GM: John Mozeliak
2011: World Series champions · 90–72. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yadier Molina | 28 | FA-elig | 139 | 5.4 | 5.3 | +7.9 |
| Lance Berkman | 35 | FA-elig | 145 | 4.7 | 8.0 | +3.6 |
| Chris Carpenter | 36 | FA-elig | 34 | 4.5 | 14.3 | -3.1 |
| Matt Holliday | 31 | FA-elig | 124 | 4.4 | 16.3 | -5.5 |
| Albert Pujols | 31 | FA-elig | 147 | 3.9 | 14.5 | -4.9 |
| Jaime García | 24 | arb | 32 | 2.9 | 0.4 | +6.7 |
| Jon Jay | 26 | pre-arb | 159 | 2.3 | 0.4 | +5.2 |
| Kyle Lohse | 32 | FA-elig | 35 | 2.3 | 12.2 | -6.5 |
| Allen Craig | 26 | pre-arb | 75 | 2.3 | 0.4 | +5.1 |
| David Freese | 28 | pre-arb | 97 | 2.2 | 0.4 | +5.1 |
| Nick Punto | 33 | FA-elig | 63 | 1.7 | 0.8 | +3.5 |
| Jason Motte | 29 | arb | 78 | 1.4 | 0.4 | +3.1 |
| Colby Rasmus↔ TOR | 24 | pre-arb | 94 | 1.0 | 0.3 | +2.2 |
| Fernando Salas | 26 | pre-arb | 68 | 0.9 | 0.4 | +1.7 |
| Edwin Jackson↔ CHW | 27 | FA-elig | 13 | 0.9 | 3.6 | -1.4 |
| Octavio Dotel↔ TOR | 37 | FA-elig | 29 | 0.8 | 1.3 | +0.7 |
| Jake Westbrook | 33 | FA-elig | 35 | 0.8 | 8.0 | -6.1 |
| Rafael Furcal↔ LAD | 33 | FA-elig | 50 | 0.8 | 7.5 | -5.6 |
| Lance Lynn | 24 | – | 18 | 0.5 | 0.3 | +1.0 |
| Daniel Descalso | 24 | pre-arb | 148 | 0.4 | 0.4 | +0.6 |
| Eduardo Sanchez | 22 | pre-arb | 26 | 0.4 | 0.4 | +0.5 |
| Mitchell Boggs | 27 | arb | 51 | 0.3 | 0.4 | +0.4 |
| Marc Rzepczynski↔ TOR | 25 | pre-arb | 28 | 0.3 | 0.2 | +0.6 |
| Tony Cruz | 24 | – | 38 | 0.3 | 0.4 | +0.2 |
| Skip Schumaker | 31 | FA-elig | 117 | 0.2 | 2.8 | -2.3 |
| Ryan Theriot | 31 | FA-elig | 132 | 0.2 | 3.3 | -2.9 |
| Pete Kozma | 23 | – | 16 | 0.1 | 0.4 | -0.2 |
| Raul Valdes↔ NYY | 33 | – | 7 | 0.1 | – | – |
| Tyler Greene | 27 | pre-arb | 58 | -0.0 | 0.4 | -0.4 |
| Brandon Dickson | 26 | – | 4 | -0.0 | 0.4 | -0.5 |
| Adron Chambers | 24 | – | 18 | -0.0 | 0.4 | -0.5 |
| Bryan Augenstein | 24 | pre-arb | 5 | -0.1 | 0.4 | -0.6 |
| P.J. Walters↔ TOR | 26 | – | 4 | -0.1 | – | – |
| Gerald Laird | 31 | FA-elig | 37 | -0.1 | 1.0 | -1.3 |
| Matt Carpenter | 25 | – | 7 | -0.1 | 0.0 | -0.3 |
| Andrew Brown | 26 | – | 11 | -0.1 | 0.4 | -0.8 |
| Shane Robinson | 26 | pre-arb | 9 | -0.2 | 0.4 | -0.8 |
| Mark Hamilton | 26 | pre-arb | 38 | -0.2 | 0.4 | -0.8 |
| Maikel Cleto | 22 | pre-arb | 3 | -0.2 | 0.4 | -0.9 |
| Trever Miller↔ BOS | 38 | FA-elig | 39 | -0.3 | 1.6 | -2.3 |
| Arthur Rhodes↔ TEX | 41 | FA-elig | 19 | -0.3 | 1.5 | -2.2 |
| Corey Patterson↔ TOR | 31 | FA-elig | 44 | -0.3 | 0.3 | -1.0 |
| Brian Tallet↔ TOR | 33 | FA-elig | 18 | -0.5 | 0.7 | -2.0 |
| Miguel Batista↔ NYM | 40 | FA-elig | 26 | -0.5 | 0.6 | -1.8 |
| Kyle McClellan | 27 | arb | 44 | -0.8 | 1.4 | -3.3 |
| Ryan Franklin | 38 | FA-elig | 21 | -1.2 | 3.2 | -6.2 |
| Player | fWAR |
|---|---|
| Lance Berkman | 4.7 |
| Nick Punto | 1.7 |
| Edwin Jackson | 0.9 |
| Octavio Dotel | 0.8 |
| Rafael Furcal | 0.8 |
| Lance Lynn | 0.5 |
| Player | 2010 fWAR |
|---|---|
| Ryan Ludwick | 2.0 |
| Brendan Ryan | 1.2 |
| Brad Penny | 1.0 |
| Matt Pagnozzi | 0.3 |
| Jeff Suppan | 0.1 |
| Steven Hill | 0.1 |
What the front office was committed to as of 2011, 2011–2017. 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 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Holliday | 31 | 7.000 | $16.3M | $17.0M | $17.0M | $17.0M | $17.0M | $17.0M | FREE AGENT |
| Albert Pujols | 31 | 10.000 | $14.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Chris Carpenter | 36 | 14.000 | $14.3M | $10.5M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Kyle Lohse | 32 | 9.092 | $12.2M | $11.9M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Jake Westbrook | 33 | 12.144 | $8.0M | $8.5M | $8.8M | FREE AGENT | |||
