St. Louis Cardinals: Digging into the history of Cardinals GMs

Stan Musial (1967)

Biggest win: Jack Lamabe

Biggest loss: Jerry Buchek

Total WAR gain: 0

Total WAR loss: 1

OK, look, Musial was an outstanding player, but he didn’t do much regarding trades during his time in the front office. Jack Lamabe had a decent season pitching for the Cardinals in 1967, but the Cardinals lost 1 WAR in the Jerry Buchek trade. There’s really nothing to say here besides the fact that Musial apparently treated the players very well and offered fair contracts, and the Cardinals won the World Series in the only year he was in charge.

Bing Devine (again) (1967-1978)

Biggest win: Joe Torre

Biggest loss: Steve Carlton

Total WAR gain: 141.1

Total WAR loss: 301.8

While Devine’s first seven years as the Cardinals’ general manager were some of the most successful in team history, his second turn through the wringer didn’t prove nearly as fruitful. The man who spearheaded what is widely considered the most lopsided trade in MLB history — in favor of the Cardinals — was also behind the Cardinals’ biggest trade loss by WAR in the team’s history.

When pitcher Steve Carlton asked for a raise after winning 20 games in 1971, owner August A. Busch Jr. ordered Devine to sever ties with Carlton, and he was traded to the Phillies, where he accumulated Hall of Fame numbers and a WAR of 75. Wise did have an All-Star campaign with the Cardinals in 1973, but he was traded to the Boston Red Sox after the season.

Devine’s best deal in his second turn as general manager was acquiring catcher Joe Torre for first baseman Orlando Cepeda. Torre put up a WAR of 25.4 for the Cardinals and made four All-Star appearances in six years. Cepeda had a few more decent years, but he was done being an All-Star. Another noteworthy move was trading pitcher Eric Rasmussen to the San Diego Padres for outfielder George Hendrick, who would have the most productive years of his career with the Cardinals.

When Devine traded Curt Flood to the Phillies, Flood refused the trade and filed a lawsuit against the league. While Flood ultimately lost the case, the results of the trial led to sweeping overhauls across baseball. Owners no longer had complete control over their players, and players had more of a voice in trades and the ability to seek free agency.

Devine’s second time around with the Cardinals didn’t go nearly as well as the first, but it was what happened on the legal side with Flood that expanded beyond the team itself and gave players more of a voice, and for that reason, some could consider it a serendipitous success for Devine.

John Claiborne (1978-1980)

Biggest win: John Stuper

Biggest loss: John Denny 

Total WAR gain: 1.8

Total WAR loss: 10.9

John Claiborne only served as the Cardinals’ general manager for 22 months before owner August A. Busch Jr. determined that he wasn’t the right fit for the team. Claiborne had difficulty signing top-tier free agents such as Pete Rose and Tommy John, who both refused the Cardinals’ offers, and he balked at the idea of swinging a deal with the Chicago Cubs of acquiring Bruce Sutter, Tom Herr and Leon Durham.

John Stuper was the best trade by WAR that Claiborne engineered, coming over as a minor leaguer from the Pirates and serving as a decent arm for the Cardinals in 1982 and 1983 before falling off a cliff in 1984.

Claiborne’s trade of pitcher John Denny for aging slugger Bobby Bonds didn’t work out. Denny won the Cy Young award with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1983 and put up some good years, especially near the end of his career. Bonds, meanwhile, didn’t appear to have much juice left, as he hit only five home runs with the Cardinals and batted .203.