Gene Stechschulte of the Cardinals was troubled with some shoulder problems last season, and when they recurred this spring the team took an MRI. The MRI revealed a frayed labrum and the team has recommended surgery, so he will likely be out until at least the All-Star break. While Stechschulte had a good chance of breaking camp in the Cardinals bullpen prior to his injury, St. Louis has several other pitchers who can easily fill the space.

Alex Ochoa, who was one of the best minor league signings in baseball this off-season, will not be playing for the Cardinals this year after all. St. Louis released him from his contract so that he could accept a lucrative offer to play in Japan, as the two parties had agreed they would were he to receive such an opportunity. Ochoa signed a $2M, one-year deal with the Chunichi Dragons and could earn an additional $500,000 in incentives. The Dragons had the roster spot available after they were unable to finalize their attempted acquisition of Kevin Millar. Ochoa would have given the Cardinals one of the stronger benches in baseball had he remained with St. Louis, but they aren't short of replacements.

St. Louis signed a number of players to minor league deals that we haven't yet discussed, including IF-R Kurt Abbott, UT-R Dennis Abreu, IF-R Jose Nieves, LHP Tony Cogan, LHP Lance Painter, LHP Dan Serafini, RHP Dennis Springer, and RHP Russ Springer.

Minnesota signed Abbott to a minor league deal and released him prior to last season. He signed with the Yankees in June and played for AAA Columbus for a week before he was again released. Over the last two seasons, he's accumulated a total of 40 AB for major league affiliates, though his lack of 2001 playing time was injury related. When he receives playing time, the 33-year-old has marginal power but only limited plate discipline. If St. Louis experiences serious injury problems in their middle infield, he could be called up to help out off the bench, but I'm not sure he'll even make it through a full season in their minors given his current track record.

The Cubs signed Dennis Abreu as a nondrafted free agent out of Venezuela in 1994. He spent last season with Chicago's AA Southern League affiliate at West Tennessee, as he had for portions of the 2000 and 2001 seasons. The 24-year-old's plate discipline needs a thorough overhaul, but he offers solid power and interesting speed skills. I expect he'll have a poor season at AAA for the Cardinals, but in another year or two he might show up on someone's bench.

Jose Nieves has never demonstrated decent plate discipline and lacks both speed and power skills. Consequently, the reserve infielder offers teams very little offensively off the bench. Nevertheless, given his major league experience, I wouldn't be surprised if St. Louis brought the 27-year-old up as an injury replacement during the season.

Kansas City drafted Tony Cogan out of Stanford University with their 12th round pick in the 1999 draft. The Royals mishandling of him after the draft should qualify as criminal. He finished out 1999 at Spokane in the Short-Season North West League, which was a perfectly acceptable assignment. He advanced to A+ Wilmington in the Carolina League to begin the following season, mostly starting, bounced down to Charleston in the A South Atlantic League where he made 13 starts, and also made two relief appearances for AA Wichita in the Texas League before the end of 2000. While that placement definitely demonstrates some indecision on the part of the Royals, it doesn't compare with their choice to jump him to the majors as a reliever the following season, bumping him down to AA and AAA for brief stints when he unsurprisingly failed to pitch effectively. Not only did they waste a year of development time, they also burned an option a year sooner than they need to use one. In 2002, they finally decided to give him a full season at AA as a starter, though he only made 16 starts. There was nothing outstanding about his performance, but it was solid in all areas. The 26-year-old needs to spend all of 2003 starting at AAA, however he should either develop into a bottom of the rotation lefty starter or solid reliever in a year or two. St. Louis will also likely have space to add him to their 40-man roster at the end of the season, if he displays skills worthy of retaining.

Painter did not sign with a major league affiliate last season, but he will attempt a comeback with the Cardinals with whom he spent three years at the end of the 90's. He has been an effective left-handed reliever at times, though the 35-year-old generally suffered from control problems. St. Louis doesn't have a lot of left-handed major league relief depth, so he could receive a call-up if he pitches well enough to catch someone's eye.

The Angels released Dan Serafini in Spring Training last season, and he did not sign with another MLB affiliate. Serafini lacks the command to pitch effectively even in relief in the majors. Consequently, the Cardinals should not consider him as a possibly in-season call-up, however I wouldn't be stunned if they did, given his major league experience and the fact he received a Spring Training invite.

The fact St. Louis first acquired Dennis and then Russ Springer makes me wonder whether they were confused over which pitcher they were signing to the first contract. Dennis continues to attempt a starting career, despite numerous indications that he will never display the command necessary to deserve such a post in the majors. Nevertheless, I doubt the 37-year-old will change his ways at this point in his career. He should spend the season pitching for the Cardinals' AAA affiliate.

On the other hand, Russ Springer has occasionally displayed some competence as a reliever, though he did not play last season. He is technically in competition for a bullpen job this spring, but unless St. Louis loses another reliever this spring, I suspect he'll begin the season in the minors and receive a call-up as an injury replacement during the year. If the 34-year-old rebounds to his prior form, he'll be a good guy to have around as insurance.