In a week that saw Manny Ramirez traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Brett Favre traded to the New York Jets it is apparent that sometimes a player cannot stay a part of an organization, no matter how much talent they bring to their team. Such moves become reasonable in my mind when the player’s presence affects either the player’s or the team’s ability to do their job effectively. Sometimes, however, it seems like the friction isn’t really with the team, but rather between a certain player and management. Over the last few years I feel that certain players in St. Louis have suffered professionally simply because they were organization misfits.
For a first example, consider John Rodriguez, who played for the Cardinals in 2005 and 2006. Rodriguez owns a career .298 batting average with 46 runs and 43 RBI over 332 AB. This is solid run production. For one reason or another, Rodriguez was not a part of the 2007 Cardinals team and now toils for the New Orleans Zephyrs in the Pacific Coast League, where he’s batting .303 with 20 runs and 20 RBI in just 119 AB. As a Zephyr, Rodriguez is a member of the Mets organization and, at the age of 30, his major league career could be over. His real shot at the bigs came in St. Louis and I have a hard time understanding what he did wrong, other than not fitting in with management.
Yesterday, Anthony Reyes debuted for the Cleveland Indians, turning in six and one-third innings of 1-run baseball. He scattered (since only one run scored) seven hits, while striking out four and walking one. This is a guy that the Cardinals apparently wouldn’t even consider starting during the dark days between Wainright’s finger injury and Carpenter’s return. Instead, the Cardinals gave the nod to newer and greener (not in the good way) prospects Mitchell Boggs and Jaime Garcia. Normally, I would have little issue with spot starts by AAA prospects, but the Cardinals are actually trying to get into the postseason. Why not put the player out there who gives you the best shot at a win? It is even conceivable to me that Anthony Reyes could have earned his way into the Cardinals 5-man rotation from the get-go. But, Reyes, too, was a misfit.
These situations don’t always end poorly for the Cardinals. Fernando Vina had only 115 ABs after leaving St. Louis. Steve Kline was never the same after the 2004 season. Scott Rolen for Troy Glaus worked out great.
A little closer to home, Skip Schumaker seems to have finally earned the respect necessary to make it into the lineup on a daily basis. This is Schumaker’s fourth season as a Cardinal, but the first where he surpassed the 200 AB plateau. He may not have the power of a Rick Ankiel, Ryan Ludwick, or Chris Duncan, but Skip is a ballplayer and he has shown he can play at this level. I wondered last year if he would ever break through and I hoped that he wouldn’t be sent out as another Cardinal misfit.
As a final point of conversation, I imagine that most Cardinal fans remember Brendan Ryan’s faux pas in late 2007 when he swung at a 3-0 pitch and made an out. If memory serves, he was immediately taken out of the game and found himself off the lineup card the following day as apparent punishment. A rookie swinging on 3-0 is not good baseball, but is it really necessary to discipline a major leaguer as if he were a five-year old caught with his hand in the cookie jar? Are the after-effects to blame for Ryan’s recent demotion to Memphis? The jury is still out on this one, but Brendan Ryan just might be another Redbird misfit.