Jim Edmonds is returning to St. Louis after a three-year absence. The Cardinals announced that they agreed to sign Edmonds to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, (Twitter link).
It appeared likely that Edmonds would retire last weekend, but the 40-year-old is returning for an 18th season in the major leagues. Eight of those seasons came in St. Louis, where Edmonds hit .285/.393/.555 from 2000-07 and was a key player on the '06 World Champions.
Edmonds appeared in just 86 games last year after sitting out the 2009 season, but he can still play. He posted a .276/.342/.504 line for the Reds and Brewers, adding 11 homers and 23 doubles. The eight-time Gold Glove winner played first base and all three outfield positions.
I thought he was retiring
I wonder if they are hiring him so he can retire as a Cardinal?
That Is a good point
Obviously… He will add depth and security incase Berkman is a fail.. He will get plenty at bats as a bench player and will retire next year.. Finally.
Welcome back Jimmy!
Sure…unless his comeback with the Cards turns out to be a non-starter.
In that case he’d probably just retire outright, no?
Maybe, I dont see the club house saying no to Jimmy. Even if he isnt the best in spring training.. If there is something physically wrong, yes. If he plays poor in spring training I still think he will make the club. Good guy to have in the clubhouse and he can still hit so we know at least he will be a bench hitter/coach. Cards can always send him back down and bring him back up.
They said no to him LAST year. He offered to come back for the league minimum, and the Cards passed. My guess is he’ll miss the roster and then go to another team. There just isn’t room for him as long as everybody is healthy. Let’s face it: Jon Jay is a more productive lefty off the bench these days
Not necessarily. Jay started off hot but then cooled downed severly over the last two months. It remains to be seen if he can consistently handle Major League pitching well enough to get the roster spot over Edmonds.
Maybe they can stuff him and stick him in center field.
wat
I hope this means they are trading Rasmus to the Cubs for Fukudome
Whatever you’re smoking, share with the class, please.
lmao. yeah. that’ll never happen. Besides, Colby is a center fielder. Wasn’t your center fielder one of only two guys on the team to hit .300 last year, genius? Guess that means we’d get Marlon Byrd, too? Still, no thanks
WTF?!??
trading to rasmus for fukudome would be the worst decision the cardinals could make..
Not for the Cubs.
No, trading Holliday, Rasmus, Pujols and Carpenter for Fukudome would be the worst decision the Cardinals could make. You know this was a joke, right?
And wanerite
It’s wainwright
No it wouldnt be it would be awesome because the cubs would get rasmous and fukeadome sucks
This is awesome! Even if he doesn’t make it and retires, he still gets to retire with the team he played his best seasons with.
the angels?
He definitely can’t still play. He has a hard enough time jogging the bases.
Ha. He has to be one of the only people to get injured during a homerun trot
How about Kendry Morales?
Ha. Good point. But Kendry’s injury happened during a home run “jump”. If Edmonds tried a jump like that, his leg would probably fall off like a derelict zombie part. 😉
Didn’t Zambrano get hurt both in batting practice as well as sleeping in a hotel bed two years ago? Now THAT’S ridiculous
Jimmy Baseball back in the STL, Love it!!!!!!
I like this, even though it appears that he just wants to retire a Cardinal.
Your definitely right!
Uh oh if TLR has his way this will mean even less playing time for Rasmus. We all know he loves playing his veterans. The less playing time for Rasmus the better for the rest of the central. Gotta love it!
Rasmus is going to play a ton and I think this is his breakout year!!
Rasmus start every game.. trust me
when was the last time any player on a team managed by la russa started every game? even pujols gets days off.
Said the guy whose team may NEVER win. lol. Love trash talkin scrub fans! Hey- doesn’t it feel great when your team wins the big game? Oh wait…………… HA!!
I’m pretty sure this is just to give him the opportunity to retire a Cardinal. We’ll see if he’s content with playing in the minors until August or someone gets injured. I mean how many left handed bats do we need in the outfield? Rasmus, Berkman, Jay…..Edmonds
If Edmonds makes the team, then Jay will be in AAA.
I hope you’re right. Seeing Jay in the OF last year, it certainly looked like he could use a little more time in the MiLB developing – defense, in particular. Like the talent, but he still looks a little raw.
