The Cardinals Roster Tree has been the easiest to do by far. This organization has Drafted so incredibly well, that there has been no real need for trading of late. We will still see how drafting J.D. Drew has turned into Adam Wainwright, and how Albert Pujols signing with the Angels, made for the Cards to select young phenom Michael Wacha. St. Louis is in their 8th NLCS in the last 13 years, with a multitude of young stars coming. They are going to be players in the National League for some time to come.
How All Of The Cardinals Were Acquired:
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @chuckbooth3024
At the MLB Reports, we intend to show you the Roster Tree for the St. Louis Cardinals – and how they assembled their current roster for hitting and Pitching. It will work in a six degrees of separation like format.
Once we figure out the origin of how many trades going back in time it takes to see where the tree started, it will be time to dissect how the team fared on the deals.
If a player has never left the organization at all, the tree will be easy – as it will just be the year they were drafted or signed. Today, we will cover the Hitters.
For all of the Rosters, Depth Charts, State of the Unions and Salaries that we do, please visit our dedicated page link here.
Carlos Beltran Steals Game #1 of the 2013 NLCS for the Cards
Yadier Molina is putting up a late bid for a Hall Of Fame Career. He has significantly improved his offensive numbers over the last 4 years, while still being the quintessential backstopper in the MLB (Defense wise). This season, the 30 Year Old 3 Slashed .319/.359/.836 – with 12 HRs and 80 RBI in just 136 Games Played. Had he not been hurt, the guy could have won the NL MVP hands down. Molina is also clutch in his 272 Post Season AB Career, where he is .298/.357/.752. The Cards have him locked up until 2018.
Yadier Molina (30) C: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 4th round of the 2000 amateur draft.
Absolutely brilliant Catcher, and has an outside chance to be Hall of Famer, if he can put up some decent numbers over the course of the next 4 years.
Molina has already racked up 5 Straight NL ALL – Star Appearances – and 4 Straight Gold Glove Awards.
Allen Craig (28) 1B: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 8th round of the 2006 amateur draft.
Craig has 3 Slashed for .306/.358/.850 in his 1291 AB during his career thus far. When you think that is just about 2 years worth of AB, it is incredible to see he has 50 HRs and has 247 RBI already in that time frame.
Plain awesome for an 8th Round Draft Pick.
Matt Carpenter (27) 2B/3B/1B: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 13th round of the 2009 amateur draft.
This guy was as good as it gets this campaign – and should register a top 5 NL MVP Vote. Carpenter led the NL In Hits (199), 2B (55) and Runs Scored (126) during 2013.
His 3 Slash of .318/.392/.873 shows hen is a multi – functioning Leadoff Man. Yeah, 13th Round Pick 4 years, ago – kudos to the Scouts for finding this man.
Pete Kozma (25) 2B/SS: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (18th pick) of the 2007 amateur draft.
Kozma has struggled at times in his big league Career. He will be swallowed up by the young guys coming up. A Career 3 Slash of .232/298/.606 is not good enough. Is not often the St. Louis brass has been wrong on a guy.
David Freese (30): 3B: December 14, 2007: Traded by the San Diego Padres to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jim Edmonds.
Freese coming back to the Cards for CF Jim Edmonds is a complete steal. Not only was Freese the MVP In the 2011 NLCS, but also the World Series.
The man has an OPS north of 1.100 for the NLCS and World Series combined. The club is 6 – 1 for the Series that he has played in so far.
JIm Edmonds only hit .178 – with 1 HR for the Padres. He actually did some damage when he later signed with the Cubs in 2008, however for these purposes, the Cards ripped off San Diego for Freese.
Jim Edmonds (43) OF: March 23, 2000: Traded by the Anaheim Angels to the St. Louis Cardinals for Kent Bottenfield and Adam Kennedy.
Edmonds was awesome during his career with St. Louis: he 3 Slashed for.285/.393/.947 – with 241 HRs and 713 RBI in 8 seasons.
