Scott Rolen’s presence in town Monday recalled the memory, if apparently water under the bridge, of his and Tony La Russa’s inability to co-exist. But La Russa’s postgame remarks about one of his current players serves as a reminder that Rolen isn’t the only player who chafes the Cardinal manager.

After a game that the Cardinals had won 4-1 and in which now-regular shortstop Brendan Ryan had converted several fine plays (six assists total), the first thing La Russa could muster about his defensive dynamo was that his play made him "feel older than I am."

It may have been said tongue-in-cheek, and, to be sure, TLR had made a passing comment a couple of weeks ago comparing the Flyin’ Irishman with Ozzie Smith. But it’s clear that Ryan’s and La Russa’s styles don’t mesh. Is that enough to keep Ryan from ever fully surfacing?

Ryan broke in with a 1.2 WAR over 67 games in 2007, but the Cardinals (La Russa?) weren’t ready to hand him the fulltime reins and acquired the light-hitting, good-glove Cesar Izturis (read: veteran) to man short for 2008. Still, Ryan made the most of his limited playing time filling in for Izturis (255 innings) and turned in 14.4 UZR/150. Despite Ryan’s reliabilty at the game’s most difficult position, the Caridnals took an ill-advised gamble on Khalil Greene — a.k.a. a veteran — last offseason, and Ryan had to take a back seat again. But with Greene failing to produce in 2009, La Russa was forced, seemingly against his will, to play Ryan (even recently, TLR has given newly acquired veteran and lesser light Julio Lugo some reps at shortstop). This season, Ryan has produced enough with the bat, and his defense is now getting the attention it deserves. With Jack Wilson now plying his trade for the Mariners, Ryan is arguably the best fielding shortstop in the National League. His play is a curious combination that fans and stats equally love. That is, he’s a joy to watch in the field, and he’s actually good.

The problem for him, of course, is that he’s flashy. He plays the position like a basketball point guard who likes to shoot, pushing the ball up the court, slashing and cutting, sometimes making a no-look pass at the baseline and sometimes taking an off-balance three. The problem for La Russa is that he makes those plays, and the stats are bearing it out.

Monday night, Ryan penetrated to his left and right, knocking one ball down before recovering and blasting a missle to first. He later cut off a ball behind the mound with his bare hand, something La Russa is apparently unaccustomed to and uncomfortable with.

With the Cardinals hamstringing themselves for the upcoming winter by obligating themselves to sign Matt Holliday and losing leverage with Albert Pujols (Wallace represented some insurance at first base, in addition to third), the Cardinals won’t have the luxury of taking a $6-million flyer on a veteran shortstop. If La Russa is going to stick around for another year, he’d better start appreciating what he has in Ryan. The team needs Ryan at shortstop in 2010. Will La Russa make him the next Rolen?

This entry was posted by Pip on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 9:29 am and is filed under analysis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.