Post by dukecrunchybagel on Apr 23, 2008 20:56:34 GMT -5
He was GM of the Cardinals for almost 13 years, so he certainly brings a lot of experience to the job. Let's look at some of the specifics over the years:
1995 - Not particularly a stellar year for Walt as he learned the ropes of his job. His very first trade was not a particularly good one sending defensive specialist Luis Alicea to the Red Sox for a couple of prospects who never played a game for the Cardinals.
He got pretty much taken in his second trade with the Red Sox, dealing Rheal Cormier & Mark Whiten to the BoSox for Scott Cooper and Cory Bailey. Whiten was near the end of his career but was still productive for the Red Sox, while Cooper was just awful for the Cardinals.
Kent Hill came and went for unremarkable prospects (save David Bell who would eventually be good for other teams).
Todd Zeile was traded for Mike Morgan and couple of prospects which worked well for both the Cubs and the Cards.
Matt Morris was the best player drafted by the Cards in 1995.
1996 - Jocketty began to remake the team in his own image, trading for Tony LaRussa as manager and bringing over a number of A's. Most of Jocketty's move in this regard worked out very well:
Highly regarded Giants SS Royce Clayton was obtained for three pitchers none of whom worked out all that well (Alan Watson was the best of the bunch). Clayton would be a solid glove and decent enough bat for the Cards for the next couple of years.
Todd Stottlemyre would be acquired for four prospects and be very solid in the Cards rotation. Of the prospects yielded, only Jay Witasick would end up doing anything (and then much later in his career).
Dennis Eckersly came for Steve Montgomery. Eck saved 66 games over his Cards career, while Montgomery only appeared in eight games for the A's.
The only bad trade Jocketty made that year was truly awful; he traded Bernard Gilkey to the Mets for three prospects, none of whom were any good. Gilkey would bat .317 with 30 HRs and 117 RBIs for the Mets.
The 1996 draft class included Braden Looper, Brent Butler, and Randy Flores.
He signed Gary Gaetti to a cheap contract which worked out very well as Gaetti would 23 dingers that year, and 28 over the next year and a half, effectively rejuvenating his career. He also forked out good money to lure Ron Gant from Cincinnati. Gant would be productive for the Cardinals for the next couple of years, but he'd also be fairly constantly battling injuries.
The 1996 Cardinals won their division.
1997:
Jocketty pretty much retains his division winning '96 team but then does a drastic remake when things fall apart. The Cards would not be any good for the next three years.
Delino Deshields is picked up on the cheap and like Gaetti before him is rejuvenated in Saint Louis, batting .295.
The midseason makeover was not an effective one for the current year, but the McGwire trade would of course set the table for the championships of the early decade.
McGwire was obtained three unremarkable prospects, while Danny Jackson & Mark Sweeney would be traded in a largely futile trade with the Padres for Phil Plantier.
The 1997 draft class was headed by Adam Kennedy and Rick Ankiel.
1998:
Walt obviously though his team was closer to the 1996 edition than the 1997 one. He was wrong. His one off-season trade would be a bad one (but good for JB) when he dealt Dmitri Young for Jeff Brantley, who promptly blew up with a 4.94 ERA.
He made one midseason move when the Cards were out of it which ultimately fairly unsuccessful - sending starter Todd Stottlemyre and SS Todd Clayton to the Rangers for Darren Oliver, Fernando Tatis, and Mark Little. Tatis would put up some decent power numbers but have a low batting average.
The best of the draft class was J.D. Drew and Jack Wilson.
1999:
This year would be the last bad one for the Cardinals; the 1999 team wasn’t very good but some of the key pieces that would contribute to the very successful teams of the early 2000’s would be acquired.
Starter Garrett Stephenson and reliever Ricky Bottalico were both acquired for Jeff Brantley, Ron Gant, & Cliff Politte - a deal very much in the Cardinals favor as Stephenson would become a fine starter in 2000 (after a mediocre 1999) and Bottalico was a less-than-average closer with 20 saves for the 4th place Cardinals. None of the three new Phillies contributed much of anything to their new team.
Edgar Renteria was acquired during the Marlins first fire sale for Braden Looper and a couple of bench players – Pablo Ozuna and Armando Almanza. Looper would become the Marlins closer (although often inconsistent), and Renteria would anchor the Cardinals infield for the next six years, winning two golden gloves while hitting consistently better than .270 and .300 in 2002 and 2003.