The Left Handed Slugger won 6 straight Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger, and was an ALL – Star 3 times over.
Edmonds added 13 HRs and 41 RBI for the Cards during his 220 AB, good to help them win the 2006 WS – and appear in another (2004).
He twice clubbed over 40+ HRs, added 100+ RBI in the same years (2000 and 2004) – and finished in the top 5 for NL MVP Voting during those campaigns.
Kennedy did play masterfully during the 2002 World Series run for the Anaheim Angels, and did Slash .280/.332/.734 over 992 Games for the California club, but in comparison to Edmonds, it still was not close.
When Kennedy was up for Free Agency in 2006, he came back to the club for a 2nd stint – that lasted during 2007 and 2008.
Bottenfield struggled for a half of a year in 2000, before being traded for Ron Gant at the Trade Deadline.
Adam Kennedy (37) 2B/3B/1B: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (20th pick) of the 1997 amateur draft.
Kent Bottenfield (44) SP: January 8, 1998: Signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Jon Jay (28) CF: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 2006 amateur draft.
Carlos Beltran (36) OF: December 23, 2011: Signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals. (2 YRs/$26 MIL).
This was a fantastic Free Agent Signing, as Beltran has the best OPS ALL – Time in the Post Season. Beltran hit 56 HRs and added 181 AB in his Cards 1101 AB thus far.
The Veteran has also added 5 HRs and 15 RBI in just 80 AB for the franchise. Included in those totals, where all 3 RBI in Game #1 of the 2013 NLCS.
This was a pretty good move to replace Albert Pujols with this guy, and a collection of other Free Agents.
Matt Hoilliday (33) OF: July 24, 2009: Traded by the Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Clayton Mortensen, Shane Peterson and Brett Wallace.
Holliday signed a 7 YR/$119 MIL extension with the Cardinals.
In 5 Years with the team, he has Slashed .306//389/.909 – with 112 HRs and 429 RBI in 2759 AB. He is the meat of their lineup right now. Holliday is still waiting for that signature moment in the playoffs for St. Louis.
Clayton Mortensen only started 7 Games for Oakland – before being traded for a Minor League Player.
Shane Peterson has spent all but 7 AB in the Minor Leagues thus far for Oakland.
Brett Wallace was traded for Michael Taylor.
Michael Taylor, while not part of this deal, has not performed.
The Cardinals were the clear winners in this transaction. That is saying a lot, because Billy Beane usually wins. This sort of makes up for the horrendous trade they pulled with the A’s for Mark Mulder.
Clayton Mortensen (27) RP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (36th pick) of the 2007 amateur draft.
Shane Peterson (25) 1B: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 2008 amateur draft.
Brett Wallace (27) 1B/3B: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (13th pick) of the 2008 amateur draft.
Daniel Descalso (26) 3B/2B/SS: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 3rd round of the 2007 amateur draft.
Descalso has been a decent Utility Infielder, .243/.310/.655 in parts of 4 years with St. Louis.
Matt Adams (25) 1B/PH: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 23rd round of the 2009 amateur draft.
.275/.324/.801 in 382 AB, 19 HRs and 64 RBI so far. Adams filled in with 6 hits and a key HR for Allen Craig at 1B in the 2013 NLDS.
Shane Robinson (28) OF/PH: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 5th round of the 2006 amateur draft.
.246/.316/.644 in 342 AB thus far, and is a great Super Utility guy,
Tony Cruz (27) C/PH/1B: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 26th round of the 2007 amateur draft.
.236//271/.602 in 314 Career AB as Yadier Molina’s backup.
Ty Wigginton (36) UT: December 14, 2012: Signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals. (2 YRs/$5 MIL) July 9, 2013: Released by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Only 9 for 57 as a member of the Cards. Good for the club to recognize they made a mistake – and just release him.
Kolten Wong (23) 2B/PH: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (22nd pick) of the 2011 amateur draft.
This guy will be a mainstay of the future. Ranked #84 Prospect by Baseball America.
