Jeremy Dahlstrom first developed a passion for all things baseball in grade school when he would spend hours reading the backs of his baseball cards. Then, while attending college, he acquired an affinity for the written word, which he continued to foster during his employment with several minor league sports organizations.
Over the years, Jeremy has enjoyed various outlets for his fitful bouts of writing exuberance and maintains a variety of interests outside of his love of baseball, including all other sports related topics, music, movies, politics and current events.
After realizing that his friends could take only so much of his sometimes aimless blatherings, he sought a new outlet for his rhapsodizing sentiments and was lucky enough to end up at eSports.
Jeremy can be contacted at jeremy.dahlstrom@mchsi.com
“I knew Walt Jocketty, and you sir, are no Walt Jocketty."
That's exactly the sentiment many St. Louis Cardinals fans expressed in the wake of the firing of long time General Manager Walt Jocketty and the subsequent hiring of John Mozeliak as his replacement in October. Many of the Cardinal faithful, having grown comfortable with the success the team has experienced during Jocketty's tenure, have questioned managing partner Bill Dewitt Jr's reasons for letting Jocketty go. Citing the firing of its' successful GM and the underwhelming hiring of John Mozeliak as evidence, many fans suspect that the team's performance on the balance sheet is more important to Dewitt than it's performance on the field.
Mozeliak, Assistant GM to Jocketty for the past five years, was chosen after purported front runner and highly touted Assistant GM for the Cleveland Indians Chris Antonetti decided to remove himself from consideration for the post. There was speculation that Antonetti pulled out of the running with the belief that the general manager's authority within the organization might be restricted. Though Antonetti himself denied that being the case, the Cardinal organizations' decision to bring back Tony Larussa and his coaching staff prior to hiring a GM seem to suggest it may. Combine that with Jocketty's reported power struggles with current Vice President of Scouting and Player Development John Lunhow, and it appears even more likely a lack of control may have been a legitimate concern for anyone considering the position.
During Jocketty's 12-year tenure, the Cardinals finished with a sub .500 record only twice after his first year on the job and amassed seven National League Central Division Championships, two NL Championships and one World Series Championship. That second sub .500 year occurred in his last campaign, with the Cardinals finishing at 78-84 and in third place behind the upstart Milwaukee Brewers, and seven games back of the rival Chicago Cubs: two teams likely to challenge for the division title again. It was obvious that changes were necessary, and ownership decided to go with another captain to steer the ship. Regardless of the reasons how or why he got the job, there's no doubting the fact that Mozeliak takes over his post with quite a bit of work to do.
Upon taking the reigns Mozeliak eased into his new position by dipping his toes in the free agency waters and coming up with Jason Larue, John Wasdin and Dewon Brazelton. What's the word I'm looking for here … underwhelming? Granted the impetus for the signings were to merely add some depth to the major league roster and to, hopefully, provide some camp competition. The team had a need for backup catcher after letting Gary Bennett walk and what could it hurt to bring in a couple of former first round draft picks and hope to harness whatever potential may be left in their respective right arms?
I guess it was a start.
Shortly after, Mozeliak made a move to really turn the fans on their ear by acquiring player with a good glove-no hit reputation in SS Cesar Izturis. Izturis' signing by itself was not a blockbuster by any stretch, but what it implied is what really caught the attention of fans. The Izturis signing basically signaled the end of definitive fan favorite and team spark plug David Eckstein's career with club. While it is hard to argue that Eckstein's offensive statistics have declined since 2005 and he has never been stellar defensively, his true value to the team has always been hard to quantify. Eckstein would eventually sign a one year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, but this was the first real sign that Mozeliak would be willing to make the unpopular move if he felt it could improve the team.
Just days after bumping Eckstein from the roster, Mozeliak made a move to push yet another fan favorite out the door. Like Eckstein, So Taguchi was a player revered by the fan base more for his attitude and passion for the game than for his offensive ability. Just a day after declining Taguchi's option allowing him to become a free agent, Mozeliak drafted former Cleveland Indians prospect Brian Barton with the 10th pick in the Rule 5 draft.
Before last season Chris Kline at Baseball America had Barton ranked as the Indians No. 5 prospect overall. The young outfielder has played a mere 25 games above AA level ball, and will have much to prove, but he was considered by many to be the most intriguing player available. As Josh Hamilton showed with the Cincinnati Reds last season though, being left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft is in no way an indicator of a lack of talent.
As a condition of his Rule 5 selection, Barton will have to stay on the team's 25-man roster for the season or be offered back to Cleveland, so he will essentially fill Taguchi's reserve outfield role. While Barton is coming off of a substantial knee injury suffered in 2007 and his bat is not Major League ready, the Cardinals basically risked absolutely nothing to acquire a player that can be a plus defender at all three outfield spots.
