St. Louis Cardinal fans are seemingly obsessed over former players.  Brendan Ryan, Rick Ankiel and Lance Berkman have all been on fans’ minds throughout the season.

Tyler Greene?  Not so much.

The middle infielder, who many believe cracked under the pressure that Tony LaRussa placed on him while they were both in uniform for the Cardinals, found himself on the outside looking in after a weak spring training with the Houston Astros.  He was released from his contract prior to opening day and he drifted off into oblivion.  Or Chicago.  Same thing in most people’s minds.

Tyler Greene is a Chicago White Sox infielder.  That news was a surprise to me as I read a recent article over at the St. Louis Sports Page about former Cardinals and how they are performing.  I had not heard anyone talking about him.  No fans rumbling about his arrival in the big leagues when Gordon Beckham went down hurt.  No sudden jubilation when he signed a contract with the pale hose on April 1st.

Surprisingly, not even a blurb on the internet when Greene went yard on April 26.

Greene is playing well in Chicago in very limited duty.  He has produced a .276/.323/.483 slashline in 29 at bats, producing a single home run and two runs batted in while scoring four times.  He has entered the game as a pinch runner or pinch hitter almost as many times (5) as he has on the field as a second baseman (6).  He has yet to attempt to steal a base and has committed one error in 29 chances.

Tyler Greene is a bench player in major league baseball, continuing to patrol the middle infield and run the base paths.  Leaving St. Louis has not injected his career with a sudden level of success.  The absence of Tony LaRussa has not allowed Greene to improve to the level that everyone thought.

Even so, it appears that no one cares.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at i70baseball.
You can follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

One of the St. Louis Cardinals’ biggest questions marks during the offseason was how the team would fill the middle infield positions, and the answers the Cardinals found could end up making those positions of strength throughout the season.

The Cardinals had planned to have Rafael Furcal be their starting shortstop on opening day, as he had been last season. But Furcal’s torn right elbow ligament didn’t heal in the offseason and he had to undergo surgery during spring training.

That left Pete Kozma, the player who hit .333 in 26 games for the Cardinals last season, as the man to fill one of the most important positions on the field. However, the Cardinals still didn’t have much confidence in Kozma because they still had bad memories of him being the organization’s first-round pick in 2007 that had a .236 batting average in six minor-league seasons.

But shortstop was only one half of the uncertainty surrounding second base for the Cardinals during spring training.

Daniel Descalso played 143 games for the Cardinals in 2012 and played stellar defense whether he was at second base, shortstop or third base, but he also hit just .227. The Cardinals didn’t think they could survive another season with a second baseman who hit under .230 so they asked Matt Carpenter work on learning the position during the offseason so he could potentially take over second base in 2013.

Carpenter did his work and won the job in spring training, but that still meant the Cardinals planned to enter the season with a rookie at shortstop and a former utility player who hadn’t had more than 300 at-bats in a single season.

That combined inexperience justifiably sent shivers down the spines of many Cardinals fans, and for good reason.

The Cardinals had tried to patch holes in the middle infield before with limited success. They traded for Furcal only when Brendan Ryan and Tyler Greene proved they weren’t going to be good enough at shortstop. Also, the Skip Schumaker experiment at second base lasted for a couple of years, but he was replaced by the .227-hitting Descalso last season.

So for better or worse, the Cardinals ended up with Kozma and Carpenter as the middle infield combination for 2013, but early results show this concoction could not only work, but it could work pretty well.

Carpenter hasn’t played second base yet because he’s been over at third base while David Freese recovers from an injury, but he and Kozma have already made an impact one series into the season.

Carpenter had three doubles in the team’s first three games, and he played solid-to-great defense at third base. Kozma hit .308 in the opening series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, including a double and a homerun.

Granted, that is an incredibly small sample size. Both players could eventually be exposed throughout the course of the season and consistently take terrible at-bats. But at this point, each has looked confident at the plate and in the field, and they are both getting results.

If that continues, the Cardinals might win a lot of games because of a middle infield composed of two players who the team didn’t even consider good enough to start until circumstances forced them into the lineup.

Sometimes the unexpected gifts are the best of all.

