The St. Louis Cardinals are reporting that Rick Ankiel is injured:
In making the transition from pitching to playing the outfield, talent has scarcely been an issue for Rick Ankiel. A balky body, however, keeps protesting. On Monday, Ankiel sustained his third injury in the 12 months since he made the switch, suffering a strained left patellar tendon in an intrasquad game. He underwent an MRI at Jupiter Medical Center on Tuesday, and he will be held out for at least 10-14 days. The injury was characterized as a Grade 2 strain, the middle of three levels.
Here’s my question: why the heck is Ankiel still on the Cardinals’ roster? This kid imploded in the post-season six years ago and has never recovered. Yet they don’t send him to the minor leagues, but keep him on the 40-man roster and try to convert him to an outfielder.
Why? Is his dad on the board of directors or something? I’ve never heard of a team keeping a dead weight like this for more than half a decade. It’s time to cut the kid loose so he can pursue other interests while he’s still young.
Hmmm … an explanation would be that the Cards think he’s capable of being a star at the major league level. If they leave him off the 40-man roster he’ll be gone and star with someone else and all that tender loving care is wasted. He hit 21 home runs and drove in 75 runners in only 85 games last season – his first after leaving pitching. It’s kinda like the Cubs wanting to keep Kerry Woods around. Both have tremendous talents but just can’t seem to hold it together either mentally or physically.