I have been thinking about the made-for-pre-spring camp excitement surrounding the assignment of uniform number 3 to St. Louis Cardinals non-roster invitee Ruben Gotay. There are those convinced the number means the infielder is considered a front-runner to make the opening day roster.

We don’t need to look back very far to find history littered with bodies with pasts that look a lot like Gotay’s – former major leaguer with ample minor league time, especially most recently.

This doesn’t mean I am pounding on Ruben, a Caribbean Series teammate of Yadier Molina with Team Puerto Rico in 2007, the latter who maybe not so coincidentally happens to wear number 4. I am just pointing out a well-established pattern. Recent results indicate former MLB second-base retreads auditioned in Cardinals spring camp just haven’t cut it no matter what number was on their back.

Following are the players tried in similar circumstances over the last five springs. Only one of them ever made it far enough to claim a regular season major league roster spot with the Cardinals at any time, let alone opening day.

That lone survivor was Joe Thurston last year and the only reason he made it was due to opportunity elsewhere in the infield – all the third basemen who managed to eliminate themselves from contention. Once there, Thurston remained, but didn’t produce consistently and wasn’t asked back for 2010.

Of the others, one was cut by the conclusion of camp, while the remaining three toiled in Memphis for at least part of the subsequent season, a most possible 2010 destination for Gotay. Even with him included, the youngest at 27, the group averages the ripe old age of 31.

One common thread is terrible spring training results at the plate, a collective .207 batting average. They weren’t so hot defensively, either. They averaged two errors each, despite the briefest of cameos by Dave Berg in 2006 and Wilton Guerrero the previous March.

In terms of uniform numbers, while none had a number above 28, neither were any of the failed combatants issued 3 like Gotay. That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a recent number 3 working at second base in spring camp, however.

The group of NRIs does not include a pair of failed candidates in 2006. Believe it or not, coming into camp that spring, both Junior Spivey (pictured), wearing number 3, and Deivi Cruz, sporting number 35, were on the 40-man roster. That that didn’t last long and like the vast majority of the NRIs noted above, neither Spivey nor Cruz appeared in a regular-season game for St. Louis. Here is how they did in 2006 camp.

Of course as was evident in the Thurston case last spring, opportunity can pop up even when it is not expected. Someone else’s misfortune can open a door that previously looked to be closed.

Still, the future was far from bright for these infielders, even after leaving the Cardinals organization behind. Including Spivey and Cruz, of the earlier six, only two ever appeared in the major leagues again for any club following their brief stop in Cardinals camp. They are Jimenez (Washington, 2007) and Cabrera (Cincinnati, 2008).

Thurston is in the Braves camp this spring at least, though on a minor league deal of course, and Gotay still has his Cardinals bid in front of him. I don’t like the chances of either, though…

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Since I was working on a similar piece but was beat to the punch by Derrick, I am going to take an alternate angle on the subject. My focus is second basemen tried in spring training during the last half-dozen years who crashed and burned instead of making the major league club.

I believe this is most topical, given the large quantity and unproven quality of the players competing for the newly-opened second base job.

The public contenders include Brendan Ryan, Brian Barden, Joe Thurston, Jarrett Hoffpauir and Tyler Greene, not to mention the guy getting all the ink, outfielder Skip Schumaker, who will be the most-watched player in camp as he attempts to play second base for the very first time. As if there wasn’t enough pressure on Skip before, the Monday release of Adam Kennedy just turned up the burners substantially.

I bring up the past here in an attempt to at least give pause to those who advocate the Cardinals bringing in a tired, out-of-work second baseman to compete with the younger players for the job. Recent results indicate over-30 retreads auditioned just haven’t cut it.

Following are six players tried over the last four springs, none of whom ever made it far enough to claim a spot on Goold’s long list of regular-season second basemen. Most all of these players were primarily second sackers, though all could call the position home.

One was cut by the conclusion of camp, while most toiled in Memphis for at least part of the subsequent season. Again, their common thread other than terrible spring training results (collective .169 batting average) was that none of the 2005 through 2008 players listed below reached St. Louis during the regular season.

Spring	Player	Roster	Age	Errors	BA	ABs	Team ABs	Disposition
2008	D’Angelo Jimenez	NRI	30	3	0.237	38	38	Memphis
2007	Jolbert Cabrera	NRI	34	4	0.151	53	53	Memphis
2006	Junior Spivey	40-man	31	5	0.147	68	109	Memphis
	Deivi Cruz	40-man	33	0	0.146	41		Released
2005	Mike Bell	NRI	30	0	0.000	8	16	Memphis
	Wilton Guerrero	NRI	30	0	0.125	8		Memphis
2004	Bo Hart	40-man	27	3	0.206	68	68	Memphis
Average			31		0.169		57

In addition, I listed a seventh player, 2004 flameout Bodhi Hart. I will blame that on Goold. As he noted in one of those terrible flashbacks, that spring was a time when Hart was being encouraged to switch-hit. It was a last-straw attempt to recapture the 2003 Bo-Mania that had long since worn off.

The reality had set in that Bo wasn’t able to handle the off-speed pitch and as such, wasn’t really major league material. Still, Cardinals fans used to rooting for scrappy, underdog second basemen (Stubby Clapp, anyone?) had snapped up number 31 jerseys like hotcakes during the magical summer (for Hart, at least) of 2003.

Though it was his best chance in 2004, Hart not only did not make the club that spring, in fact he actually never made an opening day Cardinals roster in his short career. That season, he was recalled from Memphis on April 11, but by the end of the month was optioned out, never to be seen again in the majors.

Because of that, I will point out that technically, Hart should not be on this list due to his MLB swan song, those final 13 major-league at-bats in April, 2004 before he drifted off into baseball obscurity.

Still, Hart’s mention here makes sense to me in the context of observing the wasting of spring at-bats on players heading nowhere. Over the last five years, the Cardinals have burned up on the average 57 at-bats per spring on this bunch.

Here in 2009 with the especially large number of unproven players in the competition needing as many looks as possible, I hope we don’t witness the likes of another Junior Spivey (pictured) on the fields of Jupiter anytime soon. I also hope real prospects can see the bulk of the 2009 regular-season action in Memphis instead of more members of the over-30 gang soaking up time and space.

If the spring second base experiments all fail, there will still be time and opportunity at the end of camp to take corrective action if necessary. Unless a true proven MLB second baseman is brought in to St. Louis in the interim, which seems unlikely at this point based on GM John Mozeliak’s current remarks, I say, “Let the kids play”.