| Lance Berkman | 35 | 11.052 | $8.0M | $12.0M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Rafael Furcal | 33 | 11.000 | $7.5M | $6.0M | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Yadier Molina | 28 | 6.123 | $5.3M | $7.0M | $14.0M | $15.0M | $15.0M | $14.0M | $14.0M |
| Ryan Franklin | 38 | 12.000 | $3.2M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Trever Miller | 38 | 10.095 | $1.6M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Arthur Rhodes | 41 | 20.000 | $1.5M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Octavio Dotel | 37 | 11.113 | $1.3M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Gerald Laird | 31 | 6.007 | $1.0M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Nick Punto | 33 | 8.051 | $750k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Miguel Batista | 40 | 13.045 | $557k | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Corey Patterson | 31 | 8.083 | $298k | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edwin Jackson | 27 | 5.070 | $3.6M | FREE AGENT | |||||
| Ryan Theriot | 31 | 4.118 | $3.3M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Skip Schumaker | 31 | 4.051 | $2.8M | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||||
| Kyle McClellan | 27 | 3.000 | $1.4M | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |||
| Brian Tallet | 33 | 5.146 | $711k | FREE AGENT |
| Player | Age | Svc | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaime García | 24 | 2.047 | $437k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Jason Motte | 29 | 2.027 | $435k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Mitchell Boggs | 27 | 1.125 | $431k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| David Freese | 28 | 1.028 | $416k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Jon Jay | 26 | 0.134 | $416k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Tyler Greene | 27 | 0.163 | $416k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Pete Kozma | 23 | 0.000 | $414k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Bryan Augenstein | 24 | 2.000 | $414k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Maikel Cleto | 22 | 0.169 | $414k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Mark Hamilton | 26 | 0.080 | $414k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Shane Robinson | 26 | 0.014 | $414k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Fernando Salas | 26 | 0.087 | $414k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Eduardo Sanchez | 22 | 1.047 | $414k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Tony Cruz | 24 | 0.000 | $414k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Allen Craig | 26 | 0.077 | $414k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Brandon Dickson | 26 | 0.000 | $414k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Adron Chambers | 24 | 0.000 | $414k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Andrew Brown | 26 | 0.000 | $414k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Daniel Descalso | 24 | 0.016 | $414k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Colby Rasmus | 24 | 2.000 | $323k | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | ||
| Lance Lynn | 24 | 0.000 | $269k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Marc Rzepczynski | 25 | 1.036 | $169k | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| Matt Carpenter | 25 | 0.000 | $27k | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
| Raul Valdes | 33 | 1.085 | — | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT | |
| P.J. Walters | 26 | 0.114 | — | Pre-Arb | Pre-Arb | ARB 1 | ARB 2 | ARB 3 | FREE AGENT |
Every roster slot ranked best→worst by WAR. Bars = Cardinals 2011; 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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