The St. Louis Cardinals will send nine players on to the field Monday at Chase Field in Phoenix for their season opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but they won’t have many replacement options if one, or more, of those players can’t play the entire game.

The team will have a dugout full of bench players, of course, but recent injuries have suddenly taken a lot of talent that would be on the bench and put it into the starting lineup.

The Cardinals already had limited depth at the middle-infield positions once Rafael Furcal found out at the beginning of spring training he couldn’t throw and would need elbow surgery. Pete Kozma suddenly became the team’s first option at shortstop with Ronny Cedeno as the back-up.

But then the team released Cedeno on March 19 after he hit .290 in 16 games with the club.

That left the Cardinals with three middle infielders: Kozma, Matt Carpenter and Daniel Descalso.

Carpenter had all but wrapped up the starting job at second base, but third baseman David Freese eventually succumbed to a sore back that had plagued him much of the spring. Freese will now start the season on the disabled list, and Carpenter will have to take over the third base job in the meantime.

As the game of musical chairs goes, Descalso will fill in at second base, and Ryan Jackson will take the spot on the bench as the team’s back-up middle infielder. However, Jackson has hit .136 so far in spring training and hit .118 in 13 games with the big-league club in 2012.

Granted, that is a very small sample size, and the Cardinals have seen with players such as Kozma how past struggles don’t predict a bad future. Kozma hit .236 in more than five years in the minor leagues before helping spark a late-season surge by the Cardinals in 2012 with a .333 batting average in 26 games.

Still, a player who hasn’t hit above .150 as a major leaguer isn’t much of an insurance plan to open the regular season.

The Cardinals made Freese’s move to the disabled list retroactive to March 22 so he will be eligible to play in the team’s home opener April 8 against the Cincinnati Reds.

So if all goes well, the Cardinals should have their starting third baseman back within the first week of the regular season, which would allow Carpenter to move back to second base and Descalso could become the utility infielder that provides solid production when the starters need a day off.

Right now the Cardinals can’t afford for their starters to take a day off.

And that could be something to keep in mind late in the season when Kozma and Carpenter, who have started a combined 95 games in two seasons, start to feel the fatigue of a full Major League Baseball schedule.

The same could be said for the Cardinals pitching staff, as well. Closer Jason Motte’s injury had a ripple effect through the bullpen and the starting rotation.

Mitchell Boggs will have to fill Motte’s spot at the back of the bullpen, but Motte’s injury also made Joe Kelly more valuable in a relief role instead of the fifth and final spot in the rotation, which went to Shelby Miller, who the Cardinals have groomed to be a starter throughout his minor-league career.

Kelly at least pitched out of the bullpen in college and made 15 appearances as a reliever last season for the Cardinals in the regular season and playoffs combined.

The Cardinals have remarkably sustained success through a multitude of injuries in the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

They’ll have to maintain that resiliency again in 2013, but this time there is no Carpenter, Descalso, Jon Jay or Allen Craig to insert into a key situation late in the game. Those players now must be the team’s foundation instead of its accessories.

Pete Kozma might have gotten sudden public support along with the St. Louis Cardinals starting shortstop job after Rafael Furcal announced Thursday he would have Tommy John surgery and miss the entire 2013 season, but Kozma has deserved some of that respect long before now.

Kozma hit .333 in 26 games for the Cardinals at the end of last season after Furcal injured his elbow Aug. 30 against the Washington Nationals, and he was a big key to the team’s late-season success that got it within one game of the World Series.

But the Cardinals have rarely viewed Kozma in a positive light.

The organization considered releasing Kozma four times while he was in the minor leagues. Granted, the former first-round pick did put up dismal numbers much of his minor-league career, but the Cardinals have continued to treat Kozma as if he is that same minor-league player even after his big-league success.

The club openly solicited trade proposals to find a different shortstop during the offseason. And when a trade never developed because the Cardinals were unwilling to part with their young pitching prospects, they signed Ronny Cedeno as an option in case Furcal wouldn’t be healthy.

“We were looking at just making sure we have protection (and), in essence, if Pete continues to do what he did, he’ll likely be in the big leagues,” Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said. “We didn’t want to just go into the season and find out that Furcal couldn’t go and find out Kozma was not (going to build on) the six-week period. We had a lot of optimism. It was just shoring up the position.”