In addition, Barton is a right-handed hitting outfielder amongst a group that hits from the wrong side (Rick Ankiel, Chris Duncan, Skip Schumacker), and while he's no Speedy Gonzalez he will add legitimate speed to a team that has been lacking in that area for some time (we ain't seen no Whitey-Ball in these parts for a while). Barton had a combined 41 stolen bases at two levels of minor league ball in 2006.
Shortly after the Barton Rule 5 acquisition, Mozeliak made yet another move to reshape the core of players surrounding uber-stud Albert Pujols. On December 15, Mo struck a deal with the San Diego Padres to exchange the fading Jim Edmonds and $2 million dollars for minor league third baseman David Freese, a moderate prospect that has shown decent plate discipline in the low minors.
The fact that the Cardinals received anything in return for a player that was set to make $8 million this season and whose production was rapidly declining, he had been dealing with shoulder/back/leg/hamstring/groin/toe injuries that have affected his play the last few season, was a bonus. At the heart of the deal was the team's desire to give younger cheaper options an opportunity in centerfield. Edmonds ends his career with the Cardinals ranked 10th on the all-time franchise leaderboard in on-base percentage (.393), 7th in slugging (.555), 4th in homers (241), and 7th in walks (645). If there was any doubt that Mozeliak was unafraid to make major changes, it was now gone.
A couple of weeks after dealing Edmonds, Mozeliak began the new year by announcing the signing of starting pitcher Matt Clement to a low risk-high reward incentive laden deal on January 3. The move was intended to plug another name into the list of retreads and rejects that the organization is hoping can make a respectable showing. With Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder both rehabbing injuries when the season starts, the team's chances of contending may be out the window by June, though the gamble on Clement is more than justified.
Clemnt was signed for a mere $1.25 million in 2008 with the chance to earn $5.25 million more in bonuses based on innings pitched. The Cardinals have an $8.75 million option for 2009 with a $250,000 buyout. The escalators in the option range up to $11 million if he pitches 200 innings option with a bonus for a top five Cy Young award finish, making it well worth the money if any of those incentives are met. He will join a rotation likely composed of holdovers Adam Wainwright, Braden Looper and Joel Pineiro with several arms competing to fill the number five spot until Mulder returns.
With a mere month until pitchers and catchers begin reporting for spring training, Mozeliak made a blockbuster deal. On January 14, St Louis and the Blue Jays agreed to exchange third basemen. The Blue Jays sent Troy Glaus and $1.8 million to the Cards for Scott Rolen, a player with a burdensome contract that had ongoing issues with an injured shoulder that may never fully heal, openly feuded with his manager and publicly asked to be traded. After months of rumors Rolen was no longer a Cardinal.
Just like the Edmonds deal, this was not a surprise, but the fact that Mozeliak was able to acquire a bona fide slugger in return was. Not to say Glaus isn't without his own issues: in September 2007 Sports Illustrated reported he had received multiple shipments of banned substances between 2003 and 2004. However, the commissioner's office found insufficient evidence to discipline Glaus after investigating the issue. Also, Glaus has also been a bit injury prone in his own right, though he has averaged 139 games played over the last three seasons and if slid into the cleanup slot will provide a much needed power bat in the Cardinal lineup.
On the plus side, the Cards were able to deal their disgruntled third bagger and in return they got a player to man the same position that has hit at least 20 home runs in each season he received at least 385 at-bats. In a lineup bereft of power, this should go a long way towards insuring that Pujols does not lead the NL in walks. The more opportunity King Albert has to swing the bat the better off the team will be.
An interesting condition of the trade was that Glaus exercise his option for the 2009 season making this deal look like a bigger risk for St Louis on the surface, but it could also lead to more options. If Glaus were to stay healthy and return to his 2006 level of offensive production, it's not inconceivable the Cardinals could look to deal his bat to a contender in exchange for prospects. Exercising the 2009 option year now makes that a more realistic option.
Mozeliak has also found Juan Gonzalez living under a rock somewhere and brought in the likes of D'Angelo Jimenez, Josh Phelps, Ron Flores, and resigned Aaron Miles for depth and to provide some competition during camp. These are all guys who have either had some level of success at previous points in their careers or have shown some skill that could benefit a major league team if harnessed. Again, all low risk contracts to protect the team and provide depth.
So as the baseball off-season comes to a close and teams begin to polish their rosters prior to heading Arizona or Florida, I'm willing to throttle my expectations a bit as Mozeliak continues to reshape the team. However, I seem to remember the Cardinals won the NL Central in Jocketty's second year, and fans won't stand for finishing behind the Cubbies too much, so he won't be getting much slack.