ first world championship since 1908.

With a .293 average against left-handed pitching on the season and a career batting line of .282/.369/.489 at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals were excited by what Fowler could provide atop the St. Louis lineup.

“He’s an exciting player, and we’ve seen him from the other dugout enough to realize he’s the kind of player that can make a difference, especially at the top of the order,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “You watch a Matt Carpenter-style at-bat – going in and grinding and figuring out a way to get on base and figuring out what that does to an opposition, and what it does to a pitching staff, and how it elevates pitch counts, and how it does create a sense of rhythm in your offense. The more players that you can have like that, I think the better off you’re going to be.”[4]

In Chicago, Cubs manager Joe Maddon coined a nickname for Fowler to describe his importance in setting the tone.

“Joe came up with the nickname ‘You Go, We Go,’ and that’s always stuck with me,” Fowler said. “Now that I’m with the Cardinals, I feel like if I go, we all go.”[5]

With the addition of Fowler, the Cardinals planned to move Carpenter out of the leadoff spot and into a position to drive in more runs. With Fowler and Carpenter at the top of the lineup, the Cardinals suddenly had two of just nine players in baseball who had posted an on-base percentage of at least .365 in four of the previous five years.

Fowler’s addition also allowed the Cardinals to move Randal Grichuk to left field, where he would replace Matt Holliday, who recently signed with the Yankees.

“From day one, (Fowler) was someone that we were hoping to sign,” Mozeliak said. “We certainly wanted to get this done. We’re excited we got this done. Late Wednesday night, when we were shaking hands on this, it was a great feeling because there’s so many positive attributes of what he does for us, not only on the field, but off the field. It was just a win-win if we could do it.”[6]

Because the Cubs made a qualifying offer to Fowler, the Cardinals had to give up their first-round pick in the 2017 Draft, which would have been 19^th overall (the Cubs used the pick to take pitcher Alex Lange out of Louisiana State University with the 30^th pick). For the Cardinals’ front office, that was still better than meeting the asking prices teams were seeking for available center fielders. The Belleville News-Democrat reported that the Cardinals were in discussions with other teams at the winter meetings, but found the demands for Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon, Kansas City’s Lorenzo Cain, and Chicago White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton were more than the Cardinals were willing to meet.[7]

In those discussions, one name kept coming up: Alex Reyes. It was a price Mozeliak was unwilling to pay, and as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted, the Cardinals’ farm system didn’t offer any alternatives that intrigued potential trade partners, even when they explored bundling multiple prospects together to acquire a center fielder.[8]

At the winter meetings in National Harbor, Maryland, Mozeliak was asked whether the high cost of trading for a center fielder made him prefer to spend money rather than trade capital.

“It’s not what I would rather do,” he said. “It’s what I feel we think makes the most sense from an investment standpoint. I’ve always told you, what’s the acquisition cost? The acquisition cost could be players. The acquisition cost could be money. And sometimes they’re not always equal. Sometimes you have more money. Sometimes you have more talent. We’re trying to wade through that.”[9]

A Georgia native, Fowler had been the Rockies’ 14^th-round draft pick out of Milton High School in 2004. By signing with Colorado, Fowler passed up his commitment to the University of Miami and an offer from Harvard University. After hitting .335 with a .431 on-base percentage at Double-A Tulsa, Fowler made his MLB debut in September 2008. He became an everyday player for the Rockies the following season.

Fowler played five full seasons in Colorado, posting a .270/.365/.423 batting line before he was traded to the Astros ahead of the 2014 season. He spent one year in Houston before signing with the Cubs. Across two seasons in Chicago, Fowler hit .261/.367/.427 with 30 homers and 186 runs scored.

“One of the things we wanted to address was athleticism,” Mozeliak said. “We wanted to address someone who could hit at the top of the order if possible, to give us flexibility with Carpenter. And we were also trying to find someone that was extremely competent on the basepaths. And I think we were able to accomplish that.”[10]

Mozeliak also expressed his appreciation for Fowler’s clubhouse presence, which was so strong that the Cubs and the Chicago media couldn’t help but wish the best for him even as he signed with their archrivals.

“Fowler’s intangibles are what set him apart,” Paul Sullivan wrote in the Chicago Tribune. “He was a perfect fit in that clubhouse, providing a calming presence that rubbed off on some of his younger teammates such as (Anthony Rizzo), Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, and Javier Baez.”

“If I go into a clubhouse, we’re going to have fun,” Fowler said. “Even if the clubhouse is not having fun, we’re going to have fun. Win, lose, or draw. Let’s have fun because I believe that’s going to make us better. I feel like I can do that in a clubhouse. Either way, we’ll get the guys out of their shell if they are in the shell.”[11]

In retrospect, it’s fair to wonder whether Fowler had that much fun in St. Louis. In 2017, his first season in St. Louis, Fowler hit .264/.363/.488 with 18 homers, 64 RBIs, and 68 runs scored, posting the second highest on-base plus slugging (.851) of his career. At age 32, however, he suffered through the worst season of his career in 2018, as his batting line fell to .180/.278/.298. Fowler played in just 90 games as Jose Martinez and Harrison Bader each began to bite into his playing time.

“I was depressed,” Fowler said after the season. “That’s what I was. I got mad that I let it get to me. I should be mentally stronger than that. I shouldn’t have let it weight me down as much as it did. But I was. I was depressed.”[12]

In 2019, Fowler hit .238/.317/.389 with 19 homers, 67 RBIs, and 69 runs scored. After the COVID-shortened 2020 season, the Cardinals traded him to the Angels along with $12.75 million to help cover most of the $14.5 million remaining on his contract. In addition to freeing up playing time in an outfield that included younger options in Tyler O’Neill, Bader, and Dylan Carlson, the trade acknowledged that the 34-year-old Fowler no longer had a clear role in St. Louis.

In 389 games with the Cardinals, Fowler hit .233/.334/.408.

“Fowler’s saga with the Cardinals is a complicated one, but ultimately his five-year and $82.5 million contract will be viewed as a regrettable deal,” wrote Post-Dispatch columnist Ben Frederickson. “Looking back, expectations were unfairly oversized. Fowler was going to singlehandedly make the Cardinals fun again, a heavy assignment for a club that was buttoned all the way up under former manager Mike Matheny. Fowler was going to stir the lineup from the top of the order as a speedy switch-hitter. Fowler was going to play a defensively sound center field. Fowler was going to do it all, at once, and for five seasons. Reality had other ideas.”[13]

Fowler played just seven games for the Angels before suffering a torn ACL that prematurely ended his season. He signed a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays for 2022, but appeared in just three minor-league games before he requested his release. In January 2023, he announced his retirement, concluding a big-league career that spanned 14 seasons and 1,460 games.

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[1] Derrick Goold, “Cardinals believe Fowler brings ‘infectious’ personality to club,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 12, 2016.

[2] Mark Gonzales, “Fowler cashes in with Cards,” Chicago Tribune, December 10, 2016.

