Cardinals News Dump: TV Schedule, Roster Moves, Albert Pujols
I’ve been away since last Thursday and there was a lot going on; the TV and radio schedule has been announced, the camp size has been reduced (a few times), and an icon is returning to St. Louis. Below is all the news from the Cardinals, along with a little commentary where applicable.
CARDINALS ANNOUNCE 2022 REGULAR SEASON TV & RADIO BROADCAST SCHEDULE
Bally Sports Midwest Serves as TV Home of Cardinals for 29th Season; 13 Games to be Nationally Televised
Ricky Horton Joins John Rooney Full-Time For All Games on KMOX & Cardinals Radio Network
Spanish Radio Broadcasters Polo Ascencio & Bengie Molina Back for 7th Year to Call All Home Games
ST. LOUIS, Mo., March 29, 2022 – The St. Louis Cardinals today announced that every 2022 regular season game will be televised locally or nationally as well as broadcast on KMOX and the Cardinals Radio Network. Additionally, all 81 home games will feature live Spanish radio broadcasts.
Television
Bally Sports Midwest will be the television home of the Cardinals for the 29th season. The regional sports network will televise most Cardinals regular season games. Coverage starts and ends with the Cardinals Live pre- and postgame shows, live from the network’s studio in Ballpark Village. Dan McLaughlin enters his 25th season as the play-by-play voice of the Cardinals television broadcasts and will be joined by Cardinals Hall of Famer Jim Edmonds and World Series Champion Brad Thompson as analysts to call game action.
Jim Hayes, Scott Warmann and newcomer Alexa Datt, formerly of MLB Network, will serve as reporters and hosts. Former Cardinals pitchers Al Hrabosky, in his 39th season as part of the Cardinals TV team, and Ricky Horton will serve as pre- and postgame studio analysts, along with former Cardinals outfielder/pitcher Rick Ankiel, Edmonds and Thompson.
Bally Sports Midwest will also continue to air new episodes of Cardinals Insider, the Emmy-nominated 30-minute weekly television program hosted by Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith each Sunday, and the weekly Cardinals Kids Show with Fredbird and Brad Thompson on Saturdays.
Bally Sports Midwest’s regular season coverage kicks off on Opening Day, Thursday, April 7, with an expanded Cardinals Live pregame beginning at 1:30 PM CT.
Cardinals programming on Bally Sports Midwest also streams on the Bally Sports app and on BallySports.com for fans who authenticate through their pay-TV service.
Currently, 11 regular season games will be carried exclusively on either FOX (5), ESPN (3) or Apple TV+ (3) as part of Major League Baseball’s national television packages, with another two games on FS1 co-existing with the local telecast. The television schedule is subject to change.
Radio
In addition to televised game coverage, KMOX 1120 AM, the team’s flagship radio station, and nearly all of the Cardinals Radio Network stations, will carry every regular season game. Cardinals games will also be simulcast locally on 98.7 FM and stream on KMOX.com.
2021 Missouri Sportscaster of the Year John Rooney (17th season) will be accompanied in the booth by Ricky Horton, who joins the Cardinals radio team full-time after Cardinals Hall of Famer Mike Shannon’s retirement at the conclusion of 2021, for all Cardinals contests this year. Mike Claiborne returns for his 16th year as part of the radio team to assist with broadcasts while Tom Ackerman, Kevin Wheeler and Joe Pott will serve as pre- and postgame hosts on KMOX.
This year marks KMOX’s 12th consecutive season as the flagship station and 65th year overall. The Cardinals Radio Network is the largest in MLB, consisting of 147 radio stations across eight states.
Spanish Radio
The Cardinals, in cooperation with WIJR 880 AM La Tremenda, will once again produce 81 Spanish-language radio broadcasts for all St. Louis home games during the 2022 regular season.
Play-by-play announcer Polo Ascencio and former MLB catcher Bengie Molina return for their seventh season to provide Hispanic and Latino fans with a way to follow the Cardinals in their native language. All 81 broadcasts will air locally on WIJR 880 AM and be streamed via cardinals.com and the MLB app.
For more information on the Cardinals broadcast partners, visit cardinals.com/tv, cardinals.com/radio and cardinals.com/broadcasters. A complete 2022 regular season broadcast schedule follows.
— STL —
CARDINALS ANNOUNCE ROSTER MOVES; BROOKS ADDED TO 40-PLAYER ROSTER, REYES TO 60-DAY I.L.; VETERAN INF/OF CORY SPANGENBERG INVITED TO CAMP AS N.R.I.
JUPITER, Fla., March 25, 2022 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today several roster moves as they optioned pitchers Packy Naughton, Johan Quezada, Angel Rondón and T.J. Zeuch to the Memphis (AAA) roster and assigned pitcher Zack Thompson to minor league camp. In addition, pitcher Alex Reyes (right shoulder) has been placed on the 60-day Injured List, and the team has selected the contract of pitcher Aaron Brooks to the team’s 40-player Major League roster.
