The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

[royals19]

11:30 AM

Prologue

Our story picks up about a week later at Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. At this time of the year, Busch is usually packed with fans and brimming with playoff decor...

But this time, something is different. There aren't players, the field isn't dressed up and there aren't 40,000+ screaming fans packing the house. Instead, the field is empty, the NLDS logo is fading and the seats are loaded with reporters, front office personnel and employees.

Baseball is usually the talk of the town this time of year... But this year, that isn't the case. A year without the playoffs is like a year without a Santa Claus for the quaint folks of St. Louis.

You see, something bigger is brewing at Busch. A new era is about to begin...

***

Good Afternoon ladies and gentlemen, my name is Whitey Herzog. I am Chairman and President of Legends Incorporated, a local investment firm. I am here to announce that we have acquired the St. Louis Cardinals for an undisclosed amount of cash from the honorable DeWitt family. While the DeWitt family's ownership was certainly a notable chapter in the history of this franchise, it is now time to write the next chapter.

With the backing of other partners such as Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith, Red Schoendienst, Orlando Cepeda, Dennis Eckersley and Ray Sadecki, this purchase was made possible and for that, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to all of our contributing partners.

(Applause)

With all that out of the way, the city of St. Louis means more to us than anyone could ever imagine... I speak for all of us when I say that we owe this city for being so classy and caring throughout each of our careers. By purchasing this team, it is my hope that we can begin to repay the debt that we owe to this spectacular city...

We can't give each of you our money so you'll have to settle for World Series Trophies I'm afraid.

(Laughing and Applause)

Despite our obvious years of playing experience, we don't have very much experience building championship teams. That will not be an excuse, I promise you... From what I understand, there's a young man by the name of Willie Singleton who's in charge of that type of thing so we'll leave that to him. With that being said, we are prepared to give him whatever he needs to build one of the greatest dynasties in the history of the game.

Thanks everyone for bearing with me through that speech. I don't know about you, but I'm excited about the future of our team and I'm ready to win some ball games.

[KingFry]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

I can settle with some rings...

[royals19]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

Howdy folks... Glad to be back. The last thread took 3 months to complete and may have lasted even longer if the boys in red would've gone a little deeper into the postseason. I'm not gonna complain this time though, a little reprieve was needed to gain the strength to start another one of these with school just around the corner.

In between posts, I shot some hoops, played a little Black Ops (the original of course) and grabbed an ice cream cone to try to rid my mouth of the sour taste of losing at the hands of the Nationals. Needless to say, almost a week after the stunning conclusion, the allure of OS and the show did what they did so here we are... ready to start up the 2015 edition of the Cardinal Way.

Hooray for me, Hooray for you, Hooray for everyone.

If you don't want to read through 2 seasons worth of action-packed material and you want to be able to follow the story from here on, I suggest you read the following very carefully.


Our Story So Far (updated 8/7/2014)

After the disastrous 2012 season in Boston, Scouting Director and Player Development guru Willie Singleton went in search of a new job. Following a somewhat awkward interview with John Mozeliak, Willie landed with the Cardinals as a Scouting Director.

While Willie got accustomed to the Cardinals organization, John Mozeliak engaged in some shady backwater discussions with an unknown figure that ultimately resulted in him leaving the Cardinals Organization at the end of the year.

On the field, the Cardinals were a mixed bag. Jon Jay showed star-like potential but was inconsistent, Daniel Descalso hit about .300, Carlos Beltran was hurt quite a bit and never really seemed to get going.

It was a great year for the Cardinals player development system as they saw Kolten Wong and Michael Wacha see success at the big league level. Absent from that list is top prospect Oscar Taveras who hit about .340 with nearly 40 home runs and over 100 RBIs in AAA without a callup.

The Cardinals started out slow and hobbled into the All Star Break. Once the Cardinals got rolling in the weeks immediately following, they went on a tear and absolutely dominated the National League and somehow got into the playoffs as the Central Division Champions.

Behind deadline acquisition J.J. Hardy and rookie Michael Wacha, the St. Louis Cardinals defied expectations and ultimately won the World Series.

