2023 St. Louis Cardinals -- No more icons

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It's Nov. 9, 2022, four days after the Houston Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 to win the World Series, and the St. Louis Cardinals are beginning a new era.
Coming off a successful regular season, they went 93-69 to win the National League Central by seven games over the Milwaukee Brewers, only to be quickly ousted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the wild-card round, the Redbirds find themselves moving forward minus three of the biggest names in the franchise history.
Future Hall of Famers Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols have both headed into retirement while the Cardinals have declined to retain veteran right-handed starting pitcher Adam Wainwright.
The 41-year-old Wainwright went a respectable 11-12 with a 3.71 ERA in 2022, but struggled down the stretch and had been regulated to the bullpen for the postseason).
The team could have offered Wainwright a new deal (or an $18.9 million qualifying offer), which he would have probably accepted, but the front office (me) steered away from that option.
(In reality, the Cardinals have re-signed Wainwright for one final season at $17.5 million. Wainwright says he plans to retire at the end of the 2023 season. As free agency plays out, I may revisit bringing Wainwright back. Also, if he should sign with another team which I don't deem realistic -- I think the only team he would sign with is Atlanta -- I will probably retire him).
In other moves.
Like in real life, bench coach Skip Schumaker has moved on to become the manager of the Florida Marlins while hitting coach Jeff Albert and pitching coach Mike Maddux both left their posts.
It will be up to me to fill those positions, as I don't plan to hire the replacements.
Also, since President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak is really the person who makes all the player personnel decisions, he has supplanted Mike Girsch as the team's general manager.
Other notes.
* I will play under the guideline the Cardinals may rank no higher than No. 8 in player payroll.
* The 2023 season will feature the banning of shifts. The three-batter minimum will remain in place. However, the extra-innings runner at second base rule has been set aside.

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Cards notes: Nov. 11 -- Arbitration hearing results No. 1

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Cards notes: Nov. 11 -- Arbitration hearing results No. 1

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The St. Louis Cardinals have named Joey DeMonte their hitting coach for the 2023 season.
The 54-year-old DeMonte replaces Jeff Albert who left the team at the end of the 2022 season.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have announced that John Mozdeliak will be taking over the role of Assistant General Manager.
Mozeliak, 53, had been serving as the team's President of Baseball Operation.
He replaces Michael Girsch, who will return his role as the top assistant to Mozeliak.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have named Dave Valle as their bench coach for the 2023 season.
Valle, 62, has one year of experience (2014) as a manager in the Seattle Mariners' minor-league season.
Before that, he was a broadcaster for the Mariners from 1997 to 2013.
As a player, Valle played parts of 13 season in the majors, 10 of them as a catcher for Seattle.
Valler replaces Skip Schumaker, who has been hired as manager of the Miami Marlins.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have introduced Dave Veres as their pitching coach for the 2023 season.
Veres, 56, spent 10 seasons in the majors, all of them as a relief pitcher.
Veres played with the Cardinals during from 2000-2002 and posted 75 saves during that span.
He replaces Mike Maddux who decided to not to renew his contract and has taken a role with the Texas Rangers.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired left-handed relief pitcher Aaron Bummer, 29, in exchange for 22-year-old right-hander Andre Granillo.
Bummer has pitched in the majors for the White Sox since the 2017 season.
He has pitched in 228 games, going 9-10 with five saves and a 3.03 ERA.
During the 2022 season, Bummer got into 32 games for Chicago and went 2-1 with two saves and a 2.36 ERA.
Granillo was selected in the 14th round of the 2021 draft by the Cardinals.
He has pitched in 53 games, all in relief, and gone 6-9 with 10 saves and a 3.45 ERA.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have completed a trade with the Oakland Athletics to acquire catcher Sean Murphy in exchange for 1B/OF Juan Yepez and minor-league left-handed pitcher Jake Walsh.
A two-time Gold-Glove winner, Murphy hit .250 with 18 homers and 66 RBIs in 148 games (146 starts) for Oakland in 2022.
The 28-year-old is a career .236 hitter with 46 homers and 147 RBIs,
Yepez, 24, spent 76 games in St. Louis in 2022, during which he hit .253 with 12 home runs and 30 RBIs.
At AAA, Yepez hit .277 with 16 homers and 53 RBIs.
Walsh, 27, pitched in three games for the Cardinals 2022, going 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA.
The 17th-round pick in the 2017 draft, worked in 13 games for AAA Memphis going 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA.

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A trade with the Baltimore Orioles has landed RHP Bryan Baker in exchange for minor-league catcher Austin Allen.
Baker, 28, pitched in 66 games for the Orioles in the 2022 season going 4-1 with one save and a 3.41 ERA.
Allen, 28, never played a game for St. Louis after being acquired in a trade with Oakland on August 2.
He has played in 57 games at the major league level, batting .195 with two homers and seven RBIs.

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Players have made the Hall of Fame expected of PED use, but on Jan. 6 Alex Rodirguez became the first player confirmed of using steroids to make the Hall of Fame.
The 47-year-old was named on 94 percent of the ballots in his second year eligible for election.
Rodriguez broke into the majors with the Seattle Mariners as an 18-year-old in 1994.
He spent seven seasons in Seattle before going to Texas for three years.
The rest of his career would be with the New York Yankees, he would play with through the 2016 season.
Rodriguez won three MVP awards (2003, 2005 and 2007) and was part of the 2009 Yankees team which won the World Series.
A-Rod completed his career with a life-time average of .295 to go with 696 home runs and 2,086 RBIs.
No one else came close to receiving the 75 percent of votes to earn enterance to Hall of Fame.
Closer Billy Wagner, in his eighth season on the ballot, came closest at 55.2 percent.
Of the first-year eligible players, Carlos Beltran earned the highest vote total placing fifth at 48.8 percent.
Francisco Rodriguez also cracked the Top 10, placing seventh (46.8 percent).

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The St. Louis Cardinals have announced the signing of left-handed relief pitcher Andrew Chafin to a two-year contract worth $3.5 million.
Chafin, 32, spent the 2022 season with the Detroit Tigers where he pitched in 64 games going 2-3 with three saves and a 2.83 ERA.
Chafin broke into the majors with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014.
In 476 career games, all but three in relief, he has gone 12-20 with 11 savs and a 3.23 ERA.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired center fielder Cedric Mullins in exchange for prospects outfielder Alec Burleson and right-handed pitcher Austin Love.
Mullins, 28, broke into the majors with the Orioles during the 2018 season.
In 2022, the left-handed hitter batted .258 with 16 homers, 64 RBIs and 34 stolen bases.
For his career, the 13th-round draft pick in the 2015 draft has hit .263 with 53 homers, 150 RBIs and 74 stolen bases.
A second-round pick in the 2020 draft by the Cardinals, Burleson broke into the majors in 2022 playing in 16 games/14 starts.
He batted .188 with one homer and three RBIs.
During the 2022 season at AAA Memphis, Burleson, 24, hit .331 with 20 homers and 87 RBIs in 109 games.
Love, 23, was a third-round pick in the 2021 draft by the Cardinals.
He spent the 2022 season at high-A Peoria, where he went 7-12 in 26 games/25 starts and posted a 5.73 ERA.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have announced the signing of 22-year-old right-handed pitcher David Matos to an $11 million contract which will cover the next four seasons.
Matos, 22, who found his way out of Cuba has never pitched in professional baseball but is considered a top-of the-rotation caliber arm.
He is expected to be given the opportunity to earn a spot in the St. Louis rotation during spring training.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have traded catcher Andrew Knizner and left-handed starting pitcher Connor Thomas to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for minor-league third baseman Samad Taylor.
Knizner, 27, has spent parts of the last three seasons with the Cardinals backing up Yadier Molina or starting when Molina was injured.
During the 2022 season, Knizner played in 97 games/78 starts and batted .215 with four homers and 25 RBIs.
Knizner was deemed expendable with the acquisition of Gold-Glove catcher Sean via a trade with Oakland.
A fifth-round pick in the 2019 draft, Thomas spent the 2022 season at Memphis where he went 6-12 with a 5.47 ERA in 28 games/25 starts.
In Taylor, the Cardinals acquired a 24-year-old player who can play multiple positions.
A 10th-round draft pick in the 2016 draft by Cleveland, Taylor spent the 2022 season at Buffalo where he hit .258 with nine homers and 45 RBIs in 70 games.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired minor-league relief pitcher Nick Robertson in exchange for shortstop Paul DeJong and minor-league infielder Kramer Robertson.
Robertson, 24, was selected in the seventh round of the 2019 draft by Los Angeles.
He split the 2022 season between AA Tulsa and AAA Oklahoma City going 1-3 with nine saves in 53 games
For his career, Robertson has pitched in 108 games going 3-7 with 14 saves and a 3.74 ERA.
After an impressive rookie season with the Cardinals in 2017, DeJong has seen his performance steadily decline over the ensuing years.
Injuries combined with poor performance in 2022 saw DeJong hit just .157 in 77 games/58 starts with St. Louis. He hit six homers and had 25 RBIs.
The Cardinals will pay half of DeJong's $9 million salary over the next two seasons.
Originally drafted by Cleveland in the 32nd round in 2016, Robertson finally made the majors with the Cardinals in 2022 getting into just two games and taking just one at bat, although he did collect an RBI.
The 28-year-old spent the bulk of 2022 at AAA Memphis, where he hit .228 with nine homers and 34 RBIs.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have announced the signing of right-handed relief pitcher Daniel Bard to a one-year contract worth $2.5 million.
Bard, 37, spent the 2022 season with Colorado where he pitched in 57 games and went 6-4 with 34 saves and a 1.79 ERA.

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With the start of spring training looming on March 1, the St. Louis Cardinals made one last major move to bolster their roster trading top catching prospect Ivan Herrera to the Chicago White Sox for shortstop Tim Anderson.
Anderson, 29, has been the White Sox starting shortstop since the 2017 season.
His 2022 campaign was cut short by injury, as he played in just 79 games.
During those games, he hit .301 with six homers and 25 RBIs.
For his career, Anderson is a .288 hitter with 16 homers and 313 RBIs.
The acquisition of Anderson will allow Tommy Edman to slide back to his primary position at second base.
Brendan Donavon will likely serve as a swing player as he can play virtually every position on the field except center field and shortstop.
One of the top catching prospects in the game, Herrera became expendable when St. Louis acquired Sean Murphy via trade with Oakland.
Herrera, 22, has 11 games of experience in the majors during which he has hit .111 with one RBI.

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Cards notes: March 1 -- Spring training roster

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MLB notes: March 1 - Preseson predictions at start of spring training