[3] Mark Gonzales, “Fowler cashes in with Cards,” Chicago Tribune, December 10, 2016.

[4] Jennifer Langosch, “Fowler joins Cardinals on 5-year deal,” MLB.com, https://www.mlb.com/news/cardinals-sign-deal-with-of-dexter-fowler-c210732942.

[5] Jennifer Langosch, “Fowler joins Cardinals on 5-year deal,” MLB.com, https://www.mlb.com/news/cardinals-sign-deal-with-of-dexter-fowler-c210732942.

[6] David Wilhelm, “Cardinals create free-agency splash, sign ex-Cub Fowler,” Belleville News-Democrat, December 10, 2016.

[7] David Wilhelm, “Cardinals create free-agency splash, sign ex-Cub Fowler,” Belleville News-Democrat, December 10, 2016.

[8] Derrick Goold, “Cardinals go ‘over the top’ to catch Fowler, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 10, 2016.

[9] Derrick Goold, “Cardinals go ‘over the top’ to catch Fowler, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 10, 2016.

[10] Jennifer Langosch, “Fowler joins Cardinals on 5-year deal,” MLB.com, https://www.mlb.com/news/cardinals-sign-deal-with-of-dexter-fowler-c210732942.

[11] Derrick Goold, “Cardinals believe Fowler brings ‘infectious’ personality to club,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 12, 2016.

[12] Derrick Goold, “‘I don’t want to disappoint,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 16, 2018.

[13] Ben Frederickson, “Fowler trade clears outfield mixed messages, for now,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 6, 2021.

The post Why the Cardinals signed Dexter Fowler after the 2016 season first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

“I want (the fans) to know we are committed to winning – and creating a successful environment that will allow us to compete,” Mozeliak said. “Everyone knows the landscape’s changing at the major-league level, and we have to adapt. As we move forward, we are prepared to do so.”[1]

When reporters asked Mozeliak what that meant regarding free agents and the trade market, he doubled down, even with the man who would sign such paychecks – team Chairman Bill DeWitt – seated beside him.

“We have to be prepared to up the ante if we want to be part of those deals,” Mozeliak said. Later he added, ‘I’m not Walt Jocketty Jr.’”[2]

Mozeliak’s remarks came four weeks after the Cardinals fired Jocketty on October 3, ending his 13-year tenure with the team. The later years of Jocketty’s leadership had been marred by internal tensions with Jeff Luhnow, who oversaw the team’s scouting, drafting, and player development.[3]

When Jocketty was fired, Mozeliak was named interim general manager. Rather than waiting for a permanent successor to be named, Mozeliak seized the reins, completing contract extensions with free agent pitchers Joel Pineiro and Russ Spring and finalizing contracts for the 2008 season with manager Tony La Russa’s coaching staff. He also picked up closer Jason Isringhausen’s $8 million option.

“I can tell you I was extremely impressed with what he got done,” team president Mark Lamping said. “We didn’t miss a step, we took a step forward.”[4]

Of course, that didn’t mean that Mozeliak was the only candidate for the job. The Cardinals also considered a number of assistant general managers from around the league, including the Indians’ Chris Antonetti, Rick Hahn of the White Sox, the Diamondbacks’ Peter Woodfork, and the Padres’ Paul Depodesta.[5] The Cardinals interviewed Antonetti, Woodfork, and Hahn, as well as Jon Weil, the manager of minor leagues for the Rockies.[6]

Antonetti initially appeared to be the frontrunner for the position. Just days earlier, Antonetti and his wife visited St. Louis and engaged in three days of talks with DeWitt and Lamping. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that those talks included discussion of compensation.[7]  When those talks concluded, Antonetti withdrew his name from consideration, raising concern and speculation from observers.

“The Cardinals’ highly agitated fan base is wondering what Mozeliak’s promotion really means,” wrote St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz. “The predominant theory: Cleveland assistant GM Chris Antonetti turned down the St. Louis job and Mozeliak was the second choice, the safe pick, a symbol of the status quo. And that the GM post was structured in such an unappealing way that it scared off talented outside candidates, so DeWitt had to turn to Mozeliak, the faithful servant.[8]

The Cardinals, meanwhile, emphasized that they had never offered Antonetti the job.

“The job was offered to one person. It was offered yesterday afternoon to Mo. He accepted the job,” team president Mark Lamping said.[9]

For his part, Antonetti indicated that his decision was swayed primarily by discussions with the Indians, who wished to keep him within their organization.

“The St. Louis opportunity is a phenomenal opportunity,” he said. “There has seemingly been an undercurrent about reservations I had or someone had. I had no reservations about St. Louis.”[10]

In Mozeliak, the Cardinals were promoting an executive who had been with the organization since 1995, when both he and Jocketty left the Rockies to work in St. Louis. After working in both scouting and player development, he was named assistant scouting director in 1998, scouting director in 1999, and then director of baseball operations in 2001.

In 2003, Jocketty named Mozeliak his assistant general manager. For each of the next two years, Mozeliak ran the Cardinals’ amateur drafts before Luhnow was named scouting director in 2005 and assumed that responsibility.

“Mo has been instrumental in our success this decade,” DeWitt said. “He brings a great deal of strength to all areas of our operation.”[11]

Just as important as his experience was DeWitt’s ability to bridge the divide between Luhnow’s analytics and the more old-school approach Jocketty had represented. Under Mozeliak’s leadership, the Cardinals would blend input from the analytics department and La Russa’s coaching staff.

“I really think the biggest difference is going to be how we make decisions, how we get there, and really looking at the process,” Mozeliak said.[12]

La Russa, who had managed the club since 1996, supported Mozeliak’s hire.

“Tony was very supportive,” DeWitt said. “I stayed in touch with him regularly on the various candidates and spoke with him again last night. He’s looking forward to working with the group.”[13]

“Knowing that he felt comfortable with me as the next general manager made me feel good about this,” Mozeliak said. “I would have been very hesitant had he not.”[14]

At the same time, Mozeliak’s relationship with Luhnow would add harmony to a front office that had been divided between Jocketty and Luhnow.

“I think a lot of that’s been overstated, but I will say this: My working relationship with Jeff is outstanding,” Mozeliak said. “As we look forward, obviously, what he’s done to this point has allowed us to make better decisions. … It would be ludicrous of me to ignore that.”[15]

The Cardinals’ success under Jocketty initially continued under Mozeliak. In 2011, he made a key trade that helped propel the club to its 11^th World Series championship, and in 2013 the team won another National League pennant. From 2008 through 2022, Mozeliak’s Cardinals teams recorded 15 consecutive winning seasons, reaching the playoffs 10 times.

From 2014 until Mozeliak’s retirement after the 2025 season, however, the Cardinals won just one playoff series in 2019.

[1] Joe Strauss, “Mozeliak is named Cards GM,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 2007.

[2] Bernie Miklasz, “‘I’m not Walt Jocketty Jr.,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 2007.

