Restoring the Rosters, an Updated View

 In 2009 a series of articles were written by NBC where they restored each teams roster by constructing it with only players originally signed by that club.  I think we should revisit this, but with an updated look at what our system has provided in just the past few years.    

Here is the original article and roster for the Cardinals from 2009:

17. Cardinals

Producing the game's best player and one of the top five pitchers only goes so far. The Cardnals' lack of pitching depth leaves them right in the middle of these rankings.

Rotation:
Dan Haren
Braden Looper
Anthony Reyes
Mitchell Boggs
Brad Thompson

Bullpen:
Kyle McClellan
Luke Gregerson
Chris Perez
Jason Motte
Josh Kinney
Jess Todd
Blake Hawksworth

The Cardinals haven't had a high first-round pick since taking J.D. Drew in 1998, but they've missed on an awful lot of pitchers with selections in the 20s and 30s. 12 of the 19 first- and supplemental first-round picks they've had since then have been pitchers, but only three have reached the majors: Perez, likely bust Chris Lambert and the recently traded Clayton Mortensen.

So what we're left with here is Haren and not much else. Looper, the third overall pick in the 1996 draft, is a mediocre closer turned No. 4 starter. Reyes has No. 3-starter talent, but he may never be able to stay healthy. He's out until late next year following Tommy John surgery. Boggs is a fringe fifth starter, and Thompson is most useful in middle relief. The bullpen is more promising. Both McClellan and Gregerson are shaping up as excellent setup men, and Perez and Motte still have a fair amount of promise. Todd might end up being better than all of them.

Lineup:
3B Adam Kennedy
2B Placido Polanco
RF J.D. Drew
1B Albert Pujols
LF Rick Ankiel
C Yadier Molina
CF Colby Rasmus
SS Jack Wilson

Bench:
2B/OF Skip Schumaker
CF Coco Crisp
INF Brendan Ryan
OF Terry Evans
C Mike DiFelice

Another star would be nice, but Tony La Russa would be happy with the flexibility provided by this lineup. Also, the excellent defense will help all of those starters who won't be recording many strikeouts. Molina, Pujols, Wilson all rank among the game's best at their positions, and Polanco is still a surehanded asset at second. The outfield defense is a little above average with this arrangement and significantly better when Crisp starts and Rasmus goes to a corner. Against lefties, Ryan should start over Kennedy, Crisp over Ankiel and perhaps Evans over one of the other two outfielders.

Summary

The Cardinals have struggled to keep pitching prospects healthy and are paying for it in these rankings. It's worth wondering just how much better off they'd be if they concentrated more on producing hitters over these last 10 years. After all, in Dave Duncan, they have a pitching coach who excels at turning around veteran starters. They could have played to that strength a little better.

Of course, it's not as though the Cardinals are struggling. It looked like they're set to reach the playoffs for the seventh time in 10 years, and they won it all in 2006. While I generally give a lot more credit to general managers than field managers, in this case, La Russa and Duncan deserve the praise, probably more so than former GM Walt Jocketty.

Now, we can plug in some of our more recent prospects and break out players for an updated roster of:

Rotation:
Dan Haren
Jaime Garcia
Kyle McClellan
Anthony Reyes
Mitchell Boggs

Bullpen:
Eduardo Sanchez
Luke Gregerson
Chris Perez
Jason Motte
Josh Kinney
Jess Todd
Blake Hawksworth

What the Cardinals have here are a solid 1-2 punch of Haren and Garcia followed by a probably number 3 to 4 starter in McClellan and two former prospects who never figured it out as starters.   Boggs has since become a reliable reliever and possible future closer while Reyes has been lost in the mix with Cleveland.   While this rotation isn’t spectacular, it has a very deep bullpen to rely on.

What the Cardinals lack in the rotation, the bullpen makes up for.  In Gregerson, Perez, Motte, and Sanchez, the Cards have four possible closers.  Hawksworth and Todd aren’t too shabby as mid reliever/long relief guys either.   Kinney becomes the defacto right handed LOOGY of sorts as the Cards don’t have much left handed relief.  

You could also mix and match PJ Walters, Fernando Salas, and prospects Reifer, Samuel, and Miller if you really wanted to.

Lineup:
LF Jon Jay
2B Placido Polanco
1B Albert Pujols
CF Colby Rasmus
3B Allen Craig
RF JD Drew
C Yadier Molina
SS Brendan Ryan


Bench:
2B/OF Skip Schumaker
CF Coco Crisp
INF Tyler Greene
INF Daniel Descalso
C Bryan Anderson

The lineup is a solid, if not good combination of power, speed, defense, and grit.  You could switch Jay and Polanco between leadoff, dropping Jay farther down the lineup and inserting Colby in the second slot.  But with fewer power options other than Craig and Drew, Id keep Colby hitting 4th.  Defense up the middle would be spectacular with Molina, Ryan, Polanco, and Rasmus and the right side wouldn’t be too shabby either with some guy named Pujols at first and Drew holding his own in right.  Jay in left would cover lots of ground.   The only position of worry would be third with Craig, but even then he would be average.  

The Bench is a true TLR bench as it would allow Tony to mix and match until he passes out from jumping up and down screaming like a little girl at a Justin Bieber concert.   Want to move Craig to right?  Sure! You can use Greene or Descalso at 3rd.  Want to give Colby a day off?  Just move Jay to center and Craig in left!

Does any of this mean a darn thing in the long run, now that we have players like Holliday, Wainwright, and Carpenter?  Nope, but it sure if fun to think about!