10:30am: There are still conflicting reports on the exact amount of money changing hands. $7.5MM will be heading from San Diego to St. Louis, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports, with $2.5MM going in 2018 and $5MM in 2019. Meanwhile, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports puts the amount at $7MM (Twitter link) and Scott Miller of Bleacher Report has it at $6.5MM (on Twitter).
9:20am: The Cardinals have officially acquired infielder Jedd Gyorko from the Padres in a deal that will see center fielder Jon Jay head to San Diego. St. Louis will also pick up an as-yet-unreported amount of cash in the trade as well.
Needless to say, that is a surprising development, as St. Louis already has Matt Carpenter and Kolten Wong installed at Gyorko’s usual positions of second and third base. While Gyorko could factor as a platoon partner for the left-handed-hitting Wong, who struggled at times last year, and might conceivably also see time at first base, he’d make for a fairly costly super-utility player.
Gyorko is still owed $33MM under the extension he signed with the Pads early in the 2014 season. That covers four years of salary as well as a $1MM buyout on a $13MM club option for 2020.
While the 27-year-old has struggled at times since earning that deal with a strong rookie campaign, he did turn things around at the plate somewhat in the second half of 2015. Over his final 281 plate appearances on the season, Gyorko hit 13 home runs and slashed .259/.299/.440, a batting line that very nearly matches his 2013 output.
Jay, 30, is a left-handed hitter who is owed $6.225MM in 2016 before qualifying for free agency. He missed much of last season with wrist issues, but figures to see steady playing time for the Pads. What remains to be determined is whether he’ll slot in at a corner role or take up the larger part of a platoon with Melvin Upton in center.
While 2015 was more or less a lost season for Jay, he posted five consecutive seasons of average or better offensive production before it. All told, he carries a .287/.354/.384 career slash line in over 2,500 major league plate appearances. Defensively, Jay had a rough 2013 but has generally rated as an average or better option in center.
At his best, Jay is a 2.5 or 3-WAR player. And he fills a need for San Diego at a reasonable price. The team was obviously not only comfortable with, but somewhat interested in, moving on from Gyorko, given that cash will be involved. Presumably, Cory Spangenberg will step into the primary role at second base, though San Diego has several possibilities and may not be done tweaking its infield. Particularly with the future salaries of Gyorko and Craig Kimbrel now off the books (at least in large part) going forward, the club seems a viable threat to add Ian Desmond or another expensive option.
Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reported the trade on Twitter. ESPN.com’s Keith Law reported Jay’s involvement, also on Twitter. Joel Sherman tweeted that the deal was done.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Great… now Gyorko will finally realize his potential.
Why?
because everyone does that when wearing a cardinal jersey…freaking hate the cardinals and their mysterious ways of always getting the best outta players
my comment answers the question of why he will reach his full potential now** :p
Utility guy or 1B?
I should actually read entire article first since that is exactly what you said
I’m Guessing first base for this guy.
Carpenter to 1B.
Nice platoon bat for Wong. Say what you may, but he’s better than Kozma.
Padres get Jon Jay
Seems a bit odd for the cards. Infield depth is great but seems like Wong, given his age and range, is a better bet to hold up for a whole season that Peralta or Carpenter. Also why spend any prospect to get a 2B when outfield, first and the rotation have holes
what prospect?
What holes?
Jay is nowhere close to a Prospect, he’s the 5th outfielder even without signing Heyward.
Now he’ll get to play every day and really the only confusion is where Gyorko is going to actually play unless they’re going to shift Carpenter to 1st full time (which was his natural position in the minors if I’m not mistaken) and then ship out Matt Adams for a pitcher or a power hitting OF if they can’t land a free agent.
Carpenter was a 3B in the minors. He played a little 1B when he 1st came up to the bigs….
Precursor to Cards signing another outfielder. Heyward?
Jay was a free agent after this year and the Cards didn’t have a spot for him, and they were able to get someone locked up for 4 years.
He will be a bat off the bench and fill in at 2nd and 3rd.
The Cards needed to give Wong, Peralta, and Carpenter more days off as they were completely lethargic by the end of the year.
middle infield depth was a need for the cards its why peralta and wong struggled down the stretch Gyorko is being brought in to be a super sub of sorts for the infield
Pretty expensive for a potential platoon guy… Unless the Padres are planning on eating some of the money
I’m guessing this is part of a bigger move for the Cardinals. Gyroko would be the worst player in the Cardinals IF and gas a bad contract. But then again he is a Padre so he is destined to become an all-star somewhere else.
Well this at least frees up a log jam in the OF if we resign Heyward.
This is actually a good fit if you think about it. He plays 3rd 2nd and short. He is that utility player that Mo wanted that could play everyday with out a signed area. This is what Mo wanted in Zoberist.
