Port St. Lucie, Fla. – Scott Rolen is in a hurry. Rain falls outside, promising a severe storm. He wants to leave Tradition Field. Doesn’t need an interruption, so the interview request is poorly timed at best.
“Scott, you got a second?” I ask.
“Let’s see, I can talk to you or get to my wife and child. What should I do?” Rolen responds.
Ah, the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals, a team that wears rings because they are adept at making tough decisions. The Cardinals won the World Series after winning just 83 games last season. They staggered into the playoffs, teeth-gnashing and criticism echoing in their skulls.
The Mets, Dodgers and Padres made trading deadline upgrades. The Cardinals, undercut by a thin farm system at a time when young players are the game’s currency, remained perched, unchanged.
A month later, the baseball establishment was swallowing its tongues as the Cardinals upset the Detroit Tigers for their first title since 1982. Even if it irritates intensely loyal fans and rankles some players, Cardinals management doesn’t believe more money equates to more wins.
It maintains a healthy payroll, checking in at $99 million this season. However, the Cardinals finished last year at $96.5 million. What kind of king doesn’t splurge?
The Cardinals had cash available, but didn’t let the exploding market influence their view of players.
“We wanted Jason Schmidt and were willing to spend to get him and it didn’t work out,” Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said. “We weren’t going to just spend to spend.”
St. Louis’ fiscal discipline is admirable. It takes guts to walk away from Jeff Weaver or Jeff Suppan, knowing both pitchers were horses in the team’s World Series run.
What makes the Cardinals special? Other teams don’t spend and get worse; the Cardinals show restraint and get better. In avoiding financial insanity, it’s impossible to overstate the importance of manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan.
La Russa’s arrogance rubs some the wrong way, but even former players who didn’t like him concede that he is brilliant at putting them in the best position to succeed. He maximizes their value, whether through a pinch-hit at-bat or a late-inning pitching matchup. Duncan, meanwhile, makes bargain hunting possible because of his unbelievable track record with reclamation projects.
From Woody Williams, Darryl Kile, Pat Hentgen, Todd Stottlemyre, Chuck Finley and Weaver, Duncan has carved Hope diamonds out of cubic zirconia. This season the Cardinals rotation will have the fewest wins (23) of any defending champs since the 1998 Florida Marlins. They are counting on Kip Wells, for heaven’s sake.
Yet, I am not about to pick against them.
“The way we look at it is, the winter is management’s time. It’s not our decision on how much is spent or is not,” Rolen said. “But once we get here, it’s up to us. We have good chemistry, a good staff and have been able to consistently produce.”
Footnotes
Micah Owings landed the Diamondbacks’ fifth starter’s job, keeping the seat warm until Randy Johnson returns around April 19. …
Mark Prior’s delivery has completely changed with his arm appearing tucked inside his body. That helps explain why he’s only throwing 88 mph instead of his old 95 mph. Prior showed a sense of humor about his Triple-A demotion, telling Cubs reporters, “I’ll go down and help that team win, and try to make the Triple-A all-star team and maybe I’ll get invited to the Futures Game or something. I’m still 26.” …
The Red Sox’s record when Jonathan Papelbon makes an appearance: 56-14.