Kent Bottenfield was signed as a free agent and had two more than serviceable years for the Cardinals before being cashed in for better talent.
The 1999 draft class included Albert Pujols & Coco Crisp
2000:
The Cardinals finally turned it around and became a championship caliber team. A flurry of off-season transactions turned the team around. Three unimpressive players Alberto Castillo, Mike DeWitt, and Lance Painter were shipped to the Blue Jays for Pat Hentgen, who would win 15 games for the 2000 team (despite mediocre stats) and Paul Spoljaric, who was released in Spring Training.
Three more inconsequential prospects (Rick Croshoure, Brent Butler, and Manny Aybar) plus Jose Jimenez, who would end up be an inconsistent closer, were shipped to the Rockies for Daryl Kile, Dave Veres, and Luther Hackman. Kile, of course, resurrected his career, winning 20 games with a 3.91 ERA, and Veres was a key contributor in the bullpen with a 2.85 ERA. (Hackman never amounted to much).
Another key position was filled with the acquisition of second baseman Fernando Vina from the Brewers for Jose Acevedo and a couple of minor leagues (one of which is now a backup catcher for the Giants Eli Alfonzo). Acevedo did well enough for the Brewers (3.81 ERA), but Vina would hit .300 for the Cardinals for each of the next two years as well as .270 in 2002 and .253 in 2003 while winning back-to-back Golden Gloves in 2001 and 2002.
Spring training saw another great move for Jocketty when he sent journeyman starter Kent Bottenfield and young second baseman Adam Kennedy (made expendable with the Vina trade) to the Angels for centerfield Jim Edmonds.
More key pieces were added at the traded deadline by Jocketty, reliever Mike Timlin from the Orioles for Chris Richard and Mark Nussbeck (Richard had about half a good year for the Orioles). Will Clark, who hit .395 with 12 HRs after his acquisition, was grabbed for Jose Leon (who would play 88 games for the Orioles). Veteran left-handed reliever was obtained from the Pirates for shortstop Jack Wilson. Christianson would have two good years for the Cardinals, while Wilson would be a durable glove but weak bat for years to come for the Bucs.
Disappointments for Jocketty in 2000 include his draft class (Yadier Molina being the only one exception) and free agent starter Andy Benes.
After sweeping the Braves, the Cards would go on to lose the NLCS to the surging New York Mets.
2001:
With Placido Polanco ready to come up, tempermental powerhitting thirdbaseman Fernando Tatis was unloaded on the unsuspecting Montreal Expos (who would regret taking on his huge unproductive contract) along with yet another prospect that wouldn’t ban out, Brett Rheames, for fading starter Dustin Hermanson and lefty specialist Kline. This deal was a huge win for Jocketty, getting rid of a bloated contract while Kline would post a 1.80 ERA and Hermanson would be a mediocre back-of-the-rotation starter.
Otherwise, the team was largely the same squad as the 2000 edition, and the results would be similar. Jocketty made two deadline deals, sending Jason Christianson and cash to the Giants for Rick Joseph, which was a bad deal as Christianson would be a solid contributor the Giants bullpen for the next four years. It was more than offset by the excellent deal sending veteran outfielder Rick Lankford to the Padres for Woody Williams. Williams would end up being an excellent addition to the Cardinals staff posting ERAs of 2.98, 2.53, 3.89, and 3.18 over the next four seasons for the Redbirds.
The 2001 team won the Wild Card, but lost in the first round to the soon-to-be World Championship Diamondbacks.
The draft class had Dan Haren and Skip Schumaker.
2002
Again with a fairly successful team, Jocketty largely sat still during the winter, only signing Tino Martinez (who would hit 25 HRs that year) to succeed the retiring McGwire and once again getting screwed with the signing of Andy Benes. In addition, Dustin Hermanson and his bloated contract was dumped on the Red Sox for three prospects; none of them ever amounted to anything, but Hermason was really awful for the BoSox.
The first half was not kind to the Cardinals and found them struggling against the Reds and Astros. Jocketty then pulled off a series of trades at the deadline. Veteran southpaw Chuck Finley, who would go on to win 7 games down the stretch, came from the Indians for Luis Garcia and Coco Crisp. The Cardinals were also the winners of the sweepstakes for the disgruntled third baseman Scott Rolen, traded from the Phllies with Doug Nickle and cash for Placido Polanco, Mike Timlin, and Bud Smith. Both those trades would be win-win propositions for both teams involved. Rolen continued his all-star ways at Busch Stadium, while Polanco would be a solid infielder and Timlin a competent reliever for the Phillies. Crisp would also develop into a fairly decent centerfielder for the Indians.