But Cedeno has hit just .167 in spring training and played poor defense, at times. That’s probably not where the Cardinals will shore up the shortstop position whether Kozma got the job or not.

Kozma also hasn’t gotten much more respect from Cardinals fans. A forum on stltoday.com Thursday was titled “Is there a worse middle infield in baseball right now?”

There certainly are worse middle infields. Can anyone name the middle infielders for the Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres or Houston Astros?

Plus, Kozma and whoever wins the second base job (Daniel Descalso or Matt Carpenter) are solid fielders who won’t embarrass themselves in the field. Cedeno, on the other hand, might be a liability in the field and at the plate.

Overall, that short period of success is likely a large factor in why people have yet to believe Kozma can handle the Cardinals shortstop position full time in 2013 and beyond. They hadn’t seen that sort of success previously in his career, and they were unwilling to get their hopes up in case Kozma was a one-hit wonder.

Instead, Kozma has excelled during spring training, hitting .429 with five RBIs and two homeruns, and the Cardinals have suddenly started talking him up as someone they really want to have as their starting shortstop this year.

“There’s no doubt given what Kozma did for us in the last six weeks of the season last year we do have a high level of confidence that he can continue to add that energy and be that type of player we saw last year,” Mozeliak said Thursday after the Furcal news broke.

It’s funny how circumstances tend to change those types of feelings.

Kozma would be a huge help to the Cardinals if he can hit for a good batting average and get on base fairly consistently. The Cardinals have enough power in their lineup with Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran, David Freese and Allen Craig likely to fill the middle of the order, but they’ll need someone on base when they come up.

Kozma would most likely hit in the seventh or eighth spot in the Cardinals lineup, so he won’t face a ton of pressure to be a star at the plate. The Cardinals just need someone who can get on base and hold their own defensively at shortstop this year, and Kozma is a good candidate to fill all of those needs.

He might get his chance this year, but he’ll have done so by overcoming a strong perception by his team that he wasn’t good enough.

For Kozma, that motivation could make 2013 all the more fun.

The St. Louis Cardinals reached an agreement to bring infielder Ronny Cedeno to the club yesterday. The 29 year old will be paid just over $1.1 million on a one-year deal, with a chance to gain another $800 in performance incentives as well. On the surface, it is a depth move; a chance to add a veteran presence to a club that has multiple questions about the condition of its middle infield. However, is there more to it than that?

The team’s hand was forced nearly all of last year at shortstop. Rafael Furcal played a high volume of games by his standards (his 531 plate appearances were his most since 2009) in large part due to lack of comfortable depth behind him on the roster, and in the system at large. When he was finally curbed by a back injury, then finally by the elbow injury that seemed to necessitate surgery (but he has avoided to date), the team was forced to scramble to fill his void. Both Pete Kozma and Ryan Jackson were plugged into action, despite neither being considered a strong candidate for the fill-in. Jackson never really worked out, but Kozma rode a hot bat that made him a viable everyday option in September. He hit .333 in 72 at-bats, and played a serviceable shortstop.

However, the postseason brought out the inexperience in him on the highest level. His bat dipped to a .227 clip, much closer to the .232 total he managed during a full-season at Memphis. The moment admittedly also bore down on him as well, “the moment did get a bit big,” Kozma stated, when referring to the crunch of the playofss. Among those moments was a failure to act, ending up in the biggest infield fly rule debate, as well as a late game error in Game 1 of the National League Divisional Series that led to the game winning run.

Kozma’s return to Earth, when coupled with Furcal’s unknown health status, made the position a red-hot spot for debate on if the team would make a move for more security there.  General Manager John Mozeliak didn’t dispel these rumors either, stating as recently as this month at club’s Winter Warm-Up event that “We still have not ruled out any additions in the middle infield, if necessary”. Which was a sentiment apparently not understood by Kozma yet, who revealed it was a point of confidence of his that the team didn’t go outside the organization to make additions in the middle infield this winter.

