2002 World Series Champions

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Season 9

Here we are. The beginning of another season in St. Louis is upon us. The grass has been nicely trimmed, the concessions are fully stocked and the restrooms have all been thoroughly cleaned.

This season of Cardinal baseball will be unlike any before. The team is at a cross roads now, that can only come from players getting old and the youth not progressing as expected. GM Bulls7210 has had a difficult off season this year. Some of those things on the to-do-list include: having to let go of some veteran players, trying to formulate some trades for the holes in the line-up and pitching staff and trying to balance the budget.

After having 42 players retire during the off season, first thing to do was signing enough players to fill out the minor league rosters. Bulls did that in surprising fashion. He was able to find 50+ players to come into the organization and fill some of the voids.

Next was trying to decide on which players were going to come back and which ones were going to be shown the door. Those that were allowed to test the FA market include: Del Moreno, Sean Herndon and Midre Dominguez to name a few.

Some of the new players coming to spring training are going to have a familiar ring to them. Bruce Wells makes his third appearance in a Cardinal uniform after signing a 2 year contract. Mark Nance is also a former red bird that was signed in the off season.

There is a lot up in the air during spring training, as all positions are up for grabs. This will definitely be a rebuilding year. How the team fairs this season will determine if management makes a GM change next year.