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Cardinals STL

200886–76 (0.531)
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GM: John Mozeliak

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 2008, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$93M
Surplus $M
+7
Win %
0.531
TAB
+7.7
WAB
+3.4
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
42.6
Dead money %
35%
Depth Players
7.0
Dead WAR
-4.2

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

2008 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RYadier Molina119
RJason LaRue57
LMark Johnson10

1B

RAlbert Pujols144
LChris Duncan21
RJosh Phelps4
RTroy Glaus4
RJoe Mather4
LAdam Kennedy3
RJason LaRue3
RYadier Molina2
BFelipe López⇄1
RBrian Barden1

2B

BAaron Miles85
LAdam Kennedy84
BFelipe López⇄30
RBrendan Ryan23
RAlbert Pujols1
RBrian Barden1
LRico Washington1

3B

RTroy Glaus146
BAaron Miles11
BCésar Izturis8
RBrendan Ryan5
RBrian Barden4
BFelipe López⇄4
LRico Washington4
RJoe Mather1

SS

BCésar Izturis130
RBrendan Ryan40
BAaron Miles27
BFelipe López⇄4

LF

LSkip Schumaker56
LChris Duncan43
RBrian Barton36
RRyan Ludwick29
RJoe Mather25
LRick Ankiel17
RNick Stavinoha13
BFelipe López⇄5
BAaron Miles4
RJosh Phelps3
RBrendan Ryan1
LAdam Kennedy1
LRico Washington1

CF

LRick Ankiel89
LSkip Schumaker79
RJoe Mather15
RRyan Ludwick14
RBrian Barton2
BAaron Miles1

RF

RRyan Ludwick124
LSkip Schumaker33
RJoe Mather15
RBrian Barton10
LAdam Kennedy9
RNick Stavinoha5
RBrendan Ryan3
RJosh Phelps2
LChris Duncan2
BAaron Miles1
BFelipe López⇄1
LRico Washington1
LRick Ankiel1

DH

RNick Stavinoha4
RAlbert Pujols3
LAdam Kennedy1
LChris Duncan1
RYadier Molina1

Starters

RAdam Wainwright3.0 WAR
RKyle Lohse2.5 WAR
RBraden Looper2.3 WAR
RTodd Wellemeyer1.7 WAR
RBrad Thompson0.6 WAR
RJoel Pineiro0.5 WAR
RChris Carpenter0.3 WAR
LMark Mulder-0.0 WAR
RMike Parisi-0.1 WAR
LJaime Garcia-0.3 WAR
RMitchell Boggs-0.5 WAR

Bullpen

★ RRyan Franklin17 sv
RKyle McClellan30 h
LRon Villone16 h
RRuss Springer15 h
LRandy Flores14 h
RChris Perez6 h
RJason Isringhausen2 h
RKelvin Jimenez0 h

Each position shows its top 3 by games (top = starter) — click "+more" for the rest. The letter is bats/throws; ⇄ marks a player traded mid-season. Starters are ranked by WAR, bullpen by holds; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.

Key additions (new vs 2007)

PlayerfWAR
Troy Glaus4.8
Kyle Lohse2.5
Felipe Lopez1.7
Cesar Izturis1.0
Brian Barton0.9
Jason Motte0.6

Key subtractions (gone from 2007)

Player2007 fWAR
Scott Rolen2.4
Kip Wells1.6
David Eckstein0.7
Troy Percival0.6
Jim Edmonds0.5
So Taguchi0.4

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Cardinals. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 2008; everyone else is shown as a 2008 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Ryan Ludwick 2008 +5.3 +87.6 0.4 +87.2 $0.1M 2.05× –
Albert Pujols 2008 +8.7 +95.4 13.9 +81.5 $1.6M 1.37× –
Adam Wainwright 2008 +3.0 +46.3 0.7 +45.7 $0.2M 1.96× –
Troy Glaus 2008 +4.8 +48.1 12.5 +35.6 $2.6M 1.25× –
Yadier Molina 2008 +4.1 +36.3 1.8 +34.5 $0.4M 1.12× –
Kyle Lohse 2008 +2.5 +29.2 4.2 +25.0 $1.7M 1.49× –
Braden Looper 2008 +2.3 +26.9 5.5 +21.4 $2.4M 1.49× –
Todd Wellemeyer 2008 +1.7 +19.7 1.0 +18.7 $0.6M 1.49× –
Skip Schumaker 2008 +1.8 +17.8 0.4 +17.4 $0.2M 1.22× –
Rick Ankiel 2008 +1.7 +16.1 0.9 +15.2 $0.5M 1.22× –
Felipe Lopez↔ 2008 +1.7 +11.4 1.5 +9.9 $0.8M 0.82× –
Aaron Miles 2008 +1.6 +10.3 1.4 +8.9 $0.9M 0.82× –
Brian Barton 2008 +0.9 +6.3 0.4 +5.9 $0.4M 0.83× –
Kyle McClellan 2008 +0.3 +3.3 0.4 +2.9 $1.3M 1.34× –
Adam Kennedy 2008 +1.4 +6.3 3.5 +2.8 $2.5M 0.56× –
Brad Thompson 2008 +0.6 +3.3 0.4 +2.8 $0.7M 0.67× –
Cesar Izturis 2008 +1.0 +4.8 2.9 +1.9 $2.9M 0.61× –
Brendan Ryan 2008 +0.4 +2.2 0.4 +1.8 $0.9M 0.61× –
Josh Kinney 2008 +0.1 +0.8 0.4 +0.4 $2.7M 0.67× –
Russ Springer 2008 +0.6 +3.4 3.5 -0.1 $5.4M 0.67× –
Jason LaRue 2008 -0.0 -0.1 0.8 -0.9 – 0.52× –
Joel Pineiro 2008 +0.5 +4.4 5.5 -1.1 $10.3M 1.02× –
Rico Washington 2008 -0.2 -0.8 0.4 -1.2 – 0.58× –
Ron Villone 2008 -0.2 -0.8 0.6 -1.4 – 0.67× –
Randy Flores 2008 -0.3 -1.4 1.0 -2.4 – 0.67× –
Chris Duncan 2008 -0.4 -2.6 0.4 -3.0 – 0.83× –
Ryan Franklin 2008 -0.4 -4.2 2.2 -6.5 – 1.34× –
Mark Mulder 2008 -0.0 -0.2 7.0 -7.2 – 0.67× –
Chris Carpenter 2008 +0.3 +2.3 10.5 -8.2 $37.9M 1.02× –
Jason Isringhausen 2008 -0.3 -3.2 8.0 -11.2 – 1.34× –
Anthony Reyes↔ 2008 +0.0 +0.3 0.2 +0.0 $5.0M 0.67× –
Brian Barden 2008 -0.1 -0.5 – – – 0.58× –
Chris Perez 2008 -0.1 -0.8 – – – 1.34× –
Jaime García 2008 -0.3 -1.6 – – – 0.67× –
Jason Motte 2008 +0.6 +3.4 – – – 0.67× –
Joe Mather 2008 +0.6 +4.0 – – – 0.83× –
Josh Phelps 2008 -0.3 -1.2 – – – 0.56× –
Kelvin Jimenez 2008 -0.6 -3.0 – – – 0.67× –
Mark Johnson 2008 +0.0 +0.2 – – – 0.52× –
Mark Worrell 2008 +0.1 +0.4 – – – 0.67× –
Mike Parisi 2008 -0.1 -0.4 – – – 0.67× –
Mitchell Boggs 2008 -0.5 -3.8 – – – 1.02× –
Nick Stavinoha 2008 -0.6 -4.1 – – – 0.83× –
Total—+42.2+461.892.7+376.3—

