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St. Louis Cardinals: Herzog, Mozeliak, and the aggressive offseason
The St. Louis Cardinals aggressive 1981 offseason, led by Whitey Herzog, apparently is showing John Mozeliak and the current Cardinal front office how to build a World Series contender.
Much like the 2017 St. Louis Cardinals, the 1981 Redbirds were “close but no cigar” when it came to making the offseason. The Whitey Herzog led Cards finished 59-43 during the strike shortened 1981 season. This version of the St. Louis Cardinals, much like the 2017 version, was a decent but unremarkable team. Also, both teams barely missed the playoffs.
The story of the strike shortened 1981 season is too long and complicated to go into for the purposes of this piece. However, during the off-season, General Manager Whitey Herzog was aggressive in building his roster for the 1982 season.
This is the off-season that trades brought Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee, both of whom became cornerstones of the 1980s for the St. Louis Cardinals. It also brought through trade, outfielder Lonnie Smith, and through free agency pitcher Joaquin Andujar. Both players were key components of the 1982 World Series team.
Whitey Herzog, in 1981, was acting as the St. Louis Cardinal General Manager as well as the field manager. Herzog had shown during the 1980 off-season that he was willing to be aggressive in the trade and free agent market.
That off-season saw the free agent signing of catcher Darrell Porter and the through trade the arrival of reliever Bruce Sutter. Herzog also traded franchise cornerstones catcher Ted Simmons and third baseman Ken Ritz.
Herzog started the 1981 off-season by trading pitcher Bob Sykes to the New York Yankees for minor league outfielder Willie McGee on October 21st. The 23-year-old McGee had been buried in the Yankee farm system, never getting higher than the AA level.
McGee would be briefly assigned to AAA Louisville, before being called up by the Cardinals early in the 1982 season. McGee would hit .296 with 4 HR and 56 RBIs in 123 games in 1982.
On December 29, 1981, Herzog signed free agent pitcher Joaquin Andujar. The Cardinals had received Andujar in a trade with the Houston Astros in June of 1981. However, he was allowed to go to free agency after the regular season.
The 29-year-old Andujar had spent seven years with the Astros and accumulated a 44-53 record with a 3.67 ERA. During his time with the Cardinals in 1981, he had a 6-1 record with a 3.74 ERA in 11 games as a starter. Andujar would go 15-10 with a 2.47 ERA in 265 innings in 1982.
On November 20, 1981, Whitey Herzog engineered a three team trade in which the Cardinals received 25-year-old outfielder Lonnie Smith. Smith spent four years with the Philadelphia Phillies hitting .321, primarily in the lead off role. During the 1982 season, Smith hit .307 with 68 stolen bases as the lead off man for the World Champion Cardinals.
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But on December 10, 1981, Whitey Herzog made one of the most impactful trades in St. Louis Cardinal history, In a multi player deal with the San Diego Padres, the Cardinals received shortstop Ozzie Smith. The 27-year-old had four years with the Padres, hitting only .231, but was known for his defense, already earning two gold gloves. During the 1982 season with the Cardinals, Smith hit .248 and stole 68 bases. The back flipping shortstop also earned his third gold glove.
The addition of Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, Lonnie Smith, and Joaquin Andujar rounded out the St. Louis Cardinal team that won the 1982 World Series. The term “Whiteyball” was used to describe this team and the rest of the Cardinal teams in the 1980s. By emphasizing speed, defense, and pitching, the St. Louis Cardinals won three NL pennants and a world series.
Whitey Herzog and the St. Louis Cardinal front office used an aggressive approach in the 1981 offseason to build a world series contender. Are John Mozeliak and the current Cardinal front office using the 1981 off-season as a blue print for the 2017 off-season?
John Mozeliak stated during his end-of-the season press conference he would focus on improving the team through trade or free agency. As we know now, the team zeroed in on Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton. John Mozeliak and the Cardinals front office made an aggressive offer that included salary assumption and prospects.
However, Stanton rejected the Cardinals offer on Thursday. Hopefully the Cardinals Plan B is just as aggressive as Plan A. Whether intentional or not, the attempted trade for Giancarlo Stanton has shown that John Mozeliak and the Cardinals seem to be following Whitey Herzog’s 1981 blue print.
Now we wait to see how aggressive ” Plan B” will be.