St. Louis declines to tender contract to Ankiel

ST. LOUIS -- Rick Ankiel's wild and difficult time with the St. Louis Cardinals organization could be over.

The Cardinals late Tuesday declined to tender the left-handed pitcher-turned-outfielder, meaning Ankiel is free to sign with any team. The Cardinals said they will continue negotiations with Ankiel as well as reliever Jorge Sosa, who was also non-tendered.

General manager Walt Jocketty said the team tried to work out a new deal the last few days, but said agents for Ankiel were unable to reach their client, who was believed to be vacationing.

"The idea of non-tendering him was to re-sign him to a minor league contract so we wouldn't have to go through this process in spring training," Jocketty said Wednesday. "I'm still hopeful that will get done."

Manager Tony La Russa said the procedural move was proof that "you never have a perfect day."

"I hear he's feeling well and I'm anxious to see him, but I just don't know," La Russa said.

The Cardinals also announced they have offered contracts to reserve outfielder So Taguchi and left-handed reliever Randy Flores.

Ankiel, 27, missed the entire 2006 season after hurting his left knee in spring training. It was the latest in a long line of setbacks.

The Cardinals drafted Ankiel as a pitcher in the second round in 1997, and he joined the team's rotation in 2000. That season he was 11-7 with a 3.50 earned run average and 194 strikeouts in 175 innings. He earned the start in Game 1 of the playoffs against the Atlanta Braves.

A national TV audience watched his pitching career fall apart.

Pitching with a big lead in the third inning, Ankiel walked four of eight hitters and threw a record five wild pitches, some bouncing off the backstop. In another playoff game that season against the Mets, he threw four more wild pitches in a brief appearance.

He went 1-2 in 2001 while trying to work through the wildness. After that, he pitched just 10 more innings in the major leagues.

In the spring of 2005, Ankiel threw just three strikes among 23 pitches at a spring training scrimmage against Cardinals hitters and decided to give up pitching and try to make it as an outfielder. In his only full season in the major leagues, he hit .250 with two homers as a pitcher.

He showed promise, with a combined 21 home runs and 75 RBIs in 85 games for Class A Quad Cities and Class AA Springfield in 2005. With the retirement of Larry Walker and the loss through free agency of Reggie Sanders, Ankiel appeared to have a shot at making the Cardinals.

But he injured the patellar tendon in a spring training scrimmage on Feb. 27 and had surgery May 26. He is expected to be healthy by spring training 2007.

Taguchi, 37, first came to St. Louis from Japan in 2002. Last season, he hit .266 and led the Cardinals with 11 stolen bases.

Flores, 31, appeared in a career-high 65 games and did not allow a run in seven postseason appearances over 5 2/3 innings. He was the winning pitcher in Game 7 against New York.

Sosa, 28, was 0-1 with a 5.28 ERA in 19 appearances for the Cardinals after coming over in a trade with the Braves on July 31.