In the first part of this look at the St. Louis Cardinals non-roster invitees, the changing balance between veterans and prospects was analyzed. Here in part two, we’ll review the NRIs that made the team each year out of spring training since 2001 as well as some of the prominent names that came up short.
| 2008 | NRI made 25-man | Casualties |
| Ron Villone | Juan Gonzalez | |
| Rico Washington * | Cliff Politte | |
| * 1st MLB action | Dewan Brazelton |
Last spring, lefty NRI reliever Ron Villone signed late, on February 19. Tyler Johnson always seemed a month away from being ready. Tyler’s late March cortisone shot opened the door for Villone and by Johnson’s May surgery, Villone was firmly entrenched for the remainder of the season. Villone was not asked to return to the Cardinals in 2009 and remains a free agent.
Rico Washington made his first major league roster after almost a dozen years in the minors when Brendan Ryan suffered a strained oblique during spring training. After a month of hitting under the Mendoza Line, Washington was back in Memphis. He is now a minor league free agent.
Among the players that tried and failed to make the team include former two-time American League Most Valuable Player Juan Gonzalez and ex-Tampa Bay pitcher Dewon Brazelton. Neither made it through the month of March. In what may have been his final season, former Cards pitcher Cliff Politte reported to Memphis, but spent most of the season on the disabled list.
| 2007 | NRI made 25-man | Casualties |
| none | Eli Marrero | |
| Jolbert Cabrera |
Though 19 tried, not a one of the 2007 NRIs made the opening day roster.
Former Cardinals catcher Eli Marrero tried to catch on as a third string catcher and backup outfielder but instead opened the season on Memphis’ DL due to elbow problems. He played in all of one game there before bad feelings not only ended the business relationship but apparently also Marrero’s career. (After being out of the game in 2008, Marrero is playing winter ball in Puerto Rico this off-season, but is not under contract with an MLB organization.)
Ex-MLB infielder Jolbert Cabrera was allotted 53 spring at-bats and did nothing, batting .151/.211/.189. Well, check that. He did lead the team with four spring errors. Cabrera missed part of the season with Memphis before getting his appendix removed and it went downhill from there.
| 2006 | NRI made 25-man | Casualties |
| Josh Hancock | Alan Benes | |
| Scott Spiezio | Brian Daubach | |
| Jeff Nelson |
2006 camp brought a large batch of former major leaguers on minor league contracts. They included first baseman Brian Daubach and pitchers Blaine Neal, John Riedling and Brad Voyles. They all failed. Not an NRI though he should have been, second baseman Junior Spivey had a roster spot, but stunk it up so badly in the spring (.147, five errors) that he was outrighted to Memphis. There he continued to earn a major league salary through DL stints.
Alan Benes made one last try to reclaim his pre-injury glory but ended his career with Memphis. Infielder Deivi Cruz was the only spring hitter worse than Spivey (.146) and was taken off the roster and released before March was out. Reliever Jeff Nelson, a former four-time world champion with the Yankees, pitched well in March, but lost out in the numbers game.
Two that made the club were a pair headed for future disasters – former Cincinnati pitcher Josh Hancock, who posted a spring ERA of 1.80, and infielder Scott Spiezio, kept on the roster despite hitting just .194. Hancock died in a 2007 automobile crash while Spiezio is out of the game due to ongoing substance abuse problems.
| 2005 | NRI made 25-man | Casualties |
| Bill Pulsipher | Bob File | |
| Abraham Nunez | Raul Gonzalez |
Jason Isringhausen’s former comrade with the Mets’ Generation K, lefty Bill Pulsipher, was a surprise winner of a 2005 roster spot. Hamstring problems almost immediately put him on the DL and he was outrighted to Memphis by early May. He went to indy ball from there.
Former Pirates infielder Abraham Nunez was a one-year success for the 2005 Cards, covering third base while Scott Rolen missed 106 games. He turned that into a two year, $3.35 million contract with Philadelphia for 2006-2007 but washed out and is now trying to get back to the majors.
