United Cardinal Bloggers: December 2009

UCB Project: Top 5 Stories of 2009

There is no doubt that 2009 was a very eventful one for the St. Louis Cardinals. From the surprising dismissal of Adam Kennedy right before spring training to the continued pursuit of Matt Holliday as the year comes to a close, there was little time this year when something wasn't happening. The United Cardinal Bloggers are doing their annual look back with the Top 5 Stories for 2009. Below are my selections:

1) Midseason Madness Time was, Cardinal fans were used to moves in the middle of the season. Walt Jocketty cleaned up at the deadline numerous times, including a very active 2000. However, even when Jocketty was wheeling and dealing, he didn't make the impact moves that John Mozeliak made this summer.

First off, Mozeliak made the move most everyone was clamoring for, trading off Chris Perez and a PTBNL (which turned out to be Jess Todd) for versatile player Mark DeRosa, who was toiling away for a Cleveland club that was well out of contention. While the price was steep, especially in retrospect, Mozeliak made the move that made the most sense for the team at the time.

So, after getting possibly the second best hitter on the trade market, Mozeliak then pulled off a deal for the first. Giving up on top prospect Brett Wallace, along with Clayton Mortenson and Shane Robinson, was a steep price to pay for a player that wasn't guaranteed to return to the club in 2010. However, Holliday sparked the Cardinals and provided another big bat in the St. Louis lineup. To go along with all of that, Mo still made moves to rid the team of Chris Duncan, something many never thought they'd see, and to get a productive player for him to boot. The team also signed John Smoltz after he was put on waivers from Boston, and while he wasn't exactly vintage Smoltz, he definitely was a boost to the rotation.

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