Trades

Every graded 2008 deal involving the Cardinals — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 3 total.

2008 · SDP / STL
SDP · Kevin Towers +$37.6M
Mark Worrell, Luke Gregerson
STL · John Mozeliak −$37.6M
Khalil Greene
SDP came out ahead by $37.6M
2008 · CLE / STL
CLE · Mark Shapiro +$2.4M
Anthony Reyes
STL · John Mozeliak −$2.4M
Luis Perdomo
CLE came out ahead by $2.4M
2008 · TOR / STL
TOR · JP Ricciardi +$23.2M
Scott Rolen
STL · John Mozeliak −$23.2M
Troy Glaus
TOR came out ahead by $23.2M

Current & Historical Payroll

2008 payroll
$92.8M

What the front office was committed to as of 2008, 2008–2014. Pre-2015 has no contract-terms data — forward italic $ are realized actuals (hindsight, not commitments known then). Control labels (ARB/FA) are point-in-time.

current $ guaranteed $ actual $ (hindsight) arbitration (proj) pre-arb (proj) free agent

Guaranteed / signed (20)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Albert Pujols287.000$13.9M$14.4M$14.6M$14.5MFREE AGENT
Troy Glaus3110.000$12.5M$12.1MFREE AGENT
Chris Carpenter3311.000$10.5M$13.3M$15.8M$14.3M$10.5MFREE AGENT
Jason Isringhausen3513.000$8.0MFREE AGENT
Mark Mulder308.000$7.0MFREE AGENT
Joel Pineiro298.000$5.5M$7.5MFREE AGENT
Braden Looper3310.000$5.5MFREE AGENT
Kyle Lohse297.000$4.2M$7.4M$9.2M$12.2M$11.9MFREE AGENT
Russ Springer3916.000$3.5MFREE AGENT
Adam Kennedy329.000$3.5MFREE AGENT
Cesar Izturis287.000$2.9MFREE AGENT
Ryan Franklin359.000$2.2M$2.5M$3.0M$3.2MFREE AGENT
Felipe Lopez287.000$1.5MFREE AGENT$965k
Randy Flores326.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Rick Ankiel289.000$900k$2.8MFREE AGENT
Jason LaRue349.000$850k$950k$950kFREE AGENT
Ron Villone3813.000$600kFREE AGENT
Ryan Ludwick296.000$411k$3.7M$3.1MFREE AGENT
Mark Johnson3210.000—FREE AGENT
Josh Phelps308.000—FREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (8)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Yadier Molina254.000$1.8MARB 3FREE AGENT
Aaron Miles315.000$1.4MFREE AGENT
Todd Wellemeyer295.000$1.0MFREE AGENT
Adam Wainwright263.000$688kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Chris Duncan273.000$439kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brad Thompson263.000$414kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Skip Schumaker283.000$396kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Anthony Reyes263.000$245kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (15)

PlayerAgeSvc2008200920102011201220132014
Brendan Ryan261.000$393kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Rico Washington300.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Josh Kinney292.000$390kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brian Barton260.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kyle McClellan240.000$390kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jason Motte260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jaime García210.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mike Parisi25–—
Brian Barden271.000—Pre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Mark Worrell25–—
Chris Perez220.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Nick Stavinoha260.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Joe Mather250.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kelvin Jimenez27–—
Mitchell Boggs240.000—Pre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 2008 acquisition stacked onto Cardinals's playoff-odds curve. The side table is ranked by PPA.

Rosternomics — front-office performance, roster value, and transaction history. Follow @rosternomics on X.
Decision-maker records extend to 1933; resource-controlled WAR and payroll metrics cover 1985–2026. Data sources include FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference, the Chadwick Bureau register, the Lahman Database, prospect rankings from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and FanGraphs, and public payroll records. Transaction and trade data was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Executive birth/death data via Wikidata (CC0).
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