[3] Bernie Miklasz, “‘I’m not Walt Jocketty Jr.,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 2007.

[4] “Mozeliak replaces Jocketty as Cards’ GM,” Belleville News-Democrat, November 1, 2007.

[5] Joe Strauss, “Mozeliak is named Cards GM,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 2007.

[6] “Mozeliak replaces Jocketty as Cards’ GM,” Belleville News-Democrat, November 1, 2007.

[7] Joe Strauss, “Mozeliak is named Cards GM,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 2007.

[8] Bernie Miklasz, “‘I’m not Walt Jocketty Jr.,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 2007.

[9] Joe Strauss, “Mozeliak is named Cards GM,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 2007.

[10] Joe Strauss, “Mozeliak is named Cards GM,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 2007.

[11] “Mozeliak replaces Jocketty as Cards’ GM,” Belleville News-Democrat, November 1, 2007.

[12] Joe Strauss, “Mozeliak is named Cards GM,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 2007.

[13] “Mozeliak replaces Jocketty as Cards’ GM,” Belleville News-Democrat, November 1, 2007.

[14] Joe Strauss, “Mozeliak is named Cards GM,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 2007.

[15] Joe Strauss, “Mozeliak is named Cards GM,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 1, 2007.

The post Why John Mozeliak was named Cardinals GM in 2007 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

“It was like an organizational transformational moment,” Wainwright said. “The wake-up call to the team arrived today.”[1]

Matheny’s ouster followed an 8-2 loss to the Reds at Busch Stadium, but it wasn’t the home-field defeat that led to his ouster. It wasn’t even the Cardinals’ disappointing 47-46 record or the fact that they were on their way to missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season, something that hadn’t happened since the 1997-1999 seasons. Instead, it was the sense that the franchise needed to change its trajectory.

“I don’t feel like our trend line was taking us in that (positive) direction anymore,” president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said. “Even if it’s just slowly decaying, you’re going to wake up at some point and find yourself in a bad spot. You could say, ‘You’re already there, chief.’ The point is, we felt we couldn’t wait any longer. Change felt inevitable.”[2]

The Cardinals had seen diminishing returns since at least 2015. In the wake of Tony La Russa’s retirement following the 2011 World Series championship, the Cardinals made the 41-year-old Matheny the youngest manager in the majors. Though he didn’t have any professional coaching or managerial experience when he accepted the job, Matheny led the Cardinals to the NLCS in his debut season.

In 2013, Matheny guided the team to 97 wins, the NL Central Division Championship, and the National League title. The following year, the Cardinals reached the NLCS again, and in 2015, they won 100 games to claim the NL Central title for the third consecutive year before bowing out to the Cubs in the NLDS.

In 2016, the Cardinals missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010, finishing 86-76, second to the Cubs in the NL Central. The next year, the Cardinals finished third with 83 wins, this time trailing both the Cubs and Brewers. At the time of his firing, Matheny’s Cardinals were once again in third place, 7 ½ games behind the division-leading Cubs.

The team’s record, however, only told part of the story. Two weeks earlier, Matheny stirred controversy when he seemed to question the effort of struggling outfielder Dexter Fowler, who was batting just .171 in the second year of a five-year, $82.5 million contract and had begun to lose playing time to young center fielder Harrison Bader.

In an interview with Fox Sports Midwest, Matheny said, “It’s been a frustrating year for everybody involved. Here’s a guy who wants to go out and play well. I think he would tell you it’s hard to do that when you’re not playing on a consistent basis. But I’ve also had a lot of people come up to me and question his effort and his energy level. You know, those are things that I can’t defend. What I can defend is trying to create opportunities for him, but not if it’s at the expense of someone who’s out there hustling and playing hard.”[3]

A couple of days later, The Athletic reported that Fowler and Matheny hadn’t spoken for months.[4] That report was followed by another story in which The Athletic reported that veteran relief pitcher Bud Norris had been “mercilessly riding” rookie reliever Jordan Hicks and would report to Matheny whenever he felt his teammates were “not living up to the standards the team set in spring training.” In some instances, Matheny would fine players based on Norris’s reports.[5]

The story raised questions about Matheny’s skill in managing his players and in the clubhouse culture he had established. When asked if Hicks would grow to appreciate Norris’s tough love, Matheny answered, “Probably not, but Bud’s going to continue to do what he thinks is right as a veteran, so you respect that.”[6]

Matheny’s words raised eyebrows, locally and in the national media.

“A few decades ago, that answer would have been completely unremarkable from a manager—but not so much anymore, not in a game that banned rookie bullying and hazing in its most recent collective bargaining agreement,” Emma Baccellieri wrote on SI.com.[7]

Ironically, Matheny’s reputation as a clubhouse leader played significantly in the Cardinals’ decision to name him manager following La Russa’s retirement. As the Cardinals’ starting catcher from 2000 through 2004, Matheny won three Gold Gloves and was recognized as a calm, steady voice on a team filled with strong personalities.

As a manager, however, Matheny was late in embracing trends in bullpen management and defensive shifts. Baseball Prospectus ranked him last among active managers in its reliever management metric, and Baseball Savant ranked the Cardinals 23^rd in the frequency of their defensive shifts.[8]

“He was one of the last guys to try to keep this game old school,” second baseman Kolten Wong said. “Everything is going to analytics and shifts and all this right now, but Mike was definitely one of those guys who loved the old-school aspect of playing.”[9]

After an 8-2 loss to the Reds in which Hicks allowed four runs in 1/3 of an inning, Matheny conducted his postgame press conference unaware that Mozeliak was informing hitting coach John Mabry and assistant hitting coach Bill Mueller that their services were no longer needed. After his press conference was complete, Matheny, who still had more than two years remaining on his contract, found Mozeliak waiting to break the bad news.[10]

“I realize I have to take the responsibility,” Matheny said. “When we can’t get things going right, that’s my job. I know who shoulders the blame. The blame falls on my shoulder.”[11]

It was the Cardinals’ first midseason firing since Joe Torre in 1995.

“When you see that happen, it’s because us, as players, we’re not doing our job,” said Yadier Molina, Matheny’s successor behind the plate and the only member of the Cardinals’ roster who had played alongside Matheny. “I hate to say it, but that’s what it is. We’re not doing our job. The blame is on us.”[12]

“We all feel bad for Mike, and ultimately it comes down on us,” agreed infielder Jedd Gyorko. “We’re the guys that go out there and play and perform. I feel like we haven’t done that good enough.”[13]

Matheny left the team as one of just four skippers to manage the Cardinals for more than 1,000 games. He compiled a 591-474 record over that span, good for a .555 winning percentage. His 591 wins trail only La Russa (1,408), Red Schoendienst (1,041), Whitey Herzog (822), and Billy Southworth (620) in franchise history.