Among those that didn’t make it that spring were former major leaguers Bob File and Raul Gonzalez. The former, a pitcher, retired while the latter, an outfielder, went to Memphis, where he spent the season.
| 2004 | NRI made 25-man | Casualties |
| Tony Womack | Kevin Witt | |
| Ray Lankford | Emil Brown | |
| Cody McKay | Greg Vaughn |
In one of the biggest NRI showings in recent years, three players made the 2004 team, including second baseman Tony Womack, who went on to hit .307 that season, former Cards great, outfielder Ray Lankford, back for a curtain call after a year away from the game, and catcher Cody McKay. Lankford retired for good following a pedestrian season during which he was slowed by a wrist injury while McKay called it quits after 19 games with Memphis in 2005.
Former Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Kevin Witt was among those that didn’t make the team, but went on to have a fine season with Memphis. Outfielder Emil Brown lasted only 19 games in Triple-A, but since has become a four-year MLB starter with Kansas City and Oakland. On his last career legs, Greg Vaughn, with 355 major league home runs, was reassigned to minor league camp at the end of March and the outfielder retired the next day.
| 2003 | NRI made 25-man | Casualties |
| Cal Eldred | Kurt Abbott | |
| Lance Painter | Jon Nunnally | |
| Russ Springer | ||
| Kiko Calero * | ||
| * 1st MLB action |
Four relievers, all NRIs, made the initial 2003 bullpen. Cal Eldred re-invented himself as a valuable reliever and Lance Painter would close out his career after pitching in 22 games for the Cardinals. Russ Springer had his initial stop in St. Louis, while Kiko Calero made his first MLB roster after having been signed as a minor league free agent prior to the season.
Though neither were NRIs, reliever Al Levine and starting pitcher Joey Hamilton, the latter with almost 200 MLB starts under his belt, were brought in amid some fanfare. Neither MLB veteran lasted the month of March before being released just prior to the deadline at which their entire contract amounts would have become guaranteed.
| 2002 | NRI made 25-man | Casualties |
| Eduardo Perez | Al Martin |
Two NRIs were among the combatants fighting to augment Albert Pujols in the 2002 outfield, though it would not be until 2004 that the full-time switch was made.
One NRI made the club out of camp, infielder/outfielder Eduardo Perez. Tony’s son returned to the Cardinals after having played in Japan in 2001. He was a previously a Cardinal in 1999-2000. Outfielder Al Martin, long time of the Pirates, had come over from Seattle. He ended up not playing that season due to injury, his only stop with the organization.
| 2001 | NRI made 25-man | Casualties |
| John Mabry | Shane Andrews | |
| Jeff Tabaka | Bernard Gilkey | |
| Albert Pujols* | ||
| * 1st MLB action |
Among the final cuts in 2001 were veteran outfielder and former Cardinal Bernard Gilkey and third baseman Shane Andrews, both in camp as NRIs. Gilkey moved to the Braves for his final season while Andrews stayed around to hit .218 for Memphis that summer.
Three non-roster invitees did make the club, however. You may remember at least one of them.
Reliever Jeff Tabaka is a name some Cardinals fans would rather forget, having posted a 7.38 ERA in his career swan song in 2001. First baseman/outfielder John Mabry was back and made the club for his second stint, but didn’t stay long. He was traded to Florida after appearing in just five regular season games.
The unanimous choice as NL Rookie of the Year, Albert Pujols started at four positions that season – first base (32), left field (37), right field (33) and third base (52). Albert not only was not on the 40-man roster coming in, he burst onto the scene having had just 14 regular season at-bats above A-ball.
In closing: In what was clearly a unique situation, Albert made the jump from spring NRI to the majors in one big step. Just because he did, it doesn’t mean Colby Rasmus, David Freese and Brett Wallace and the others vying for a 2009 roster spot will be assured of doing the same, however.
Yet the developing conditions are favorable for it to perhaps happen again.
Brian,
I am enjoying The Cardinal Nation and the articles that you are writing. I don’t see how you do the research ,and write at least a couple of stories each day here ,and keep up with what you do at The Birdhouse. You are doing a great job and I, for one, appreciate it.
