When the Cardinals shipped Brendan Ryan off to the Mariners in December, we heard rumblings that the gifted gloveman had fallen out of favor with some of his teammates. Now we have some of the details.
According to Gerry Spratt of the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin said during an appearance on KFNS 590 in St. Louis earlier today that Ryan was repeatedly late for buses and practices with the club last season.
“If you’re tardy once, don’t be tardy again,” Franklin said. “But it just kept happening. Veteran guys, we see a two-or-three-year guy do that, that doesn’t sit well, it just doesn’t. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be done.”
The closer said the Cardinals liked Ryan just fine, but that he wouldn’t necessarily be missed in St. Louis.
“Yeah, sure. All right. I’ll miss giving him a hard time.”
The Cardinals may have overlooked those incidents if Ryan remained productive with the bat, but he finished last season with a .223/.279/.294 batting line and a feeble .573 OPS. Only Cesar Izturis had a lower OPS among players with at least 450 plate appearances last season.
Ryan is projected to open the 2011 season as the starting second baseman in Seattle, but he’ll likely move into a timeshare with Jack Wilson at shortstop once top prospect Dustin Ackley is deemed ready for the big leagues.
