St. Louis Cardinals: 12 Ex-All-Stars who can rise for Cards in 2nd half

The St. Louis Cardinals roster has many players with past claims to glory. Can they regain their mojo in the second half of 2019 to salvage a playoff berth?

St. Louis Cardinals fans had sad ice cream with their All-Star game this year because their favorite team was represented by the minimum one player, first-timer Paul DeJong. This dearth of All-Stars wearing the birds-on-the-bat is ironic because the Cardinals actually had the fourth-most all-star laden roster coming into this year’s game in Cleveland. But not one of them repeated.

The New York Yankees lead with 16 former all-stars. But they had five repeating this year.

"Sabathia, Happ, *Chapman*, Betances, Severino, *Sanchez*, *Torres* *LeMahieu*, Tulowitzki, Gardner, Stanton, Judge, Ellsbury, *Tanaka*, Britton, Encarnacion"

(repeaters surrounded by asterisks).

The Chicago Cubs are second with 14 former all-stars. And they had three repeating this year.

"Quintana, Lester, Hamels, Kimbrel, Hendricks, Darvish, Kintzler,Rizzo, *Bryant*, *Baez*, *Contreras*, Russell, Heyward, Zobrist"

The Houston Astros are third with 13 all-stars. And they had four repeating.

"*Verlander*, Altuve, *Bregman*, Brantley, *Springer*, *Cole*, Roberto Osuna, Correa, Wade Miley, Will Harris, McCullers, Diaz, Devenski"

Right behind the Astros comes the St. Louis Cardinals with 12 former All-Stars!

So, it is not like Cardinals GM John Mozeliak is not trying: he has outfitted the Cardinals roster with plenty of All-Star level talent. And although the All-Star selection process is subject to many vagaries, it is not a half-bad indicator of talent. One cannot fail to notice that the above-mentioned Yankees, Cubs and Astros are all leading their divisions.

Most teams only have single-digit numbers of All-Stars on their roster.

The least all-star represented 40-man roster going into this year’s game appears to be the Baltimore Orioles with only two: Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo. The Orioles own baseball’s worst record. The Tampa Bay Rays, who were leading the American League East for the majority of the first half of the season, Kansas City Royals and Oakland A’s had just three apiece (Charlie Morton, Blake Snell and Avisail Garcia; Alex Gordon, Salvador Perez, and Brad Boxberger; Joakim Soria, Blake Treinen, and Marco Estrada, respectively).

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The Toronto Blue Jays are one place ahead of the Orioles in the standings. Is it a coincidence that they have four former All-Stars? Blue Jays who have been to the midsummer classic include Justin Smoak, Aaron Sanchez, Clay Buchholz, and Edwin Jackson. Even if the All-Star experience is quite distant in the player’s rear-view mirror, the experience of having “been there” can inspire the younger players.

On the other hand, the Minnesota Twins have the fourth-highest winning percentage in baseball and are doing it with just six former All-Stars: Jason Castro, Nelson Cruz, Michael Pineda, Jonathan Schoop, Miguel Sano, Jose Berrios.

The good news for St. Louis Cardinals fans is that there is a path for the team that does not involve rookies or even sophomores having breakout seasons. If just a few of these former all-stars can manage to turn in second-half performances like the ones that earned them an all-star selection, the Cardinals, who sit just two games behind the division-leading Cubs, can find themselves holding a trophy similar in kind and character to the one being held up around St. Louis last month.

Let’s compare the Wins Above Replacement (bWAR) that each of these 12 added to their teams in their All-star years to what they contributed in the first half of this year.

