A St. Louis Cardinals fan reflects on Larry Walker, Nolan Arenado, and Marcell Ozuna

I’m thrilled to hear that former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Larry Walker has finally been elected to the Hall of Fame.

While we didn’t get to see Walker for his prime years when he was constantly in the conversation for MVP, he was still a fabulous player in his twilight years. Hardware aside, I thought Walker’s 2004 and 2005 teams were the best two St. Louis Cardinals teams of the past 50 years. They could hit for average and power, move runners up on the bases, field with the best of them and they had the pitching to win the big trophy. Their luck just ran out short of the mark.

But it was no fault of the former Montreal Expos and Colorado Rockies outfielder. Walker was a defensive wizard who had a knack for getting the job done at the plate when he needed it most. He was a foe that it was tough to hate when he played on other teams. And when he finally wore the Birds on the Bat, it was unforgettable that he got a standing ovation the first time he came to the plate — and after he struck out and made his way back to the bench.

I held out little hope that the voters would come to their senses and enshrine Walker after supporting him so poorly in his previous years. Apparently, he wasn’t optimistic, either, posting his thanks to fans on social media — but warning them it looked like he wasn’t going to earn baseball’s ultimate honor.

Unfortunately, he was probably penalized for playing his home games for so many years at Coors Field, inflating his stats. But a great ballplayer is a great ballplayer and Walker was certainly not a one-trick pony, so it’s unfair to hold a guy back because he played in a place where he might have been able to notch a few extra home runs on the back of his baseball card.

It would’ve been great if the Cardinals kept Walker with the organization after he retired as a player. The guy has such a high baseball IQ, I’d have to believe he would make an awesome coach. Hitting was hit calling card, and it’s not as if St. Louis hitters have been so good lately that they didn’t require any additional tutelage.

Disappointing end to Nolan Arenado saga

Speaking of Rockies players, it’s extremely disappointing how things have panned out with Colorado regarding the negotiations for slugging third baseman Nolan Arenado.

If you read between the lines of what the player, representatives of the Rockies and the Cardinals had to say about the situation, it sure seems as if a deal was much closer than everyone has been letting on and that Colorado wasn’t exactly operating in good faith.

First, St. Louis President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak acted cagey in the opening hours of the Winter Warm-Up, refusing to deny interest in Arenado. He usually pours cold water on everything, regardless of how true it is. Since he didn’t do this, I got the sense a deal must have been imminent.

Then team Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. spoke on Sunday and said the Cardinals weren’t involved in any “active” negotiations for Arenado. He didn’t say they weren’t talking. He said they weren’t talking at the moment, which sounded a lot like he was calling the bluff of the Rockies.

A short time later, the Colorado front office issued a statement that they were only fielding offers, nothing was close and Arenado wasn’t going to be traded. There were far too many reports from reliable sportswriters that specific names were being discussed to believe nothing serious was in the works.

But the most remarkable thing happened nearly immediately after that. Arenado went public saying the Rockies were disrespectful and dishonest with him and he doesn’t want to be there anymore. Why would a guy who has seven years left on his contract say something like that unless he thought he had a ticket for a trip out of town that he desperately wanted only to have the rug pulled out from beneath his feet.

Marcell Ozuna trade ends as a painful bust

I hope Arenado keeps the heat on the Rockies. Because on Tuesday Plan B walked out the door when outfielder Marcell Ozuna signed a one-year contract with the Atlanta Braves, leaving St. Louis without a clean-up hitter and putting a big dent in an already anemic offense. Seeing Ozuna sign with Atlanta burns the bridge behind the Cardinals. But it takes one alternate landing spot off the table for Arenado.

As I mentioned last week, as much as the Cardinals need a cleanup hitter, it didn’t make any sense to overpay for a guy who the front office quite obviously wasn’t head over heels about. If Mozeliak and company would have buckled and given Ozuna a multi-year deal, it would only make the situation the team already faces, paying Dexter Fowler, Matt Carpenter and Brett Cecil to under-perform and Mike Leake to under-perform for another team.

If I have a complaint about Ozuna is that he’s another case of the St. Louis talent judges fumbling their responsibilities. Ozuna was never the player we were led to believe he was going to be in the middle of the Cardinals offense or in the outfield. It’s going to be very painful watching Sandy Alcantara pitch for the Miami Marlins for several years while the Cardinals have nothing to show for their side of an ill-fated trade.

This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 9:56 AM.

Scott Wuerz

Belleville News-Democrat

Scott Wuerz has written “Cheap Seats,” a St. Louis Cardinals fan blog for the Belleville News-Democrat, since 2007. He is a former BND reporter who covered breaking news and education.