The Red Sox “signed” Garciaparra to a pseudo-deal awhile back specifically so he could technically retire with the team. So far St. Louis hasn’t made it look like that’s all this is. Might be to have him around in Spring Training as part of the team for leadership etc. but they must see some value in him aside from on-field production…
Ya normally players will sign a one day contract to retire.. they will have Jimmy for the year and he will retire at the end
Oh my could you picture alot of pop fly doubles if Edmonds and Berkman were in the outfield together , and i mean edmonds now , not six years ago, that being said welcome home Jimmy
When you were one of the best center fielders around in your prime, your defensive skills don’t depreciate that much by your early 40’s. Besides, part of what made him such a great center fielder is his uncanny sense of knowing immediately which direction to take to the ball, which is not something you lose with age as long as you keep playing. He should still be a pretty good defensive outfielder.
no doubt he still knows were the ball will bounce but are those knees gonna take him there , he looked pretty bad last year hobbling around, hopefully he is healthier this year and in left field
Makes you wonder if the Cards are planning for a veteran replacement just in case their other veteran replacement (Berkman) doesn’t work out…
I like Edmonds, but if he sees any significant time in the Cardinals outfield, it could be a long summer in St. Louis.
edmonds exterminating service returns !
They are putting berkmen in the out field?
Um.. where have you been??? They signed Berkman as an OF… where else would they put him? 1st base and have Albert take a seat? Typical Cubs fan…
Typical?
thinks he’s refering to Cubs fans not knowing baseball outside of their own team
Good thing the Cardinals are taking care of Albert’s contract. I love Jimmy baseball, but we already signed a broke outfielder who can’t run. Maybe he will take Big Mac’s spot after Tony leaves.
im so confused. Oh well, we had randy winn taking a roster spot and doing nothing last year, at least Edmonds is a face people will want to watch.
Jimmy can platoon and play the corners, even if Berkman and Holliday already have them pretty much locked up. I’ll take Edmonds over Jay on the 25 man anyway.
The Cards are going all in on building a good clubhouse this year after last year’s apparently sour chemistry. Obviously, I don’t know, but I’d think it a good deal if Jimmy is signed as a kinda player-coach (plays until he can’t anymore then stays with the organization as a coach…).
but who does he platoon with? not pujols or holliday, and it doesn’t make sense to platoon him with rasmus or berkman. i guess he’s just going to be a bench bat/late inning replacement.
Jim Edmonds’ last 162 games: .269/.362/.586, 29 homers, 39 doubles. Jayson Werth’s: .296/.388/.534, 29 HR, 46 2B.
Jim Edmonds is not useless
Those 162 games are spread over 3 years. The guy is as brittle as a saltine cracker
Even if you only get that kind of production for 50-60 games, that’s still a whole lot better than your average 4th or 5th outfielder.
You make a VERY good point. Edmonds is still very servicable (more than people realize). He gives the Cards another locker room leader and he’ll put peoples’ butts in the stands. He’ll be great for St. Louis as long as TLR doesn’t overuse him. I’m interested to see how much he’ll make if he’s on the Major League roster.
I’m going to say Cardinal fans will happily put their “butts in the stands” to watch Pujols hit, Carpenter or even Wainwright pitch, but not to watch a gimpy, old Jim Edmonds pinch hit every now and then.
Duly noted. The Cardinals have a firecracker lineup to go along with great pitching and a rabid fanbase. But having Jimmy Ballgame around can only help, can’t it?
It can’t hurt, unless he is taking up a otherwise needed spot on the 25 man roster.
As the 4th or 5th outfielder, the Cardinals could do much worse. He has a great attitude, plays hard and would be a good role model for the younger guys coming up.
He never looked right in Cub blue. He belongs in St. Louis.
You aren’t understanding the relationship Cards fans have with Jim though, despite his run as the “whore” of the NL central for a little while.
I’m guessing the majority of Cards fans are pretty excited to see old number 15 with the birds on the bat again
Dude just loves the game and might end up having a big influence on this team
edmonds last 162 games are spread over 2 playing years and 3 years over all
edmonds was awesome for the cubs in that 1 partial season and btw thanks cards and pads for paying most all of his pay for that year
The Cardinals weren’t paying him anything that year. In fact, we got our current starting 3rd baseman out of that deal.
