Renteria Gives Cards Fans 10 Million Reasons To Cheer
Bernie Miklasz
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
June 06, 2005
IF EDGAR RENTERIA misses St. Louis, don't expect him to reveal
his innermost
feelings as he returns to Busch Stadium. An expression of regret or
remorse or
pro-St. Louis emotions would only exacerbate Renteria's image problems
in
Boston, where he's been booed and treated harshly at times by
front-running Red
Sox fans.
Only Renteria will ever know what he truly feels as he scrapes
his cleats on
the familiar sandlot where, from 1999 to 2004, he distinguished himself
as the
true successor to Ozzie Smith at shortstop for the Cardinals.
Does Renteria believe he erred in being seduced by Boston's
aggressive
recruiting pitch and a front-loaded contract? Would Renteria be willing
to go
back in time and reverse the apparent frustration and anger as he
waited for the
dawdling Cardinals to increase their bid?
Does Renteria now accept the Cardinals' claim that they stalled
for time so
general manager Walt Jocketty could find a way to bend or extend
payroll dollars
to pay ER, and hire a second baseman and front-line starting pitcher?
Has Edgar
belatedly recognized that the franchise with a $90 million payroll must
move
more cautiously than the $125 million Red Sox, who rank second to
George
Steinbrenner's Yankees in payroll largesse?
Is making $10 million a year in Boston worth the cost of the
increased
scrutiny and stress when he could have continued playing in a
comfortable
environment, with unconditional support from the fans, for around $9.5
million a
year?
And I wonder if Renteria was just pandering last month when he
called Red Sox
fans the best in baseball.
If Boston fans are the best, then Renteria should be thriving in
the home
setting. Oddly, he's batting .215 at Fenway Park this season, and .328
away from
Boston. That's a dramatic change from Renteria's final four seasons in
St.
Louis, when he hit .306 overall at Busch Stadium, compared to .288 away
from St.
Louis. Must be a coincidence.
Tonight, when the Red Sox and Renteria begin a three-game set at
Busch
Stadium, Cardinals fans have a splendid opportunity to remind Renteria
of what
he left behind.
Hopefully, baseball's most civilized fan base will give Renteria
a warm
reception in appreciation for his performance on the field, and his
personality
in the clubhouse, during his six outstanding seasons in St. Louis.
Renteria was
a leading figure in all things Cardinal. That's why teammates called
him "The
Captain."
The business of sports ended the Renteria-Cardinals relationship,
but that
doesn't diminish Renteria's contributions, or the power of his
character, during
a prosperous run of Cardinals baseball. He played hard every day and
never
cheated the fans.
And Renteria didn't short-change Cardinals fans by leaving,
either. It's not
as if the Cardinals have disintegrated in Renteria's absence. They're
receiving
exceptional value on the $3.4 million they're paying shortstop David
Eckstein.
According to the VORP ratings (Value Over Replacement) published by The
Baseball
Prospectus, Eckstein has a score of 15.4 compared to Renteria's 9.2.
And that covers only part of the financial equation. If the
Cardinals had
re-signed Renteria at the price of nearly $10 million a year, there
would have
been no trade with Oakland for starting pitcher Mark Mulder and his
$6.05
million salary.
As much as Renteria meant to the Cardinals, they benefited by
taking that $10
million and divvying it up among Eckstein, Mulder and second baseman
Mark
Grudzielanek. That's three new, primary players for a combined cost of
$10.45
million this season. I'm no Theo Epstein, but I can do simple math.
It would be silly for Cardinals fans to boo Edgar Renteria over
the next
three games.
But if it happens ... well, at least Renteria will feel as if
he's right at
home, at Fenway Park, in front of the fans that he calls the best in
baseball.
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