Carpenter to the OF if they don’t sign Heyward or Gordon?
Piscotty will go to the outfield
I like it. The Cards were exposed in their infield with Kozma and Garcia, they definitely needed an upgrade to back Carpenter or Wong – Gyroko supplies that.
And if Heyward is signed, with Grichuk, Holliday, Pham and Piscotty in the outfield, Jay was trade bait.
The 2016 bench of Pena, Moss, Gyroko and Pham is definitely better than last year’s bench of Cruz, Kozma, Bourjos and Jay
I guess this means that Jeff Luhnow had good things to say about Gyorko in the Astros database.
Lol
Do you think that that Cards would trade Wong? What about with the Angels for C.J. Wilson and a prospect?
CJ Wilson has negative trade value. Angels aren’t getting anyone for him unless its a low level minor leaguer.
Wilson isn’t worth anything and why would u want to give up Wong he’s still young and has a a lot of talent.
Not a chance.
Lol Cards are not giving Wong to the Angel for Wilson it would take a lot more then That
Not a bad swap. Jon Jay was a waste of space for the last 2 years on offense and his defense has gotten exponentially worse.
This only makes sense as a means of getting a useful player while clearing an outfield spot. Seems like theyre starting a push for heyward or gordon
The Cardinals already have at least 4 OF”s better than Jay. This move doesn’t signal much of anything.
Unless the Padres eat some the Money which I am they did otherwise this is a horrible trade if you are the Cardinals.
Classic salary dump. 1 year of Jay vs 4+1 of Gyorko. SD freeing up money to take a run at Davis, Heyward and/or Upton.
Always thought Jon Jay was limited offensively but if he is facing only righties regardless he sure brings a lot of defense to the Padre outfield
Or Desmond….
Yes, I like this trade. It frees up more money while also giving the Padres some decent outfield depth. Spangenburg will be fine at second.
Jay was injury plagued last year and had a terrible year,but before that, he was actually quite good. A lot better than Gyorko. I don’t like this much for St. Louis. Very solid deal for the Padres though.
Jay is at best a 4th OF. Honestly he is a GREAT 5th Of. As a strater he showed is below average. I’m not even sold on his defense…I like in MO and do watch the Cardinals a lot.
The Padres picked up a guy coming off a bad wrist (anyone remember Alonso?) whose defense has declined the past two years, hit 210 last year and has little speed or power, but can play cf or lf. Why didn’t they just sign Chris Denorfia for a lot less money…he could stink just as bad at this point. This one stinks like the Jim Edmonds for David Freese deal. Preller must go.
This is a great move for the Padres, Gyroko has $32 mil left on his contract and the Padres already have a better 2B in Spangenberg. Any production the Padres get out of Jay this season is gravy.
I agree, I like what Preller is doing so far this offseason, and hopefully he keeps it up. Maybe he’ll move cashner next, or shields.
I was hoping this would allow Gyorko to realize his potential;. some compared him to Robinson Cano when he first went up to the Padres. but he’s going to need to play if that is going to happen.
doesn’t this mean another move by the Cardinals is likely? isn’t this a lot of money to be paying someone for a utility/bench role?
If he’s spelling starters at 3 IF positions he could be starting 3-4 games a week. If he provides decent offensive production in that role, $8 mil a year isn’t that bad – about half of what Zobrist is asking, which seems reasonable, given the differences in talent, production and age.
After mid season, Wong fell back. Worse, he would make errors in the field. If he made one, then he tensed up and made another one. I hope he gets the hint.
Why can’t I reply to comments?
Reply is now there. Whatever change was made to the commenting over the last couple days, has made it hard to read. It automatically collapses things. It’s weird, not good.
Good move for Padres it seems. Clear up some future money and get an outfielder who can actually run down fly balls for at least one year
I mean, the Cardinals gave up an outfielder, the guy that struggled last year with offense due to injury, but why take on that contract? The Cardinals have money to spend this offseason, but I wasnt expecting this.
Money coming from the Padres to offset the salary. No idea how much yet.
@buccosfan, I don’t know if you’ve seen Jay play the past couple of years, but his defense isn’t what it once was.
Among CFs with at least 400 innnings, Jon Jay was rated third at 18 UZR/150 by FG.
Jay has a poor arm and everyone went 1st to 3rd on a single to center
Move Wong for another piece maybe? Depending what the White Sox do he could be a nice Piece to get Abreu. Probably a long shot but I imagine there is something else in play here. Maybe the plan is to have him play everyday at a different position. Can he play SS. Peralta struggled in the 2 half and Wong was not very good either. Either way solid move if he can get his career back on track to his potential.
Lynn injury, losing Lackey in rotation, Matt Adams not really proving himself as an everyday 1b, and holiday being older and usually on DL once a year thinning out outfield depth were holes I was thinking about. