31-year old righty swinging Ryan Theriot had a rough season in 2010 but that didn’t stop the Cardinals from not only trading for him, but naming him the starting shortstop for 2011. Theriot played in 150 games for the Cubs & Dodgers last season and he was 158 of 586 (.270 avg, .633 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 2 homers, 29 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Theriot has a career average of .284 with a .704 OPS in his first six years in the majors, so look for him to get back to those levels for the Cardinals in 2011. Theriot played in 29 games at SS last season and he made 3 errors while showing slightly below average range. Theriot is the kind of hustling, get dirty player that the Cardinals’ fans will likely love.

27-year old righty swinging Tyler Greene played in 44 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 23 of 104 (.221 avg, .655 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 2 homers, 10 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Cardinals are hoping for improvement out of Greene’s bat in 2011. He had 5 errors in only 22 games at SS last season for the Cardinals while showing slightly above average range. Due to Nick Punto’s injury, Greene has a head’s up on the reserve infielder slot for the Cardinals as spring training starts.

34-year old lefty swinging Ramon Vazquez did not play in the majors last season but he has plenty of experience. He played in 9 games at SS last season in AAA and he made 1 error. He’s still a capable defender and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him beat out Tyler Greene for the utility infielder job this spring.

33-year old switch hitting Nick Punto will be starting this season late due to injury. He played in 31 games at SS for the Twins last season and he had 5 errors despite showing good range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CARDINALS SS IN 2011: B-

29-year old righty starting pitcher Adam Wainwright is going to miss the entire 2011 season for the Cardinals as he will undergo Tommy John Surgery soon. Wainwright injured himself in a bullpen season earlier this week. Wainwright pitched in 33 games (all starts) for the Cardinals last season and he was 20-11 with a 2.42 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He finished in 2nd place two years in a row for the N.L. Cy Young Award. Wainwright has pitched in 182 games (119 starts) in six years with the Cardinals and he is 66-35 with 3 saves, a 2.97 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. This is a huge blow to the Cardinals’ pitching staff as Wainwright was a horse at the top of the rotation. He will be impossible for the Cardinals to replace.

30-year old lefty swinging Skip Schmaker keeps getting better defensively but his bat has been going in the other direction. The Cardinals need Schumaker to get his act back together offensively in 2011. He played in 137 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 126 of 476 (.265 avg, .667 OPS) with 66 runs scored, 5 homers, 42 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. If Schumaker is going to continue to hit near the top of the batting order, he’s going to have to hit better….period. Schmaker made 16 errors in 123 games at 2B last season, which is a lot….but he also showed off excellent range. He has done well defensively since converting from the outfield a couple of years ago.

33-year old lefty swinging Nick Punto is going to battle 27-year old righty swinging Tyler Greene for the utility job in the infield this spring. Punto had 3 errors in 12 games at 2B for the Twins last season while showing excellent range. He got most of his P.T. at 3B last year. Greene is a natural shortstop. He played in 15 games at 2B for the Cardinals last season in which he made 2 errors while showing terrible range. Punto has the speed edge while Greene has more power, so it will be interesting to see who wins out as they probably enter spring training on even ground.

34-year old lefty swinging Ramon Vazquez played in 51 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 46 of 179 (.257 avg, .693 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 1 homer and 17 RBIs. Vazquez made 2 errors in 33 games in the minors last season at 2B. He is a natural SS, so he can handle 2B defensively. Vazquez has played in 696 games in his 9 years in the majors and he has a .254 batting average with a .678 OPS. Vazquez is a longshot to win a job with the Cardinals out of spring training but he has the potential to win a spot with a good spring.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CARDINALS 2B IN 2011: C-

31-year old righty swinging 1B Albert Pujols is still the best baseball player on the planet. He played in 159 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 183 of 587 (.312 avg, 1.011 OPS) with 115 runs scored, 42 homers, 118 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Pujols has now played 10 seasons with the Cardinals in which he has appeared in 1,558 games and he is 1,900 of 5,733 (.331 avg, 1.050 OPS) with 1,186 runs scored, 408 homers, 1,230 RBIs and 75 stolen bases. Pujols won the Rookie of the Year Award back in 2001 for the Cardinals and since then he has won 3 N.L. MVP Awards. He is still on top of his game and I could see him winning another MVP Award in 2011 if everything breaks right. Pujols is also an outstanding defensive player as he only made 4 errors in 157 games at 1B last season.

34-year old switch hitting Lance Berkman will back up Pujols at 1B while starting at an outfield corner spot in 2011. Berkman played in 93 games at 1B last season in which he made 2 errors. He’s an average defensive 1B.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CARDINALS 1B IN 2011: A++++++++++++++

The Cardinals have signed 40-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jim Edmonds to a minor league deal. Edmonds played in 86 games for the Reds & Brewers last season and he was 68 of 246 (.276 avg, .846 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 11 homers, 23 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Edmonds has now played in 2,011 games in his first 17 years in the majors and he is 1,949 of 6,858 (.284 avg, .903 OPS) with 1,251 runs scored, 393 homers, 1,199 RBIs and 67 stolen bases. Edmonds played with the Cardinals from 2000-2007. He played in 1,105 games in those 8 years with the Cardinals and he was 1,033 of 3,628 (.285 avg, .947 OPS) with 690 runs scored, 241 homers, 713 RBIs and 37 stolen bases. Edmonds is #7 in Cardinals’ history in OPS (.947), #4 in homers (241) and #8 in walks (645). This was a good move to bring Edmonds back as he will provide the Cardinals will lefty power off the bench in 2011.

UPDATE: (2/18/2011) - Jim Edmonds has decided to call it quits due to injury.