Grudzielanek is having a golden year

[redsrbetter]

Grudzielanek is having a golden year
By Derrick Goold
Of the Post-Dispatch
08/12/2005

CHICAGO - In the Cardinals, Mark Grudzielanek saw a contract offer that made him wince but also an opportunity to demonstrate his health and ability and a route to a more palatable deal. In Grudzielanek, the Cardinals saw a capable, cost-effective second baseman.

For both, what they got compared to what they expected has been, as general manager Walt Jocketty said Thursday, "much better."

Grudzielanek entered Friday's game against Chicago Cubs, for whom he played the past two seasons, with a .302 average, bolstered by a .483 average over his previous nine games. He drove in seven of the Cardinals' 13 runs in the first two games at his hometown Milwaukee this week. He also was atop the league in most defensive categories for second basemen and has Gold Glove credentials.

The season he wanted to take and translate into his next contract - perhaps his last - has happened.

Where he goes from here is "something that I do think about," Grudzielanek said. "I'm 35, still playing very well and I would like to settle in for the last few years of my career. Play two, three, maybe five more, and it would be nice to settle in with a comfortable team, especially one that has an opportunity to win.

"But how much emphasis do you put on that?" he continued. "There's no question that with a situation like this, with a club like this, this was a great, great opportunity."

Jocketty reiterated his stance that the Cardinals do not explore contract extensions during the season. Matt Morris, among others, is in a similar situation to Grudzielanek's. Good 2005s. No deal for 2006. Grudzielanek said he had heard around the clubhouse of the Cardinals' policy concerning in-season negotiations and understands. He signed a $1 million, one-year deal with the Cardinals this past offseason, one laced with bonuses.

It was the second successive contract he's signed for less than what he made the year before. Yet, seasons removed from his 1996 All-Star appearance, he has still hit better than .300 each of the past two years - both with Chicago.

Injuries marred both years, and he played a total of 202 games.

"Those last two years, they're a fluke," Grudzielanek said. "I think I have a lot to give, and this year really I've been able to prove that."

There is a clear shared sense that Grudzielanek is a good fit for the Cardinals. Jocketty said Grudzielanek and David Eckstein formed "a better middle infield than we've had in the last number of years".

Grudzielanek will want to turn this season into a market-rate contract, and the Cardinals also have other dollar decisions ahead. He said he was frustrated by the last two contracts and sees this season "as showing that this is what I'm capable of."

Particularly with the glove.

With four assists Friday, Grudzielanek further distanced himself from other second basemen with 368 assists, most in the majors and 26 more than No. 2. He has the best fielding percentage of any second baseman with at least 350 innings at the position. He is one of four middle infielders in the top 10 in baseball in double plays - it's a stat heavily populated with first baseman - and he's the only second baseman.

He was a part of two more double plays Friday, giving him 90. He's never had as many as a 100 in a season, not even when he played shortstop.

Baseball America recently did a poll of the managers that included a question on the best defensive second baseman in both leagues. Grudzielanek did not finish in the top three in the National League.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/spo...2?OpenDocument

[awefullspellare]

It's about as good as he had in 2003 if I remeber right and that team ended up 5 outs away.

A little lower average, but more RBI on a better offensive team.