St. Louis Cardinals Jim Edmonds (C) is mobbed in the dugout by teammates after hitting a pinch-hit, three-run home run in the fourth inning against ther San Diego Padres at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on September 25, 2006.
Friday, January 22, 2010
When Jim Edmonds told Tony La Russa he wanted to come back and play for the Cardinals this season, he thought he would get a simple yes or no answer.
He’s found out, however, that it might not be so cut and dried.
While Edmonds said in a radio interview on 1380 AM in St. Louis Thursday that he wants to play for the Cardinals, he also revealed that within the first couple of days of the word getting out that he wanted to play in 2010, his agent had heard from three or four other clubs, including the New York Yankees.
Now, Edmonds doesn’t know what he’s going to decide. He knows that the Cardinals have a set outfield and if he does play in St. Louis, he will be a part-time player and a pinch-hitter. Some of the other offers he apparently will consider, however, would provide him with more of a chance to play regularly, which is what he really wants to do.
“I’m trying to figure out what to do,” Edmonds said on The Morning After program on 1380 The Team. “We’re just going to have to see how it goes.”
Edmonds did not identify any of the other teams who had contacted his agent, Paul Cohen.
“I have decided I want to try to play, but I need a couple of weeks to start hitting,” he said. “I’ve been running and working out, but I need to start throwing and hitting a little more. It’s hard to get outside in this weather. I’ll know a little more by the end of next week.”
Edmonds last played for the Cubs in 2008, sitting out last season when he did not receive what he or his agent considered decent offers. He is 39 and will turn 40 in July.
“Last year was a mistake, I should have played somewhere,” Edmonds said. “I’m waiting for the right opportunity and the right situation.”
Whether that will turn out to be with the Cardinals depends on what he hears from them as well as the other interested teams, Edmonds said.
“I want to play but obviously I love it here and want to play here,” Edmonds said. “I didn’t think I would generate this much action just saying I wanted to play. We’ll see who is really serious in the next couple of days and see if the Cardinals get back to me.”
Jim Edmonds wants to return to baseball and play for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Edmonds does believe the Yankees are serious in their interest. They have an opening for an everyday left fielder.
“That’s a pretty nice situation over there,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough scenario.”
Edmonds said his priorities for deciding where to go will include playing time, a decent team and a decent city. He has said he would play for the minimum salary, but that also might change as he considers more of his options.
“I’m not going to go somewhere just to play,” he said. “I thought it would be fun to come back here to play and be a part of that team with Mark (McGwire) here and all the guys that I know, and then word got around.
“It would be fun to play another year and go out and prove to people that I can still play.”
Edmonds said one of his motivating factors in deciding to play was the possibility of reaching 400 home runs for his career. He currently has 382 home runs in his 16-year career. In 85 games with the Cubs in 2008, after he was released by San Diego in May, he hit 19 homers.
“If I had a chance to get to 400 and play that would be fun to do,” he said.
Edmonds said he is in good physical shape and is confident that he can still perform well at the major-league level. He said he actually is feeling much better than during his last two seasons in St. Louis, when he had problems with post-concussion syndrome.
“I feel just as good if not better than when I was 35 because I had so many injuries back then,” Edmonds said.
Edmonds said he had no illusions if he did sign with the Cardinals about being the starting center fielder. He knows that is Colby Rasmus’ job and if he is in St. Louis, he will be performing a different role.
“Colby and I actually have the same agent,” Edmonds said. “Colby is the centerfielder. My job would be to help him and replace him when he needed help, and give other guys a day off when they needed it. I wouldn’t get in Colby’s way. I was one of his biggest fans coming up and I’m happy for him.”
For now, Edmonds said he is going to give the Cardinals some time to make a decision while he begins getting himself into baseball-shape.
“I’m sure we will hear back from them, even if it’s just for dinner reservations at my restaurant,” Edmonds said. “We’re just going to have to see how it goes.”
Globe-Democrat.com Sports Editor Rob Rains can be reached at rrains@globe-democrat.com.
Comments
BirdBrain (anonymous) says...
Cardinals should give him a shot. Will be interesting to see if Cardinals give him a shot and the Yankees want him full time. Which way will he go?
January 22, 2010 at 12:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
elbirdos1 (anonymous) says...
I think he should stay and play for the birds...the yankees will not let him play every day. If that is true jump on it.
January 22, 2010 at 6:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )