Cardinals season in jeopardy?

Not sure what has been more troublesome so far this year, the lack of offense, the fastball control of Trevor Rosenthal, or having to listen to Dan McLaughlin and Tim McCarver pat each other on the back. With all the lows the club has faced so far this year, losing Yadier Molina for probably the rest of the season will not be easy to overcome. In fact some will say that the season is lost so we should start planning for next year.

Let me first say that this injury was something nobody could have known would happen or be able to avoid. I have stated before that Molina is the one piece of our roster that is irreplaceable because of his prowess as the leader on the field. He simply shuts down the running game with his cannon of an arm and his quickness to throw out would-be base stealers. He is able to be another coach, if you will, on the field to help guide our young pitchers, and he has become the complete player the last few years as his offense has continued to improve in power and average.

My question is this; Why does it seem like we have zero depth behind Molina? Tony Cruz is a good backup and we are lucky to have him step in and deliver like he has so far since Molina went down. However, over the last three years, including this year Cruz has played in 128 games which is alarming because he is not given more opportunities to give Molina a break. With Molina on the disabled list the Cards made a roster move and signed veteran catcher George Kottaras off waivers from Cleveland. That move proves we have nobody in our organization the Cards feel could back up Cruz so they had to sign a catcher that was released from another team.

So why Kottaras? He does have decent power as a left handed batter and could be used to give some pop off the bench. Were there better options out there? I know a few rumors were floating about the Cards picking up AJ Pierzynski off waivers from Boston. I think the Cards picked up the right guy to serve as a backup and made a wise decision not to sign Pierzynski.

The Cards are ranked at the top in minor league systems the last few years due to successful drafts and development. I know it has to be hard to scout, draft, develop major league talent and some might say that it is just plain luck to find a diamond in the rough while drafting players. The last five drafts, including this year, the Cards have drafted 14 catchers and are in the process of converting a good hitting third baseman into a catcher. That number seems fair being that it is a skilled position and there isn't room to draft a ton of catchers to be able to get them enough playing time to develop. With that said of the 15 catchers that have been signed since 2010 only 3 are still in the organization, not counting the two signed this year. I am like you and don't understand that stat, since we have such good overall draft classes. Is it because the players see Molina in front of them and know they won't be going anywhere for a few years? Or do they feel intimidated by the fact that they will have such big shoes to fill if they become the successor of Molina? Or maybe it is an organization that is putting so much pressure to produce the next Molina that they release or cut players for not being at a certain level of development quick enough. Whatever the case may be the Cardinals are hurting in the catching department beyond Molina and Cruz.

So now what do we do? There are the few out there that are ready to start planning for next year and I think that could be a smart plan. Start limiting innings on Martinez and maybe be a seller this year to make a few moves to help our club next year and beyond. Playing Oscar Taveras everyday has to be on this list.

Or we can just hope to find the spark to propel us and keep us in it until Molina returns. I do think that this is the best approach because we have yet to hit well or pitch well in the same series this year. Seems like this year if our bats are doing well, the bullpen blows it in the end and if our pitching is keeping us in it we seem to lose 1-0. With our troubles we are still only one game back in our division at the break so we have a whole second half to get healthy and make a push at playoff time.