BOSTON — By now, it’s been vividly demonstrated that there is a method to the Cardinals’ madness — and that is to draft and sign players based on their skills, but without any specific plan as to what their ultimate role will be when they reach the majors.
That’s what the minor leagues are for, they maintain, and more often than not, the ultimate role/position for many of these current Cardinals players was determined by need.
Matt Carpenter, their second baseman and leadoff man who will likely get a lot of MVP consideration, was drafted as a third baseman, played outfield, first base and third base in the minors, and was sent home after last season and told to work with his dad, a high school baseball coach, on playing second, which has been a revolving door for the Cardinals for years. He did and it took.
Allen Craig was drafted as a shortstop, played third, outfield and first in the minors, and after being shunted all over the infield and in the outfield his first two seasons with the Cardinals, wound up settling in at first base after Albert Pujols left as a free agent for the Angels. Daniel Descalso was drafted as a second baseman, played all four infield positions in the minors, then got Gold Glove consideration as a shortstop last season.
And so it goes. But the Cardinals have been most creative with their pitchers. Joe Kelly, their probable Game 3 starter, was drafted as a closer out of college but slowly converted to a starter in the minor leagues. By contrast, Lance Lynn, their likely Game 4 starter, and their current closer, Trevor Rosenthal, were both drafted as starters only to spend their first couple of years in the minors working out of the bullpen.
Rosenthal, who was pressed into closing duty in September after Edward Mujica wore down, routinely tops his fastball off at 100 mph-plus and may still wind up going back to starting. And Kevin Siegrist, who regularly registers in the high 90s, was drafted as a starter in the 41st round in 2008 and started his first five years in the Cardinals system until this season, when they decided he was better suited as a rare power leftedhanded middle relief specialist.
Unfortunately he failed in that role in Wednesday’s Game 1, when David Ortiz hit his first pitch — a 96 mph fastball — 20 rows deep into the right field stands.
“We go for what the need is for us,” Cardinals pitching coach Derek Lilliquist said. “We feel the best way to groom our starters is to have them pitching in relief so they can become adjusted to every possible situation in the game. As much as Rosenthal is a weapon for us in the closer role, he has four pitches. Why not have him go back to starting?”
LOVE ME TENDER
The Red Sox are preparing to extend $14.1 million tender offers to their four primary free agents — Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Napoli, Stephen Drew and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. In the case of Drew and Saltalamacchia, $14.1 million would definitely be an overpay for one season, but the Red Sox feel they are one team that can afford the luxury.
They expect Drew will probably get a multi-year deal elsewhere, and they’ll probably try to do a two- or three-year deal with Saltalamacchia to serve as a “bridge” to Christian Vazquez, their top catching prospect whose “catch and throw” attributes have drawn comparisons to Pudge Rodriguez. They would like to retain Ellsbury, but will likely draw the line at five years, and probably have the best chance of re-signing Napoli, whose hip condition will likely preclude him from getting any offers beyond two years.
TEAM PLAYER
Before Rosenthal took over the closer duties for the Cardinals, there had been faint hope in midseason that Chris Carpenter, their erstwhile staff ace and 2005 Cy Young Award winner, might emerge as a late-season “secret weapon” in the bullpen. Carpenter, who missed all of 2012 with a neck injury, had attempted a comeback from the injury shortly after the All-Star break this season, but it was short-lived.
“Once I started to fill my pitch count up, I realized it just wasn’t happening,” said Carpenter, who is with the Cardinals in uniform at the Series but on the disabled list. Cheerleader is not the role he wanted to be in, but he wasn’t about to miss this either. “I’m still part of it,” he said, “and I’m going to stay in the game, one way or another.”