“I never set that as one of my goals – to be as successful as Whitey or Red or Joe (Torre) or Tony,” Matheny said. “That was never part of my definition of what success looked like. I can’t be what other people want me to be.”[14]

Bench coach Mike Shildt was named interim manager in what Mozeliak termed “an extended interview.”[15] On August 28, the interim tag was removed, and Shildt was officially named manager. The Cardinals finished the season with a 41-28 record under Shildt for an 88-74 overall record, 2 ½ games back of the wild card.

The following year, Shildt led the Cardinals to 91 wins en route to the NL Central Division title and a berth to the NLCS.

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[1] Derrick Goold, “Mozeliak says firings were inevitable with team faltering,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 26, 2018.

[2] Derrick Goold, “Mozeliak says firings were inevitable with team faltering,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 26, 2018.

[3] Bill Baer, “John Mozeliak calls into question Dexter Fowler’s effort and energy,” NBC Sports, https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2018/07/02/john-mozeliak-calls-into-question-dexter-fowlers-effort-and-energy/.

[4] Mark Saxon, “Are Dexter Fowler and the Cardinals headed for a divorce? Sure seems like it,” The Athletic, https://theathletic.com/422240/2018/07/05/are-dexter-fowler-and-the-cardinals-headed-for-a-divorce-sure-seems-like-it.

[5] Mark Saxon, “Veteran Bud Norris is leading the young Cards bullpen with a divisive old-school approach,” The Athletic, https://theathletic.com/428599/2018/07/11/bud-norris-st-louis-cardinals-bullpen-jordan-hicks-relationship-mike-matheny.

[6] Mark Saxon, “Veteran Bud Norris is leading the young Cards bullpen with a divisive old-school approach,” The Athletic, https://theathletic.com/428599/2018/07/11/bud-norris-st-louis-cardinals-bullpen-jordan-hicks-relationship-mike-matheny.

[7] Emma Baccellieri, “Poor On-Field Decisions, Clubhouse Issues Led Cardinals to Change Course From Mike Matheny,” SI.com, www.si.com/mlb/2018/07/15/cardinals-fire-mike-matheny-tactical-errors-clubhouse.

[8] Emma Baccellieri, “Poor On-Field Decisions, Clubhouse Issues Led Cardinals to Change Course From Mike Matheny,” SI.com, www.si.com/mlb/2018/07/15/cardinals-fire-mike-matheny-tactical-errors-clubhouse.

[9] Peter Baugh, “Cardinals players reflect on Matheny,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 2018.

[10] Derrick Goold, “Cards Fire Matheny,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 15, 2018.

[11] Rick Hummel, “‘I’ve Got Nothing But Gratitude,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 2018.

[12] Derrick Goold, “Mozeliak says firings were inevitable with team faltering,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 26, 2018.

[13] Steve Overbey (Associated Press), “Players take blame after Matheny is shown the door,” Belleville News-Democrat, July 16, 2018.

[14] Rick Hummel, “‘I’ve Got Nothing But Gratitude,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 2018.

[15] Ben Frederickson, “It’s an audition for Shildt on the Cards’ stage,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 2018.

The post Why Mike Matheny was fired as Cardinals manager first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

President of baseball operations John Mozeliak initially hired the 49-year-old Shildt as an area scout in 2003. Shildt stayed in that role for three seasons, then requested the opportunity to coach.

“If I’m not good, if I’m overmatched, send me home,” he said.[1]

Rather than send Shildt home, the Cardinals kept promoting him. In 2009, he was named the manager at Johnson City, where his teams won the Appalachian League championship in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, Shildt managed the Cardinals’ Double-A Springfield affiliate. In his first season there, with a roster that included Carlos Martinez, Kolten Wong, Oscar Taveras, and Trevor Rosenthal, the Cardinals won the Texas League championship.

Shildt spent two seasons as the manager at Triple-A Memphis before he joined the Cardinals’ major league staff under Matheny in 2017. When the Cardinals fired Matheny following an 8-2 loss to the Reds that dropped the team’s record to 47-46 on July 14, 2018, they named Shildt interim manager.

“When you look at the last few years, who has been the closest to players at the major league level, and players on the cusp at Triple-A? That was Mike Shildt,” Mozeliak explained, referring to Shildt’s role as interim manager as “an extended interview.”[2]

“He’s a legitimate candidate because he’s come through the system and had a lot of success as a manager,” Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said. “He knows the situation.”[3]

Shildt’s promotion was greeted warmly by the players, even as they expressed disappointment that their performance on the field had cost Matheny his job.

“The one thing I can say about this guy (Shildt) is he cares,” Wong said. “He pays attention. He always puts in the work. From day one, I knew he was an amazing man because of how he could communicate and how he could talk with us. No matter what, he always had our back. After finding out what happened last night, and finding out he was the guy, it was a little bit of light in a dark time.”[4]

Dating back to his time as the Cardinals’ general manager, Mozeliak had long kept a running list of potential candidates for key positions, including the manager. Now that he had a vacancy, he updated the list and began researching potential candidates, including Joe Girardi, who had won a World Series as manager of the Yankees in 2009, and Cardinals coaches Jose Oquendo and Stubby Clapp.

Oquendo, who had applied for the Cardinals’ managerial job in 2011 when Matheny was named to replace Tony La Russa, placed his support behind Shildt.

“I think the Cardinals have the right guy in Mike,” he said in August. “I think, to me, in my opinion, they should decide now and make him the manager. He’s a real good one. I don’t think they should miss him.”[5]

The results on the field supported Oquendo’s opinion. From August 7 through August 15, the Cardinals reeled off eight consecutive wins. On August 21, a 5-2 win over the Dodgers propelled the Cardinals into second place in the National League Central Division, just 2 ½ games behind the Cubs for the division lead.

As the Cardinals kept winning, Mozeliak looked at his list of managerial candidates “less and less,” he said.[6]

“We’ve won, certainly, and that’s a byproduct of what he has done there,” DeWitt said. “He’s very collaborative with his coaches. He’s got relationships with the players. We all watch the games and my observation is – and I think it’s pretty well agreed to in the front office – his in-game strategy is excellent.”[7]

Shildt also changed the communication in the Cardinals’ clubhouse. General manager Michael Girsch described it as “a different energy.”[8]

“The one thing we’ve seen under Shildty is he’s changed the process and he’s been very intentional about that,” Mozeliak said. “I should say, it’s not just him, it’s the coaches, the players willing to accept that. We’re no longer doing what we were doing, and guess what? The outcome has changed. That has been very positive.”[9]

By August 28, Shildt had managed the team to a 26-12 record. He was in his home when Mozeliak called and asked if he was sitting or standing. Shildt answered that he was sitting.

“Good,” Mozeliak said. “I’d like to make you the next manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.”

Shildt was silent for a moment.

“It hits you,” Mozeliak later explained. “That’s a unique phone call to receive.”[10]

It was especially impactful for Shildt, who carried a copy of Cardinals coaching legend George Kissell’s ideas in a notebook that had been gifted to him by Kissell’s son, Dr. Dick Kissell. Shildt revisited the notebook each day, particularly the question early in the book, “Am I an organizational man??”[11]

Shildt’s dedication to Cardinals history combined with his interest in analytics made him unique among the candidates on Mozeliak’s list.