Yadier Molina – C – nine all-star seasons

ST. LOUIS, MO – AUGUST 28: Yadier Molina #4 of the St. Louis Cardinals looks on from the dugout prior to playing against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium on August 28, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

Year	Age	Tm	WAR
2009	26	STL	3.2
2010	27	STL	3.1
2011	28	STL	2.9
2012	29	STL	7.2
2013	30	STL	6.1
2014	31	STL	3.1
2015	32	STL	1.5
2017	34	STL	2.0
2018	35	STL	1.8
2019	36	STL	0.3

Paul Goldschmidt – 1B – six All-Star seasons

Year	Age	Tm	WAR
2013	25	ARI	7.1
2014	26	ARI	4.6
2015	27	ARI	8.7
2016	28	ARI	4.7
2017	29	ARI	5.9
2018	30	ARI	5.4
2019	31	STL	1.1

Marcell Ozuna – OF – two All-Star seasons

MIAMI, FL – OCTOBER 1: Marcell Ozuna #13 of the Miami Marlins runs the bases after hitting a seventh-inning solo home run against the Atlanta Braves at Marlins Park on October 1, 2017 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Skipper/Getty Images)

Year	Age	Tm	WAR
2016	25	MIA	2.6
2017	26	MIA	6.1
2019	28	STL	1.6

Matt Carpenter – 3B – three All-Star seasons

Year	Age	Tm	WAR
2013	27	STL	6.5
2014	28	STL	3.1
2016	30	STL	3.5
2019	33	STL	0.3

Dexter Fowler – OF – one All-Star season

CLEVELAND, OH – NOVEMBER 02: Dexter Fowler #24 of the Chicago Cubs reacts during the seventh inning against the Cleveland Indians in Game Seven of the 2016 World Series at Progressive Field on November 2, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Year	Age	Tm	WAR
2016	30	CHC	4.1
2019	33	STL	1.5

Adam Wainwright – P – three All-Star seasons

Year	Age	Tm	WAR
2010	28	STL	6.2
2013	31	STL	6.2
2014	32	STL	6.1
2019	37	STL	1.0

Carlos Martinez – P – two All-Star seasons

Year	Age	Tm	WAR
2015	23	STL	3.8
2017	25	STL	2.9
2019	27	STL	0.5

Miles Mikolas – P – one All-Star season

ST LOUIS, MO – JUNE 07: Miles Mikolas #39 of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches in the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins at Busch Stadium on June 7, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

Year	Age	Tm	WAR
2018	29	STL	4.1
2019	30	STL	0.6

Andrew Miller – RP – two All-Star seasons

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 24: Andrew Miller #48 of the New York Yankees looks on before the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on May 24, 2016 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 05: Andrew Miller #24 of the Cleveland Indians delivers the pitch during the seventh inning against the New York Yankees during game one of the American League Division Series at Progressive Field on October 5, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Year	Age	Tm	WAR
2016	31	NYY	2.3
2016	31	CLE	1.4
2017	32	CLE	3.1
2019	34	STL	-0.1

Michael Wacha – P – one All-Star season

Year	Age	Tm	WAR
2015	23	STL	2.9
2019	27	STL	-0.5

Matt Wieters – C – four All-Star seasons

SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 11: Matt Wieters #32 of the Baltimore Orioles signs autographs during Gatorade All-Star Workout Day for the 87th Annual MLB All-Star game at PETCO Park on July 11, 2016 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Year	Age	Tm	WAR
2011	25	BAL	5.2
2012	26	BAL	4.1
2014	28	BAL	0.9
2016	30	BAL	1.9
2019	33	STL	0.2

Brett Cecil – RP – one All-Star season

60-day injured list

TORONTO, CANADA – OCTOBER 8: Brett Cecil #27 of the Toronto Blue Jays delivers a pitch in the eighth inning against the Texas Rangers in Game One of the American League Division Series during the 2015 MLB Playoffs at Rogers Centre on October 8, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

Year	Age	Tm	WAR
2013	26	TOR	1.3

Clearly, the Cardinals have plenty of talent on this roster, even if some of it has been slightly removed from top-tier performances. There is plenty of evidence to show that so far, the Cardinals have had many players underperforming their career norms and if history has anything to show us, it’s that these trends won’t last forever.