GM: John Mozeliak
2009: made playoffs · 91–71. 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 | 29 | FA-elig | 160 | 8.4 | 14.4 | +5.5 |
| Adam Wainwright | 27 | arb | 40 | 5.7 | 2.8 | +10.9 |
| Chris Carpenter | 34 | FA-elig | 28 | 5.5 | 13.3 | -0.2 |
| Yadier Molina | 26 | arb | 140 | 4.6 | 3.3 | +7.6 |
| Joel Pineiro | 30 | FA-elig | 33 | 4.4 | 7.5 | +3.0 |
| Colby Rasmus | 22 | pre-arb | 147 | 2.7 | 0.4 | +5.9 |
| Brendan Ryan | 27 | pre-arb | 129 | 2.6 | 0.4 | +5.9 |
| Matt Holliday↔ OAK | 29 | arb | 63 | 2.5 | 5.5 | +0.6 |
| Ryan Ludwick | 30 | FA-elig | 139 | 2.3 | 3.7 | +1.7 |
| Skip Schumaker | 29 | arb | 153 | 1.5 | 0.4 | +3.2 |
| John Smoltz↔ BOS | 42 | FA-elig | 7 | 1.0 | 2.6 | -0.1 |
| Kyle Lohse | 30 | FA-elig | 23 | 1.0 | 7.4 | -5.1 |
| Ryan Franklin | 36 | FA-elig | 62 | 0.8 | 2.5 | -0.6 |
| Mitchell Boggs | 25 | pre-arb | 16 | 0.5 | 0.4 | +0.8 |
| Trever Miller | 36 | FA-elig | 70 | 0.5 | 0.5 | +0.7 |
| Mark DeRosa↔ CLE | 34 | FA-elig | 68 | 0.5 | 2.7 | -1.6 |
| Julio Lugo↔ BOS | 33 | FA-elig | 51 | 0.2 | 5.4 | -4.8 |
| Jason LaRue | 35 | FA-elig | 51 | 0.2 | 0.9 | -0.4 |
| Jarrett Hoffpauir | 26 | pre-arb | 8 | 0.2 | 0.4 | +0.1 |
| Kyle McClellan | 25 | pre-arb | 66 | 0.2 | 0.4 | -0.0 |
| David Freese | 26 | pre-arb | 17 | 0.2 | 0.4 | -0.0 |
| Brian Barden | 28 | pre-arb | 52 | 0.1 | 0.4 | -0.1 |
| Rick Ankiel | 29 | FA-elig | 122 | 0.1 | 2.8 | -2.5 |
| Dennys Reyes | 32 | FA-elig | 75 | 0.1 | 1.0 | -0.7 |
| Blake Hawksworth | 26 | pre-arb | 30 | 0.1 | 0.4 | -0.2 |
| Blaine Boyer↔ ARI | 27 | arb | 15 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
| Matt Pagnozzi | 26 | – | 6 | -0.0 | – | – |
| Jess Todd↔ CLE | 23 | – | 1 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Chris Perez↔ CLE | 23 | pre-arb | 29 | -0.1 | 0.2 | -0.4 |
| Clayton Mortensen↔ OAK | 24 | – | 1 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Brad Thompson | 27 | arb | 32 | -0.1 | 0.7 | -0.9 |
| Shane Robinson | 24 | – | 11 | -0.2 | 0.4 | -0.8 |
| Tyler Greene | 25 | pre-arb | 48 | -0.2 | 0.4 | -0.9 |
| Joe Thurston | 29 | FA-elig | 124 | -0.2 | 0.5 | -1.0 |
| Todd Wellemeyer | 30 | FA-elig | 30 | -0.3 | 4.0 | -4.7 |
| Jason Motte | 27 | pre-arb | 69 | -0.3 | 0.4 | -1.2 |
| Troy Glaus | 32 | FA-elig | 14 | -0.3 | 12.1 | -13.0 |
| Josh Kinney | 30 | arb | 17 | -0.4 | 0.4 | -1.3 |
| P.J. Walters | 24 | – | 8 | -0.4 | – | – |
| Chris Duncan | 28 | arb | 87 | -0.4 | 0.8 | -1.9 |
| Nick Stavinoha | 27 | pre-arb | 39 | -0.6 | 0.4 | -1.9 |
| Khalil Greene | 29 | FA-elig | 77 | -1.0 | 6.5 | -8.8 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| Colby Rasmus | 2.7 |
| Matt Holliday | 2.5 |
| John Smoltz | 1.0 |
| Trever Miller | 0.5 |
| Mark DeRosa | 0.5 |
| Julio Lugo | 0.2 |
| Player | 2008 fWAR |
|---|---|
| Braden Looper | 2.3 |
| Felipe Lopez | 1.7 |
| Aaron Miles | 1.6 |
| Adam Kennedy | 1.4 |
| Cesar Izturis | 1.0 |
| Brian Barton | 0.9 |
What the front office was committed to as of 2009, 2009–2015. 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 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Pujols | 29 | 8.000 | $14.4M | $14.6M | $14.5M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Chris Carpenter | 34 | 12.000 | $13.3M | $15.8M | $14.3M | $10.5M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Troy Glaus | 32 | 11.000 | $12.1M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Joel Pineiro | 30 | 9.000 | $7.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Kyle Lohse | 30 | 8.000 | $7.4M | $9.2M | $12.2M | $11.9M | FREE AGENT | ||
| Khalil Greene | 29 | 6.000 | $6.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Julio Lugo | 33 | 9.000 | $5.4M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Todd Wellemeyer | 30 | 6.000 | $4.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Ryan Ludwick | 30 | 7.000 | $3.7M | $3.1M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Rick Ankiel | 29 | 10.000 | $2.8M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Mark DeRosa | 34 | 11.000 | $2.7M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| John Smoltz | 42 | 21.000 | $2.6M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Ryan Franklin | 36 | 10.000 | $2.5M | $3.0M | $3.2M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Dennys Reyes | 32 | 12.000 | $1.0M | $2.0M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Jason LaRue | 35 | 10.000 | $950k | $950k | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Trever Miller | 36 | 13.000 | $500k | $2.0M | $1.6M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Joe Thurston | 29 | 7.000 | $475k | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Holliday | 29 | 5.000 | $5.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Yadier Molina | 26 | 5.000 | $3.3M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Adam Wainwright | 27 | 4.000 | $2.8M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Chris Duncan | 28 | 4.000 | $825k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Brad Thompson | 27 | 4.000 | $650k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Skip Schumaker | 29 | 4.000 | $430k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Josh Kinney | 30 | 3.000 | $405k | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Blaine Boyer | 27 | 4.000 | $135k | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle McClellan | 25 | 1.000 | $411k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Brendan Ryan | 27 | 2.000 | $403k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Jarrett Hoffpauir | 26 | 0.000 | $400k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Jason Motte | 27 | 1.000 | $400k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Shane Robinson | 24 | 0.000 | $400k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Brian Barden | 28 | 2.000 | $400k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Tyler Greene | 25 | 0.000 | $400k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Blake Hawksworth | 26 | 0.000 | $400k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Nick Stavinoha | 27 | 1.000 | $400k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Colby Rasmus | 22 | 0.000 | $400k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| David Freese | 26 | 0.000 | $400k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Mitchell Boggs | 25 | 1.000 | $400k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Chris Perez | 23 | 1.000 | $191k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Matt Pagnozzi | 26 | – | — | ||||||
| Clayton Mortensen | 24 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| P.J. Walters | 24 | 0.000 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Jess Todd | 23 | – | — |
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cardinals 2009; 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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