Royalties & Cardinalate

Considering that my first full season as a Cardinals fan occurred in 1998, perhaps my most dominant, lingering Redbirds image to date is Jimmy Edmonds playing CF. So it was with great pleasure that I opened a 'breaking news' email early Sunday morning (late Sat. night for me) to see this contract announcement. No other Cardinals player in my nine years in STL has provided me with as many memorable moments as Jedmonds, though Albert is very close. I am pumped because at $8 million per year, this is not a really crazy deal, though still an arguable one. After winning it all, this is the kind of move you have to make -- and hope it works out. He did have 10 postseason RBIs.

I think losing Adam Kennedy and Kent Bottenfield has worked out just fine ... Hard to believe that Jedmonds' 229 homers is No. 4 on the Cardinals' all-time list.