“When you’re talking about possible outside candidates, they would not have that,” Mozeliak said. “I do think there is some nuance that has value when you understand what you have. We don’t have to spend time having the new manager learn what our product is about. He knows that, and he also knows the weaknesses of that, where we need to improve. When we talk about the success over the last six weeks, I think we’d all agree that we’ve seen the little mistakes go away. They’re not festering.”[12]

DeWitt expressed a similar appreciation for Shildt’s climb through the Cardinals’ system.

“It’s nice that those who have been in your system, who have done a good job, can come up and continue to do a good job,” he said. “That’s an ideal scenario.”[13]

St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Jeff Gordon wrote, “DeWitt, Mozeliak, and Co. have made many tough decisions while running this team. Removing Shildt’s interim tag was not one of them.”[14]

“We just felt like we could not do better,” Mozeliak said. “Clearly, the relationship he has with our players and our coaching staff, as well as our front office and ownership, it just made this a seamless decision and one we didn’t agonize too much over.”[15]

“He deserves it,” Jedd Gyorko said. “We’re playing really good baseball, and he’s leading the charge behind that. We’re pumped for him. Baseball … you guys have seen what we’ve done out there, but behind closed doors, he’s a great guy to play for and an even better person.”[16]

The Cardinals finished the 2018 season with an 88-74 record – including a 41-28 mark under Shildt – and finished third in the NL Central. The following year, Shildt was named the National League Manager of the Year after he guided St. Louis to 91 wins and the NLCS.

In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Shildt and the Cardinals placed second in the NL Central with a 30-28 record before losing to the Padres in a three-game NL Wild Card Series.

In 2021, buoyed by a 17-game September win streak, Shildt’s Cardinals went 90-72 to finish second in the NL Central and qualify for the NL Wild Card Game. Despite a 252-199 record in four winning seasons in St. Louis, Shildt was fired that October. Mozeliak cited a “philosophical difference.”[17]

Shildt’s .559 winning percentage during his tenure as Cardinals manager actually surpassed those of legendary Redbird managers such as Tony La Russa (.544) and Whitey Herzog (.530), though both managers enjoyed longer careers in St. Louis and totaled significantly more wins.

Give the gift of Cardinals history! The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals is available now on Amazon.

[1] Derrick Goold, “Job Belongs To Shildt,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 29, 2018.

[2] Ben Frederickson, “It’s an audition for Shildt on the Cards’ stage,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 2018.

[3] Ben Frederickson, “It’s an audition for Shildt on the Cards’ stage,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 2018.

[4] Ben Frederickson, “It’s an audition for Shildt on the Cards’ stage,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 2018.

[5] Ben Frederickson, “Cardinals manager Shildt has full support of Oquendo,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 17, 2018.

[6] Derrick Goold, “Job Belongs To Shildt,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 29, 2018.

[7] Jeff Gordon, “This decision was easy one for Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 29, 2018.

[8] Derrick Goold, “Job Belongs To Shildt,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 29, 2018.

[9] Jeff Gordon, “This decision was easy one for Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 29, 2018.

[10] Derrick Goold, “Job Belongs To Shildt,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 29, 2018.

[11] Derrick Goold, “Job Belongs To Shildt,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 29, 2018.

[12] Derrick Goold, “Job Belongs To Shildt,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 29, 2018.

[13] Jeff Gordon, “This decision was easy one for Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 29, 2018.

[14] Jeff Gordon, “This decision was easy one for Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 29, 2018.

[15] Jeff Gordon, “This decision was easy one for Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 29, 2018.

[16] Rick Hummel, “Flaherty keeps rolling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 29, 2018.

[17] Derrick Goold, “Cards Fire Shildt,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 15, 2021.

The post Mike Shildt named Cardinals manager: August 28, 2018 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

As the defending National League champions prepared to play the final game of a three-game series against the Padres, they sat in third place in the Central Division, 2 ½ games behind the Brewers and half a game behind the second-place Pirates. A day earlier, Mozeliak took his first step toward bolstering a rotation that was missing both Michael Wacha and Jaime Garcia with shoulder injuries when he traded outfield prospect James Ramsey for right-hander Justin Masterson.

That proved to be a precursor to an even bigger deadline deal that sent outfielder Allen Craig and pitcher Joe Kelly to the Red Sox for starting pitcher John Lackey, pitching prospect Corey Littrell, and $1.75 million. [1]

“What was the genesis of this deal? Trying to address a top-flight starter and add to the rotation for next year,” Mozeliak said. “We were going to have to do something in the outfield because what was happening now was not sustainable.”[2]

The deal came as a shock to a Cardinals clubhouse that was fond of both Craig and Kelly. Craig had emerged as a key part of the Redbirds’ postseason run to the 2011 World Series championship and both players were part of the 2013 team that won the National League championship before falling to the Red Sox in the World Series. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch quoted unnamed veterans who called the trade “shocking,” a “surprise,” and “a punch to the gut.”[3]

“It’s a tough morning for us, no question,” manager Mike Matheny said. “We ask these guys from day one to buy into the fact that we’re in this thing together. To buy into the culture and everything the organization stands for. To see a few guys who have bought into that packing their stuff up – yeah, there’s a business here, but we’re asking for more than just business. It caught everybody off guard.”[4]

The news was even more surprising to the team due to the manner in which it arrived. Craig was in a room just outside the Petco Park visitors’ clubhouse when a television report about the trade came on. Kelly learned about the deal on Twitter. Other players learned about the trade from reporters or online.

“I don’t think the Cardinals organization had any ill will with that,” Craig said. “Ideally, as a player, you don’t want to find out that way, but in today’s age, I don’t see how you can keep anything under wraps. That’s not even a big deal in my mind. Information travels.”[5]

With question marks in both the lineup and rotation, Mozeliak chose to pursue a top-of-the-rotation starter. That included talks with Boston about left-hander Jon Lester, but Mozeliak said Boston asked for too steep a price for the pending free agent.[6] The Red Sox traded Lester and Jonny Gomes to the Athletics for Yoenis Cespedes and a competitive balance pick.

The Cardinals also spoke to the Rays about David Price. Again, while the Cardinals had the pieces Tampa Bay was seeking, they were unwilling to meet their trade demands. Price went to the Tigers instead as part of a three-team trade that sent Willy Adames, Drew Smyly, and Nick Franklin to Tampa Bay.

“We clearly could have matched up, but we didn’t want to go down that path,” Mozeliak said.[7]

Once the Cardinals made the trade for Masterson, a veteran right-hander who won a career-high 14 games in 2013, Kelly suddenly became an expendable piece to deal for Lackey.

In three years with the Cardinals, Kelly had posted a 17-14 record with a 3.25 ERA. In seven starts in 2014, he was 2-2 with a 4.37 ERA.