Rob Johnson (31) C: November 13, 2012: Signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
The veteran Catcher was just used while Molina was hurt.
Adron Chambers (27) OF/PH/PR: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 38th round of the 2007 amateur draft.
The team used this guy as a Pinch Hitter and Pinch Runner.
Wainwright has been money in the bank since the club acquired him. He is 99 – 57 (.635) with a 3.11 ERA. Wainwright will be considered for another NL Cy Young, which will likely mean a top 5 vote for the 3rd time in 4 years. The RHP has led the NL in wins 2x (2009 and 2013). He also has a 4 – 0 mark in PostSeason – with a 2.03 ERA in time both as a Closer – and as a Starting Pitcher. The club extended him early this season to a 5 YR/$97.5 Deal – that will make him a Cardinal until 2018. Not bad for only losing 1 year of J.D. Drew.
Adam Wainwright (31) SP: December 13, 2003: Traded by the Atlanta Braves with Ray King and Jason Marquis to the St. Louis Cardinals for J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero.
Ray King was 9 -6, with a 2.91 ERA in 102 Appearances for the Cardinals.
Jason Marquis was 42 – 37, with a 4.60 ERA for the Cardinals.
J.D. Drew only played one season in Atlanta. where he hit .306, with 31 HRs and 95 RBI, but then he fled to Los Angeles after.
Eli Marrero had a career year in 2004 hitting .320, with 10 HRs and 40 RBI in 250 – but the Braves traded him for a player that would only get them 7 games in the Majors.
The Cardinals trucked Atlanta in this chain.
Ray KIng (39) RP: December 7, 2005: Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Colorado Rockies for Larry Bigbie and Aaron Miles.
When they traded him to Colorado, he was never the same.
Aaron Miles had a .288 BA and 391 Hits for St. Louis in his time.
Larry Bigbie only had 1 RBI with St. Louis.
Winner was still the Cardinals because of service time that Miles provided.
Larry Bigbie (35) LF : October 31, 2006: Granted Free Agency.
Aaron Miles (36) 2B/3B/SS; December 12, 2008: Granted Free Agency.
Jason Marquis (35) SP: October 31, 2006: Granted Free Agency.
J.D. Drew (37) RF: June 2, 1998: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (5th pick) of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed July 3, 1998.
Eli Marrero (39) C/1B/PH: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 3rd round of the 1993 amateur draft.
Lance Lynn (28) SP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (39th pick) of the 2008 amateur draft.
Lynn, while carrying a 3.82 Career ERA in 86 Games, is 34 – 18 (.654) so far.
Shelby Miller (22) SP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (19th pick) of the 2009 amateur draft.
Shelby Miller was 15 – 9, with a 3.06 ERA this year as a rookie. He will get some votes for the NL Rookie Of the Year.
Jake Westbrook (36) SP: July 31, 2010: Traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Cleveland Indians to the St. Louis Cardinals. The San Diego Padres sent Corey Kluber to the Cleveland Indians. The San Diego Padres sent Nick Greenwood (minors) to the St. Louis Cardinals. The St. Louis Cardinals sent Ryan Ludwick to the San Diego Padres.
Jake Westbrook has been a quality back end of the rotation performer for the Cardinals. In terms of this trade, the Cardinals would seem to be winner right now – although as part of this 3 way trade Kluber may end being the best players
Since they only dealt with their player to the Padres, the Cardinals are looking good overall.
Ludwick struggled in San Diego, with a .659 OPS over his 587 AB with those guys. He was even worse when he arrived in Pittsburgh the following year.
Nick Greenwood, the other player in the trade, struggled with Memphis this year, going 2 – 8, with a 5.63, but at least he is still in the Cards organization
Ryan Ludwick (35) OF: December 1, 2006: Signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Joe Kelly (25) SP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 3rd round of the 2009 amateur draft.
Michael Wacha (25) SP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (19th pick) of the 2012 amateur draft. (This was compensation for the Angels signing Albert Pujols.
