The most stacked lineup of the last twenty years belongs to an 85-win, 3rd place St. Louis Cardinals team from 2003. “Most-stacked,” of course, isn’t exactly an official metric, so let me define it. Fangraphs explains fWAR in their glossary by classifying a “good player” as worth 3-4 fWAR, an “All-Star” to be worth 4-5 fWAR, and a “superstar” as worth 5-6 fWAR. But for the “most-stacked” lineup, we want the cream of the crop. Fangraphs classifies MVPs as those worth 6+ fWAR in a given season, so I went looking for the lineup with the most “MVPs”, and I found the unequivocal champ with the 2003 St. Louis Cardinals.

Not only did the Cardinals carry four MVP-caliber bats that season, but they’re the only team since 2000 to accomplish that feat. There have been four other teams since 2000 with three bats in the lineup worth 6+ fWAR (2004 Orioles, 2003 Braves, 2004 Cardinals, 2011 Red Sox) – but only Tony La Russa’s Cardinals fielded a quartet of such players.

Albert Pujols (9.5 fWAR), Jim Edmonds (6.3 fWAR), Edgar Renteria (6.3 fWAR), and Scott Rolen (6.2 fWAR) each put up an “MVP-like” seasons in 2003. The 23-year-old Pujols would have been a shoo-in to snag the actual NL MVP, but that was the era of supernova Barry Bonds, who won his third of four consecutive MVPs (10.2 fWAR) that season. 

The Cardinals finished 5th in the majors in runs scored with 876, second in total fWAR on offense, fourth in wRC+. J.D. Drew, Tino Martinez, and Bo Hart were productive members of the lineup, So Taguchi gave them 59 plate appearances with a 109 wRC+, and Eduardo Perez (122 wRC+) was a successful power bat off the bench. Only at catcher did they really struggle offensively, where Mike Matheny hit .252/.320/.356 to total 0.4 fWAR while starting 121 games behind the dish. In short, the offense did its part. 

Unfortunately, the entirety of the Cardinals pitching staff mustered just 7.3 fWAR. They finished 19th in ERA, 22nd in FIP, and 26th in home runs per nine innings. The bullpen was a particular disaster, finishing the season dead last in the majors with -1.8 fWAR. The rotation boasted legitimate arms in Woody Williams, Matt Morris, and less so, Brett Tomko. Dan Haren made an okay major league debut with 14 starts and a 5.08 ERA/4.57 FIP. 

That said, they could have done without the 55 starts from Garrett Stephenson, in what would be his last dash as an MLB hurler, Sterling Hitchcock in his second-to-last season, 40-year-old Jeff Fassero, and Jason Simontacchi, who was coming off a surprisingly decent rookie season at age-28. 

Giving 34 percent of their starts to suboptimal contributors didn’t pave the runway for the bullpen to take flight, but the relief crew struggled all their own. In particular, the main culprits were (again) Fassero (56 games, 6.52 ERA/6.13 FIP), Dustin Hermanson (23 games, 5.46 ERA/5.49 FIP), Russ Springer (17 games, 8.31 ERA/8.97 FIP), and Esteban Yan (39 games, 6.02 ERA/5.59 FIP). It didn’t help that injuries limited closer Jason Isringhausen to 40 games and 22 saves. He would otherwise anchor the Cardinals’ bullpens of that era. 

The 2003 Cardinals paint a picture of the difficulties in team-building. Four monster seasons making up half their everyday lineup, and still the Cardinals only managed to eke out a third-place finish. They underperformed their Pythagorean record, but only by three wins. The Cubs won the division with exactly 88 wins, overperforming their Pythagorean record by – you guessed it – three wins.

Things can go right – so right – in any given season, and it still might not be enough to counterbalance what goes wrong. That’s not to say that the 2020 Dodgers are in trouble – but their spot in the postseason is hardly assured. The ’03 Cardinals had the most MVP-level bats of any team in the past 20 years, and yet it was only enough for 85 wins. The margin for error will only be smaller in a short season.

Of course, here’s the other funny little part of baseball. Pujols/Rolen/Edmonds/Renteria couldn’t power their way to the postseason in 2003, but the foundation in St. Louis was solid. They did reach the postseason in 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006. La Russa’s Cardinals capped off the run with a World Series title. That season, they finished with 83 wins, one less than the “disappointment” their stacked lineup produced in 2003.

So the most-stacked lineup of the millennium missed the playoffs, and the “worst” division winner of the millennium won the World Series. If that’s not a good primer for the chaos to come in a short season, I don’t know what is. 

"Last year when I thought I was going to retire," Springer said. "I had a desire to go to the gym. This year, I've had no pull towards going to the gym. I'm totally content to be with the family. There comes a time when you can ask only so much of your body physically, and you've got to stop beating it up."

Springer enjoyed the best stretch of his career pitching for the Cardinals in 2007 and 2008, recording a 2.24 ERA and 8.6 K/9 in 116 1/3 innings over the two years. The right-hander signed with the Reds last summer, but only appeared in two games before a hip injury ended his season prematurely. For his career, Springer posted a 4.52 ERA and earned over $15MM, according to Baseball-Reference.

“All of a sudden I went from being not really excited to looking at it as a kid again when I was pulling for [the Reds] during the Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, George Foster days,” Springer said.

He will report to Triple A Louisville and pitch for ten days to two weeks before joining the major league team. Springer, who pitched for the A’s and Rays last year, will make a pro-rated portion of $850K.

Springer has posted a 4.52 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 over the course of a 17-year career that began on the 1992 Yankees. His deal with the Reds is not a surprise, since they were known to be in the market for right-handed relievers.

• Juan Cruz: After a disappointing stint in Kansas City, the 31-year-old was released by the Royals a week ago. Now that clubs won't have to assume the $3.25MM figure he's owed this season, the right-hander certainly looks more like a risk worth taking. In 2007 and 2008, Cruz appeared in 110 games for the Diamondbacks, posting a 2.88 ERA and striking out 12.6 batters per nine innings. It's unlikely he'd regain that form this year, but he could be a bargain at a league-minimum salary. The Diamondbacks don't appear interested in bringing him back though, and the Marlins, often willing to take on cheap bullpen reclamation projects, probably won't take the plunge either.
• Russ Ortiz: The veteran righty elected free agency last week after being designated for assignment by the Dodgers. Although he pitched poorly for Los Angeles this April, allowing eight runs in seven innings, his career numbers as a reliever (3.33 ERA over 78.1 IP) are respectable. While there hasn't been any reported interest in him yet and he won't be an integral part of anyone's bullpen, he'll probably be able to land a minor league contract soon.
• Russ Springer: We know Springer would like to pitch this year, preferably for the Cardinals, but we haven't heard much more than that lately. The right-hander was extremely effective in two seasons in St. Louis, posting a 2.24 ERA and 8.6 K/9 in 146 appearances in 2007 and 2008. His ERA rose to 4.11 last season, but his ratios were still excellent. Even at 41, Springer could be a worthy addition to quite a few bullpens around the league, but perhaps he's holding out for an offer from the Cards.
• David Weathers: Like Springer, Weathers was reasonably effective in 2009 (3.92 ERA), despite turning 40 last September. However, his peripherals declined and there hasn't been a whole lot of reported interest in the righty this spring. The last we heard, Weathers was still open to pitching this season for a contender, though he'll probably retire if the right situation doesn't arise.

Other familiar unsigned bullpen arms include left-handers Eddie Guardado, Glendon Rusch, and Jamie Walker. Check out our complete list here.

• As A's were unable to land Adrian Beltre and Marco Scutaro this offseason, GM Billy Beane says that the club had to work harder than ever to fill their holes, writes MLB.com's Jane Lee. 
• Cody Ross' arbitration hearing with the Marlins will take place tomorrow morning at 10:00, tweets Joe Frisaro of MLB.com.  Ross – who is one of seven remaining players who has an arbitration hearing scheduled – is seeking $4.45MM while the Marlins are countering with $4.2MM.
• Maury Brown of Biz of Baseball brings us the record of each club in arbitration hearings since the process was first put into place in 1974.  In this span, the A's have had the most hearings with 35.
• Brady Gardiner of Sirius XM Radio tweets that Ryan Franklin's agent said that in 2007, his client turned down a more lucrative offer from Toronto to sign with the Cardinals in order to play for Dave Duncan.  Franklin signed a one-year, $1MM deal with St. Louis in January of '07.
• Dustin Pedroia takes exception to those who question Boston's offense in 2010, writes WEEI.com's Rob Bradford. Pedroia feels the Red Sox lineup can score more runs than the 2009 club. He also voices high praise for Josh Beckett and says he wants Beckett around "for a long time."
• Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Dispatch answers 10 questions for Cardinals fans, and notes that Russ Springer would take a marked-down contract to return to St. Louis. St. Louis stands to enter camp with rougly a $92,625,000 payroll
• Sid Hartman of The Minneapolis Star Tribune says that Twins' owner Jim Pohlad may have to change his policy of not deferring money if they want to re-sign Joe Mauer. Hartman says Mauer would save millions in income tax by deferring some payments until after he retires.
• Joel Sherman of The New York Post names his winners and losers of the offseason. Roy Halladay and the Twins head the winners, while the Dodgers and Royals highlight the losers. 
• Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe runs down each team's offseason, and looks at what lies ahead for each during the 2010 season.

Miguel Tejada and Felipe Lopez are known third base targets for the Cardinals, but Goold says either player would be difficult to fit into the budget based on current demands.  Goold's colleague Joe Strauss says Tejada and Lopez are probably out "unless their market collapses."  Goold expects David Freese to get a crack at the hot corner, with internal candidates filling the fifth starter role as well.  The CHONE projection system has Freese hitting .269/.335/.442 in 2010, which wouldn't be any worse than Tejada and Lopez's projections.

The Cards could add an affordable left-handed bench bat via free agency, and Goold says Ryan Church is one name on the radar.  As for the bullpen, Goold speculates on Octavio Dotel and notes that a Russ Springer reunion has been discussed.  The Cardinals' offseason financial flexibility will hinge on the arbitration cases of Ryan Ludwick and Skip Schumaker.  Goold wouldn't be surprised to see March bargains or midseason additions if the Cardinals stay quiet over the next few months.