“I didn’t know any team wanted me at this point,” Kelly joked.[8]

“In Kelly, we feel like we have a guy who is … a developing, advancing major-league starting pitcher,” Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said. “Certainly not a finished product, but really talented and someone our scouts have liked for a long time. Highly athletic, really good stuff, and someone we feel can quickly develop into a core part of our rotation. He was an important addition as we go into the offseason. We wouldn’t have done the Lackey deal without getting someone like that back.”[9]

St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Joe Strauss wrote that dealing Kelly made sense for a team that needed a No. 2 or No. 3 starter.

“As a No. 5 or even a No. 4 starter, Kelly clicks,” he wrote. “As the No. 3 within a rotation that won’t know about Wacha’s return until mid-September, Kelly didn’t promise enough, especially four starts into his return from a serious hamstring injury. Rather than hope for the best, Mozeliak acted … clinically.”[10]

Less than 17 months earlier, Craig and the Cardinals had agreed to a five-year, $31 million contract extension. In 2013, he played in a career-high 134 games, batting .315 with 13 homers and 97 RBIs. That September, however, he suffered a Lisfranc injury to his foot, which caused him to miss the final 23 games of the regular season as well as the NLDS and NLCS. When he returned for the World Series, he went 6-for-16 (.375) with a double.

Craig’s 2014 season never got off the ground. After batting .220 in March and April, he appeared to recover in May, batting .291 with 19 RBIs. In June, however, he hit .255 with a .311 slugging percentage, and his offense cratered in July, batting just .122 in 54 plate appearances.

“At some point what was happening in the outfield was going to have to be dealt with,” Mozeliak said. “When you look at the depth we’ve been building at the outfield position, trying to create opportunity in the short term is important.”[11]

That depth included highly touted prospect Oscar Taveras. Craig’s move to Boston essentially opened right field for Taveras.

“He’s going to get an opportunity,” Matheny said.[12]

Most importantly, the trade gave the Cardinals a dependable starting pitcher who had collected double-digit wins in every season since his rookie year, when he won nine as a 23-year-old. In eight years with the Angels, Lackey was 102-71 with a 3.81 ERA, including an all-star-season in 2007 in which he went 19-9 and led the American League with a 3.01 ERA.

In four seasons with the Red Sox, Lackey had gone 47-43 with a 4.46 ERA, and he was 11-7 with a 3.60 ERA at the time of the trade.

“He brings a presence, first of all,” said Cardinals catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who played alongside Lackey in Boston. “Second off, he brings competitiveness. He wants the ball. He doesn’t want to ever give up the ball. He’s won big games wherever he’s been. He’s got two rings and I know … that he’s looking for a third.”[13]

In 2012, Lackey suffered an elbow injury that kept him out for the entire season, triggering a team option in his 2015 contract that would pay him just over $500,000. Before finalizing the trade, the Cardinals confirmed with Lackey’s agent that the pitcher intended to play the 2015 campaign.[14]

“That’s a guy who’s been around a lot and helped two teams with a World Series and was the deciding game-winner in both of those World Series, and something like that doesn’t come around that often,” Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz said.[15]

Lackey made 10 starts down the stretch for the Cardinals, going 3-3 with a 4.30 ERA. In Game 3 of the NLDS, he held the Dodgers to one run over seven innings, striking out eight batters en route to a 3-1 win. He took the loss in Game 3 of the NLCS against the Giants, allowing four runs in six innings.

In 2015, Lackey enjoyed his best season since 2007, going 13-10 with a 2.77 ERA. He placed ninth in the NL Cy Young Award voting, then won Game 1 of the NLDS against the Cubs, holding Chicago scoreless over 7 1/3 innings.

In Game 4, however, he allowed four earned runs over three innings and took the loss as the Cubs clinched the series. It proved to be Lackey’s final start with the Cardinals, as he signed a free-agent deal with the Cubs after the season.

Meanwhile, Craig never regained his swing in Boston. He hit just .128 the rest of the 2014 season and was batting.135 in 2015 before he was demoted to Triple-A. After making a brief return to the majors as a September call-up, Craig spent the rest of his career in the minors.

The Red Sox released him on June 30, 2017, and the following winter he signed with the Padres on a minor-league deal. Craig showed a glimpse of his previous form with Triple-A El Paso in 2018, batting .293 with 13 homers and 59 RBIs in 363 plate appearances, but the Padres released him the following March. That April, he accepted a job with the Padres as an advisor to baseball operations.

In six major-league seasons, Craig hit .291/.343/.460 with 57 homers and 291 RBIs.

In 2014 and 2015, Kelly started 35 games for the Red Sox, going 14-8. In 2016, Boston moved Kelly to the bullpen, where he found his niche and posted a 2.79 ERA in 2017. In five seasons with the Red Sox, he went 26-11 with a 4.33 ERA and won the 2018 World Series title.

He signed with the Dodgers ahead of the 2019 season and was part of their 2020 World Series championship team, compiling a 3.59 ERA over three seasons. He retired after the 2024 season, finishing his career with a 54-38 record and a 3.98 ERA over 839 innings.

In 60 career postseason innings, he went 4-3 with a 3.45 ERA, including a 2.03 ERA in 13 1/3 World Series innings.

Give the gift of Cardinals history! The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals is available now on Amazon.

[1] Anthony Gulizia, “Buchholz, others understand deals are part of the game,” Boston Globe, August 1, 2014.

[2] Joe Strauss, “Mozeliak moves to fix two problems,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 1, 2014.

[3] Derrick Goold, “Major Shakeup,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 1, 2014.

[4] Derrick Goold, “Major Shakeup,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 1, 2014.

[5] Anthony Gulizia, “Craig familiar with new home,” Boston Globe, August 2, 2014.

[6] Derrick Goold, “Major Shakeup,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 1, 2014.

[7] Derrick Goold, “Major Shakeup,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 1, 2014.

[8] Derrick Goold, “Major Shakeup,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 1, 2014.

[9] Peter Abraham, “Bogaerts back at short; Middlebrooks returns,” Boston Globe, August 1, 2014.

[10] Joe Strauss, “Mozeliak moves to fix two problems,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 1, 2014.

[11] Joe Strauss, “Mozeliak moves to fix two problems,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 1, 2014.

[12] Derrick Goold, “Major Shakeup,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 1, 2014.

[13] Derrick Goold, “Major Shakeup,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 1, 2014.

[14] Derrick Goold, “Major Shakeup,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 1, 2014.

[15] Anthony Gulizia, “Buchholz, others understand deals are part of the game,” Boston Globe, August 1, 2014.

The post John Lackey Cardinals-Red Sox Trade: July 31, 2014 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

On March 20, 2008, the Cardinals made it official, signing Wainwright to a four-year, $15 million contract extension with a two-year team option that ultimately made the deal worth $36 million.