2014

In the days immediately following the World Series victory, Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak announced that he would be leaving the Cardinals for the Milwaukee Brewers. Short on replacements, Willie Singleton was anointed General Manager by Bill DeWitt.

The Cardinals started out slow and were behind the Brewers in the standings until about the draft when the Cardinals were boosted by a highly controversial and violent series against the Dodgers that forced Willie sent Willie to commissioner Tony La Russa's office for a slap on the wrist and a warning about some supposed "Powers That Be."

While the off the field story seemed to go virtually no where for most of the summer, the story on the field was pretty interesting in the regard that the light hitting Cardinals some how transformed into the league's most dangerous power threat. New addition Jacoby Ellsbury was sharp and lead the league in stolen bases, rookie Michael Wacha won 17 games and Oscar Taveras collected the MVP along with a variety of other awards.

Despite all the success however, the bullpen imploded in the divisional series and the defending champion Cardinals were sent packing early on in the postseason dance.

And that's where we'll begin part 3...


(For the record, there seems to be something really sketchy about the way Kolten Wong is looking at Willie Singleton in the above picture.)

To catch up on the details, go to the following links:

The Cardinal Way: Crops, Clydesdales and Championships
The Cardinal Way: Ascension

[royals19]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

October 29th, 2014
Busch Stadium
Private Meeting
1:00 PM

Willie Singleton didn't know what to expect. Sure he'd chatted with some of these guys before... but he'd never had to talk to them as a boss. Would they demand a World Series year in and year out? Would he finally be able to do what he wanted? Where these guys the "Top Brass" everyone seemed to be referring to? Most of his answers lied just behind this door.

The secretary opened the door and ushered Willie to his seat at the end of the table. On the other end, Whitey Herzog sat flanked by other members of the ownership group.

Mr. Singleton, so nice of you to accept our little offer. I'm looking forward to our partnership and let me say, I'm ready to take this franchise to the next level.

(Nervous Laugh) Haha, I'm glad to still be here.

Well, with the greetings out of the way, let's get down to business. I've talked to some of my friends around the industry about you and the reaction has been ... well, blown away by what you've done. Says here on your file that you're 32 years young, suggested the drafting of Jacoby Ellsbury, played a role in the selection of Dustin Pedroia, won 2 world series rings... and all that before the age of 30. How did you do it?

Ummm.... Well... I uh... I just did.

The salty members of the ownership group studied Willie for a second.

Boy, you must be some kinda dumb or some kinda stupid.

Well, Forest Gump always said stupid is as stupid does, Bob.

We won't delve into what you're file says about your apparent lack of street smarts...

Let's talk business. Willie, I'm going to be up front with you. I'm going to run the business side of this however the hell I want to run it and there isn't a damn thing you can do that'll stop me. That being said, you're going to run the Baseball Ops department however the hell you want and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it. Catch my drift?

I do want to talk strategy though. We aren't convinced that spending billions in free agency like the Yankees or Dodgers it the way you build a team... That simply isn't the Cardinal Way. Don't get me wrong, we'll give you Billions of dollars... But we would like to see you invest it in the international and amateur markets as well as player development. What are your thoughts?

Under the DeWitt ownership, I was really handcuffed by what I could do. I'm not really sure why DeWitt never allowed me the same amount of free reign he did John. That being said, I do have a vision for how this department should be run and you basically just outlined it. I know you're all aware of our "handbook" that doesn't officially exist. You know we have a great player development philosophy. We can churn out talent like nobodies business.

Yes, we need to increase spending in the amateur market, yes we need to increase our spending in the international market but we need to better at identifying talent. You look at all the other clubs in our division and they're finding impact players out of virtually no where. With your permission, I want to invest large amounts of money into finding the right personnel to find impact talent in all the markets. I'm convinced that is the first step to taking this franchise to the next level.

I have copies for each of you of my 30 page proposal on how to run the baseball operations department.

Says here you haven't signed any international players in 2 years?

Yes that's correct. DeWitt slashed our international efforts on a global effort for whatever reason. We haven't been a legit threat in Latin America since we signed Oscar Taveras probably.

