amag
04-01-2002, 05:07 PM
From MLB.com
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stl/news/stl_news.jsp?ymd=20020329&content_id=2518&vkey=news_stl&fext=.jsp
Feature News
03/29/2002 6:32 pm ET
Cards looking like team to beat
By Jared Hoffman / MLB.com
The 2002 St. Louis Cardinals are a manager's dream and a sportswriter's nightmare. Lots of talent, little controversy.
Not that this spring hasn't had a little clubhouse controversy. There was some mild debate as to whether one player had turned in his NCAA bracket before the start of the first games and one of the relievers was outed by his peers for pulling a Costanza -- double-dipping a chip.
The Cardinals will leave their Spring Training home in Jupiter, Fla. the same way they arrived -- a team with few question marks and one of the National League favorites to reach the World Series.
The Cardinals are coming off consecutive postseason appearances, the club's first since consecutive NL pennants in 1967-68. Now, the Cardinals hope to reach what used to be familiar ground in St. Louis -- the Fall Classic.
From 1926-87, the Cardinals played in 15 World Series -- an average of one every four years -- and won a NL record nine World Series championships. However, the Cardinals haven't been to the World Series since 1987 and if they were to win the World Series this year, it would be 20 years since their last championship in 1982. For teams such as the Red Sox, Indians and Cubs, 20 years between championships would be a welcome change. For Cardinals' fans it represents an epidemic.
Why could this team go where the previous two have not? The Cardinals didn't spend as much or make as many moves as the Mets or Yankees, but the two moves St. Louis did make could be just as significant.
The first move the Cardinals made was to add a closer. St. Louis' bullpen wasn't horrible last season -- it tied for fifth in the NL in bullpen ERA and ranked sixth in save percentage -- but manager Tony La Russa had to mix and match his relievers a lot toward the end of games. As a result, six pitchers had at least three saves and Dave Veres led the staff with only 15 -- the lowest team-high in saves for a Cardinals playoff team since 1967.
GM Walt Jocketty had few options when looking to make the upgrade at closer but succeeded in signing Jason Isringhausen, who had 67 saves the past two seasons with Oakland. Jocketty believes this move improved the entire bullpen.
"I think what it does is it defines the roles of the pitchers in the bullpen this year and that should be a lot clearer," said Jocketty. "I think that's going to benefit the team as a whole and the individual pitchers as well. We've got a deeper bullpen now and guys who are capable of doing different things."
However, the Cardinals still had another hole to fill and pretty massive one at that as first baseman Mark McGwire announced his retirement a week after the World Series ended. McGwire had hit only .187 with 29 homers and 64 RBIs for the Cardinals as a bad knee limited his production and games played to 97.
There was talk of Jason Giambi riding into town on a white horse and gallantly taking over at first for his good friend McGwire, but that's exactly what it was -- just talk. After spending $27 million to sign Isringhausen, it didn't appear the Cardinals had a big move left in their checkbook.
"When we got Izzy (Isringhausen), we thought that was it, because were only going to be able to make one big move," said La Russa. "But Walt worked and worked and worked and was able to get Tino Martinez. And that was huge for our club because in his career, Tino has been consistently outstanding."
The Cardinals don't need Martinez to swat 500-foot homers. They just need Martinez to do what he has done six of the past seven seasons -- drive in 100 or more runs. Batting from the No. 6 spot, Martinez should have plenty of chances as the three players batting in front of him -- J.D. Drew (.323), Albert Pujols (.329) and Jim Edmonds (.304) each batted over .300 last season.
The only major question for the Cardinals coming into Spring Training was who would play left field and the solution was an old answer. La Russa had planned to move Pujols to third and use last year's third baseman, Placido Polanco, as part of a platoon in left field. But Pujols didn't feel comfortable making Polanco, a career infielder, move to a new position and told La Russa it would be best if they started 2002 season the same way they ended 2001 -- with Pujols in left and Polanco at third.