The 2002 draft was pretty bad, with only 16th round selection Brad Thompson ever seeing action.
The 2002 Cardinals went on to win the division and sweep the Dbacks before getting steamrolled by the Giants in five games in the NLCS.
2003:
Once again, Jocketty largely held his ground this winter, only acquiring Brett Tomko from the Padres in another good deal for him, yielding the unspectacular Luther Hackman and the never-to-appear Mike Wodnicki. Tomko would win match his career high in victories with 13, but was otherwise pretty bad.
Jocketty was strangely quiet during the midseason, acquiring a long past his prime Sterling Hitchcock (who would only appear in six games) and mediocre right hander Mike DeJean. Each cost two prospects that never amounted to anything.
This Card team just missed out on the playoffs by three games at 85-77 to the Cubs, and a game behind the Astros.
The 2003 draft class was pretty decent yielding Daric Barton, Brendan Ryan, and Anthony Reyes.
2004:
The Cardinals returned to the World Series this year, being swept by the Red Sox.
With the lack of success in 2003, Jocketty started remaking the team. Moving Tino Martinez to the Devil Rays for a couple of unremarkable prospects (Martinez would hit 23 dingers for the Rays). In a break-even trade at the time which to date was worked out better for the Cardinals, J.D. Drew and Eli Marerro were shipped to the Braves for Jason Marquis, Ray King, and Adam Wainwright. Finally, Tony Womack was acquired in Spring Training to take over at second baseman for John Duff, another never-to-appear prospect. Womack would respond by batting .307 for his new team.
Jeff Suppan was signed to a reasonable free agent deal and was a solid contributor in the Cardinals rotations (as was Marquis). Also signed very reasonably was Chris Carpenter, who won 15 games with a 3.6 ERA (he’d win the Cy Young award the next year). Reggie Sanders and Ray Lankford were also signed for bargains and made solid contributions in the outfield.
Jocketty made only one significant deal midseason, after the waiver deadline, acquiring Larry Walker for three nonentities. Walker would bat .290 with a .900 OPS and play another year for the Cardinals.
The 2004 draft has so far been a very bad one for the Cardinals – a complete bust.
2005:
Jocketty’s superb GM skills started to take a downturn this year. It started with huge extensions for Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen. The free agent signings were pretty decent with David Eckstein and Mark Grudzielanek both making solid contributions.
Jocketty’s one big off-season deal was definitely his worst, sending Daric Barton, Dan Haren, and Kiko Calero to the A’s for Mike Mulder. Mulder was good enough in his debut season with the Cardinals with a 3.64 ERA and 16 victories, but he would be injured in 2006 and has been unproductive since. Haren, Calero, and Barton have all been solid for the A’s, particularly Haren, who has blossomed into a Cy Young competitor.
Midseason was quiet and the Cardinals would once again win their division and sweep the Padres before once again losing in the NLCS, this year to the Astros.
Despite six picks in the top hundred, the 2005 draft class has again largely been unproductive, with Cody Rasmus the possible exception.
2006:
The 2006 team took advantage of a very weak NL Central and a late season surge to win the World Series over the suddenly inept Detroit Tigers. The off-season was once again largely stand-pat for Jocketty; the only move of note was the shipment of lefty specialist Ray King to the Rockies for Aaron Miles and Larry Bigbie. Bigbie never amounted to anything but King and Miles both were fairly decent acquisitions for their new teams.
Jocketty did sign a plethora of free agents, some which worked out and other which didn’t – Junior Spivey, Branden Looper, Sidney Ponson, Juan Encarnacion, & Scott Spezio.
Midseason he grabbed Jeff Weaver, who won despite being awful, from the Angels, for Terry Evans (still TBD in terms of his ability) and second baseman Ron Belliard from the Indians for Hector Luna (a bust for the Indians) who also contributed out of proportion to his actual performance (.237 in 59 games) and reliever Jorge Sosa from the Braves, who was also awful, for Rich Scalamandre (has never appeared).
2007:
Having won the World Series despite actually having a weak team in terms of talent actually caught up to the Cardinals this year. Carpenter and Mulder would spend most of the year on the DL, and yet Jocketty stood pat.
His free agent signings were a very good addition in Reds reject Ryan Franklin who would be a very solid set-up guy for LaRussa and Dave Duncan and the very disappointing and washed-up Preston Wilson.
