2006 Cardinal Spring Training Report

First of all, the bullpen. It should be okay. Personnel changes always occur through the course of a season, and this one will be no different. Brad Thompson still looks like he's 13 years old and Jason Isrinhausen is still a top notch closer. These guys are fine. Tony LaRussa is carrying 12 pitchers to start the season, and I think that's too many. Guys won't get enough work, so they won't be sharp, so there will be movement between the majors and whoever is hot down in the minors. Big surprise. My next bold prediction will be that the sun will rise in the morning.

Line-up...
Randy Flores
Josh Hancock
Jason Isringhausen
Braden Looper
Ricardo Rincon
Brad Thompson
Adam Wainwright


Starting Pitching - No worries. At times you may want to make a change, but these guys will be solid over the long haul.

The Line-up...

Chris Carpenter
Jason Marquis
Mark Mulder
Sidney Ponson
Jeff Suppan

Catchers - Yadier Molina & Gary Bennett. Yadier is a stud. Look for his hitting to improve and his defense to be as solid as ever. I don't know how much the coaches let him call the game, but he looks pretty comfortable behind the plate. That confidence will carry over to his work with the pitchers. Gary is an unknown.

Infield -
David Eckstein (ss) - All Star
Hector Luna (utility) - Could be a starter
Aaron Miles (2b) - He looks really good. Junior Spivey didn't make it. He works hard, but just looked sloppy. He'll play for somebody this year and be good. I was sad to see Mark G. go after last year, but Aaron will fill in without missing a beat and he's 10 years younger.
Albert Pujols (1b) - It's a rare thing that the best player on the team is the same guy standing on the top of the stairs cheering on his teammates while they're at bat or the first in line to give a "high-five" as a player comes around to score. He's special. I wish time could stand still and Albert could be as he is right now, forever. That won't happen, but he'll be the best player in the league for many years to come.
Scott Rolen (3b) - All Star. He looks healthy.
Scott Spiezio (utility) - Unknown. Didn't look very impressive in Spring Training.



Outfield - First let me say that I'm glad to see some youth in the out field. The last couple years it was starting to look like an old age home out there. Don't get me wrong, I loved the "Parade of Geezers" but it's time to see what the farm system has been cooking up. What I'm happiest about is that Juan & Skip are not being brought in as guys that have to be stars, but just as players to help the team. I think they will. The Cardinals have had a habit over the last 10 years of putting a ton of pressure on their outfielders to be extra-super-great. Ray Lankford, Brian Jordan, Ron Gant, Larry Walker, Reggie Sanders, Roger Cedeno, J.D. Drew, Albert Pujols (oops, that one worked), Shawon Dunston, Eric Davis, Eduardo Perez, Darren Bragg and John Mabry (and others) were all brought in to be "The Next Big Thing". Maybe this year's approach will yield better results in the long run.

Jim Edmonds (CF) - I hope Jimmy feels better this year. He looks to me like his All-Star form is behind him, but he will still be the best player in the Cardinals outfield, and would be the best player in most outfields.
Juan Encarnacion (RF) - He will see a lot of good pitches hitting in front of Albert Pujols. He's not great, but he looks good.
John Rodriguez (OF) - Streaky hitter, sub-par defense, but a hard playing guy. He's going to come off the bench and make a difference a few times this year. Not good enough to be a starter.
Skip Schumaker (LF) - I love this guy. He's not going to be a superstar, but the fans are going to end up loving him.
So Taguchi (OF) - The oldest guy on the team. I've never been a fan and I'm still not. He filled in well last year seeing extended playing time due to other players being injured. Let's hope we don't have to see too much of him this year. Best used as a late game defensive replacement.

As for the guys that didn't make the team (Alan Benes, Carmen Cali, Deivi Cruz, Junior Spivey, Larry Bigbie, Chris Duncan and others), as far as I can tell, the right decision has been made.