While most teams have concerns about filling out the starting rotation, the Cardinals have enough depth they were able to trade 14-game winner Dustin Hermanson to Boston and still have six quality starters to try and squeeze in five spots.
"Both starting and relieving, this is the most depth we've had," said Jocketty. "We've had a couple of years here where we've been hurting at the end of Spring Training. That's not the case this year."
In fact, other than Rick Ankiel, who has an elbow strain and will be shut down indefinitely, the Cardinals' staff is healthier than a year ago when their starting staff led the NL in innings pitched. Garrett Stephenson, who missed all of last season because of Tommy John surgery after winning 16 games in 2000, says his arm is feeling great and will begin the season in the rotation.
Darryl Kile, who has won 36 games the past two seasons, had arthroscopic surgery in the offseason to clean out his pitching shoulder. Although he didn't make his first spring start until March 15, Kile should be ready to make his first start opening week and according to pitching coach Dave Duncan has much better arm action than he did at the end of last season when the shoulder was bothering him. Andy Benes' knee feels better and although he has had the best spring of any Cardinals' starter, he could open the season in long relief.
Defensively, the Cardinals could be outstanding -- up the middle, catcher Mike Matheny, second baseman Fernando Vina and center fielder Jim Edmonds are all Gold Glove winners. Martinez is considered an excellent defensive first baseman and Polanco had the best fielding percentage among NL third basemen last season but played too many games at short and second to qualify for the league lead.
Is this the most comfortable Jocketty has felt going into a season since coming over to St. Louis as GM in 1994?
"I'm not sure comfortable is the right word," said Jocketty. "I feel a little more confident that because of the addition of Isringhausen and Martinez and because we know what Steve Kline can do, what Albert Pujols can do for a full season. Edgar Renteria has looked great this spring and then you have Vina, Edmonds, Drew. It's a nice team -- as long as we can stay healthy and keep guys on the field and the guys stay focused on the task and mission to win."
If the Cardinals do just that, their biggest headline of the season could feature the words, "World Series Champions."
Jared Hoffman covers the Cardinals for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stl/news/stl_news.jsp?ymd=20020329&content_id=2518&vkey=news_stl&fext=.jsp
Feature News
03/29/2002 6:32 pm ET
Cards looking like team to beat
By Jared Hoffman / MLB.com
The 2002 St. Louis Cardinals are a manager's dream and a sportswriter's nightmare. Lots of talent, little controversy.
Not that this spring hasn't had a little clubhouse controversy. There was some mild debate as to whether one player had turned in his NCAA bracket before the start of the first games and one of the relievers was outed by his peers for pulling a Costanza -- double-dipping a chip.
The Cardinals will leave their Spring Training home in Jupiter, Fla. the same way they arrived -- a team with few question marks and one of the National League favorites to reach the World Series.
The Cardinals are coming off consecutive postseason appearances, the club's first since consecutive NL pennants in 1967-68. Now, the Cardinals hope to reach what used to be familiar ground in St. Louis -- the Fall Classic.
From 1926-87, the Cardinals played in 15 World Series -- an average of one every four years -- and won a NL record nine World Series championships. However, the Cardinals haven't been to the World Series since 1987 and if they were to win the World Series this year, it would be 20 years since their last championship in 1982. For teams such as the Red Sox, Indians and Cubs, 20 years between championships would be a welcome change. For Cardinals' fans it represents an epidemic.
Why could this team go where the previous two have not? The Cardinals didn't spend as much or make as many moves as the Mets or Yankees, but the two moves St. Louis did make could be just as significant.
The first move the Cardinals made was to add a closer. St. Louis' bullpen wasn't horrible last season -- it tied for fifth in the NL in bullpen ERA and ranked sixth in save percentage -- but manager Tony La Russa had to mix and match his relievers a lot toward the end of games. As a result, six pitchers had at least three saves and Dave Veres led the staff with only 15 -- the lowest team-high in saves for a Cardinals playoff team since 1967.