Despite the huge drop-off, Jocketty was strangely quiet through the year, finally leaving his long tenure.
1995 - Not particularly a stellar year for Walt as he learned the ropes of his job. His very first trade was not a particularly good one sending defensive specialist Luis Alicea to the Red Sox for a couple of prospects who never played a game for the Cardinals.
He got pretty much taken in his second trade with the Red Sox, dealing Rheal Cormier & Mark Whiten to the BoSox for Scott Cooper and Cory Bailey. Whiten was near the end of his career but was still productive for the Red Sox, while Cooper was just awful for the Cardinals.
Kent Hill came and went for unremarkable prospects (save David Bell who would eventually be good for other teams).
Todd Zeile was traded for Mike Morgan and couple of prospects which worked well for both the Cubs and the Cards.
Matt Morris was the best player drafted by the Cards in 1995.
1996 - Jocketty began to remake the team in his own image, trading for Tony LaRussa as manager and bringing over a number of A's. Most of Jocketty's move in this regard worked out very well:
Highly regarded Giants SS Royce Clayton was obtained for three pitchers none of whom worked out all that well (Alan Watson was the best of the bunch). Clayton would be a solid glove and decent enough bat for the Cards for the next couple of years.
Todd Stottlemyre would be acquired for four prospects and be very solid in the Cards rotation. Of the prospects yielded, only Jay Witasick would end up doing anything (and then much later in his career).
Dennis Eckersly came for Steve Montgomery. Eck saved 66 games over his Cards career, while Montgomery only appeared in eight games for the A's.
The only bad trade Jocketty made that year was truly awful; he traded Bernard Gilkey to the Mets for three prospects, none of whom were any good. Gilkey would bat .317 with 30 HRs and 117 RBIs for the Mets.
The 1996 draft class included Braden Looper, Brent Butler, and Randy Flores.
He signed Gary Gaetti to a cheap contract which worked out very well as Gaetti would 23 dingers that year, and 28 over the next year and a half, effectively rejuvenating his career. He also forked out good money to lure Ron Gant from Cincinnati. Gant would be productive for the Cardinals for the next couple of years, but he'd also be fairly constantly battling injuries.
The 1996 Cardinals won their division.
1997:
Jocketty pretty much retains his division winning '96 team but then does a drastic remake when things fall apart. The Cards would not be any good for the next three years.
Delino Deshields is picked up on the cheap and like Gaetti before him is rejuvenated in Saint Louis, batting .295.
The midseason makeover was not an effective one for the current year, but the McGwire trade would of course set the table for the championships of the early decade.
McGwire was obtained three unremarkable prospects, while Danny Jackson & Mark Sweeney would be traded in a largely futile trade with the Padres for Phil Plantier.
The 1997 draft class was headed by Adam Kennedy and Rick Ankiel.
1998:
Walt obviously though his team was closer to the 1996 edition than the 1997 one. He was wrong. His one off-season trade would be a bad one (but good for JB) when he dealt Dmitri Young for Jeff Brantley, who promptly blew up with a 4.94 ERA.
He made one midseason move when the Cards were out of it which ultimately fairly unsuccessful - sending starter Todd Stottlemyre and SS Todd Clayton to the Rangers for Darren Oliver, Fernando Tatis, and Mark Little. Tatis would put up some decent power numbers but have a low batting average.
The best of the draft class was J.D. Drew and Jack Wilson.
1999:
This year would be the last bad one for the Cardinals; the 1999 team wasn’t very good but some of the key pieces that would contribute to the very successful teams of the early 2000’s would be acquired.
Starter Garrett Stephenson and reliever Ricky Bottalico were both acquired for Jeff Brantley, Ron Gant, & Cliff Politte - a deal very much in the Cardinals favor as Stephenson would become a fine starter in 2000 (after a mediocre 1999) and Bottalico was a less-than-average closer with 20 saves for the 4th place Cardinals. None of the three new Phillies contributed much of anything to their new team.
Edgar Renteria was acquired during the Marlins first fire sale for Braden Looper and a couple of bench players – Pablo Ozuna and Armando Almanza. Looper would become the Marlins closer (although often inconsistent), and Renteria would anchor the Cardinals infield for the next six years, winning two golden gloves while hitting consistently better than .270 and .300 in 2002 and 2003.
Kent Bottenfield was signed as a free agent and had two more than serviceable years for the Cardinals before being cashed in for better talent.
