Redbirds will stage auditions for gaps in outfield

~ the Cardinals look to fill spots vacated by Edmonds and Encarnacion.

ST. LOUIS -- Jim Edmonds is gone and Juan Encarnacion may never play again. Suddenly, there's a lot of openings in the St. Louis Cardinals' usually crowded outfield.

That spells opportunity for veterans like Skip Schumaker and Ryan Ludwick, who held backup spots last season and have paid their share of minor league dues. Both figure to part of a green rotation that'll feature Chris Duncan and Rick Ankiel, with a fifth outfielder, 2005 first-round pick Colby Rasmus, perhaps also in the mix.

The Cardinals also selected 25-year-old prospect Brian Barton in the Rule 5 draft from the Cleveland Indians.

"It opens the door for us young guys who are hungry and have been waiting for an opportunity," Ludwick said Sunday at the team's Winter Warmup. "We're finally getting a shot."

Ankiel, 28, could take over for Edmonds in center following the former fireballing left-hander's rebirth as a power-hitting outfielder, with 11 homers and 45 RBIs in 51 games last season. Duncan, 26, is coming off his first full season and had 21 homers and 70 RBIs in 127 games before a sports hernia sidelined him late in the year. Schumaker turns 28 in early February seeking his first extended major league duty and Ludwick, 29, will try to build on his biggest success after hitting 14 homers with 52 RBIs in 120 games. Schumaker batted .333 in 177 at-bats last year, capped by a 5-for-5 day against the Pirates on the final day of the season, after combining for 78 at-bats and a .205 average in two previous stints.

Rasmus, 21, is the wild card after hitting .275 with 29 homers and 72 RBIs in 128 games for Class AA Springfield. He's been billed as the heir apparent to Edmonds since the Cardinals drafted him out of high school.

"Competition is good, because it pushes guys," Duncan said. "I think we'll all push each other."

The departure of the 37-year-old Edmonds and the uncertainty surrounding Encarnacion, who'll be 32 in March, makes Ludwick, who totaled 104 games in parts of four seasons before 2007, the graybeard. During the team's two-day caravan to smaller cities in the area, he referred to himself as the "grandfather of the outfield."

"It's really weird," Ludwick said. "I don't consider myself a grandfather in a wisdom factor; I'm just the old guy out there, but it'll be fun."

It'll be the first year without a heavy veteran presence in the outfield for the Cardinals, who had Edmonds, Larry Walker and Reggie Sanders as integral parts of two World Series teams in 2004 and 2006.

Encarnacion has not regained full vision after being struck in the left eye by a foul ball while waiting in the on-deck circle in September.

"It's the worst thing in the world," Schumaker said. "Obviously he's in all of our thoughts. It's a freak, freak thing."

Edmonds was traded to the San Diego Padres last month for David Frese, a Class A third base prospect.

Schumaker was unprepared for the trade. Edmonds, deemed expendable because of declining productivity and mounting injury woes, was always the first person he talked to whenever he needed feedback.

"It's a Catch-22 seeing him go," Schumaker said. "He was my mentor and I've learned so much from him. He would be the first guy in my corner."

Edmonds has lost little in Schumaker's eyes.

"What people don't realize is, maybe he wasn't as fast as he was before in his early days, but he shifted everybody to the perfect spot to where we had the best chance," Schumaker said. "That's what I'm going to miss.

"A lot of young guys out there don't know the hitters like he knows them."