...So right here on page 10, you're talking about gutting the front office and bringing in people you can trust. What's wrong with what we currently have?

They can't be trusted... I have strong reason to believe that the information we use in our department is compromised. We've tried to find the culprits but no one has come forward. Only high level officials have access to that sensitive content that's being leaked.

So who do you have in mind to replace them? Guys like these don't grow on trees.

Page 13. I've listed guys like Billy Eppler, Mark Newman, Gene Michael, A.J. Preller, Josh Byrnes, Jed Hoye, Thad Levine, Bill James, Tom Tippett, Paul DePodesta... just to name a few.

This is all very nice... But tell us about what you're going to do this offseason.

Well, I'm going to bring in those guys one way or another. We're also going to construct a database... something similar to Carmine up in Boston.

Personnel wise, we aren't making any coaching changes. We need middle infield depth, catching depth, another starter and bullpen pieces.

Well, that's good to hear. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we're excited to see what you can do. Like Whitey said, we've been told that you're a prodigy of sorts... we just hope you won't disappoint.

[AC]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

Fun fact: The Jays' database is named for president Paul Beeston. It's called THE BEEST. This started off as a rumor but I've since confirmed it. Kill me.

Looking forward to this.

[AdamJones113]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

Wooot!! It's back!!! LET'S GOOOOOOO

[royals19]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

In years past, the front office hasn't really played a role in our story. That's about to change this season however because the story is now shifting directions. With a brand new ownership group and free reign, Willie Singleton finally has the ability to clean house and bring in who he wants...

Throwing stacks of cash around, enticing candidates with islands and offering up free Diary Queen treats at every which way... This is how you do it... That's how you build the most intelligent and prolific front office in the game... This my friends is how you General Manage!

We won't get into how much Willie spent, how many ice cream treats he bought or how many league rules he broke... We'll save that for a different day.

Today though, we need to introduce some new faces to the good people of OS.

***

Mike Girsch- Assistent to the GM
Yeah, you should all know Girsch by now... After all, he's been the only other Cardinals front office member that we've even shown outside of Willie Singleton. Needless to say, the math major from Notre Dame will continue to man his post as assistant to the GM.

Jason McLeod- Assistent GM

A close friend of Willie Singleton's from his Boston days, McLeod will work as an Assistant GM and will be responsible for helping Willie Singleton run his day-day tasks as General Manager. Prying him from the division rival Cubs wasn't easy but anyone can be swayed to do anything when you throw Bugattis and ice cream their way.

A.J. Preller- Assistent GM

Preller had an opportunity to run the San Diego Padres but when Willie Singleton approached him about a potential job with the Cardinals, Preller couldn't pass up the chance to work with the best collection of baseball minds in the game. Preller will oversee all scouting operations the Cardinals undertake from the international market to the pros.

Aside from being one the brightest minds in the front office, he's also got the best looking gear too... You can never go wrong with plaid ladies and gentlemen.

Gene Michael- Special Advisor to the GM



Everyone knows who Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada are but not many know the man who drafted and signed them. The man who essentially built the foundation of the Yankees dynasty was shunned from the Yankees before his hard work could ever pay off. Willie recruited him with the hope he could help with evaluating talent and roster construction.

Kevin Goldstein- Director of Pro Scouting

Formally of Baseball Prospectus, the Astros hired Goldstein to run their pro scouting operation... Then Willie Singleton offered him a house with an ocean view and well... things changed. Goldstein will hold the same role with the Cardinals. His responsibilities include scouting and evaluating major league talent in accordance with the needs of the Cardinal Organization.

Mike Elias- Director of Amateur Scouting

An old Cardinals scout, Elias left the organization originally to follow his good friend Jeff Luhnow to Houston. As soon as the same position opened with the Cardinals however, things changed. Elias will look to continue his success as Amateur Scouting director with his new old employer.

As an aside, Willie was contacted by Keith Law about the job opening... Willie, not a fan of Keith Law's weasley ways, sent him back a 2 word text that told him: "Get Better."