The 1999 draft class included Albert Pujols & Coco Crisp
2000:
The Cardinals finally turned it around and became a championship caliber team. A flurry of off-season transactions turned the team around. Three unimpressive players Alberto Castillo, Mike DeWitt, and Lance Painter were shipped to the Blue Jays for Pat Hentgen, who would win 15 games for the 2000 team (despite mediocre stats) and Paul Spoljaric, who was released in Spring Training.
Three more inconsequential prospects (Rick Croshoure, Brent Butler, and Manny Aybar) plus Jose Jimenez, who would end up be an inconsistent closer, were shipped to the Rockies for Daryl Kile, Dave Veres, and Luther Hackman. Kile, of course, resurrected his career, winning 20 games with a 3.91 ERA, and Veres was a key contributor in the bullpen with a 2.85 ERA. (Hackman never amounted to much).
Another key position was filled with the acquisition of second baseman Fernando Vina from the Brewers for Jose Acevedo and a couple of minor leagues (one of which is now a backup catcher for the Giants Eli Alfonzo). Acevedo did well enough for the Brewers (3.81 ERA), but Vina would hit .300 for the Cardinals for each of the next two years as well as .270 in 2002 and .253 in 2003 while winning back-to-back Golden Gloves in 2001 and 2002.
Spring training saw another great move for Jocketty when he sent journeyman starter Kent Bottenfield and young second baseman Adam Kennedy (made expendable with the Vina trade) to the Angels for centerfield Jim Edmonds.
More key pieces were added at the traded deadline by Jocketty, reliever Mike Timlin from the Orioles for Chris Richard and Mark Nussbeck (Richard had about half a good year for the Orioles). Will Clark, who hit .395 with 12 HRs after his acquisition, was grabbed for Jose Leon (who would play 88 games for the Orioles). Veteran left-handed reliever was obtained from the Pirates for shortstop Jack Wilson. Christianson would have two good years for the Cardinals, while Wilson would be a durable glove but weak bat for years to come for the Bucs.
Disappointments for Jocketty in 2000 include his draft class (Yadier Molina being the only one exception) and free agent starter Andy Benes.
After sweeping the Braves, the Cards would go on to lose the NLCS to the surging New York Mets.
2001:
With Placido Polanco ready to come up, tempermental powerhitting thirdbaseman Fernando Tatis was unloaded on the unsuspecting Montreal Expos (who would regret taking on his huge unproductive contract) along with yet another prospect that wouldn’t ban out, Brett Rheames, for fading starter Dustin Hermanson and lefty specialist Kline. This deal was a huge win for Jocketty, getting rid of a bloated contract while Kline would post a 1.80 ERA and Hermanson would be a mediocre back-of-the-rotation starter.
Otherwise, the team was largely the same squad as the 2000 edition, and the results would be similar. Jocketty made two deadline deals, sending Jason Christianson and cash to the Giants for Rick Joseph, which was a bad deal as Christianson would be a solid contributor the Giants bullpen for the next four years. It was more than offset by the excellent deal sending veteran outfielder Rick Lankford to the Padres for Woody Williams. Williams would end up being an excellent addition to the Cardinals staff posting ERAs of 2.98, 2.53, 3.89, and 3.18 over the next four seasons for the Redbirds.
The 2001 team won the Wild Card, but lost in the first round to the soon-to-be World Championship Diamondbacks.
The draft class had Dan Haren and Skip Schumaker.
2002
Again with a fairly successful team, Jocketty largely sat still during the winter, only signing Tino Martinez (who would hit 25 HRs that year) to succeed the retiring McGwire and once again getting screwed with the signing of Andy Benes. In addition, Dustin Hermanson and his bloated contract was dumped on the Red Sox for three prospects; none of them ever amounted to anything, but Hermason was really awful for the BoSox.
The first half was not kind to the Cardinals and found them struggling against the Reds and Astros. Jocketty then pulled off a series of trades at the deadline. Veteran southpaw Chuck Finley, who would go on to win 7 games down the stretch, came from the Indians for Luis Garcia and Coco Crisp. The Cardinals were also the winners of the sweepstakes for the disgruntled third baseman Scott Rolen, traded from the Phllies with Doug Nickle and cash for Placido Polanco, Mike Timlin, and Bud Smith. Both those trades would be win-win propositions for both teams involved. Rolen continued his all-star ways at Busch Stadium, while Polanco would be a solid infielder and Timlin a competent reliever for the Phillies. Crisp would also develop into a fairly decent centerfielder for the Indians.