Edmonds line last year in 86 games: .276 avg, 11 HR, 23 RBI, .342 OPB, .504 SLG
Spread that over a full season and it’s pretty damn close to Rasmus’s line. This move is not just a “feel good” move for the Cards. For a guy who will probably on play every third or fourth day, who brings clubhouse presence, leadership, and baseball knowledge to a young team… for league minimum I’ll take it.
Maybe he is Miles replacement as a reliever? Maybe he will try to play third.
He’s Stavanovas replacement.
Man…the 2004 Cardinals are gonna be awesome!
He had an OBP of .342 …the guy can still play. Welcome home Jimmy.
What a waste of valuable Pujols money.
Could this be a precursor to an Albert Pujols trade? If the team can’t sign AP, we could see Berkman at 1st and Jimmy Ballgame in right, with Craig platooning against lefties. Albert to Texas for Young and a top reliever? Just a thought. I don’t like the odds of the club extending AP and I keep looking for hints to confirm my suspicions.
Did you not read a few days ago that Pujols will veto any trade? Even if the Cardinalws want to trade Pujols, they will not. THey know Pujols gets them money with fans.
Im seriously surprised no one destroyed you..
dang that actually makes alotta sense
but trading pujols will empty the stands well maybe half way empty the stands
Edmonds is gonna teach Rasmus how to play center like a stud
Rather than seeing this as a hedge against not being able to sign THE contract, I see it as the opposite, Pujols and Edmunds were and are very close friends. Jimmy BG wants to retire as a Cardinal…this ensures it. He wanted to last year and tried to pressure the team in public (an unwise move on a TLR team) and it backfired on him, making himself look foolish! Albert, being the sort of person he is, would like to help Edmunds in his quest to go out wearing the Birds On The Bat…and may have made his wishes clear. Personally, I seriously doubt that Jim will make the team or ever play another inning for ANY major league club; but (and here’s where it get VERY intriguing to an old conspiracy theorist like me) what if this announcement by the Cardinals is actually one of Albert’s minor contractual stipulations and what if this signing is not merely a nod to Pujols, but is also a very subtle message to Cardinals Nation and the voracious media jackals that because this rather insignificant signing and non-roster invite has been extended THE contract is down to the last few “I”s to be dotted and “T”s to be crossed? Admittedly, it’s pure unabridged conjecture…but it’s no more illogical than some of the other muck that’s been posted or printed about the Pujols contract negotiations, which unlike the highly publicized Wankers earlier “negotiations”, have been held in commendable secracy by all involved…forcing the media to rechew the same old cud over and over and over again!
…Besides, the Cardinals already have invited a non-roster player to camp this spring who plays all three outfield positions extremely well; has a cannon for an arm; hits with far more power than Edmunds ever did; is a veteran who is in phenominal shape and is several years Jimmy Ballgame’s junior! Plus, he’s a larger than life, living legend…
who is this person?
His name is Amaury Cazana Marti…He defected from Cuba, crossing the Florida Straits in a leaky boat along with 19 other persons and was drafted by the Cardinals in, I believe, 2004 or 2005. He ran into problems with INS when he applied for a work permit, having listed his mother’s maiden name (Marti) as his own. He has pulverized baseballs at every level, last season splitting it between AAA Memphis and the Mexican League. Invited to Jupiter a couple of yerars ago, he hit a homerun against, i think, the Mets, that silenced the spectators and emptied both benches as major leaguers ran onto the field, mouths gaping in slack-jawed disbelief. Both LaRussa and Pujols are on record as saying that it’s the longest home run they’ve ever seen! It cleared the outfield fence by 80 to a 100 feet and was still rising as it left the park, cleared the hillside behind the fence; cleared a 2-lane road behind the hill; cleared another 100 or so feet to an adjoining pratice field where a game was in progress…and finally bounced off the roof of the first base dugout…all on the fly…Projected to where it would have hit, it had to have traveled well over 600 feet…that’s TWO football fields! Check his stats and then Google “Amaury Marti” facts…and you’ll see why he’s a living legend!
He always made me laugh when he would catch a ball, take a step or two and then jump on the ground in a sliding motion to make it seem like a “great catch”. Sure he had some legit good catches…but he went a little drama queen on most of them.
lov me some Jim Edmonds jus wished he would have stayed a CUBBIE