Last year, I spent the time immediately after the season examining each player that had made an appearance in St. Louis during the season. This series was well received and so I’m bringing this idea back for the 2013 offseason. More summaries than anything, I imagine the player coming into Mike Matheny‘s office and having a short conference before heading home for the winter. Stats are just the ones accumulated for the Cardinals during the regular season.
This year’s Exit Interview series is brought to you by Bonfyre. A large number of the United Cardinal Bloggers used Bonfyre all season long and found it a great way to interact and discuss things in a limited audience. No need to worry about some pseudo-fan crashing your Facebook conversation or trying to explain fine points in 140 characters on Twitter. Invite who you want to the group and get to talking. Share pictures as well–Bonfyre is a great way to document parties or other events, especially for folks that can’t be there. Sign up today and give it a try.
Player: Ty Wigginton
Season stats: 47 games, 63 PA, 9 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 5 BB, 19 K, .158/.238/.193
Hero/Goat: Hero 1
Overall grade: D-
Positives: Well, he once won a game by standing there and letting a wild pitch get past him with a runner on third. He got two hits and two RBI in a game against the Giants. And, most importantly, he gave Dennis Lawson plenty of material for humorous posts and Tweets.
Negatives: How long do you have? Look, most of us did a lot of head-scratching when Wigginton was signed, especially since it was a two-year deal when a minor league invite would have likely sufficed. His spring training and April were so bad that we were already giving John Mozeliak grief about it at UCB weekend. Plus he was cut around the Fourth of July and drew a paycheck for the rest of the season and will do so again next year. There are times when you think Mo really should just stick to making trades.
Outlook: Being that Wigginton drew no interest during the second half of the season, even to be a minor league warm body, it would seem safe to say that his career is over. Don’t worry, though. Dennis will most likely find someone to take his spot next season, so we’ll still get to enjoy the humor.