Greetings…

I bought in on some Khalil Greene stock when Cardinals GM John Mozeliak acquired him from San Diego last offseason.  It seemed like a reasonable gamble, a promising gamble; Greene had demonstrated power and an ability to drive in runs two seasons ago before freefalling in 2008. And I thought a familiar formula had a good chance of working again.

The formula? Take in an unhappy player when his value is low, relocate him to St. Louis, and revive his career in an advantageous baseball atmopshere, and see if he can restore what he’d lost. As I’ve written before The Stan Musial Statue is like the Statue of Liberty for MLB players who are searching for a new start in a new land. And the formula has worked for a lot of players through the years. And in K Greene’s case, he also figured to benefit from playing half his games at Busch Stadium after getting away from that pitcher’s haven in San Diego. Besides, Greene had only a year left on his contract so the liability was limited. If he turned out to be a mistake, it wouldn’t clog up the Cardinals’ payroll for multiple season. At worst, Greene would be one-and-done.

With 20 percent of the schedule completed, Greene sure seems to be headed that way. There is a lot of baseball left, and it’s premature to make a sweeping judgment based on a little more than 100 plate appearances, but to put it mildly, I think it’s safe to say that Greene has disappointed at the plate and in the field.

Cesar Izturis did a terrific job defensively for the Cardinals at shortstop in 2008, but didn’t hit. According to fangraphs.com, Izturis had the third-best Ultimate Zone rating among NL shortstops last season, at 9.2 runs above average. Greene wasn’t as good as Izturis defensively, but the Cardinals and supporters of the deal assumed that Greene would provide more offense at the position, and his punch would offset any drain on the defense.

That hasn’t happened so far. Greene has been bad at shortstop, ranking last in the NL and next-to-last among MLB shortstops with an UZR of  minus 5.2. Rated over 150 games, he’d finish at minus 34.5. There’s no way to remotely spin that into anything positive. Moreover, Skip Schumaker ranks near the bottom in UZR among big-league second basemen. Last year, Adam Kennedy was among the best. So the Cardinals, who were near the top of the SS-2B ratings in 2008, are touching the bottom now. That’s disturbing.

The Cardinals could live with it if K Greene was hitting, but he isn’t. Only .217 overall, and is 6 for 35 against LHP.

In fact, through Wednesday K. Greene was hitting less for the Cardinals than Izturis is hitting for the Baltimore Orioles.

Greene’s line:  .217 BA / .302 OBP / .326 SLG

Izturis line:  .255 BA / .298 OBP / .337 SLG

Greene has had a little bad luck. He strike-zone judgment could be better, but according to fangraphs his walk rate is actually up this season and he’s making contact on 90 percent of swings on pitches offered in the strike zone. And his batting average on balls in play is .231. He also has a decent line-drive percentage (22). He had to cope with a strained forearm muscle. He’s healthier now. These things offer a glimmer of hope. Confidence may be an issue.

But the Cardinals have a promising rookie, Tyler Greene, who obviously is blessed with natural talent. He’s raw, and is getting his first sample of the big leagues. T. Greene hasn’t gotten the most out of his talent in the minors, and he’s a bit of an enigman, but the potential is obvious. And when Brendan Ryan returns from the DL, he warrants a look at SS. One way or another, the Cardinals need to find out about Ryan and what his role will be in the immediate future and beyond.

In terms of putting a clock on K. Greene, I don’t know what’s fair. I don’t know when you turn to the younger players. I don’t think the Cardinals are in the mood to trash their $6.5 million investment in Greene just yet. But at some point, when you have viable alternatives, and those alternatives will also be part of your club in 2010 and beyond, it makes sense to play ‘em.  At some point, Khalil Greene will have to earn, or at least justify, his playing time.

BERNIE BYTES

* Though the bats perked up some during Thursday’s win in Pittsburgh, the Cardinals are batting .230 in 17 games since April 26 and had the worst OBP (.298) in the league over that time. Their hitters have 111 Ks and 44 walks over the last 17 games…  

* I heard from a few, shall we say, intellectually challenged baseball fans / Chris Duncan haters who questioned why I could praise Reds GM Walt Jocketty for improving Cincinnati’s defense while also praising Tony La Russa for sacrificing defense for offense by playing Duncan. Uh, let me simplify this for you: I praised Jocketty for improving the middle of the Cincinnati defense. The middle. Catcher, SS, 2B, CF. Duncan is a corner outfielder.  Corner. Away from the middle. Thanks. Reds have been terrible defensively for years, ranking near the bottom of the MLB defense efficiency ratings for about 10 years running and clearly had to try a different way. They did. They’re quicker and cover more ground and get to more balls now. But they still have plenty of offense, so sacrificing some of it to spruce up the defense makes sense. Got it? Thanks. If you wanted to criticize something and actually be on target, you would look at how the Cardinals weakened their middle-infield defense this season; the area was a plus in 2008. That would be legit. Continuing to target Duncan is not legit. It’s stupid. The Cardinals’ outfield defense hasn’t been an issue. Are we OK now? Understand the difference? Great. Thanks.

* The McDonald’s commercial where Jose Oquendo is giving signals and trying to wave motorists through the drive-thru lane … just wondering, how would  Albert Pujols react to Oquendo’s instructions at the McDonald’s drive thru?… The Milwaukee Brewers come to Busch Stadium for a weekend series while on a rampage, having won 17 of their last 22 games. They’re mashing the ball, and the team’s bullpen ERA is 2.79 over the last 18 games. More on the Brewers in the next blog.

* Speaking of commercials, OK, I’ll admit it, I’m all in for “The Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign for Dos Equis beer. I don’t buy the beer, but the character in the commercials cracks me up. The Rat Pack / James Bond vibe and 1970s sensibility vibe works for me.  Stay thirsty my friends …no, Rick Ankiel won’t be appearing on “The Deadliest Catch,” … over the last 16 games through Wednesday, Brian Barden and Joe Thurston were batting a combined .162 (12 for 74); looks like the pitchers have found some vulnerable spots.

* A big shout out to the STL band Copperview; you can catch them Friday night (May 15) at Cicero’s on the Delmar Loop. And here’s a sample if you want to check it out… my favorite new TV show is “Southland” on NBC … is anyone surprised that Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner would reach out to President Obama? I’d assume that Warner and Obama are far apart on social/cultural issues, but Warner set a terrific example by embracing the President and offering prayers. You see, politics in America don’t have to be so mean-spirited, petty and divisive. It’s OK to disagree without being hateful. You can read about their visit by clicking right here.

* Not only is Brad Soderberg the new men’s basketball coach at Lindenwood University — congrats — but one of his former St. Louis U. players, guard Drew Diener, was just hired as the head basketball coach at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee …. Mizzou basketball coach Mike Anderson will receive the key to the city (of St. Louis) from Mayor Slay before the KC-STL game at Busch Stadium on May 22 …

* Finally: Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo will be my in-studio guest for two segments Friday during the Bernie Show on 101 ESPN, which is 101.1 on your FM dial, or 101ESPN.com on the internet. The show airs weekdays from noon until 2 p.m.

Thanks for reading…

-B