6:53pm: Tampa Bay has made arbitration offers to two of its three Type B free agents, reports Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.  Topkin tweets that catcher Gregg Zaun and reliever Brian Shouse were given offers, while no decision has yet been made about pitcher Russ Springer.  Topkin notes that "it appears unlikely" the Rays will make an offer to the veteran right-hander.

The offers to Zaun and Shouse come as a bit of a surprise, though both players had decent years.  Shouse's innings were limited due to an elbow strain, but he continued to shut down lefties.

• According to Adam Sobsey of The Independent Weekly, the Rays have released 30-year-old reliever Jorge Julio.  The right-hander had a 5.96 ERA and a 24/15 K/BB ratio in 22 2/3 innings this season with Triple-A Durham.
• Cubs GM Jim Hendry told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times Saturday that he is open to a waiver deal if it will make his club better. "We'll see," said Hendry. "If we find something that makes us better, we'll try.''
• Need a refresher on the way waiver deals work?  Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus has you covered.
• The San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser gathered a quote from Russ Springer moments after he learned he was headed to the Rays: "It will be nice to play in some playoff-race type games and hopefully I can go to Tampa Bay and carry my load."

"We felt like it was a good opportunity to see some guys in Triple-A the last month of the season, and it gives Russ the chance to pitch in a pennant race.  That's something he deserves at this point in his career. He's done a great job for us and he's been a great mentor for our youngsters."

2:31pm: According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Rays have claimed reliever Russ Springer off waivers from the Athletics.

Springer, a 40-year-old right-hander, had a 4.10 ERA and a 47/14 K/BB ratio in 41 2/3 innings out of the Oakland bullpen this season.

Slusser suggests that Nomar Garciaparra could generate interest as a bench bat in a waiver deal, but Billy Beane would likely ask for Garciaparra's approval before any move. She also notes that four teams' interest in Russ Springer before the deadline could spell a deal this month (the Cardinals were known to have some interest in Springer). No teams have reportedly made a call about Bobby Crosby, and she believes it's unlikely he is waived.

TUESDAY: Joe Strauss at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that the Cardinals are in "hot pursuit" of right-handed relievers. He also says that they had tried to include former Redbird Russ Springer in the deal for Matt Holliday from the A's, but balked when they learned they'd have to throw in another starting pitching prospect. Still, with the bullpen struggling, Strauss says they "may revisit" a deal for Springer.

• After refusing to deal Eric Young Jr. for John Grabow or Joe Beimel, the Rockies have lowered their aim, notably toward the Orioles' Mark Hendrickson, says Joel Sherman at the New York Post.
• The Marlins are in the mix for Grabow's services, says Joe Frisaro at MLB.com.
• CBS Sports' Danny Knobler says the Yankees have steered their focus toward middle relief help, but too many of their desired names reside in the AL East.
• The Cardinals are indeed still interested in bringing back righty Russ Springer, says Mychael Urban at MLB.com.

• Kerry Wood – He's been a disappointment in Cleveland, and the Indians owe him about $15MM before the end of next year, and possibly more in 2011.
• Rafael Soriano – Could the Braves get creative and deal Soriano ($6.1MM) or Mike Gonzalez ( $3.5MM), who will also become a free agent this winter.
• Danys Baez – At $5.5MM, he's an expensive option, but he could help a contender.
• LaTroy Hawkins – He's been effective in 38 appearances for the Astros, who are still in contention and may hold onto Hawkins ($3.5MM) and fellow reliever Jose Valverde ($8MM).
• Rafael Betancourt – He's still nowhere near as effective as he was in 2007, but Betancourt's pitched well enough this year; he'll make $3.35MM this season.  
• Russ Springer – He's been hittable, but he can still strike major leaguers out. He makes $3.3MM this year.
• George Sherrill – Affordable and effective, Sherrill ($2.75MM) is under team control through 2011.  
• Chad Qualls – The D'Backs already traded Tony Pena, so they may be reluctant to part with Qualls, who makes $2.5MM this season.
• John Grabow – Makes $2.3MM this year, before hitting free agency this winter. He's pitching well, but his control's been off this season.  
• Matt Capps – Like Grabow, he makes $2.3MM this year, but Capps will likely hit free agency after 2012.
• Juan Cruz – Still tough to hit, but not as effective as last year, Cruz makes $2.25MM this year and more in 2010.  
• Joe Beimel – The 32-year-old lefty makes $2MM this year. He's pitched well, but not quite as well as his 3.57 ERA suggests.
• Takashi Saito – A relative bargain at $1.5MM plus incentives, especially when you consider the affordable team option for next year.
• Heath Bell – At an affordable $1.3MM, the All-Star closer would be appealing to many clubs, especially since he's under team control through 2011.
• Cla Meredith – By far the cheapest option on this list at just $431k, he's had three respectable seasons in a row since his breakout 2006 campaign.  

The Twins, Angels, Rangers, Phillies, Rockies and Dodgers are among the teams that could make deals to improve their respective ‘pens.