GM: Walt Jocketty
2002: made playoffs · 97–65. Ranks are vs the 30 teams that season.
Each position lists its starter then backups by games (so platoons & bench show). Starters (mound) & bullpen (left, foul territory) are ranked by WAR; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.
| Player | Age | Service | G | fWAR | Salary $M | Surplus $M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Edmonds | 32 | FA-elig | 144 | 6.7 | 7.3 | +4.2 |
| Albert Pujols | 22 | pre-arb | 157 | 5.4 | 0.6 | +8.7 |
| Matt Morris | 27 | arb | 32 | 4.3 | 4.0 | +3.5 |
| Edgar Renteria | 25 | FA-elig | 152 | 4.1 | 6.0 | +1.0 |
| Scott Rolen↔ PHI | 27 | FA-elig | 55 | 3.0 | 3.1 | +2.0 |
| Jason Isringhausen | 29 | FA-elig | 60 | 2.5 | 2.8 | +1.6 |
| Eli Marrero | 28 | arb | 131 | 2.5 | 0.8 | +3.5 |
| Woody Williams | 35 | FA-elig | 18 | 2.2 | 7.3 | -3.5 |
| J.D. Drew | 26 | arb | 135 | 1.8 | 3.1 | +0.1 |
| Chuck Finley↔ CLE | 39 | FA-elig | 14 | 1.8 | 3.5 | -0.3 |
| Placido Polanco↔ PHI | 26 | arb | 94 | 1.6 | 1.1 | +1.6 |
| Tino Martinez | 34 | FA-elig | 150 | 1.3 | 5.8 | -3.5 |
| Mike Matheny | 31 | FA-elig | 110 | 1.0 | 2.5 | -0.7 |
| Eduardo Perez | 32 | FA-elig | 96 | 1.0 | 0.5 | +1.3 |
| Mike Crudale | 25 | – | 49 | 1.0 | – | – |
| Andy Benes | 34 | FA-elig | 19 | 1.0 | 6.4 | -4.7 |
| Jason Simontacchi | 28 | – | 25 | 1.0 | – | – |
| Rick White↔ COL | 33 | FA-elig | 20 | 0.7 | 0.3 | +0.9 |
| Steve Kline | 29 | arb | 66 | 0.7 | 1.2 | -0.0 |
| Darryl Kile | 33 | FA-elig | 14 | 0.6 | 7.2 | -6.1 |
| Fernando Viña | 33 | FA-elig | 150 | 0.5 | 4.3 | -3.4 |
| Bud Smith | 22 | – | 11 | 0.5 | – | – |
| So Taguchi | 32 | – | 19 | 0.4 | – | – |
| Mike DiFelice | 33 | FA-elig | 70 | 0.2 | 0.8 | -0.3 |
| Garrett Stephenson | 30 | FA-elig | 12 | 0.2 | 0.9 | -0.5 |
| Miguel Cairo | 28 | FA-elig | 108 | 0.2 | 0.6 | -0.3 |
| Ivan Cruz | 34 | – | 17 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Wilson Delgado | 29 | – | 12 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Kerry Robinson | 28 | arb | 124 | 0.1 | 0.2 | -0.1 |
| Luther Hackman | 27 | arb | 43 | 0.0 | 0.2 | -0.2 |
| Mike Coolbaugh | 30 | – | 5 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Josh Pearce | 24 | – | 3 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Jose Rodriguez↔ MIN | 27 | – | 2 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Nerio Rodriguez↔ CLE | 31 | – | 2 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Matt Duff | 27 | – | 7 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Mike Timlin↔ PHI | 36 | FA-elig | 42 | -0.1 | 3.1 | -3.2 |
| Gabe Molina | 27 | – | 12 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Mike Matthews↔ MIL | 28 | pre-arb | 43 | -0.1 | 0.3 | -0.5 |
| Travis Smith | 29 | – | 12 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Kevin Joseph | 25 | – | 11 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Jamey Wright↔ MIL | 27 | FA-elig | 4 | -0.2 | 0.7 | -1.1 |
| Gene Stechschulte | 28 | pre-arb | 29 | -0.3 | 0.3 | -0.8 |
| Dave Veres | 35 | FA-elig | 71 | -0.3 | 4.2 | -4.8 |
| Jeff Fassero↔ CHC | 39 | FA-elig | 16 | -0.3 | 0.6 | -1.2 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| Scott Rolen | 3.0 |
| Jason Isringhausen | 2.5 |
| Chuck Finley | 1.8 |
| Tino Martinez | 1.3 |
| Eduardo Perez | 1.0 |
| Mike Crudale | 1.0 |
| Player | 2001 fWAR |
|---|---|
| Craig Paquette | 1.1 |
| Ray Lankford | 0.6 |
| Mark McGwire | 0.6 |
| Dustin Hermanson | 0.1 |
| T.J. Mathews | 0.1 |
| Luis Saturria | -0.0 |
What the front office was committed to as of 2002, 2002–2008. 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.
| Player | Age | Svc | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Edmonds | 32 | 9.000 | $7.3M | $8.3M | $9.3M | $10.3M | $12.1M | $9.6M | FREE AGENT |
| Woody Williams | 35 | 9.000 | $7.3M | $6.0M | $8.0M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Darryl Kile | 33 | 11.000 | $7.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Andy Benes | 34 | 13.000 | $6.4M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Edgar Renteria | 25 | 6.000 | $6.0M | $6.5M | $7.2M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Tino Martinez | 34 | 12.000 | $5.8M | $7.5M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Fernando Viña | 33 | 9.000 | $4.3M | $5.3M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Dave Veres | 35 | 8.000 | $4.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Chuck Finley | 39 | 16.000 | $3.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Mike Timlin | 36 | 11.000 | $3.1M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Scott Rolen | 27 | 6.000 | $3.1M | $7.6M | $8.6M | $11.6M | $12.5M | $12.3M | FREE AGENT |
| Jason Isringhausen | 29 | 7.000 | $2.8M | $7.2M | $7.8M | $7.0M | $8.8M | $8.8M | $8.0M |
| Mike Matheny | 31 | 8.000 | $2.5M | $3.2M | $4.0M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Garrett Stephenson | 30 | 6.000 | $900k | $800k | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Mike DiFelice | 33 | 6.000 | $750k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jamey Wright | 27 | 6.000 | $739k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jeff Fassero | 39 | 11.000 | $614k | $1.2M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Miguel Cairo | 28 | 6.000 | $600k | $850k | FREE AGENT | $494k | |||
| Eduardo Perez | 32 | 9.000 | $450k | $500k | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Rick White | 33 | 8.000 | $328k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Wilson Delgado | 29 | 6.000 | — | $212k | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Nerio Rodriguez | 31 | 6.000 | — | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Morris | 27 | 5.000 | $4.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| J.D. Drew | 26 | 4.000 | $3.1M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Steve Kline | 29 | 5.000 | $1.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Placido Polanco | 26 | 4.000 | $1.1M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Eli Marrero | 28 | 5.000 | $850k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Kerry Robinson | 28 | 4.000 | $250k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Luther Hackman | 27 | 3.000 | $245k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Ivan Cruz | 34 | 5.000 | — | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Travis Smith | 29 | 4.000 | — | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Pujols | 22 | 1.000 | $600k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Mike Matthews | 28 | 2.000 | $274k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Gene Stechschulte | 28 | 2.000 | $265k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Gabe Molina | 27 | – | — | ||||||
| Mike Coolbaugh | 30 | – | — | ||||||
| Kevin Joseph | 25 | – | — | ||||||
| Jose Rodriguez | 27 | – | — | ||||||
| Bud Smith | 22 | – | — | ||||||
| Mike Crudale | 25 | – | — | ||||||
| Josh Pearce | 24 | – | — | ||||||
| So Taguchi | 32 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Jason Simontacchi | 28 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Matt Duff | 27 | – | — |
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cardinals 2002; the black line = the league-average player at each slot that season. Staying above the line deep into the roster is the depth edge; dropping below it = holes & dead weight.
| Regime | Seasons | Win % | Playoff % | Pennant % | WS % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WINDOW | 289 | 52.2 | 30.1 | 4.8 | 1.0 |
| CONTEND | 311 | 56.8 | 63.0 | 19.3 | 10.3 |
| FORCED-SPEND | 260 | 47.9 | 8.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| REBUILD | 328 | 43.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Not enough history to chart.
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