Thanks for keeping a long winter , shorter.
If you have the numbers handy for back to 2001, can you list how many each year were veterans trying to catch on (like you laready have for 2008/2009. No need for names.
CT, thanks for the kind words. For me, this is a passion, not a job.
CC, I didn’t get the data that way as my source info is totals and my own detailed roster data base only shows the guys that made the team. I could go back and build the NRI info into it I guess, but am not sure it is worth doing.
I also thought about spinning the data by pitcher and position player, but I didn’t think I could draw any conclusions from it.
To get back to where I think you are going, I am quite confident in asserting that three veteran NRIs this year is the likely the lowest total in recent years by a considerable margin. Of course, there is still time for the Cardinals to issue some more invitations, as there seems to be an extraordinary number of players still looking for work.
Personally, I’d rather see the kids get the at-bats over more Joe Thurstons being brought in. (Too many Junior Spivey and Deivi Cruz flashbacks still going on.) Although this year, some proven major leaguers may also be forced to take such deals just to get a job. (One such name that intrigues me is Nomar.)
What about Kyle McClellan?
What about McClellan, RedC? If you mean as an NRI making the team, he wasn’t. Because he had been around so long, the Cards had to previously add him to the 40-man roster to protect him from possibly being taken in the Rule 5 draft. It would be sort of like if Matt Scherer makes the team this spring. Came from seemingly out of nowhere, yes, but NRI, no.
The one thing that jumps out at me is how many washed-up players get invites and either make the team and then get sent down to Memphis, or just go directly to Memphis. It’s also interesting how many of them are felled by injuries (Gonzales, Marrero, Lankford, Pulsipher, Politte). There are a few vets who have had exceptional stints (Womack, Spiezio), but for the most part, and this is my takeaway here: The players who succeed in cracking the roster and contribute substantially are young!
I wish Tony would understand this better. Thanks for putting this together.
It is not clear to me at all that Tony is deciding which veterans to sign and then invite to spring training as NRIs or how many of them there will be. While he has a lot of influence for a manager, it is the GMs job to assemble the roster. Tony surely has the big vote on which ones eventually make the team, though.
I think (hope) what we are seeing here is an increasing level of organizational confidence that when help is needed from Memphis that a David Freese could offer as much or more than a Rico Washington or D’Angelo Jimenez, as well as a feeling that Memphis can be a competitive team without having to be littered with filler veterans.
Whatever the reason for it, I like it.
Now, not to talk out of both sides of my mouth, but if the organization became totally inflexible about signing former MLB players to minor league deals, they wouldn’t have Ryan Ludwick today. So, there is no magic answer. It is always about finding the right balance. With the quantity and quality of prospects coming up, for 2009 at least, I agree with the apparent “less is more” approach.
Brian,
Yeah, I forgot about Ludwick. And the Cards might not have won the WS without Spiezio. But the whole thing with Tony and Juan Gonzales last year was bizarre. That was surely a TLR invite, no? I just think they should invite more mid-career and young (read: minor league) players and forget about guys who “have something left in the tank.” Most of the time all they have in their gas tanks is sugar. Or, in the case of Sidney Ponson, beer.
I didn’t mean to confuse about mentioning Ludwick. Neither he nor Ponson were NRIs. Putting NRIs aside for a second, there are scrap-heap guys like Troy Percival and Al Reyes before him who can and did help. So I don’t think they should go too far in either direction.
Jose Oquendo, Eduardo Perez and Albert himself recommended Juan Gone to Mo after seeing him work out in Puerto Rico.
I am not here defending TLR, but I think he takes the rap for a lot of stuff for which he is not entirely responsible. So it goes with the territory of being the manager.