“Now I just have to go out there and honor that contract and hopefully make myself the most underpaid player in the game the next four years,” Wainwright said.[1]

The Cardinals acquired Wainwright more than four years earlier in a December 2003 trade with the Braves. After appearing in two games in 2005, Wainwright received his first extended major-league look in 2006 as a bullpen arm. He posted a 3.12 ERA in 61 regular-season relief appearances, then made his postseason debut in the National League Division Series against the Padres, where he threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings, earning one save.

He finished off three more games against the Mets in the NLCS, where his two saves famously included his bases-loaded strikeout of Carlos Beltran to end Game 7 and send the Cardinals to the World Series. In the World Series, Wainwright was again perfect through three appearances, earning one win and a save while striking out five of the nine Tigers he faced.

In 2007, the Cardinals moved Wainwright into the starting rotation, where he posted a team-high 14 wins and 202 innings pitched to go along with a 3.70 ERA. Wainwright’s 2.71 ERA after the all-star break ranked fourth in baseball.[2]

“He embodies everything we look for in a player,” Mozeliak said. “His talent. His personality. One of the things we try to do when we look at some of our young players in our organization is to try to have the ability to wrap them up long term, making sure that they understand we want them to be a part of our core.”[3]

Just a few weeks before the contract was finalized, the Cardinals had assigned Wainwright a $448,000 salary for the 2008 season. As a third-year player, Wainwright wasn’t eligible for arbitration, which allowed the club to set his salary. Wainwright was seeking $550,000.[4]

“Sometimes players and management don’t agree on the numbers and you get renewed,” Wainwright said. “It’s part of the game … part of the process. I don’t have any ill will toward ‘Mo’ or the organization for it. I just don’t necessarily agree with the number we’ve reached.”[5]

Wainwright’s new contract overrode his assigned salary. Complete with a $750,000 signing bonus, the deal called for Wainwright to earn $500,000 in 2008, $2.6 million in 2009, $4.65 million in 2010, and $6.5 million in 2011. A club option would pay Wainwright $9 million in 2012 and $12 million in 2013,[6] and he was scheduled to receive bonuses for pitching 200 innings and making 30 starts in any season beginning with 2009.[7]

“They don’t make that kind of commitment unless they want a player like Adam to be here,” said Wainwright’s agent, Steve Hammond. “The team’s concern is (health) during that time, and we felt like if he made the starts and innings pitched that would accomplish what we came here to do. … It wasn’t like us having to talk the Cardinals into, ‘This is what you have.’ They understood. He is a key part of the (team), one of the faces of the Cardinals.”[8]

The most challenging part of the contract to work out was the option, which automatically would vest if Wainwright pitched a total of 400 innings and 60 starts in 2010 and 2011 or finished in the top five in the Cy Young Award voting in either season. In addition to either of those feats, he had to be on the active roster and not on the disabled list at the end of the 2011 season.[9]

“The one thing we were looking at constructing this contract was some flexibility should we have an injury,” Mozeliak said. “There’s no doubt any time you sign a pitcher, you’re one pitch away, but in his case, where he is with his physical and how he looks, being in the shape he’s in, we’re pretty bullish on him.”[10]

“I think they’ll pick that option up,” Wainwright said. “For me, what’s the worst-case thing that could happen? After four years, I’ve made $15 million and they decide not to pick the option up and I go home. Worst thing that could happen, I have $15 million.”[11]

As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, “The deal also sends a clear signal that the team will construct its rotation upon two pillars: Cy Young Award-winner (Chris) Carpenter and his protégé, Wainwright.”[12] With the deal, Wainwright joined Carpenter and catcher Yadier Molina as the only Cardinals with contracts through 2012.[13] Just two months earlier, Molina had signed a four-year, $15.5 million contract.

“From the Cardinals’ standpoint, the beauty of their contract with Adam Wainwright is that it offers protection on both ends of the spectrum,” wrote columnist Bernie Miklasz. “… At most, it’s a six-year, $36 million deal. And when you consider that career mediocrities such as Carlos Silva are getting $12 million a year, the Wainwright terms are a tremendous bargain.[14]

The same day that the Cardinals announced Wainwright’s new contract, they also made an announcement regarding the young right-hander’s spot in the rotation.

“He’s starting opening day,” La Russa said. “He’s got his head on straight. I don’t think dollars and security is going to change his approach to things.”[15]

“I feel like I’m playing in the best place possible,” Wainwright said. “I love the city and my wife loves the city, and we’re going to be there for hopefully a long, long time and a long time after this contract also.”[16]

That certainly proved to be the case.

While the first opening-day start of Wainwright’s career was erased by a third-inning rainout with the Cardinals leading the Rockies 5-1, Wainwright went 11-3 with a 3.20 ERA in 2008. A finger injury suffered in June forced him to miss 2 ½ months and limited him to just 132 innings.

In 2009, however, he led the league with 34 starts and 233 innings pitched as he went 19-8 with a 2.63 ERA. Wainwright finished third in that year’s Cy Young Award voting, placing only behind the Giants’ Tim Lincecum and his teammate, Carpenter.

Wainwright was even better in 2010, reaching 20 wins for the first time in his career behind the strength of a 2.42 ERA over 230 1/3 innings. He was named an all-star that summer and placed second to Roy Halladay in the fall’s Cy Young voting.

After exceeding anything the Cardinals could have expected from the first three seasons of the contract, Wainwright’s 2011 season never got off the ground. Just a few days after reporting to spring training, he began to experience discomfort in his right elbow. A few days later, the Cardinals announced that he would miss the entire 2011 season with Tommy John surgery.

Though the injury meant that Wainwright’s option for the 2012 and 2013 season did not vest automatically, the Cardinals had no intention of allowing Wainwright to become a free agent and vested both option years. In 2012, Wainwright clearly hadn’t returned to his previous form, though he won 14 games and pitched 198 2/3 innings with a 3.94 ERA.

On March 28, 2013, Wainwright and the Cardinals agreed to a five-year, $97.5 million extension, the largest contract ever signed by a St. Louis pitcher. He followed that up with an outstanding 2013 season, leading the league with 19 wins and 241 2/3 innings. He placed second in the Cy Young voting.

 Through the 2021 season, Wainwright has pitched all 16 of his major-league seasons with the Cardinals, compiling a 184-105 record with a 3.35 career ERA.

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[1] Derrick Goold, “Wainwright, Carpenter form core,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 21, 2008.

[2] Derrick Goold, “New deal is set for Wainwright,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 20, 2008.

[3] Derrick Goold, “Wainwright, Carpenter form core,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 21, 2008.

[4] Derrick Goold, “New deal is set for Wainwright,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 20, 2008.

[5] Joe Strauss, “Despite shoulder problems, Johnson stays encouraged,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 5, 2008.

[6] Associated Press, “Cards, Wainwright sign deal,” Springfield News-Leader, March 21, 2008.

[7] Derrick Goold, “Wainwright, Carpenter form core,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 21, 2008.

[8] Derrick Goold, “Wainwright, Carpenter form core,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 21, 2008.

