Cardinals Trim Front Office Staff; Isringhausen, Ludwick Among Cuts

With the ongoing pandemic continuing to leave its ugly marks everywhere we look, news broke Friday of some layoffs within the Cardinals’ organization.

Mark Saxon of The Athletic reported that it’s one area-scout and several part-time positions that have been cut. Right now, we don’t know the names of all the individuals who were let go, but Rob Rains of the StL Sports Page confirmed three of them: Jason Isringhausen, Ryan Ludwick, and Dann Bilardello.

Jason Isringhausen and Ryan Ludwick were roving instructors in the minors, roles they took on together back in January of 2018. Isringhausen spent seven seasons as St. Louis’s closer, helping the Cardinals win four Central division titles and the 2006 World Series along the way. Isringhausen racked up 217 saves for St. Louis and holds the franchise record for saves, as he surpassed Lee Smith’s record of 160 that stood for nearly 13 years. Isringhausen was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame last summer.

Ludwick spent three years (2007-2009) with the Cardinals and had the best year of his 12-year career in 2008; Ludwick was an All-Star and won a Silver Slugger Award, with a career-high 37 home runs and .299 batting average in 152 games. Ludwick, though not in the team Hall of Fame, is already in the baseball history books. Ludwick is one of only five players since 1900 to have played more than 1,000 games batting right-handed and throwing left-handed. Another player on that list of five is Rickey Henderson.

Dann Bilardello is the lesser-known name of these three. Bilardello has been in the Cardinals farm system since 2010, serving as manager of the Palm Beach Cardinals since 2017. The Cardinals were co-champions of the Florida State League in 2017, and Bilardello was the Florida State League Manager of the Year in 2018.