Cardinals release Brad Thompson, make roster trims
ST. LOUIS — In an attempt to cleanup their 40-man roster for the offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals made a series of moves this morning that included releasing reliever Brad Thompson.
The roster moves started last night with Jarrett Hoffpauir being picked up off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays. The Cardinals also moved infielder Joe Thurston and reliever Matt Scherer to the Triple-A Memphis roster. The official name of the transaction is called “outrighting” the two players to the Class AAA affiliate. All four moves have been done to make room on the 40-man roster.
The motivation for that was discussed this morning in Bird Land (follow this link).
Thompson was set to be arbitration eligible for the second time in his career this winter. By releasing the middle reliever, the Cardinals make Thompson a free agent. The sinkerballer went 2-6 with a 4.84 ERA in 2009, making 32 appearances (eight starts) for the Cardinals. In five seasons with the Cardinals, Thompson went 21-17 with a 4.34 ERA. He was a spot starter for the team, making 32 in five seasons.
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(10 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Finally. I could not bear another season of Brad Thompson getting 5-10 starts just because he is a good guy. It will also be nice to use his middle relief spot on a guy that might have a little more upside down the road.
Nothing personal, but I’m glad to see Babyface off the team. Watching him trot out there was like seeing your own death sequence. Never good.
Jim-
What’s your death sequence look like?
Mine invlves reading these Reader Comments…
Thurston was the worst infielder in the league, offensively speaking. If he was a magician with the glove, I still can’t see letting him bat. He was either an automatic out, or a double play candidate… I hope it’s curtains for him wearing the sacred birds on the bat. Maybe the Chubs could use him?
Excuse me…i just passed gas. NEXT!!!!!
These moves…WHO CARES!!!!
Thompson did whatever was asked of him. Clearly the team thought he was good enough to be here for 4 years so why not wish him well. He always gutted it out and gave a good effort and seemed to be a good teammate and citizen.
Best wishes BT!
How will history recall the Brad Thompson Era with the Cardinals?
History will show that Brad made more money and had more talent than eldonaldo.
I hope that Brad Thompson does well. No, he wasn’t always great, but there were many times that he came through for us and the constant bouncing back and forth from starter to reliever, St. Louis to Memphis, can’t have helped. Maybe he can find a stable role somewhere. As for Thurston, after his admittedly good April I never quite figured out how he stayed here all season. He was horrendous defensively and didn’t bring enough offensively to offset that. I don’t know why they didn’t sever ties with him completely.
west coast ram & Not a shmuck
Hello Mr. and Mrs. Thompson