That possibility became a reality just a bit over a week after he uttered that sentiment when the team added a journeyman in the style of Cedeno to the roster. It is a move that definitively ends any debate about who the top backup shortstop would be, as well as who would be the starter if Furcal is unable to go right away. With Matt Carpenter, Daniel Descalso and Ty Wigginton all presumptively on penciled into the Opening Day infield starter/bench scene, the perspective for the spring has to change for Kozma.

Most importantly, the signing put a final emphasis on the mission of the club to get make improvements where it could a year ago. While Cedeno, a career .249 hitter, will not be counted on to win games, he does give the team experience where it couldn’t find it a year ago. If anything, it reduces the risk of the cupboard being bare if Murphy’s Law does take up residence between second and third base at Busch.

It’s not the death sentence for Kozma, Jackson or even another move being made later, but it’s a clear sign that the organization isn’t leaving anything up to chance this summer.

The St. Louis baseball season got off to its unofficial start on Saturday with an annual high mark. The club began the Cardinals Winter Warm Up down the street from Busch Stadium at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, a three day festival of all things Cardinal baseball. From autograph signings from players both past, present and future, to an impressive showing of team related merchandise, the Winter Warm is the absolute best way to get primed for the upcoming summer of baseball.

During the event, both players and club management take time to stop and discuss the state of the team as well. And there is no better place to start than at the top. On Saturday morning General Manager John Mozeliak took some time to speak on the state of team for the upcoming season, including how the team is managing to come around from 2012’s ending, as well as the status on both the health (and contracts) of some of the club’s biggest contributors.

On team structure: He shares the optimism that many do on the homegrown future of the ballclub. “There should be more minor league impact expected this year on the roster”, stated Mozeliak. While not going into specifics on who or when, he was very encouraged by the group of young pitchers with Major League experience, including Trevor Rosenthal, Shelby Miller, Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly. All will work as starters early in camp, and compete for the fifth starter slot. However, Lynn will enter with a slight edge on the group. “He shouldn’t show up and be completely comfortable” said Mo, “but based on what he did last year, he has the inside track.”

Regarding the competition at second base, he feels Daniel Descalso will enter camp as the owner of the position, but there are some conditions as well. Matt Carpenter, who has worked at the position this winter, will get a look but he cannot accurately assess his place in the competition until he sees him in action.

Concerning any further moves in the middle infield, the availability and heatlth of Rafael Furcal is the most critical factor to any further activity. “We have not ruled out any additions in the middle infield”, Mozeliak said, “but it all depends on the health of Furcal.” He went on to say that all early signs are positive for the Furcal entering into the spring.

On Mike Matheny: All signs were positive on where he stands on Matheny entering into his second season at the wheel. “He exceeded expectations in year one” he explained, going on to say that he did not meet with him over the winter in any advisory capacity, only to touch base. He expects there will be the most growth in his area of player usage. “I expect he may not ride the hot hand as much” he commented.

On team health: He admitted that breaking free of camp at full strength is a concern, especially with some of the lingering conditions that are already in place. They are taking a “wait and see” approach concerning Jaime Garcia and Chris Carpenter, but more so for Garcia. Carpenter could see a decreased training program, but it’s not unusual for him at this point in his career. “The expectation for 200 innings for Carp is probably at 50/50”, but he has high confidence in his health status.

On big name prospects: There is an expectation that top prospect Oscar Taveras will get “plenty of opportunities” in the spring, to see what he can do. Second baseman Kolten Wong will also get some opportunities in big league camp, but the goal is not for him to share time in St. Louis currently, and to be an everyday contributor in the minors again.

On contract negotiations: The Adam Wainwright contract extension matter will carry into the season, and potentially into the season, but shouldn’t be compared to past high profile dealings. He feels this matter is “more open ended than other negotiations we’ve seen before” and that “there are no lines drawn in the sand this time around.”

He also elaborated that the organization has “moved on” from Kyle Lohse, but won’t close the door on anything either.

One of the St. Louis Cardinals’ most talked about needs heading into the offseason concerned who would patrol the dirt around second base next season at Busch Stadium, but they might start the 2013 season and contend for a playoff spot with the same players who did that job in 2012.

The Cardinals ended last season with Daniel Descalso as the starting second baseman and Pete Kozma as the starting shortstop.

