What Exactly is the Plan?

Things have been fairly confusing for Cardinal fans lately, what with the team constantly claiming that they're going to go out and acquire impact talent to win now even though all of us know that it won't happen. In fact, it can't happen; St. Louis's system just doesn't have the kind of talent (beyond Colby Rasmus) to go out and make a serious play for Johan Santana or Erik Bedard. Any real fan of the organization is perfectly aware of that, and that's why it was particularly refreshing (okay, and a little sad) to see long-time Cardinal stars-turned-antiques Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen sent away and players like So Taguchi putting on different uniforms (okay, that part wasn't sad so much as wonderful). This team needs to build for the future, because there isn't a whole lot it can do to be very competitive now. I'm perfectly willing to endure a couple of seasons like 2007 if it means the club will be able to rethink its approach and develop some successful major leaguers of its own.

A lot of things look to work in St. Louis's favor in terms of rebuilding. New general manager John Mozeliak seems to at least have a good grasp of minor league talent, there are several somewhat exciting young players (mostly relievers) working their way into the mix for '08 roster spots, and super prospect Colby Rasmus could find himself patrolling center field at Busch number 437 sometime very soon. Also encouraging are Tony La Russa's recent (and surprising) claims that he a) actually gives a shit about his leadoff hitter getting on base, even if he isn't fast, and b)Adam Kennedy isn't necessarily going to retain his starting job if he keeps making Christian Guzman look good. All of this makes for a healthy amount of guarded optimism.

But, wait! Why are overpriced veterans that could easily be replaced in terms of performance for much less money still getting contracts from a semi-rebuilding team? Some of these developments aren't likely to hurt the long term standing of the team, but some could. Handing nearly $3 million to a guy who projects to be the worst offensive starting shortstop in baseball (Caesar Izturis) seems more than ridiculous, and doling out $1.4 million to Aaron Miles, who anyone, seriously anyone in the farm system could replace is kind of revolting. This money money could certainly be spent better elsewhere, and those roster spots could go to young, inexpensive players who have at least some form of upside. If the Cards stop doing this sort of thing sooner rather than later, the organization is going to improve at a much quicker rate.

Another move that could certainly be considered questionable is the four-year, $15.5 million contract given to catcher Yadier Molina. Molina is absolutely all-world behind that plate. He handles pitchers well, blocks anything and everything flung in his general direction, and possesses a deadly accurate throwing arm capable of completely neutering running games. With a bat in his hand, though, Molina has been deadly in a different sort of way, although he's shown improvement. If he can find a way to somehow generate more power and hang on to the extra walks he coaxed a year ago, he'll be a perfectly acceptable starting catcher (although a deplorable number six hitter). If he has any other seasons that resemble 2006, though, those four years are going to feel a lot longer. Molina's still young, and he could piece together some semblance of an offensive presence, but he happens to be blocking Bryan Anderson, a young prospect who is something of Yadier's opposite. Anderson can hit, and he knows how to draw a walk. And hell, he's even left-handed and might wind up generating more power than he's shown yet as a 21 year-old. The jury is still out on this one, but it looks (at least for the time being) that the Cardinals have chosen Molina as their catcher of the future, not just the present. If that's the case, Anderson could find himself in another system sometime in the next year or two, and that feels dirty.

All complaints aside, things look like they are headed for a better place, and maybe an organization that has enjoyed a great deal of success can find its way back to center stage sooner than a lot of us anticipate, and do it in a different and more exciting way than we're used to.