Bill James- Director of Statistical Analysis

A known connoisseur of Pizza Hut and lavish card games, Bill James is another former Red Sox front office member who worked there during the same time as Willie. James will manage the statistical analysis for the Cardinals and will work to develop statistical models that will assist the Cardinals in evaluating talent and constructing rosters.

Tim Tippett- Director of Decision Sciences

Another former Red Sox employee, Tippett held a variety of software development positions before doing extensive software work for the Red Sox. Tippett will continue his software work for the Cardinals and will assist Bill James in his efforts to evaluate players and construct rosters.

If you didn't know any better, you'd probably think that this was the cast of the next Ocean's 11 remake. I think Willie really went out of his way to put this cast together. Did we need to really do anything to the front office? Probably not... Did we want to drop infinite stacks of cash and rebuild the Front Office? Sure, we might as well. If you got the cash in this business, you might as well wave it around in everyone's face.

[royals19]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

Willie Singleton's Office
St. Louis, MO
October 30th, 2014
5:15 PM

Hey, Willie... You wanted to see me?

Yes! Come on in Tommy Boy. I've got a project for you.

Good to see you haven't changed a bit... So uhh... What'd you have in mind.

Do you remember how we had Carmine up in Boston? That cool little tool we used to hire Tito, run simulations, all that jazz?

You talking about the piece of **** that was sooo 20th century?

Well... I guess you could call it that. Anyway, is there a way you could design a program similar to that for everyone in Baseball Ops to use? I really think that without that, we're a little behind the curve with everyone else in the league.

Don't we already have that... Red Bird Dog or whatever it's called?

Yeah but it sucks and I'm pretty sure It's compromised... On top of that, I just don't like the name.

I mean, yeah. I can do that for you... you're going to need to give me some serious money though. It ain't gonna be cheap.

Well, that's fine... Money is no object... I just want ti done before the draft in June. Do you think that's possible?

Yeah, I suppose, if you give me enough man power and enough cash we can have that done. What do you want to call it?

The Bird House.

[royals19]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

After falling short in the postseason, the Cardinals clearly had several areas they needed to upgrade. Sure, with a new ownership group the payroll could've reached incredible levels... 200 million! Pujols money for all! Unfortunately, that just isn't how Willie Singleton and the Red Birds roll. We aren't going to sign players to these massive, lucrative contracts only for them to turn sour in the later years. There has to be a strategy... unless you're George McGovern course.

But this isn't the F'n Yankees. This is the St. Louis Cardinals we're talking about!

As mentioned before, we had several clear cut needs to be on the look out for.

Long term second baseman- If applicable.
Starting Pitcher
Bullpen help

Kolten Wong is a project and we're going to have him compete with Danny Espinosa for the starting job. The rotation has some promising candidates but we're at the point where we need established guys. Then there's the bullpen that's an absolute wreck.

Needless to say, Willie Singleton was expecting to throw some serious coin around the free agent market...



Only problem is there was nothing to throw said coin at. Behold, the mediocre free agent class of 2014-2015. If you're looking for declining bats, mediocre defenders and a paper thin market, boy was this the offseason for you. The only real player with star power on this list was Max Scherzer.

Beyond him it's really a collection of OK, but not really great players. And pretty much all of them are at positions that we don't need. Great.



The relief pitcher market was a joke. There were some intriguing arms but not at the price they were asking. We tried to get in on Gregerson but his annual asking price was upwards of 5 million which was absolutely insane for an OK reliever. The rest of the relievers were left-handed; something that we don't really need.

If you thought the bullpen market was great, take a look at the second baseman market:



Umm... I'm is this the old folks home? Oh, wait it's the second baseman market...

Again... nothing. Willie briefly played with the idea of bringing back Rafe Furcal to play second baseman but then he realized that handing 5 million annually to a 37 year old was probably not in the best interest of the club. You'll notice that Mark Ellis was actually the top option on the market for everyone else so we're just going to let him walk and roll with Espinosa and Wong... Let Ellis frustrate someone else with his inability to hit right handed pitching and play serviceable defense.