Descalso is a light-hitting, strong defensive player who can make great plays in the field and come up with a hit at a critical time. The problem is those moments don’t happen often, and he can usually be counted on to hit near his career average of .245.

Kozma was the Cardinals’ first-round draft pick in 2007 and muddled his way through the minors for much of the next five years before the big club called him up when shortstop Rafael Furcal hurt his elbow Aug. 31 against the Washington Nationals. Kozma capitalized on his first opportunity for regular playing time in the big leagues by hitting .333 in the final month of the season while playing solid defense.

However, the Cardinals were reluctant to have Descalso and Kozma as their starting second baseman and shortstop for next season. Club officials have repeatedly expressed hope and confidence that Furcal’s recovery is going well and he will be ready to be the everyday shortstop at the beginning of the season. They also told utility man Matt Carpenter to come to Spring Training prepared to play second base.

Neither of those moves show much confidence in the duo that manned the middle infield as the Cardinals played their way to within one win of a World Series appearance, especially considering rumors the team has been looking to sign or trade for a middle infielder from other organizations.

The Cardinals have been linked to rumors about players such as Cleveland Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus, Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Dee Gordon and free agent utility player Scott Hairston.

Whether or not the Cardinals make a move to bring in a new middle infielder, their current options should be good enough for the team to compete for a playoff spot and the National League Central Division title. No, the middle infield might not have a great impact on the lineup, but all of those players are solid to above-average defenders, and defense was one of the poor aspects of last year’s team.

The Cardinals have plenty of power in their lineup with Matt Holliday, David Freese, Allen Craig, Carlos Beltran and Yadier Molina. They don’t need their second baseman and shortstop to hit .280 with 10-15 homeruns and 60 RBIs. Sure, that would be nice, but this team is built to withstand a couple of lineup spots that produce less-than-average numbers.

Even if Furcal doesn’t come back healthy, the Cardinals have a good backup option at shortstop with Kozma, who has for some reason been undervalued during the offseason. Yes, his numbers in the minor leagues were awful, and the Cardinals nearly cut him from the 40-man roster more than once in 2012, but he showed he can play at the major league level. Even if his future numbers aren’t as good as what he did last season, the Cardinals will have a decent shortstop.

On the other side of the base, the Cardinals know what to expect from Descalso. He won’t hit much, but he will play exceptional defense, which is something that will be a question mark if Carpenter wins the job in Spring Training.

In any case, the Cardinals will be in fine shape if they don’t acquire another middle infielder before the 2013 season begins. And with all of the young pitchers in the system, they will have leverage to make a move during the season as the trading deadline approaches at the end of July.

Although they haven’t made a sexy move in the offseason that leads to the obligatory hand-wringing from a segment of fans who think offseason headlines lead to championship-caliber seasons., the Cardinals could start play in April with their current roster and compete with the top teams in the National League.

The St. Louis Cardinals went into the offseason with a very short shopping list.  Solidify the bullpen, which they accomplished with the signing of Randy Choate, and upgrade the middle infield.

The rumors have flown and the team has been attached to just about any shortstop that was even rumored to be available.  While rumors and pundits wondered what direction they would go, they have quietly stood their ground.  Whether that is by choice or by force, the team has not been able to pull the trigger and the options have gotten slim.

The most active rumor was concerning Cleveland’s Asdrubal Cabrera.  Now that Cleveland has completed a deal that sent Shin Soo Choo to Cincinnati, most expect them to keep the soon-to-be free agent for the time being.  Cabrera offered a large upgrade offensively as well as an above average glove.  Possibly the player that would have made the most impact for the team, Cabrera seems to be off the market and out of the question.

While very few rumors surfaced surrounding the young Dodger shortstop Dee Gordon, it seemed like a logical fit when the West Coast Yankees expressed interest in utility man Skip Schumaker.  Alas, the Cardinals got a shortstop in return, but it was in the form of former fifth round draft pick Jake Lemmerman.  The move provided St. Louis with a much needed addition in depth at the minor league level, but leaves them contemplating what to do at the major league level still.