[9] Derrick Goold, “Wainwright, Carpenter form core,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 21, 2008.

[10] Derrick Goold, “Wainwright, Carpenter form core,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 21, 2008.

[11] Derrick Goold, “Jimenez’s stock rises with injury to Ryan,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 22, 2008.

[12] Derrick Goold, “Wainwright, Carpenter form core,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 21, 2008.

[13] Derrick Goold, “New deal is set for Wainwright,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 20, 2008.

[14] Bernie Miklasz, “Cards made a smart move by locking up Wainwright,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 22, 2008.

[15] Derrick Goold, “Wainwright, Carpenter form core,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 21, 2008.

[16] Associated Press, “Cards, Wainwright sign deal,” Springfield News-Leader, March 21, 2008.

The post Cardinals sign Adam Wainwright to his first contract extension in 2008 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

“I’m happy to be a Cardinal for 5-6 more years,” Molina said. “This is a great organization. I grew up here, I feel good here. It was my first choice to stay here.”[1]

“He’s at the peak of his career and we’re thrilled to have him,” Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr. said. “He’s a premium player, plus he plays so much. We were both highly motivated to get this done.”[2]

The new contract paid Molina an average of $15 million per season from 2013 through 2017 and made Molina the second-highest-paid catcher in baseball, trailing only Joe Mauer and the eight-year, $184 million contract he signed in 2010.[3] Molina’s deal included a $1 million signing bonus, full no-trade protection, and no deferred money. It also had a $15 million mutual option for the 2018 season that would make the contract worth $88 million over six years.[4]

“You just want to play the game and not think about the contract or anything outside the lines,” Molina said. “You have to concentrate on the game. I’m glad we got it done now.”[5]

The announcement came one week after Molina’s longtime agent, Melvin Roman, arrived at Cardinals spring training and announced that he and Molina would not negotiate a contract extension during the season.[6] Roman’s declaration was similar to Pujols’ decision not to negotiate during the final year of his contract in 2011.

“It would have been a more difficult situation for both sides,” if Molina entered free agency following the 2012 season, Roman said. “Yadi’s goal was to stay. That’s why we tried to get it going at this time.”[7]

“Who knows what would have happened if (Molina) had gotten to the market,” DeWitt said. “Ultimately, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity we had to get something done before the season started. We’re glad it worked out.”[8]

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Molina initially sought a seven-year contract while the Cardinals were offering just three. The Cardinals also wanted to defer money in the contract, an offer that Molina’s side rejected.[9]

“I was still thinking it was a business,” Molina said. “My idea was to stay here. My commitment was to stay here with this organization because I know how great it is.”[10]

The Cardinals also knew how much Molina meant to their franchise. After making his major-league debut as a 21-year-old in 2004, Molina inherited the starting catcher duties from Mike Matheny in 2005. Since that time, Molina had led all catchers with a 39% success rate against would-be base stealers, and his 38 pickoffs over that span more than doubled his closest peer, Miguel Olivo, who had picked off 16 baserunners. [11]

Over that same time period, Cardinals pitchers had the fifth-best ERA in the majors.[12]

“It’s really hard to pigeonhole this in one area because he’s a unique player,” Mozeliak said. “Given how you value the position defensively, he’s the best in the game and he deserves to be compensated accordingly.”[13]

In the previous three seasons, Molina had appeared in more games (415) and caught more innings (3,464) than any other major-league catcher. He had earned the Gold Glove Award each of the past four seasons and won the Platinum Glove Award for the best defensive player in the game in 2011.[14]

“You see how he works with us, how he controls the running game, how he goes about it,” said Adam Wainwright. “You can’t overstate what having him means.”[15]

Molina “makes it easy for the pitcher; he makes it much easier for the defense,” said Jake Westbrook. “I’ve thrown to some very good catchers in my career but Yadi is without question the best. There’s tremendous value in what he gives a pitching staff and the team as a whole.”[16]

Matheny, who was named the Cardinals’ manager following the retirement of Tony La Russa, was asked for his opinion before the Cardinals pursued a long-term deal with Molina. He called it a “no-brainer” for the organization.[17]

“I’m happy for him,” Matheny said. “I’m happy for the organization. I’m happy for the fan base. I’m happy for me. I just told Derek (Lilliquist) he just became a better pitching coach and I just became a better manager.”[18]

Offensively, Molina was coming off his best offensive season for the Cardinals. In 2011, he reached new career highs in batting average (.305), home runs (14), extra-base hits (47), OPS (.814), and RBIs (65). It marked the second time in his career that he had hit over .300.

Since the start of the 2008 season, Molina had hit .292, the third-highest average among full-time catchers over that span. Molina’s 234 RBIs during that time frame tied him with Mauer among major-league catchers, and he ranked seventh in doubles.[19]

“He’s the best catcher in the game,” Carlos Beltran said. “When you have the best catcher in the game you have to sign him. It’s great for the organization to keep a guy like that.”[20]

St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz noted that signing Molina became even more important for the Cardinals in the wake of Pujols’ departure.

“The Molina signing was good for organizational morale,” he wrote. “Perhaps you think that doesn’t matter or shouldn’t matter. But it does. This franchise just went through a jolting experience, watching Albert Pujols defect to sign with Anaheim. Allowing Molina to walk would have raised questions about management’s commitment to paying core players, paying to maintain a successful nucleus. … It would have been a considerable blow to have Molina walk away a year after Pujols headed to Anaheim.”[21]

Molina’s contract proved to be a good investment for the Cardinals far beyond the morale boost it provided. Over the course of the five-year contract, Molina was named an all-star four times, won three Gold Gloves, and won a Silver Slugger. He was limited to 110 games in 2014 but appeared in at least 136 games in each of the other four years.

In April 2017, Molina and the Cardinals agreed to a three-year, $60 million contract that paid Molina $20 million per year from 2018 through 2020.

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[1] R.B. Fallstrom (Associated Press), “Cardinals, Molina reach $75M deal through 2017,” Southern Illinoisan, March 2, 2012.

[2] R.B. Fallstrom (Associated Press), “Cardinals, Molina reach $75M deal through 2017,” Southern Illinoisan, March 2, 2012.

[3] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[4] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[5] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[6] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[7] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[8] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[9] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[10] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[11] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[12] Bernie Miklasz, “Is Yadi Worth $75 Million?” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[13] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[14] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[15] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[16] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[17] R.B. Fallstrom (Associated Press), “Cardinals, Molina reach $75M deal through 2017,” Southern Illinoisan, March 2, 2012.

[18] Joe Strauss, “‘A franchise-type player,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[19] Bernie Miklasz, “Is Yadi Worth $75 Million?” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

[20] R.B. Fallstrom (Associated Press), “Cardinals, Molina reach $75M deal through 2017,” Southern Illinoisan, March 2, 2012.

[21] Bernie Miklasz, “Is Yadi Worth $75 Million?” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 2, 2012.

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