Renteria Just Hasn't Been Himself So Far
By Joe Strauss Of The Post-Dispatch
May 08, 2004
MONTREAL - The day Cardinals shortstop Edgar Renteria arrived in Jupiter, Fla., for spring training, he fielded predictable questions about his contract status. Renteria offered the predictable response that his contract was business and he was in camp to perform.
However, like Albert Pujols before him, Renteria understands there eventually is a time when performance becomes business, when contractual dealings become a show of respect as well as riches.
"I never thought I would be in this situation," Renteria said last week. "I thought it would be taken care of by now."
Renteria is a pending free agent coming off the most productive season of a 13-year professional career that began by signing at 16 with the Florida Marlins. Renteria, 28, won't yet be 30 if he remains eligible for free agency after this season, making him a gem among a class that also will include Nomar Garciaparra. Renteria finished fourth in NL batting last season, set a record for Cardinals shortstops with 100 RBIs and won a second consecutive Gold Glove.
There are some within his team's clubhouse who consider Renteria the Cardinals' most indispensable player. The compliment is not incidental given the club's seven-year, $100 million commitment to Pujols and eight-year, $90 million pact with third baseman Scott Rolen.
Starting with team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., the Cardinals have made clear their intention to retain Renteria. A round of discussions took place with Renteria's agent, Jeff Lane, shortly before this season with signs of renewed urgency appearing in recent weeks.
Renteria, for one, is hopeful for a result.
"I want to stay here. I want that very much," he said. "I like it here. I like these guys. There is no one here I don't want to be around. I hope everybody here feels the same about me. It's good."
Renteria is making $7.25 million this season, sixth-highest on the team. It is a pittance compared to the New York Yankees' Derek Jeter ($18.6 million) but more than the salary of the Baltimore Orioles' Miguel Tejada ($7 million), the 2002 AL MVP who signed a back-loaded, six-year, $72 million contract as a free agent last winter. Garciaparra, in the last season of his deal with Boston, will make $11.5 million.
Jeter is a former batting champion who plays for the most free-spending team in American sports history. Garciaparra, signed long-term before becoming arbitration-eligible, is a career .323 hitter who won batting titles in 1999 and 2000 but is rated a lesser defensive player than Renteria.
Renteria entered Saturday night's game hitting .284 with two home runs and 12 RBIs in 109 at-bats. His defense has been inconsistent, as has his production with runners in scoring position, both areas in which he excelled last season.
"This definitely is not his game," manager Tony La Russa said last week. "He's not embarrassing himself or stinking up the joint, but he's not having consistently real good at-bats. What happens is, when you're not playing well, the game wears on you."
Saturday night's lineup card was an indication of another problem. Renteria didn't start for just the second time this season. He was removed from Friday's game in the sixth inning because of back spasms. Renteria acknowledged Saturday that his back has been causing him problems for most of a month. He regularly spends time loosening his back on deck. Ground balls that stay down are more difficult than in the past. Massage therapy is now part of Renteria's routine.
Renteria is familiar with professional uncertainty. Traded by the Marlins as part of their post-championship salary purge in 1998, he obsessed over his status before the non-waiver trade deadline in July 2001 because he thought the Cardinals were actively shopping him. Despite assurances to the contrary from general manager Walt Jocketty, Renteria didn't become comfortable until the deadline passed.
Coincidence or not, Renteria's average jumped 45 points to .305 and he amassed 26 more RBIs in 2002. As the league's reigning Gold Glove shortstop, Renteria last season hiked his average another 25 points and fell only six hits shy of becoming only the second NL shortstop ever to manage 200 hits and 100 RBIs. Perhaps most amazing, Renteria hit at least .309 each month in 2003, something only Pujols managed among the rest of the league.
"It's not the same" as the uncertainty of 2001, Renteria said. "I have more experience now. I think I deal with things differently. Experience is important to a player. I think this is part of it. I'm not worried about my contract. I know I'll play next year somewhere. I would like to play in St. Louis, but we'll see."
Renteria has not engaged in the tough talk that punctuated Pujols' talks, negotiations that occurred three years before he became eligible for free agency.
To date, Renteria hasn't said "there are no breaks" when it is his turn to be paid. He does not deny giving the matter thought, but he doesn't include any incendiary rhetoric. "I think about it sometimes, but not a lot," he said.
Back to 2004 Articles Page