1994 Rookie of the Year Countdown - Jim Edmonds

This is the fifth edition of our Tuesday look at the countdown to the Rookies of the Year in 1994.  Today’s post will be especially fun for me as I examine former Angels and Cardinals (and Padres, and Cubs, and Brewers, and Reds) outfielder Jim Edmonds!

Jim Edmonds was drafted in the seventh round in 1988 by the California Angels out of Diamond Bar High School in Diamond Bar, CA.  The Brahmas have only produced one other major leaguer – pitcher Mike Burns.  Judging by Burns’ stats, I would have probably preferred Edmonds come in to pitch.

After the draft, Edmonds was assigned to A- ball Bend, where he was somewhat overmatched.  In that short season, he hit .221 with four doubles and 13 RBIs with 20 walks vs. 44 strikeouts.  In a sign of things to come, in 35 games, he only made one error in center field.

1989 would see him promoted to A ball Quad Cities, where he would show signs of improvement.  He was seemingly affected by injury that year, as he only played in 31 games, but across that season, he hit .261 with four doubles, one home run, four RBIs and seven walks vs. 34 strikeouts.

Playing closer to home in 1990 at A+ ball Palm Springs, Edmonds would raise his average all the way up to .293.  He would pair this with 18 doubles, six triples, three home runs, 56 RBIs, and 27 walks vs. 75 strikeouts.  In what was probably his worst defensive season of his career, he committed 10 errors, but he did have nine outfield assists.

1991 would be another apparent injury-shortened season, where Edmonds only played in 60 games, again at Palm Springs.  He hit .294 with 15 doubles, a triple, two home runs, 27 RBIs and 40 walks vs. 57 strikeouts.  Palm Springs possibly hired a new groundskeeper for the 1991 season, as Edmonds went from 10 errors the previous year to ZERO in 1991.  And here’s a fun fact, maybe you really WOULD want Edmonds to pitch, since he did throw two innings in 1991, allowing one hit, three walks, and striking out two.

In 1992, at the age of 22, Edmonds was promoted to AA Midland to start the season.  He would raise his average all the way to .313, with 15 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 32 RBIs and 41 walks vs. 83 strikeouts.  Halfway through the season, he was promoted to AAA Edmonton (the year before Monty Fariss) and he didn’t miss a beat, hitting .299 with 15 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 36 RBIs and 14 walks vs. 55 strikeouts.  He only made six errors across the two stops.

In 1993, he would start the season out in new AAA Angels affiliate Vancouver.  Still three years younger than league average, he would hit .315 with 28 doubles, four triples, nine home runs, 74 RBIs and 41 walks vs. 81 strikeouts.  Again, providing elite defense, he only made three errors in 95 games.  Edmonds time in the minors, with exception of a handful of rehab assignments, had now come to a close.

Edmonds would make his major league debut on September 9^th, 1993 in an Angels 6-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers.  Edmonds, starting in left field, would be the only Angel without a hit that day, going 0-4 with two strikeouts.  He would, however, get his first major league outfield assist, throwing out Tony Phillips at third base to end the first inning.  He would get his first hit in a ninth inning pinch hit at bat the following day in Toronto.  Edmonds would hold his own in his first taste of the big leagues, hitting .246 with four doubles, a triple, four RBIs and two walks vs. 16 strikeouts.

Edmonds would come firing out of the gate in 1994.  He only started four games in April, but he made the most of his playing time, hitting .444 with seven runs, four RBIs and four walks vs. five strikeouts.  Just trying to get the rookie in the lineup, he played left field, center field, and first base.

May would see increased playing time from Edmonds.  In 24 games, with 16 starts, he hit .313 with three doubles, a home run, seven runs, 11 RBIs, and eight walks vs. 15 strikeouts.  By this time, he mainly was playing first base, but he also played some games in left field.  His first career home run was off of Rick Helling, as the Angels would get six runs in the top of the first in a 13-1 win over the Texas Rangers on May 11^th.

June saw Edmonds promoted into primarily a starter, as he started 22 of the 24 games he played that month.  He would hit .277 with four doubles, three home runs, 10 runs, 12 RBIs, and six walks vs. 21 strikeouts.  He would also steal his first three bases of his career.  He was now mainly playing left field, with only a handful of appearances in right field, center field, and at first base.

By the time July came around, teams were starting to develop a book on Edmonds, as his numbers dipped a bit.  He would only hit .231 with four doubles, one triple, one home run, nine runs, nine RBIs, and 10 walks vs. 24 strikeouts.  He would split his time between left field and right field, with one appearance each in center field and at first base.

In the waning days of the 1994 season, in eight August games, Edmonds would hit .200 with two doubles, two runs, one RBI, and two walks vs. seven strikeouts.  He would also steal a base, finishing the season with four, with only two caught stealing.  He finished the season in left field.

Overall that year, on his way to the eighth place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting, Edmonds hit .273 with 13 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 35 runs and 37 RBIs, with 30 walks vs. 72 strikeouts.  Across 94 games, he only made three errors.

The next four years would see Edmonds hit at least 25 home runs each year.  He was an All Star in 1995 and won Gold Glove awards in 1997 and 1998.  After an injury shortened 1999, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Kent Bottenfield and Adam Kennedy.  Bottenfield wouldn’t even last the entire 2000 season in Anaheim, being traded to the Phillies in mid-season.  Edmonds would go on to be an All Star, win a Gold Glove, and finish fourth in the MVP voting, leading the Cardinals to the playoffs.

His years in St. Louis saw two World Series appearances with one victory.  He would hit .285 with 241 home runs.  He only committed 29 errors in his 1105 games as a Cardinal.  After the 2007 season, Edmonds was traded to the San Diego Padres for David Freese.  That worked out pretty well for the Cardinals.  Over his last few years, a diminished Edmonds would add on another 31 home runs as a part time player for the Padres, Cubs, Brewers and Reds. 

For his career, Edmonds hit .284 with 1949 hits, 393 home runs, and 1199 RBIs.  In 1924 career games, he only made 58 errors, good for a .989 fielding percent.  He was a four time all star, finished in the MVP voting six times, a winner of eight Gold Glove awards (including six in a row), and he won a Silver Slugger award in 1995.  Edmonds will be eligible for the Hall of Fame this coming year.  It will be quite interesting to see what kind of support he will get.

Next week, we will examine former (too many teams to list) reliever Hector Carrasco.