I guess we'll just have to make it work.

[royals19]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

Last offseason, Willie was able to walk away with Jacoby Ellsbury on a 2 year deal as the consensus #1 free agent in the class. This season, the situation was virtually the same. Max Scherzer, a good player in his own right was entering his prime, was at a position of clear cut need for the Cardinals and an option that we could actually afford.

If we could get him on a 2-3 year deal and place him at the top of the rotation with Wacha and Waino... We could have the central on lock. The Cardinals aren't the type of franchise to consistently land the top free agent annually but when you look at our situation last year and our situation this year, it made perfect sense.

And with that, the chase to land Max Scherzer was on...



Pretty much everyone in the front office was salivating at the chance to land the 30 year old Scherzer. Putting him with the arms we already had was a dream scenario. Before the negotiations even got far, we were already dreaming of winning 100 games and seeing Cy Young trophy after Cy Young trophy being wheeled into town.

The original offer to Scherzer was roughly 37.5 Million over 3 years. Going into the negotiations, we knew that giving Scherzer a 5-6 year deal would be suicide and we planned to offer him some serious money at a higher annual cost. The belief was that a 3-4 year deal would get Scherzer into the Cardinal Red and White... and then Toronto started offering him crazy money.

What's pictured above is our final offer at 5 years and 81 million. That was more than fair enough in the Cardinals' minds when you consider his future production and what's he'd likely do over the course of the contract...

But it wasn't to be.



For whatever reason, Scherzer took Toronto's lowball offer of 73.1 Million over 5 years... I'm not quite sure what Scherzer was thinking taking less money to play north of the border... smh. It is what it is I guess.

By focusing all of our efforts on Scherzer and then losing out on him, we wasted most of the offseason. When we could've been pursuing other guys, we were going all in on Scherzer.

Now fast forward to December 6th, when all the players who aren't tendered contracts hit free agency. Scrolling through the busts and wash-ups... I think we may have found a gem.

***

Are you kidding me.... Are you freaking kidding me!? 2 hit by Justin Grimm!? Are you freaking kidding me!? It's things like this that just leave me speechless.

Oscar Taveras hit a base knock up the middle in the 5th inning for the first hit. Then someone woke Matt Adams up off the bench and he hit a first pitch dong in the 9th for the second hit. Needless to say, we made Justin Grimm (who?) look like a freaking Cy Young winner today.

I'm getting awful tired of losing to Chicago's AAA lineup that they've got out there. Here we are, rolling out one of the best rosters in baseball with 6 All-Stars and we can't even beat the Cubs?

At this point, there's only one thing that we can really say to the Red Birds: Be better... please.

Justin Grimm, a dude who nearly no hit us, became our top target at the suggestion of Assistant GM A.J. Preller who dealt with him in Texas. He's only 26 years old and he apparently has some pretty good stuff... Fastball that sits in the mid 90s, hammer curve, decent change... I'm not sure what his role with us is going to be yet so we'll probably throw him in various situations during the spring to see how he does.



He's got a high potential to suck but... and this is a big but... If his near no hit performance against us is any indication, then Justin Grimm might be the next big thing in St. Louis. He's right up there with Jon Jay and Tanner Bowling as players to watch this year.

[royals19]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

After watching the Blue Jays pull ridiculous money out of no where to sign Max Scherzer, it really felt like there wasn't much more to be done this season in the free agent market. We still needed bullpen help and we still needed a rotation piece. There's nothing wrong with doing a little due diligence though right?

So Willie set to work dumpster diving hoping to find something that could make his team better. Ryan Dumpster (Dempster, sorry) was an intriguing option but was he better than any of our young bucks down on the farm? Meh... probably not at 3 million a year and 37 years of age.

We were about to throw the towel in on this year's free agent market when low and behold, we come across the perfect fit for this Cardinals roster.



Torii Hunter? The Torii Hunter? The dude who robbed homers before it was cool? One of the greatest outfielders of this generation? Umm... Yes please! When you look at Torii, he can still play serviceable defense and has a little pop left in his bat. On top of that, he's a great guy make-up wise. He's the perfect fit for our franchise.

Defense was a big issue for us out in the outfield last season, Holliday and Jay had trouble reading the balls just like Ells. Bringing in a proven, elite defender like Hunter should lock down the outfield defense in at least one of the positions and should help cut down at the disasters out there.

I know we're already loaded with outfielders but the chance to sign a guy like Torii Hunter doesn't just walk through the door every day. He's 39 years old but he still has tools that would play very well on our roster this upcoming season.

Don't get it twisted though... We didn't give him Jacoby Ellsbury money. As seen above, his deal is only a one year deal because: A. We only need him for this one year. B. He's probably going to retire after the 2015 season.



With Torii in the fold now, I'm going to say it point blank. We will not be carrying 5 outfielders on the roster next season. Absolutely not... Torii will be the 4th outfielder next season. That being said, we've also got Randall Grichuck, Stephen Piscotty and James Ramsey in AAA and ready to get a crack at the big league roster... and don't forget Jon Jay who's still got some potential left.

Essentially what it boils down to is that the Cardinals will deal from one of Matt Holliday, Jacoby Ellsbury or Jon Jay before the offseason is over. Holliday really hit a wall last season, Ellsbury is entering the final year of his contract with us and even though we've advertised Jay as the next best thing, flipping him for a bullpen arm isn't out of the question.

The options on the trade market are far more appealing than the trash we've been left to deal with in free agency... Don't be surprised if ol' Willie walks away with a nice little package for one of those guys.

[royals19]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

Before we get to the Cardinals' largest move of the winter, let's take a look at what the rest of the league was up to during the offseason...



Reds sign Markakis to 2/20 Million Dollar Deal.

Gonna be honest, this was one of the only CPU deals that even made remote sense. The Reds needed to upgrade their outfield defense and find someone who's better than Ryan Ludwick. They already led the league in ERA last season, now they're playing right into that strength. Cincinnati is actually a legit threat to be feared this season and all because the CPU actually knows what it's doing.

Brew Crew Lands Josh Johnson for 37 Million Over 4 Years.

After going 6-7 for the Padres, the Brewers rewarded his efforts with a crazy contract that simply doesn't make any sense for Milwaukee. Their pitching staff was already locked down heading into next season... Now they have to find a fit for Johnson who isn't even remotely as good as their other options...

But on the flip side, thata' way John Mozeliak!

Dodgers Burn Money; Sign Aramis Ramirez for 7 years 80 Million.

...Why? Aramis Ramirez was OK last season but he's 36 years old and is already on the decline. Why do you need to give him 7 years and 80 million to be your starting third baseman when Corey Seager is basically major league ready? I don't want to hear that the market was ran up because it wasn't. The Dodgers knew exactly what they were doing this time around. OK LA, you made your point... you've got the most money in the league...

And apparently the dumbest front office too.

Stealthy Diamondbacks Rebuild Begins Upward Trend.

In an effort to jumpstart their rebuild, the Arizona Diamondbacks have signed Terry Francona to a 3 year deal to be their Farm Director. I think that's a great fit for them because Tito has been around so many great ball players and after years of playing and coaching at the big league level, he knows what to look for talent wise.

And if that wasn't a big enough splash, they landed Asrdubal Cabrera on a 2/14 million dollar deal. Didi Gregorius clearly wasn't ready to handle the offensive side of the ball this season and it showed. By adding Cabrera, the D-Backs went from rebuild to fringe contender. If their pitching is good this season and if their guys hit, I think they could be a Wild Card contender perhaps. I'm actually pretty interested to see how their season turns out after not playing too well last year.

[Deuce2223]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

Wow A-Ram is going to need to change his name to Mo Money...

7 years for a guy who is 36 is unreal, then add in the fact it's worth 80 million.

and I thought that Josh Johnson contract was bad.

[ESexton18]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

Lol @ The A-Ram deal. Excited for the new season man, love your work.

[CameRoN0407]

Re: The Cardinal Way Part 3: Inception

I want to see the big trade! damn cliffhangers.