Further rumors connected the Redbirds to the player that proved to be a thorn in their side in this year’s National League Championship Series, Marco Scutaro.  Scutaro had the unique ability to provide an upgrade at either short or second base and could have added some veteran leadership to a club that continues to get even younger.  Scutaro proved that his loyalty was to the team that brought him his first championship and signed on the dotted line to remain in San Francisco.

Possibly the largest rumor of them all had the Cards looking to bring Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus to the Gateway City.  Andrus represented an increase in offensive productivity, he would be a step back on the defensive front.  Texas has the youth to make such a move, but as the winter has gone on, they have seemed like they do not have faith that they are ready to make that move as of yet.  News breaking of Josh Hamilton‘s new contract in Anaheim will have Texas looking to hold on to the offensive weapons they have.  They are in the market for pitching, which the Cardinals have an abundance of, but the price may be too steep overall.

The final hope may be a player they have expressed interest in already this offseason, Stephen Drew.  Drew has drawn interest from multiple places.  Most experts expect him to land back in Oakland but no movement has been made to that direction as of yet.  Drew would be a risk investment as the Cardinals would hope that his offensive production could return to levels previously shown in his early career.  He also poses a bit of a health risk which may not be that much better than what they currently have.  There has been talk of Drew being willing to play second base, which makes him a bit more attractive in the long run.

The club has stood by the fact that it would wait to hear how current shortstop Rafael Furcal‘s injury was progressing before they would pursue any other options.  What few reports have surfaced concerning Furcal have been positive.

If, in fact, this team wants to upgrade in the middle infield, it may be time to do it or miss out.

As the San Francisco Giants showed in their run to the 2012 World Series title, a good pitching staff is possibly the biggest factor in winning a championship. The St. Louis Cardinals have good, young pitchers, but they could also use an upgrade at shortstop.

To make that improvement, the team will likely have to give up some of its stock of young pitching talent no matter what type of trade it pursues, but especially if it wants an established shortstop such as Cleveland Indians’ Asdrubal Cabrera or the Texas Rangers’ Elvis Andrus.

There aren’t many free agent options at the middle infield positions this year. The Giants will likely resign National League Championship Series MVP Marco Scutaro, and the next best options are Placido Polanco or Adam Kennedy, neither of which would be very attractive signings.

That means if the Cardinals really want a solid option at shortstop for 2013 and beyond, they’ll have to look toward the trade market. Cabrera is probably the more likely choice. The Rangers don’t have nearly as many needs as the Indians, and the Cardinals’ young talent is likely much more appealing to the Indians.

However, the Indians could command a high price for Cabrera.

Cardinals minor-league first baseman Matt Adams is a likely trade chip because Allen Craig will remain at first base for the big club for the foreseeable future. Losing Adams would not be a huge deal, but the Indians are sure to want some pitchers, as well, considering their 4.78 team earned-run average last year was worst in the American League and only the Colorado Rockies had a worse ERA in all of baseball.

So who should the Cardinals be willing to give up? People have mentioned Lance Lynn as a possible trade chip. His 18 wins in 2012 make him attractive to other teams, and the Cardinals saw a few areas that still need to be polished if Lynn is going to be a consistent starting pitcher. He certainly pitched well for much of 2012, but he also had the league’s highest runs support and melted down in the playoffs.

One pitcher and Adams also likely won’t be enough to pry Cabrera from the Indians, but the question of who to trade gets even more difficult behind Lynn. Joe Kelly pitched great after he was called up to fill in for Jaime Garcia in June, and he has potential to be a key piece of the Cardinals pitching staff for many years, as would Lynn.

Garcia’s shoulder troubles will keep him off the trading block, and the Cardinals would be absolutely foolish to part with Trevor Rosenthal after he posted a 2.78 ERA and 25 strikeouts in his 22.2 innings pitched while consistently throwing 100 mph or higher.

Shelby Miller is another young pitcher who would be attractive to a team such as the Indians, but the Cardinals have also ranked him as their top pitching prospect for several years now and may not want to lose him now that he has made it to the big leagues.

The Cardinals also have pitching prospects such as Carlos Martinez who they have implicitly deemed untouchable in a trade.

In any case, the Cardinals will have to give up good players who will likely become long-time productive major league players, if not stars in the future. However, a shortstop such as Cabrera combined with up-and-coming second baseman Kolten Wong could finally end the carousel of middle infielders the Cardinals have had for about two decades.