The 2002 draft was pretty bad, with only 16th round selection Brad Thompson ever seeing action.
The 2002 Cardinals went on to win the division and sweep the Dbacks before getting steamrolled by the Giants in five games in the NLCS.
2003:
Once again, Jocketty largely held his ground this winter, only acquiring Brett Tomko from the Padres in another good deal for him, yielding the unspectacular Luther Hackman and the never-to-appear Mike Wodnicki. Tomko would win match his career high in victories with 13, but was otherwise pretty bad.
Jocketty was strangely quiet during the midseason, acquiring a long past his prime Sterling Hitchcock (who would only appear in six games) and mediocre right hander Mike DeJean. Each cost two prospects that never amounted to anything.
This Card team just missed out on the playoffs by three games at 85-77 to the Cubs, and a game behind the Astros.
The 2003 draft class was pretty decent yielding Daric Barton, Brendan Ryan, and Anthony Reyes.
2004:
The Cardinals returned to the World Series this year, being swept by the Red Sox.
With the lack of success in 2003, Jocketty started remaking the team. Moving Tino Martinez to the Devil Rays for a couple of unremarkable prospects (Martinez would hit 23 dingers for the Rays). In a break-even trade at the time which to date was worked out better for the Cardinals, J.D. Drew and Eli Marerro were shipped to the Braves for Jason Marquis, Ray King, and Adam Wainwright. Finally, Tony Womack was acquired in Spring Training to take over at second baseman for John Duff, another never-to-appear prospect. Womack would respond by batting .307 for his new team.
Jeff Suppan was signed to a reasonable free agent deal and was a solid contributor in the Cardinals rotations (as was Marquis). Also signed very reasonably was Chris Carpenter, who won 15 games with a 3.6 ERA (he’d win the Cy Young award the next year). Reggie Sanders and Ray Lankford were also signed for bargains and made solid contributions in the outfield.
Jocketty made only one significant deal midseason, after the waiver deadline, acquiring Larry Walker for three nonentities. Walker would bat .290 with a .900 OPS and play another year for the Cardinals.
The 2004 draft has so far been a very bad one for the Cardinals – a complete bust.
2005:
Jocketty’s superb GM skills started to take a downturn this year. It started with huge extensions for Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen. The free agent signings were pretty decent with David Eckstein and Mark Grudzielanek both making solid contributions.
Jocketty’s one big off-season deal was definitely his worst, sending Daric Barton, Dan Haren, and Kiko Calero to the A’s for Mike Mulder. Mulder was good enough in his debut season with the Cardinals with a 3.64 ERA and 16 victories, but he would be injured in 2006 and has been unproductive since. Haren, Calero, and Barton have all been solid for the A’s, particularly Haren, who has blossomed into a Cy Young competitor.
Midseason was quiet and the Cardinals would once again win their division and sweep the Padres before once again losing in the NLCS, this year to the Astros.
Despite six picks in the top hundred, the 2005 draft class has again largely been unproductive, with Cody Rasmus the possible exception.
2006:
The 2006 team took advantage of a very weak NL Central and a late season surge to win the World Series over the suddenly inept Detroit Tigers. The off-season was once again largely stand-pat for Jocketty; the only move of note was the shipment of lefty specialist Ray King to the Rockies for Aaron Miles and Larry Bigbie. Bigbie never amounted to anything but King and Miles both were fairly decent acquisitions for their new teams.
Jocketty did sign a plethora of free agents, some which worked out and other which didn’t – Junior Spivey, Branden Looper, Sidney Ponson, Juan Encarnacion, & Scott Spezio.
Midseason he grabbed Jeff Weaver, who won despite being awful, from the Angels, for Terry Evans (still TBD in terms of his ability) and second baseman Ron Belliard from the Indians for Hector Luna (a bust for the Indians) who also contributed out of proportion to his actual performance (.237 in 59 games) and reliever Jorge Sosa from the Braves, who was also awful, for Rich Scalamandre (has never appeared).
2007:
Having won the World Series despite actually having a weak team in terms of talent actually caught up to the Cardinals this year. Carpenter and Mulder would spend most of the year on the DL, and yet Jocketty stood pat.
His free agent signings were a very good addition in Reds reject Ryan Franklin who would be a very solid set-up guy for LaRussa and Dave Duncan and the very disappointing and washed-up Preston Wilson.
Despite the huge drop-off, Jocketty was strangely quiet through the year, finally leaving his long tenure.