The team also announced that it has agreed to terms on a minor league contract with veteran infielder/outfielder Cory Spangenberg, and have invited him to join in the team’s Major League Spring Training Camp.
The left-handed hitting Spangenberg, 31, has compiled a career .256 batting mark with 29 HR’s and 119 RBI in 419 games with San Diego (2014-18) and Milwaukee (2019). The former 1st round (10th player overall) draft selection of the Padres in 2011 has seen extensive time at third base and second base, while also playing shortstop and the outfield.
Spangenberg played in Japan from 2020-21 with Seibu of the Nippon Professional Baseball league, homering 15 times in 111 games played for the Lions in 2020. Spangenberg will wear uniform no. 18.
— STL —
All of the players options didn’t seem to have much of a real shot at the 26-man roster. Rondon might be on the Memphis shuttle this season though. Also Quezada has been removed from the 40-man roster, so he’ll probably end up back in Memphis or with another team.
Thompson is still considered a good prospect, but his time is dwindling as one. He’ll need to be added to the 40-man after the season, so the team might not rush him this year. I hope he takes a step forward and forces the team’s hand.
Reyes is hitting that point where the frustrations are starting to take over the potential. Reyes had shoulder pain in the off-season, but since there was the lock-out, he couldn’t work with the team to start a rehab plan. He’ll miss the first 6 weeks of the season, with Giovanny Gallegos and Genesis Cabrera as the primary closers in his place; if they do well, we could see Reyes stretched out to start.
Spangenberg is minor league depth, and nothing more then that. It would be a real issue with the team if he vaults over Brendan Donovan on the depth chart.
CARDINALS ADD RHP BLAKE PARKER AS N.R.I.; NINE-YEAR VETERAN RELIEVER PITCHED FOR CLEVELAND IN 2021
JUPITER, Fla., March 26, 2022 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced this morning that they have agreed to terms on a minor league contract with veteran right-handed pitcher Blake Parker and invited him to join the team’s Major League Spring Training Camp.
Parker, 36, has spent nine years in the majors since debuting in 2012 with the Chicago Cubs, posting a career mark of 16-11 with a 3.47 ERA in 350 games, primarily as a reliever. The 6-3, 225-pound Arkansas native went 2-1 with a 3.09 ERA in 47 relief outings with Cleveland last season. He logged 60 or more relief innings for three consecutive seasons from 2017-19 with the Angels, Twins and Phillies. Parker has been assigned uniform no. 26.
— STL —
Much like Spangenberg, this is a depth signing. Only this one could be beneficial to the team. Parker could be a solid reliever once he’s caught up to the rest of the team. As we’ve seen in the past, you can never have enough pitching and if the young guys like Rondon can’t get outs at the MLB level.
CARDINALS & ALBERT PUJOLS RE-UNITED; 2-TIME REDBIRDS WORLD SERIES CHAMPION & 3-TIME MVP RETURNS TO ST. LOUIS FOR 2022 SEASON AS HE APPROACHES 700 CAREER HOME RUNS
ST. LOUIS, MO., March 28, 2022 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have reached an agreement with Albert Pujols on a one-year contract for 2022, re-uniting the franchise with one of its most decorated players of all-time. Pujols, 42, was drafted by St. Louis in 1999 (13th round) and played his first 11 seasons with the Cardinals, nine of those as a National League All-Star.
“We are pleased and excited to have Albert return to the Cardinals for the upcoming season,” stated Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt, Jr. “This reunion with Albert is a wonderful opportunity for not only him and the Cardinals, but also for our great fans, the St. Louis community, our players and staff, and everyone connected to the St. Louis Cardinals organization. “We look forward to seeing Albert in the “Birds on the Bat” once again, and wearing his familiar uniform number 5.”
A member of the Cardinals 2006 and 2011 World Series Champions, Pujols compiled a .328 batting mark, 445 home runs and 1,329 RBI in his 11 seasons (2001-11) with the Cardinals, earning National League MVP honors in 2005, 2008 and 2009.
“Seldom does one get to share in watching or being a part of ‘living’ history,” said Cardinals’ President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak. “From the day we called Albert’s name in the draft room back in 1999, to now, as we set our sights on 2022, this reunion just makes sense in so many ways. We are all looking forward to reuniting Albert with his Cardinals family, and for the fan in all of us, including myself, this feels like looking through the pages of a favorite scrapbook or baseball card album and seeing those images and memories jump off the pages.”
