Good day ...

In Thursday's column I took a look at the Cardinals' collapse and reviewed the work of the people in charge of the franchise for 2010. The column was intended to examine the decision-makers and their role in a season going wrong. Some of you were disappointed that I left the players out of the critique; you pointed out that they also share in the responsibility. Which is absolutely true. But frankly, I didn't believe I needed to point that out. I think we've written plenty about the offensive woes of Brendan Ryan and the defensive limitations of Skip Schumaker and Colby Rasmus. My purpose with the column was to scrutinize the folks who put this team together, and who supervise it on a daily basis. Sorry I didn't make that clearer.

Obviously, the players shouldn't get a free pass. I offered these numbers earlier in the season and I'll update them now. Way too many Cardinals players have suffered drops offensively this season, compared to their career (or recent) statistics.

Let's take a look, and obviously, we've excluded rookies from the accounting:

Yadier Molina: In the previous three seasons he had a .735 OPS, which combines onbase percentage and slugging percentage. This year the OPS is .661.

Albert Pujols: Can't complain about a .1000 OPS, which Pujols has now. But his career OPS before 2010 was 1.055.

Skip Schumaker: Career OPS of .755 before this season; .676 OPS this year.

Brendan Ryan: .706 career OPS before 2010; OPS of .573 this season.

Matt Holliday:  His .900 OPS this season is very good, but it is also down from the OPS of .932 he had from 2004-2009. (Coors Field boosted that mark.)

Colby Rasmus: He's the only regular that has improved his OPS this season, going to .844 after having a rookie-year OPS of .714. But the quality of his defense in CF has declined.

Ryan Ludwick: We mention him because he was the regular RF until being traded at the end of July. He did miss considerable time with a calf injury. But in 2008-2009, Lud's OPS was .876. This season (as a Cardinal) it was .827.

And what about the rookies?

David Freese: Before going down with a season-killing ankle injury, Freese had slacked off from his early-season levels. In his last 50 ABs (small sample size, I know) he had a batting line of .220 / .264 / .325. From May 5 until his last appearance near the end of June, Freese had five doubles and a homer and a .325 SLG in 154 at-bats.

Allen Craig: Never caught traction, despite being given multiple opportunities to create a semi-regular spot in the lineup mix. Has batted .188 in 80 ABs this season.

Jon Jay: Obviously, he's done very well with a rookie batting line of .329 / .377 / .474. Clearly Jay represents one of the positive developments in 2010. However, since the Ludwick trade that essentially made him a regular player, Jay is batting .255 with a .296 OBP and .333 SLG. It was unrealistic to expect him to maintain his scorching early pace. 

There's also been a glaring number of base-running blunders, which is all on the players. And an overall decline in defense, which can be attributed to a number of factors including guys playing out of position because of depth issues. But part of it is on the players, too.

And I didn't mean to disregard the pitchers. The rotation has been very good for most of the season, with some fraying at the back end due to a lack of depth. And lefty reliever Dennys Reyes ceased to be effective. And Ryan Franklin has had more late-season problems.

Absolutely, this is very much a team effort -- in good times and bad. Owner, GM, farm director, manager, coaches, position players, starting pitchers, relievers.

READING TIME 5 MINUTES:

*I'd like to see Sam Bradford take more than 15 snaps (or so) in Thursday night's exhibition closer against the Ravens. Every rep counts.

*I see no reason to boo Marc Bulger, but the customers obviously can do as they choose.

* Is Rams DT Clifton Ryan entirely safe for a roster spot? I'm pretty sure he is, but let's just say it would be nice to see him play well against the Ravens.

* Get the ball to WR Danario Alexander and give him a chance to make the club. I enter that under the category of "wishful thinking." The reality? Alexander's knee isn't 100 percent. He still experiences swelling. He isn't ready.

*Congrats to everyone at KMOX for landing the Cardinals' radio broadcast rights. KMOX and the Cardinals were a cherished tradition in our town, and the move back to KMOX clearly makes the fans happy. I also think the Cardinals deserve respect for admitting their mistake of leaving KMOX in the first place. They can spin it as they choose, but obviously they made the wrong move, or they wouldn't be going back to KMOX.

* Come to think of it, the Cardinals get a hat tip for their timing of the announcement. The news of the reunion with KMOX was received enthusiastically by the fan base, and at least for a while it took attention away from the horrible baseball that we've seen on the field in recent weeks. It's not quite up to the level of what the brewery did in 1995 -- firing Joe Torre as a diversion to appease unhappy fans to change the story and take focus off the contract controversy involving Todd Zeile -- but still, this was nicely played.

* This one is sort of sneaking up on most folks outside the NL West precinct, but the San Diego Padres have lost seven in a row. Their lead in the division is down to 3 games. It could be worse; the second-place SF Giants went 3-4 over the last seven games and didn't take full advantage of the opportunity presented by the Padres.

* Ludwick hasn't come through with the kind of thunder that the Padres hoped to get when they stole him from the Cardinals. In 123 plate appearances since the trade, Lud is batting .231 with 3 homers, 14 RBIs. He has a .309 OBP and a .361 SLG. It isn't easy to put up good offensive numbers at Petco Park, but that isn't an excuse for Ludwick. He's batted .265 with 3 homers at home and he's hit .216 with no homers in 86 road plate appearances.

* That said, Ludwick's performance with the Padres is irrelevant in context of what he meant to the Cardinals. I've seen fans and even some media trying to justify his trade by pointing out his lack of production in San Diego.

I'm sorry, but that's really stupid. What does that have to do with anything? Players react in different ways to trades. You take a guy out of his comfort zone, or a system that has brought out the best in him, and anything can happen. The only relevant numbers are what Ludwick did while wearing a Cardinal uniform. And what his loss has meant to the STL lineup. From the start of the 2008 season until his trade to the Padres, Ludwick ranked 10th (all players) in the NL in RBIs, 12th in homers, and 24th in OPS. He batted .336 with runners in scoring position for the Cardinals, including a ridiculous .448 mark this season.

Ludwick gave manager Tony La Russa a real edge in lineup flexibility; Ludwick was a force whether he batted in the No. 2 hole -- or as the No. 4 hitter before Holliday's arrival. Even this year, with his production down some (with the calf strain being a factor), Ludwick had a .389 OBP and a .521 SLG as a No. 2 hitter in the Cardinals' lineup. Yes, the Cardinals had some offensive droughts with Ludwick here this season. But have you looked at these lineups that La Russa has used recently? Pedro Feliz or Yadier Molina batting 5th? Are you trying to tell me that Ludwick wouldn't have been a welcome presence in the No. 5 hole? Please. I think Jake Westbrook has done a good job as a starting pitcher for the Cardinals; the lack of run support has undermined his fine work. I'll repeat what I wrote at the time of the deal: I wasn't opposed to acquiring Westbrook. But not at the cost of giving up Ludwick. There had to be another way to obtain a rental pitcher without giving up one of your top offensive guys.

Thanks for reading ...

-Bernie