11 Time WS Champion St. Louis Cardinals Thread

Originally posted by LarryT1974:
SS has been a revolving door since Renteria left. Eckstein was decent but never the player Renteria was. 2B has been an issue way too long.

JUPITER, Fla. -- The St. Louis Cardinals have hired former great Willie McGee as a special assistant to the general manager focusing on the minor leagues.

The 54-year-old McGee, added to the staff on Wednesday, served a special instructor at spring training last month. McGee is in the franchise top 10 in games played, triples, stolen bases and pinch hits and was a career .295 hitter over 18 seasons.

McGee was a member of the 1982 World Series championship team and was National League MVP in 1985 with a league-leading .353 average for a pennant-winning team. His batting average from 1985 and 216 hits are franchise bests for switch hitters.

Originally posted by LarryT1974:
No way Craig loses his job after what he did last season especially considering he didn't play until may. It's definitely nice to have depth. May be able to use some as trade pieces to shoe up SS or 2B. Our farm is definitely stocked.

Carpenter's 4-for-4 day paces Cardinals in rout of Nationals. http://atmlb.com/XYyylV

Originally posted by LarryT1974:
Allen Craig signs 5 yr, 31 mil deal. Sounds like his job is safe.

Craig will earn $1.75MM in 2013, $2.75MM in 2014, $5.5MM in 2015, $9MM in 2016 and $11MM in 2017, according to Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch. The 2018 option is valued at $13MM with a $1MM buyout.

Craig got plenty of playing time as a first baseman and corner outfielder in 2013, and he responded with a tremendous season that earned him some recognition on NL MVP ballots. In 514 plate appearances, the right-handed hitter posted a .307/.354/.522 batting line with 22 home runs. Craig also impressed in 2011, when he posted a .917 OPS in 219 plate appearances.

Craig also had a .400 avg with runners in scoring positon.

Overall this spring, the righty was one of the Cardinals most impressive young pitchers, showing the best changeup in camp and an above-average fastball. In 11 2/3 innings, he allowed no earned runs and struck out 15.