give me a second to compose myself
I'm going to let myself be an angry/sad fan for a moment here.
I learned within the last hour that the St. Louis Cardinals decided to send GM Walt Jocketty walking with a year left on his contract. This is the same GM that took over in 1994 when the "Hall of Fame" coach Joe Torre was struggling to get the Cards to a winning record, or for that matter to fifth place out of six each year.
Soon after, with the hiring of Tony LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan, the 1996 Cards were a surprise entrant in the NLCS, and despite catastrophically blowing a three games to one lead, had a great run that year.
Jocketty continued to improve the team and made what I believe was his best move, largely forgotten by now, by signing free agent Daryl Kile out of Colorado. Kile would finish second in the Cy Young voting to lead St. Louis back to the NLCS, thanks to other Jocketty additions like Jim Edmonds (trade with Anaheim for Kent Bottenfield and Adam Kennedy), Fernando Vina (free agent), and late-season pickup Will Clark.
Keep adding to the list.
Scott Rolen for a young Placido Polanco and old Mike Timlin. Trading a disgruntled Ray Lankford for Woody Williams (who quickly became a God in St. Louis by always beating the Astros). Trading next to nothing to get Chuck Finley after Kile suddenly died. Adam Wainwright, Ray King and Jason Marquis for J.D. Drew and backup catcher/utility man Eli Marrero. Signing future Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter for peanuts, by banking on the chance that he would come back strong from Tommy John surgery.
And now Jocketty is out because owner Bill DeWitt decided to put one of his own men, Jeff Luhnow, in charge of scouting, creating a rift between Jocketty and the team. I don't need to remind Cardinals fans how bad our minor league system is, but for you others out there, after the crop of young, talented players we called up this year, anchored by the Rick Ankiel surprise, there is in the words of Jim Mora, "diddly-poo" in our system.
Up till now I thought LaRussa was safe, but now I doubt it. This ownership is looking to avert our eyes from their own failures and lay the blame elsewhere, deserved and undeserved. The worst part is with LaRussa will likely go Duncan, undeniably the best asset this team has had.
The Cardinals have been the team of the decade so far, at least in the National League. Only the Yankees have reached as many World Series since 2001 (2), and they have failed to win one. Only the Yankees and Braves have reached the postseason as many times since 2000 as the Cards, (8 and 6 respectively for them and 6 for St. Louis). The Cardinals made the NLCS five times in seven years. This looks like the end of the road in a way. I hope not. But I fear it.
I cannot wait to see what St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnists Bernie Miklasz and Rick Hummell have to say about this, as neither has been thrilled all the time with the team's direction. I gave DeWitt the benefit of the doubt ... until now.
Goodbye, Walt. And go easy on us when you find a new job.
I learned within the last hour that the St. Louis Cardinals decided to send GM Walt Jocketty walking with a year left on his contract. This is the same GM that took over in 1994 when the "Hall of Fame" coach Joe Torre was struggling to get the Cards to a winning record, or for that matter to fifth place out of six each year.
Soon after, with the hiring of Tony LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan, the 1996 Cards were a surprise entrant in the NLCS, and despite catastrophically blowing a three games to one lead, had a great run that year.
Jocketty continued to improve the team and made what I believe was his best move, largely forgotten by now, by signing free agent Daryl Kile out of Colorado. Kile would finish second in the Cy Young voting to lead St. Louis back to the NLCS, thanks to other Jocketty additions like Jim Edmonds (trade with Anaheim for Kent Bottenfield and Adam Kennedy), Fernando Vina (free agent), and late-season pickup Will Clark.
Keep adding to the list.
Scott Rolen for a young Placido Polanco and old Mike Timlin. Trading a disgruntled Ray Lankford for Woody Williams (who quickly became a God in St. Louis by always beating the Astros). Trading next to nothing to get Chuck Finley after Kile suddenly died. Adam Wainwright, Ray King and Jason Marquis for J.D. Drew and backup catcher/utility man Eli Marrero. Signing future Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter for peanuts, by banking on the chance that he would come back strong from Tommy John surgery.
And now Jocketty is out because owner Bill DeWitt decided to put one of his own men, Jeff Luhnow, in charge of scouting, creating a rift between Jocketty and the team. I don't need to remind Cardinals fans how bad our minor league system is, but for you others out there, after the crop of young, talented players we called up this year, anchored by the Rick Ankiel surprise, there is in the words of Jim Mora, "diddly-poo" in our system.
Up till now I thought LaRussa was safe, but now I doubt it. This ownership is looking to avert our eyes from their own failures and lay the blame elsewhere, deserved and undeserved. The worst part is with LaRussa will likely go Duncan, undeniably the best asset this team has had.
The Cardinals have been the team of the decade so far, at least in the National League. Only the Yankees have reached as many World Series since 2001 (2), and they have failed to win one. Only the Yankees and Braves have reached the postseason as many times since 2000 as the Cards, (8 and 6 respectively for them and 6 for St. Louis). The Cardinals made the NLCS five times in seven years. This looks like the end of the road in a way. I hope not. But I fear it.
I cannot wait to see what St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnists Bernie Miklasz and Rick Hummell have to say about this, as neither has been thrilled all the time with the team's direction. I gave DeWitt the benefit of the doubt ... until now.
Goodbye, Walt. And go easy on us when you find a new job.
Labels: baseball
posted by Ryan Pipke at
8:35 PM
1 Comments:
Maybe the move for George Steinbrenner is to keep Joe Torre on for now and replace Brian Cashman in favor of your man Jocketty. That way he could ease Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan into NY after the Joe Torre era. Ron Guidry was a great pitcher, but he's really sitting on the bench more thanks to having been an ex-Yankee great than as a great pitching coach.
In baseball you are only as good as your last postseason performance. But in St. Louis it also sounds like there may be more to the story. Perhaps it was time for Jocketty to simply move on. Or there might be stresses and issues that the average fan isn't aware of.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home