Kazia Steele, the lowest ranking member of the St. Louis Cardinals media relations team and one of few black people who work for the organization, was let go by the team last week “because I no longer fit in the budget,” she told me.
A total class act, Steele was the lone person that actually had a smile on her face while doing her job at Busch Stadium. I’m sure few media members even know that this was the woman who handed out daily credentials.
With her salary off the books now, the door must be wide open to take a run at Alex Rodriguez if he opts out of his New York Yankees contract.
Steele’s dollars can certainly be thrown into a sign-and-trade contract to obtain the game’s best left-handed starting pitcher, Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins.
Certainly, the Cardinals are dumping big-money pacts with people like Steele so that the 2008 team will be a powerhouse.
And of course, the jump in ticket prices (including a hefty spike for the folks in the bleachers) will go to signing a big-numbers bat or heralded starting pitcher.
Unfortunately, this is not true.
This is why Walt Jocketty is no longer the general manager. This is why Tony La Russa is hesitant to return as manager next season and beyond.
The fact is that the Cardinals have decided to do things on the cheap. It’s now a reality, folks, and we have to face it.
Over the past week, the team re-signed relievers Russ Springer and Joel Pineiro. Oh boy, that’s exciting.
One did well as a middle reliever; one earned a place on the team next year with a few solid starts and laudable resilience.
But this isn’t enough to overtake the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers.
It won’t be enough to hold off the rebuilding Houston Astros.
And now that Dusty Baker is in the mix as manager of the Cincinnati Reds, that team could well pass the Cardinals in the standings. Well, maybe in two years. Baker will do nothing but struggle next year.
La Russa says he wants a general manger in place before he makes his decision. The talk is that interim GM John Mozeliak will get the job.
With La Russ and Mozeliak in place, the Cardinals can put on an air of stability, something that was missing throughout most of the miserable 2007 campaign.
But last week during an interview on KFNS, Mozeliak conceded the 2008 season with one sentence.
He said the Cardinals would have to rely on Mark Mulder returning from a second surgery on his shoulder in time to help the team down the stretch.
He said Chris Carpenter is a much longer shot at coming back. But he said the team was relying on Mulder’s return.
Let me translate.
The Cardinals are not going to sign a big-name pitcher. The Cardinals will continue with the penny-pinching ways that led to the 2007 disaster.
I’m not upset with the fact that the team sees a need to develop its own players and to get younger on the field.
But with more and more money coming in, and less and less going to the team, next season is sizing up to be another rough one.
Are you ready for that Cardinal Nation?