Saint Louis in Baseball Purgatory?

As Cardinal Nation settles into the bitter cold of a long and depressing off season, one can only hope that last year's woes won't be on repeat for 2008. Last off season we had bitter cold. We had ice storms. We had your typical Midwestern winter season. But each day was sweetened by the memory of Yadi's homer in game seven. It was brightened by Suppan and Weaver's uncharacteristically stellar performances.

With each dropping degree in temperature, Cardinal fans everywhere could remember Wainwright and Molina closing out a rollercoaster of a season with strike three. Wainwright became a workhorse for the Cardinals, replacing injured Jason Isringhausen in the closer's spot. Molina, a disastrous .216 average throughout the 2006 regular season, came busting out of the gate with a post season average of .356--not to mention a .412 average in the World Series(baseball-reference.com). Molina and Wainwright in 2006 were a combined 49 years old, that is, only one year older in combined age as the oldest veteran currently playing, Julio Franco, at 48.

So now that we've reminisced back to the warmth of last off season, the bitter bite of today's cold reality quickly sets in. While the 2006 regular season wasn't exactly a picture perfect example of what a championship season should be, no one can deny that the Cardinals chose the best time to play like the team they were capable of being. We were left with a sweet taste in our mouth. We had something to hang on to for the next three months until the boys of summer returned to Florida to break out the gloves and bats for a fresh new start.

But what now? What do we have? Nothing? Anything? This is what we have. We have three starting pitchers, Wainwright, Looper, and Piniero, with a fourth and fifth totally in question. We have to address second base, shortstop, centerfield, and right field. And that's assuming that they do decide to work it out with Rolen and not trade Duncan. On the management side of things, we retained LaRussa and his coaching staff. To some, that is exciting news. To others, it's a guaranteed two more years of the same problems we've been having in the past. We've fired our general manager and hired on someone within the organization. This begs the question; will John Mozeliak bring anything new to the table that Walt Jocketty wasn't capable of bringing? No matter how anyone looks at it, there are more questions to address this off season than can realistically be answered.

So many questions, so little time. If you're looking for something to latch onto this off season, if you're like me and you need something, anything baseball to get you from October to February, here's what you do. For several years now, we've been pretty set with what we could retain. The off season meant more about dotting i's and crossing t's than it did wheeling and dealing. Instead of looking at this off season as baseball purgatory, look at it as a time of baseball enlightenment. Mozeliak has the opportunity in this off season to set the pace of the organization for the next era of Cardinals baseball. The all star veterans that have carried our team for the past 5 years are on their way out. The future of the St. Louis Cardinals is young. Get familiar with names like Duncan, Ludwick, Rasmus, Reyes, Ryan, and Wainwright. Some names may be familiar, some not so much. But if you don't know them yet, you will. If you don't see them wearing the Birds on the Bat next year, you'll see their names involved in trades--hopefully ones that improve the team.
Five Cardinals have filed for free agency--Eckstein, Percival, Cairo, Wells, and Branyan. Of the five, Eckstein is the biggest hit to the ball club. The good news there is that Brendan Ryan is a very attractive replacement for a fraction of the price. Cardinal fans can hope to see the majority of the cash flow streaming toward the pitching mound. With Carpenter out for another year and Mulder on the DL until at least mid season, it's possible if not likely, that the club will sign a proven experienced one or two starter that can take a little pressure off of Wainwright. Idealistically speaking, Wainwright is a powerful three starter on a roster headed up by Carpenter. In a fantasy world where Carp and Mulder are 100%, they're your one and two and Wainwright makes a solid triple attack. Looper and Piniero combine to make a pretty solid rotation. But, alas, 2008 will see none of Carpenter and little of Mulder.

Centerfield will once again feature one of baseball's greatest in Jim Edmonds. However, Edmonds has been fighting the inevitable--age. At 37, Edmonds is still among the best centerfielders currently in any lineup. But injuries take longer to heal with age and Edmonds has had his fare share. It's not a realistic thought to have Edmonds in the starting lineup for 130 games. It would be optimistic to think that he'd be in 100 starting lineups. I would love to be wrong on that one. Regardless, we have him signed through next year. Retiring in St. Louis would be great place to close the curtain on such a stellar career. It would be nice to see the changeover in centerfield take place with a smooth handoff from Edmonds to his successor, whoever that may be. No matter how you slice it, the Cardinals will need to have someone in mind to fill Edmonds cleats when he can't be in the lineup. Make no mistake about it; those are some big cleats to fill.

All in all, while this off season won't be candy-coated with World Series Championship memorabilia wallpapering everything, everywhere you go. Driving over the Poplar Street Bridge in the morning, we won't have that glorious image on the side of Busch of Wainwright pumping his fists in the air and Molina sprinting to the mound to be the first to congratulate Wainwright as fellow World Series Champions. But, we will have the opportunity to watch closely how the Cardinals organization wants the next era of baseball in St. Louis to be. Full make over? Tweak here, tweak there? Or, heaven forbid, no changes at all? Either way, it's put up or shut up time in St. Louis. Buckle your safety belts...it's about to get very interesting.