Organizational report: Cardinals take major turn after tragedy
Sports Weekly takes an in-depth look at each major league organization during the offseason, from the major leagues to the farm system. We start with teams with the worst records and move up.
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It was supposed to be a quiet offseason for the St. Louis Cardinals. After reaching the National League Championship Series for the fourth consecutive season, they weren't going to need to do much with their roster other than bolster the bench and tweak the bullpen.
The lineup, five projected starters and most of the relievers were due to return.
But the plans changed suddenly when tragedy struck 10 days after their season ended on a walk-off homer in Game 5 of the NLCS vs. the San Francisco Giants.
The Cardinals' top hitting prospect and projected right fielder, 22-year-old Oscar Taveras, was killed in a single-car wreck near his home in the Dominican Republic. Driving a new Camaro on a rain-slicked road, Taveras was found to have a blood-alcohol content five times greater than the legal limit.
Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak moved quickly, acquiring Jason Heyward from the Atlanta Braves on Nov.17. St.Louis also picked up hard-throwing reliever Jordan Walden in the deal, which came with the hefty price of starter Shelby Miller, 24, and a pitching prospect.
"It's never easy to think about change when it's that dramatic," Mozeliak says. "But we felt we had to do something different. We had to look at a way to add an impact player. Heyward is an impact player. He's young (25), and in this environment he has a chance to be a great player."
Mozeliak said including Walden in the deal was critical because the club needed a late-innings reliever to allow Carlos Martinez a chance to move from the bullpen into the spot in the rotation vacated by Miller.
In an offseason in which the Cardinals reportedly showed an interest in free agent starters Max Scherzer and Jon Lester but deemed their price tags too high, the internal move of Martinez could impact the team as much as the addition of Heyward.
Martinez throws a 100-mph fastball, and his overall stuff is considered the best on the staff. But in limited starts last season, he failed to show the know-how to pitch deep into games. Manager Mike Matheny thinks the death of Taveras has helped Martinez to mature. The young Dominicans were such close friends that Martinez changed his uniform number to 18, which had been worn by Taveras.
"Everybody will wonder how it (Taveras' death) is going to affect him, and it could put extra pressure on him," Matheny says. "But I believe Carlos will use this for good. The talent's there, and through tragedy he's definitely growing."
St. Louis also accomplished its objectives of adding to the bench and retooling the bullpen. The Cardinals signed free agent reliever Matt Belisle, who spent the past six seasons toiling at hitter-friendly Coors Field with the Colorado Rockies, to help offset the losses of All-Star Pat Neshek and former closer Jason Motte.
They also signed all-or-nothing slugger Mark Reynolds to back up first and third base and bring power to an offense that finished last in the NL with 105 home runs.
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POSITION-BY-POSITION (*prospect)
Catcher: Yadier Molina's reputation as the game's best defensive catcher remains strong enough that he won his seventh consecutive Gold Glove despite missing two months because of right thumb surgery. The accolades are well-deserved based on Molina's majors-best rate (47.7%) of catching would-be basestealers and the way teammates rave about his ability to handle the pitching staff. Molina's offense suffered after he returned in July, and he finished with a .282 batting average that ended a three-year streak of batting above .300. The Cardinals say they will try to cut back on the workload of Molina, 32, but backup Tony Cruz doesn't provide much offense.
Depth chart: Molina, Cruz, Ed Easley, *Audry Perez.
First base: In his first season of playing regularly, lefty slugger Matt Adams hit .300 until late August before slumping and finishing at .288. He also showed surprising nimbleness on defense. But Adams hit .190 against left-handers and suffered a power drop from his rookie season. His 15homers were two fewer than he hit in 2013, even though he made 244 more plate appearances. Reynolds was signed to a one-year, $2 million deal to provide a right-handed-hitting option at first and a home run threat off the bench. Reynolds holds the majors' single-season strikeout record, but he also has topped 20 homers in seven consecutive seasons.
Depth chart: Adams, Reynolds, *Xavier Scruggs, Molina.
Second base: Kolten Wong showed in his rookie season that he possessed a package of speed and power that could make him a star. He hit 11 home runs in the final three months plus three in the postseason. He stole 20 bases and was caught four times in the regular season. The Cardinals are confident enough that the left-handed hitter can hold down the job that they did not bring in a veteran backup the way they did in 2014. Slick-fielding but light-hitting Pete Kozma, the team's starting shortstop in 2013, leads the contingent of backups.
Depth chart: Wong, Kozma, Dean Anna, *Greg Garcia, Ty Kelly.
Shortstop: The Cardinals took a chance by signing Jhonny Peralta to a four-year, $53 million deal when he was coming off a performance-enhancing-drug suspension, but they were richly rewarded. Peralta, 32, played in a career-high 157games and led the team with 22 homers, a franchise single-season record for shortstops, while playing better-than-expected defense. Kozma, the starter in 2013, showed enough offensive improvement in a September call-up that he could be a high-quality backup. Anna, who began last season with the New York Yankees, was signed to a major league deal to provide depth in the infield.
Depth chart: Peralta, Kozma, Anna , *Garcia.