GM Walt Jocketty had few options when looking to make the upgrade at closer but succeeded in signing Jason Isringhausen, who had 67 saves the past two seasons with Oakland. Jocketty believes this move improved the entire bullpen.
"I think what it does is it defines the roles of the pitchers in the bullpen this year and that should be a lot clearer," said Jocketty. "I think that's going to benefit the team as a whole and the individual pitchers as well. We've got a deeper bullpen now and guys who are capable of doing different things."
However, the Cardinals still had another hole to fill and pretty massive one at that as first baseman Mark McGwire announced his retirement a week after the World Series ended. McGwire had hit only .187 with 29 homers and 64 RBIs for the Cardinals as a bad knee limited his production and games played to 97.
There was talk of Jason Giambi riding into town on a white horse and gallantly taking over at first for his good friend McGwire, but that's exactly what it was -- just talk. After spending $27 million to sign Isringhausen, it didn't appear the Cardinals had a big move left in their checkbook.
"When we got Izzy (Isringhausen), we thought that was it, because were only going to be able to make one big move," said La Russa. "But Walt worked and worked and worked and was able to get Tino Martinez. And that was huge for our club because in his career, Tino has been consistently outstanding."
The Cardinals don't need Martinez to swat 500-foot homers. They just need Martinez to do what he has done six of the past seven seasons -- drive in 100 or more runs. Batting from the No. 6 spot, Martinez should have plenty of chances as the three players batting in front of him -- J.D. Drew (.323), Albert Pujols (.329) and Jim Edmonds (.304) each batted over .300 last season.
The only major question for the Cardinals coming into Spring Training was who would play left field and the solution was an old answer. La Russa had planned to move Pujols to third and use last year's third baseman, Placido Polanco, as part of a platoon in left field. But Pujols didn't feel comfortable making Polanco, a career infielder, move to a new position and told La Russa it would be best if they started 2002 season the same way they ended 2001 -- with Pujols in left and Polanco at third.
While most teams have concerns about filling out the starting rotation, the Cardinals have enough depth they were able to trade 14-game winner Dustin Hermanson to Boston and still have six quality starters to try and squeeze in five spots.
"Both starting and relieving, this is the most depth we've had," said Jocketty. "We've had a couple of years here where we've been hurting at the end of Spring Training. That's not the case this year."
In fact, other than Rick Ankiel, who has an elbow strain and will be shut down indefinitely, the Cardinals' staff is healthier than a year ago when their starting staff led the NL in innings pitched. Garrett Stephenson, who missed all of last season because of Tommy John surgery after winning 16 games in 2000, says his arm is feeling great and will begin the season in the rotation.
Darryl Kile, who has won 36 games the past two seasons, had arthroscopic surgery in the offseason to clean out his pitching shoulder. Although he didn't make his first spring start until March 15, Kile should be ready to make his first start opening week and according to pitching coach Dave Duncan has much better arm action than he did at the end of last season when the shoulder was bothering him. Andy Benes' knee feels better and although he has had the best spring of any Cardinals' starter, he could open the season in long relief.
Defensively, the Cardinals could be outstanding -- up the middle, catcher Mike Matheny, second baseman Fernando Vina and center fielder Jim Edmonds are all Gold Glove winners. Martinez is considered an excellent defensive first baseman and Polanco had the best fielding percentage among NL third basemen last season but played too many games at short and second to qualify for the league lead.
Is this the most comfortable Jocketty has felt going into a season since coming over to St. Louis as GM in 1994?
"I'm not sure comfortable is the right word," said Jocketty. "I feel a little more confident that because of the addition of Isringhausen and Martinez and because we know what Steve Kline can do, what Albert Pujols can do for a full season. Edgar Renteria has looked great this spring and then you have Vina, Edmonds, Drew. It's a nice team -- as long as we can stay healthy and keep guys on the field and the guys stay focused on the task and mission to win."
If the Cardinals do just that, their biggest headline of the season could feature the words, "World Series Champions."
Jared Hoffman covers the Cardinals for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.