Pujols currently ranks among the top-10 in Major League Baseball’s all-time career leaders in RBI (2,150, 3rd), home runs (679, 5th), doubles (672, 5th), extra base hits (1,367, 4th), total bases (6,042, 4th) and at-bats (11,114, 8th) and his 3,301 career hits rank 12th.
In his 11 seasons with the Cardinals, “El Hombre” posted franchise career top-10 totals for slugging pct. (.617, 1st), on-base pct. (.420, 2nd) home runs (445, 2nd), RBI (1,329, 2nd), doubles (455, 2nd), walks (975, 2nd), games (1,705, 8th), runs (1,291, 3rd) and batting average (.328, 6th).
Albert is a 10-time All-Star, six-time Silver Slugger, two-time Rawlings Gold Glover, 2001 N.L. Rookie of the Year, 2004 N.L. National League Championship Series MVP, 2003 National League batting champion (.359), and 2008 Roberto Clemente Award honoree.
Pujols led the National League in runs scored five times, hits once (212 in 2003), home runs twice, and RBI once (118 in 2010). He holds the 2000s decade (2000-09) National League “Triple Crown” for batting (.334), home runs (366) and RBI (1,112) despite the fact he didn’t debut until 2001.
Pujols has appeared in 74 career postseason games for the Cardinals, hitting a franchise postseason record 18 home runs with 52 RBI, including a World Series record-tying 3 HR’s in Game 3 of the 2011 Fall Classic.
Pujols ranks among the all-time Busch Stadium III leaders in games played (462, 5th), home runs (112, 1st), RBI (358, 2nd), runs scored (314, 3rd) and hits (544, 2rd).
The St. Louis fan-favorite spent the 2012-21 seasons in Los Angeles with the Angels and Dodgers, earning an All-Star selection in 2015 with the Halos. Pujols had six seasons with 20 or more homers for the Angels and four 100-plus RBI seasons. He batted .254 with 12 HR’s and 38 RBI in 85 games with the Dodgers last season, and hit .294 with 13 HR’s and 34 RBI with a .939 OPS in his 146 plate appearances versus left-handed pitching in 2021.
Pujols will wear his iconic uniform no. 5, which the team never re-issued after its 2011 World Series Championship season.
— STL —
It took a while for it to happen, but Pujols is back with the team. It’s really a low risk deal; he’s making $2.5M for 2022 and will retire after the season. For that amount, it would be easy to release him if he’s not hitting (because, let’s face it, he won’t be playing much in the field). Granted, the organization won’t want to cut him if he’s struggling because they want him to go out a Cardinal.
Pujols can still hit right handers, so he’ll be a platoon DH for the team. He’ll hit for power, which is all the team needs from him. If this were a station to station hitting team (if those are left in baseball), he’d be an issue because he can’t run. He’s 21 homer away from 700, which would be a nice milestone to see; I give him a 45% shot of doing it.
CARDINALS OPTION THREE TO MEMPHIS (AAA) ROSTER; CAMP ROSTER NOW STANDS AT 49 PLAYERS
JUPITER, Fla., March 28, 2022 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced this afternoon that they have optioned pitchers Junior Fernandez, Johan Oviedo and Freddy Pacheco to the Memphis (AAA) roster. The moves leave the Cardinals Spring Training Roster at 49 players, including 16 active pitchers.
— STL —
Again, I’m not surprised about any of these demotions. Oviedo is rotation depth and will be on the Memphis shuttle if/when a starter goes down.
I hate to say this, but it’s probably time to cut Fernandez. The once promising pitcher hasn’t been able to succeed at the MLB level yet, and he’s getting to the point where he’s not worth hanging onto anymore.
CARDINALS RE-ASSIGN NINE PLAYERS TO MINORS; SPRING TRAINING CAMP ROSTER NOW STANDS AT 40 PLAYERS
JUPITER, Fla., March 30, 2022 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have re-assigned pitchers James Naile, Zach McAllister and Kyle Ryan, catcher Clint Coulter, infielders Nolan Gorman, Kramer Robertson and Anderson Tejeda, and outfielders Alec Burleson and Conner Capel to minor league camp.
Today’s moves leave the Cardinals Spring Training camp roster at 40 players.
— STL —
The disappointing name here is Gorman. There was hope that he could see time at second and DH, but with the addition of Albert, he became expendable for now. If we see Tommy Edman, Edmundo Sosa, Juan Yepez, or Donovan struggle, Gorman could be one of the first guys we see.
Robertson, Burleson, and Capel still have potential to be future players for this team; all are young and will need someone in front of them to really struggle or get hurt to be considered this season. Burleson is probably the closest and has the highest ceiling of the bunch.
All of the rest are roster depth and probably won’t get the call this season; if they do, something is seriously wrong.
All the transactions above have been added to both the Salary Matrix and the Transaction Tracker for the team.
