GM: Walt Jocketty
2006: World Series champions · 83–78. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Pujols | 26 | arb | 143 | 8.1 | 14.0 | +2.2 |
| Scott Rolen | 31 | FA-elig | 142 | 5.5 | 12.5 | -1.6 |
| Chris Carpenter | 31 | FA-elig | 32 | 4.7 | 5.0 | +4.4 |
| Jeff Suppan | 31 | FA-elig | 32 | 2.4 | 4.0 | +0.7 |
| Chris Duncan | 25 | – | 90 | 2.3 | – | – |
| Jim Edmonds | 36 | FA-elig | 110 | 1.7 | 12.1 | -8.6 |
| David Eckstein | 31 | arb | 123 | 1.5 | 3.3 | -0.3 |
| Adam Wainwright | 24 | pre-arb | 61 | 1.5 | 0.3 | +2.6 |
| Scott Spiezio | 33 | – | 119 | 1.3 | – | – |
| Braden Looper | 31 | FA-elig | 69 | 1.2 | 3.5 | -1.1 |
| Hector Luna↔ CLE | 26 | pre-arb | 76 | 1.0 | 0.2 | +1.8 |
| Sidney Ponson↔ NYY | 29 | FA-elig | 14 | 0.7 | 0.7 | +0.6 |
| Juan Encarnacion | 30 | FA-elig | 153 | 0.6 | 3.5 | -2.2 |
| John Rodriguez | 28 | pre-arb | 102 | 0.6 | 0.3 | +0.9 |
| Preston Wilson↔ HOU | 31 | FA-elig | 33 | 0.4 | 1.0 | -0.2 |
| Brad Thompson | 24 | pre-arb | 43 | 0.3 | 0.3 | +0.3 |
| Jose Vizcaino↔ SFG | 38 | FA-elig | 16 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +0.2 |
| Ronnie Belliard↔ CLE | 31 | FA-elig | 54 | 0.2 | 1.5 | -1.1 |
| Josh Hancock | 28 | arb | 62 | 0.2 | 0.4 | +0.0 |
| Mark Mulder | 28 | FA-elig | 17 | 0.2 | 7.8 | -7.4 |
| So Taguchi | 36 | arb | 134 | 0.1 | 0.8 | -0.5 |
| Brian Falkenborg | 28 | – | 5 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Josh Kinney | 27 | – | 21 | 0.1 | 0.2 | +0.0 |
| Chris Narveson | 24 | – | 5 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Anthony Reyes | 24 | – | 18 | 0.0 | – | – |
| Jeff Weaver↔ ANA | 29 | FA-elig | 17 | 0.0 | 4.3 | -4.2 |
| Randy Flores | 30 | arb | 65 | 0.0 | 0.3 | -0.3 |
| John Gall | 28 | – | 8 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Larry Bigbie | 28 | arb | 17 | -0.1 | 0.9 | -1.0 |
| Mike Rose | 29 | – | 10 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Jason Marquis | 27 | FA-elig | 46 | -0.1 | 5.2 | -5.4 |
| Ricardo Rincon | 36 | FA-elig | 5 | -0.2 | 1.2 | -1.5 |
| John Nelson | 27 | – | 8 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Timo Perez | 31 | – | 23 | -0.2 | – | – |
| Yadier Molina | 23 | pre-arb | 129 | -0.3 | 0.4 | -0.9 |
| Skip Schumaker | 26 | pre-arb | 28 | -0.3 | 0.3 | -0.9 |
| Tyler Johnson | 25 | – | 56 | -0.3 | – | – |
| Gary Bennett | 34 | FA-elig | 60 | -0.5 | 0.8 | -1.8 |
| Aaron Miles | 29 | arb | 135 | -0.6 | 0.3 | -1.5 |
| Jorge Sosa↔ ATL | 28 | arb | 19 | -0.6 | 0.9 | -2.2 |
| Jason Isringhausen | 33 | FA-elig | 59 | -0.9 | 8.8 | -10.6 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| Scott Spiezio | 1.3 |
| Braden Looper | 1.2 |
| Sidney Ponson | 0.7 |
| Juan Encarnacion | 0.6 |
| Preston Wilson | 0.4 |
| Jose Vizcaino | 0.2 |
| Player | 2005 fWAR |
|---|---|
| Mark Grudzielanek | 2.8 |
| Matt Morris | 2.4 |
| Larry Walker | 2.2 |
| Reggie Sanders | 1.7 |
| Al Reyes | 1.3 |
| Abraham O. Nunez | 1.2 |
What the front office was committed to as of 2006, 2006–2012. 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 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Rolen | 31 | 10.000 | $12.5M | $12.3M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Jim Edmonds | 36 | 13.000 | $12.1M | $9.6M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Jason Isringhausen | 33 | 11.000 | $8.8M | $8.8M | $8.0M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Mark Mulder | 28 | 6.000 | $7.8M | $4.5M | $7.0M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Jason Marquis | 27 | 6.000 | $5.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Chris Carpenter | 31 | 9.000 | $5.0M | $8.5M | $10.5M | $13.3M | $15.8M | $14.3M | $10.5M |
| Jeff Weaver | 29 | 7.000 | $4.3M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jeff Suppan | 31 | 11.000 | $4.0M | FREE AGENT | $6.4M | ||||
| Juan Encarnacion | 30 | 9.000 | $3.5M | $5.0M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Braden Looper | 31 | 8.000 | $3.5M | $4.5M | $5.5M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Ronnie Belliard | 31 | 8.000 | $1.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Ricardo Rincon | 36 | 9.000 | $1.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Preston Wilson | 31 | 8.000 | $978k | $1.0M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Gary Bennett | 34 | 11.000 | $800k | $850k | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Sidney Ponson | 29 | 8.000 | $737k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jose Vizcaino | 38 | 17.000 | $245k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Scott Spiezio | 33 | 10.000 | — | $2.1M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Brian Falkenborg | 28 | 7.000 | — | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Timo Perez | 31 | 6.000 | — | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Pujols | 26 | 5.000 | $14.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| David Eckstein | 31 | 5.000 | $3.3M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Jorge Sosa | 28 | 4.000 | $909k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Larry Bigbie | 28 | 5.000 | $900k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| So Taguchi | 36 | 4.000 | $825k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Josh Hancock | 28 | 4.000 | $355k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Randy Flores | 30 | 4.000 | $350k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Aaron Miles | 29 | 3.000 | $350k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yadier Molina | 23 | 2.000 | $400k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Brad Thompson | 24 | 1.000 | $334k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| John Rodriguez | 28 | 1.000 | $332k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Skip Schumaker | 26 | 1.000 | $329k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Adam Wainwright | 24 | 1.000 | $327k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Hector Luna | 26 | 2.000 | $229k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Josh Kinney | 27 | 0.000 | $218k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Chris Duncan | 25 | 1.000 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Mike Rose | 29 | – | — | ||||||
| Chris Narveson | 24 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| John Gall | 28 | – | — | ||||||
| Tyler Johnson | 25 | 1.000 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Anthony Reyes | 24 | 1.000 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| John Nelson | 27 | – | — |
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cardinals 2006; 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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