But as the Giants showed by winning two of the last three championships, pitching is the most valuable part of a baseball team.

The St. Louis Cardinals come into the 2012 offseason having won a World Series in 2011 and falling one game short of returning to the Fall Classic in 2012.  The team, for the most part, is set at almost every position.  They have publicly said they will be exploring the option of upgrading the middle infield, the only two spots on the team that anyone can easily look at and say “they could be better”.

But that bothers this writer.  I do not like a team that simply “stands pat”, no matter how successful they have been in the past.  This team can be better at a few spots on the field and with today’s notebook, I look to the top of the free agent class and ask the simple question: Why not look at Michael Bourn?

Now, hear me out before you jump on me for not being a Jon Jay supporter, for wanting to throw money around just for the sake of spending, or for blocking prospects as they progress through the Cardinals’ system.  I assure  you, there are good reasons to examine the possibility of one of the top outfielders available on the market wearing the Birds On The Bat.

Defense Is Key
Personally, when I look at the middle of the diamond (catcher, second base, shortstop, center field), I prefer to have guys that will solidify the defense.

Now, I’m not trying to say that Jon Jay is a bad defender.  Quite the opposite really.  That’s the point here, if I can look at a player and say that he is an upgrade in defense at a key position where I feel the team is already strong, that shows a lot of respect for the other player.  Michael Bourn is a two-time Gold Glove Award winner in center field and has the speed to help cover the gaps that are left by having power guys like Matt Holliday and Carlos Beltran at the corners.

This Bench Needs Help
It was Chris Reed who mentioned in a recent discussion the lack of faith in the bench.  Adron Chambers and Shane Robinson are average players, but pinch hitting late in a game when the Cardinals need runners, they do not inspire a ton of confidence.

Jon Jay has proven in the past that he is more than capable of coming off the bench during a ball game and producing.  In addition, he has proven in the past that he can produce when not in the lineup consistently.  He is the type of player that can jump into the starting lineup at any point but can also be a weapon late in games.

It Is Not Financial Suicide
Looking at what the Cardinals have coming off the books for this season (Lance Berkman, Kyle Lohse), reinvesting that money in a player like Bourn is not the end of the world.

Many experts project Bourn to get a contract very similar to that of Torii Hunter when he signed his former deal with Anaheim.  That projects to a 5 year/$90 million contract or an average value of $18 million per year.  Puma’s 2012 contract was for $12 million while Lohse was earning just under $12 million himself.  Personally, I feel that Bourn will land closer to $15 million a season for around four years, though either number is within reason for the Cardinals.

The youth of this franchise offers some financial flexibility over the next few seasons.  With key positions being patrolled by home grown talent and other prospects being projected to take over other positions, the time for being able to take on a bit of salary is now.

It Doesn’t Block Prospects
The Cardinals key prospect in the outfield is Oscar Taveras, who has spent most of his minor league career patrolling center field.

That being said, Taveras has been projected by many to have a future at the corner outfield positions and the Cardinals, most likely, see him as the right fielder of the future after Beltran’s contract plays out.  The only person displaced by the addition of Bourn over the next four to five years is Jon Jay.

It Solves The Top Of The Lineup
It has been a long time since the Cardinals have had a player that can solidify the leadoff position the way Michael Bourn can.

Yes, he strikes out a lot.  I do not like that in the leadoff role any more than the next guy.  But he steals a lot of bases, walked a career high 70 times last season, was able to show occasional power with nine home runs, and is a commodity that the Cardinals have not had in a very long time.

Summary
Sometimes you have to be willing to upgrade even when you are satisfied with what you have.  The Cardinals have a chance to improve themselves defensively, on the bench, and at the top of the order in a big way by taking a look at Bourn as a key component of the future.

While I do not feel the Cardinals have to make a move like this to continue to be successful, it would be nice to see the team make a move like this in an effort to get better.  After all, it would be nice to win the division instead of fighting their way into the playoffs through the wild card.

Bill Ivie started i70baseball to write about his love for the game and the teams he enjoys watching most, the Cardinals and the Royals.