Outfielders 

Outfielders

They're younger. They're probably healthier. But are they better? Heck, are they even as good?

The Cardinals have reconstituted their outfield for 2006, giving the flycatching unit one of the biggest makeovers of any group on the defending NL Central champions. Jim Edmonds returns for what could conceivably be his last year in a St. Louis uniform, but he'll be looking at new faces, or at least new starters, on both flanks come Opening Day.

"It should be exciting," said Edmonds, the longest-tenured current Cardinal. "It's tough to lose teammates each year, but it's always exciting when you have new guys who come in here and you see how much they're going to enjoy this place."

Juan Encarnacion, a relative child at 30 on Opening Day, takes over in right field. If you like batting average and RBIs, he's a pretty good analog for departed left fielder Reggie Sanders, but he lacks Sanders' power and base-stealing ability. The retired Larry Walker is the other ex-Cardinals outfielder, and there's no one in the mix who combines Walker's on-base ability, power, defense and baserunning.

But in one area where the '05 outfield fell short, the '06 unit should fare much better: health. Sanders has never topped 140 games in his career. Walker tallied a total of 573 at-bats in 2004 and 2005 combined.

Encarnacion, meanwhile, has averaged 146 games a year the last four years. And among the three candidates for the left field job -- Larry Bigbie, So Taguchi and John Rodriguez -- there's very little history of health problems. This is not a small thing. The Cardinals also do some projecting when they look at this group -- especially Bigbie and Rodriguez. In both cases, the potential is believed to exceed the 2005 performance. In Encarnacion's case, the club views him as just entering his peak years.

"He was a guy that we had rated very high in a lot of categories -- his offense, his defense, his speed," general manager Walt Jocketty said recently. "His age was where we felt comfortable that he's got several quality years left in him. He may be at a point in his career where he should start hitting his prime."

The Cards committed three years to Encarnacion, the best evidence of their fondness for him.

But the main man is still the man in the middle. Edmonds was an All-Star in 2005, and he picked up his eighth Gold Glove. But his performance at the plate, while still exceptional as center fielders go, dipped to its lowest level since he arrived in St. Louis.
Edmonds could hit .250 and still be a tremendously valuable player, thanks to his home runs, his walks and his defense. But he's shown he's capable of even more than that -- witness his MVP-caliber 2004 season. Should he even make up half the ground between his .263/.385/.533 (average/on-base/slugging) 2005 campaign and his .301/.418/.643 line in 2004, St. Louis will be much better for it.

Edmonds himself would also be better off, as 2006 is the final guaranteed year of his contract. The Cardinals hold a 2007 option, one that is much more likely to be exercised if he reaches his old offensive levels.

"Getting to the end of my career has motivated me to try to keep in shape," Edmonds said. "I get into better shape each year. It's working.

"If they don't pick [the option] up, I don't know how many opportunities there are going to be for me to play. So I'm just going to approach it that this season will be one of the last ones I have, and hopefully they'll allow me to come back. But if they don't, I've got to be ready for that. I've got to be ready for 'Plan B.'"

Though he has been a constant in St. Louis, Edmonds has seen plenty of "Plan Bs" on either side of him. Encarnacion will be the sixth right fielder to start next to him in seven Opening Days with the Cardinals. Whoever wins the left field job will be the fourth in seven years to hold that spot.

Taguchi probably has the inside track heading into spring, but the other guys will get a shot, as may players like John Gall and Skip Schumaker. Chances are, the runners-up will serve as the reserve outfielders, and a time-sharing arrangement is certainly possible.