Wacha has been a savior for the Cardinals this season. He is coming up huge at all points. He has a 0.64 ERA in 14 IP during the playoffs. Wacha almost threw no – hitters in back to back starts.
As compensation for Pujols, that player for player move might even look great in a few years for the Cards.
Jaime Garcia (26) SP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 22nd round of the 2005 amateur draft.
Even though he was injured, Garcia is 39 – 25 (.609) with a 3.09 ERA so far with the big club.
Tyler Lyons (25) SP/RP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 9th round of the 2010 amateur draft.
John Gast (24) SP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 6th round of the 2010 amateur draft.
Seth Maness (24) RP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 11th round of the 2011 amateur draft.
Edward Mujica (29) RP: July 31, 2012: Traded by the Miami Marlins to the St. Louis Cardinals for Zack Cox (minors).
Edward Mujica was one of the best Closers in the 1st half of baseball, where he had a 2.20 ERA and featured 26 Saves prior to the ALL – Star Break.
Despite having 2nd half issues, if there was any team that could just find a Closer on a whim, it is the Cardinals. This trade still looks great as Zack Cox has not made it to the Major Leagues yet.
Zack Cox was Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round (25th) of the 2010 MLB June Amateur Draft.
Carlos Martinez (22) SP/RP: April 20, 2010: Signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals
This guy slipped through the hands of the Red Sox – and now is the 38th best Prospect as ranked by Baseball America. Martinez is on the Post Season club, and has authored 2 scoreless Appearances – spanning 1.2 IP versus the Dodgers.
Fernando Salas (28) RP: April 5, 2007: Purchased by the St. Louis Cardinals from Saltillo (Mexican).
Trevor Rosenthal (23) RP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 21st round of the 2009 amateur draft.
13.2 IP straight of Scoreless Baseball yielded in the Post Season – is a great way to enamor yourself to the St. Louis fanbase.
Like so many of their great Pitchers, he could be a Starter or Reliever.
Kevin Siegrist (24) RP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 41st round of the 2008 amateur draft.
Nobody has even noticed this guy threw a 0.45 ERA in 39.2 IP during the 2013 Campaign. Now you can add 2 more scoreless Innings in the Post Season.
2 Earned Runs is all this guy has allowed in 41.2 IP worth of work in this year.
John Axford (30) RP: August 30, 2013: Traded by the Milwaukee Brewers to the St. Louis Cardinals for a player to be named later. The St. Louis Cardinals sent Michael Blazek (September 1, 2013) to the Milwaukee Brewers to complete the trade.
This was a great move to have another guy with experience in the Relief Core. Just in case you are keeping tabs at home, the Canadian has a 0.96 ERA in 9.1 IP of his playoff Career – split between the Cards and Brewers now, after throwing 2.1 IP of scoreless work in 2013 thus far.
Michael Blazek (24) RP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 35th round of the 2007 amateur draft.
Sam Freeman (26) RP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 32nd round of the 2008 amateur draft.
Randy Choate (38) RP: December 7, 2012: Signed as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Keith Butler (24) RP: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 24th round of the 2009 amateur draft.
Transaction Dates Linked to that of Baseballreference.com
For all of the Rosters, Depth Charts, State of the Unions and Salaries that we do, please visit our dedicated page link here.
Taveras hit for a 3 Slash Line of .321/.380/.953 in AA Springfield last year. The man from the Dominican Republic turned just 21 in June of this year. He was ranked #3 for Prospects by Baseball America. Most teams would not fare that well with all of their injuries, and a season ending ankle injury to their top player in the Minor Leagues. As a St. Louis team though, you come to expect that they are just stocked in their organization. If Taveras comes back at full capacity, he could play in the Outfield for St. Louis next year, possibly replacing the pending Free Agent Carlos Beltran.
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Chuck Booth - Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner and author of the Fastest 30 Ballgames: To learn more about my “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book” and how to purchase it, click here .
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