Ankiel put up a solid — and perhaps unrealistically good — 2.0-WAR season in 2008 but spend much of last winter waiting for a contract. The Cardinals avoided arbitration days before spring training started, splitting the difference with Ankiel ($2.825 million). The team’s erstwhile centerfielder had top prospect Colby Rasmus champing at the bit behind him as spring approached, but as a La Russa favorite, Ankiel had the inside track on the job. But his HR/F rate went down by half (17.7% to 8.9%), crippling his slugging percentage. A couple of injuries sustained through aggressive play — he damaged his shoulder in an awkward collision with the wall May 4 — didn’t help, and he missed 18 games, losing his centerfield job to the rookie Rasmus, and wound up with a 0.1 WAR. It was a long season, as fans had to endure what seemed to be La Russa giving Ankiel sympathy at-bats, exposing his horrendous plate discipline (fifth-worst in the league in chasing balls) and costing the team too many outs … Had one of the team’s biggest clutch hits, a two-out game-tying home run at Pittsburgh, 9/6 … Most similar pitchers include Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello.

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