Third base: Matt Carpenter followed his breakout 2013 season by moving from second base back to his natural position and becoming the NL's most productive leadoff hitter. His .375 on-base percentage and 99 runs were league highs out of the No. 1 spot. Reynolds has been a regular at third or first for the past seven years but accepted a backup role to play for a contender. Neither Carpenter nor Reynolds plays better-than-average defense.
Depth chart: Carpenter, Reynolds, Kozma, Anna.
Left field: Matt Holliday turned 35 in January, but his play has held up for the most part as he enters the sixth season of a seven-year, $120 million deal he signed in 2010. His power slipped and he struggled before the All-Star break, but Holliday finished among the NL's top three left fielders in homers, runs, RBI and on-base percentage. He also played in more than 155games for the fourth time in six years. When he rests, the Cardinals can opt for speed with Peter Bourjos or power with Randal Grichuk. Both are defensively superior to Holliday.
Depth chart: Holliday, Bourjos, *Grichuk, *Stephen Piscotty.
Center field: Jon Jay stepped up in 2014, meaning — unlike last offseason — the Cardinals didn't shop for an upgrade. He started the season as the backup but took advantage when Bourjos stumbled early. In the second half, Jay hit .323 with a .406 on-base percentage and led the team with a .483 batting average in the postseason. Bourjos had hip surgery in the offseason but was expected to be running 100% by spring training. He did not hit well in his first season with the Cardinals but played highlight-worthy defense.
Depth chart: Jay, Bourjos, *Grichuk, *Tommy Pham.
Right field: The trade for Heyward should provide a significant upgrade to what was the Cardinals' least-productive position. Right fielders combined for nine homers, 56 runs and a .237/.283/.326 slash line (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) that ranked among the worst in the NL. Heyward brings Gold Glove defense, a .351 career on-base percentage and the potential to hit 25 homers. He hit .169 against left-handers, though, which could provide an opportunity for 23-year-old Grichuk, who started every game in right field during the postseason.
Depth chart: Heyward, *Grichuk, *Piscotty.
Starting pitchers: Adam Wainwright enjoyed his best season statistically but by the end couldn't screw the lid off a jar because of pain in his right elbow. He says surgery has him feeling 100% again. Michael Wacha also enters spring training with questions about the health of his right arm after he missed nearly three months with a stress reaction in his right shoulder. Lance Lynn, who signed a three-year, $22million contract extension in January, is coming off his best season, and veteran John Lackey was as dependable as advertised after being acquired at the trade deadline. The key to the rotation is Martinez, who has electric stuff but ran up high pitch counts in his brief time as a starter last season.
Depth chart: RHP Wainwright, RHP Lynn, RHP Lackey, RHP Wacha, RHP Martinez, LHP *Marco Gonzales, LHP Jaime Garcia, LHP Tyler Lyons, LHP *Tim Cooney.
Bullpen: Trevor Rosenthal saved 45games in his first full season as a closer, but command issues (5.4 walks per nine innings) made many of his outings adventures. Walden is slotted to take over setup duties that last season were handled by Neshek, who left as a free agent. After six seasons in Colorado, Belisle jumped at the chance to sign with St. Louis. The club likes his leadership and versatility. A key to the bullpen will be Kevin Siegrist, who dominated in 2013 but dealt with arm issues for much of 2014.
Depth chart: RHP Rosenthal, RHP Walden, RHP Seth Maness, LHP Randy Choate, LHP Siegrist, RHP Belisle, LHP Gonzales, RHP Carlos Villanueva, LHP Sam Freeman, LHP Nick Greenwood, RHP *Sam Tuivailala.
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PROSPECTS TO WATCH
LHP Marco Gonzales: The club's first-round pick in 2013, Gonzales started last season in Class A, made stops in AA and AAA and finished the year pitching out of the Cardinals bullpen in the playoffs. Gonzales, 23, will audition for the rotation in spring training but is more likely to make the club as a reliever. His fastball isn't overpowering, but he has excellent command, his changeup is considered one of the best in the organization, and he carries himself with greater confidence than most his age.
OF Stephen Piscotty: After hitting .288 in Class AAA, he has emerged as the organization's top hitting prospect and figures to earn his first call-up to the majors this season. Piscotty, 24, has a short, smooth, right-handed stroke with gap power but says he spent the offseason tweaking his swing with the goal of producing more home runs. He also used the offseason to finish his degree at Stanford in atmosphere and energy engineering.
OF Randal Grichuk: Exceptional bat and foot speed helped him take over right field for the Cardinals by the end of last season. With Jason Heyward aboard, though, Grichuk will be fighting for a spot on the bench this spring. But the club thinks he could benefit from playing regularly in the minors. Grichuk, 23, initially was called up for his ability to hit left-handed pitching but earned his playing time with power and defense.
CF Magneuris Sierra: Speedy Sierra is a couple of years away from the majors but is coming off a breakout season in the low minors. Sierra, 18, was named the organization's 2014 minor league player of the year and the MVP of the short-season Gulf Coast League. He hit a league-leading .386 with a .434 on-base percentage.