Cardinals' Oscar Taveras dies at 22

Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras has died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic. He was 22. His girlfriend, 18-year-old Edilia Arvelo, also died.

Taveras was one of the game's top young talents, and his career was only getting started -- he played 80 games with the Cardinals as a rookie this season, and he homered in the NLCS against the Giants. He might well have become a superstar, and his offensive potential was right up there with that of the best young players in the game. It's awful that he's no longer with us, and that he left the world after showing only hints of what he could do.

This is also terrible news for a Cardinals organization that had to deal with the surprising deaths of pitchers Darryl Kile and Josh Hancock in the not-too-distant past. My condolences to the Cardinals, and to the families of both Taveras and Arvelo.