I like the fact that we don’t have as many NRI’s also.I speak not anly as a Cardinal fan, but as a Memphis Redbird fan as well. Our Minor League system is getting back to where it used to be.I can remember when the Cardinals would open the season with 3 or 4 rookies on the roster . One team I saw in Memphis had Tim McCarver Mike Shannon, Don Blasingame, and Phil Gagliano on it and 3 of them started the next year in St Louis, and Phil played a lot. It makes baseball more fun to watch , than seeing someone else’s castoffs.There are very few moves that need to be made, hopefully they will get done. This team could be good for a long time.
CT,
The Blazer was the Cardinals’ regular second baseman long before McCarver was even signed. You must be thinking of somebody else.
I agree, though, it’s a lot more fun scanning the boxscores of minor league games played by prospects rather than career AAA types.
CT, you might have been thinking of Jerry Buchek. Wasn’t he one of the young guys that the Cards had some sort of a catchy nickname for around ’63? Wasn’t it the Chinese Bandits or something like that?
Diz, You are probably right about Don. I remember Phil and Tim played high school ball togather at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis. Phil’s uncle Tony was their American Legion Coach. They signed and came back to play in Memphis with Mike . I think Mike played at Christian Brothers in St Louis. .I remember Don was from Mississippi. Good times back then. Remember Rip Ripulski, Wally Moon, Bill Virdon and Ray Jablonski before these guys. The Cardinals had a great scouting network back then and everybody new who they were. One or two even saw me play, but that was when we were playing Bill Speros Amercan Legion team with Tim and Phil. We are the same age. Phil married Tucker Ashford’s older sister.Tucker lives in Covington and played in the Yankee system. He had a cup of coffee with the Yankees and even managed their Toledo fram club before he came back home.
Diz, you were right. Blasingame’s first full season was 1956. Speaking of those other guy’s , they put up some good numbers in the mid 50′s. Beside winning back to back rookies of the year by Virdon and Moon ,in 55 Moon had 19 hrs ,and 76 rbi .Virdon had 17 hr and 68 rbi Ripulski had 23 and 73 , not bad numbers for young players. The only problem was , we traded them to the Pirates and Dodgers , and they won championships with them instead of the Cardinals.
One of Bill Virdon’s cousins was a very, very good friend of mine and she used to tease me about the Cardinals letting him go. She teased me in other ways, but that’s a story for another time and place. She was also an excellent softball player.
Frank Lane really earned his nickname as “Trader Frank” didn’t he? He was a fantasy baseball manager playing with real people.
Bye the way , Diz , Glad to have you back. I don’t post often, except in the winter, but have enjoyed Brian’s blog. In the summer I watch the Cardinals, Redbirds, and play golf. I will get on the computer at night and read the articles, but that is it. Nice to have you around, I always enjoyed your comments ,because I could tell we were a little older than some of the other guys.
Thanks, CT, but I’m not back anywhere. I’m new here on Brian’s blog and, hey, who you callin’ old?
Diz,
I didn’t say old, just older. I have more fun than I used to, cause I don’t have to work. Just kidding , I worked at the same place 43 years and enjoyed it all. I do kind of like watching it snow more now than I used to. HAHA
Old, older, next you’ll be calling me oldest. I’m kidding, of course. Actually, I’m starting a new work adventure on Monday, hoping to help repair a company near and dear to me where I worked for many years. It will help my business immensely if they are healthy.
Sorry Brian for derailing this thread. I guess it’s homecoming week.
Brian, quick question. Did the ruling on Alberts participation in the WBT get resolved. I thought they had him subdued.
WC, I don’t know for sure, but Albert is in the DR now and is talking like he is going to play in the WBC as long as his elbow is ok. I just posted an update about that.
One lesson from the NRI history is useful veteran athletes can be found. Cal Eldred (coming off injury), John Mabry (who continued to play in the majors for some years), Springer (whose career has stretched another 6 years or so), Kiko Calero (minor league free agent), Al Levine (who had a good year with Tampa after he did not make the Cards), Emil Brown (4+ years with other ML teams), Tony Womack (1 year with Cards, 2 with Yanks), Abe Nunez., Spiezio (until we found out why he was dumped by the Mariners).
While older players may not be exciting for some fans, they can usefully serve, often because there is not a ML-ready rookie alternative available at the time.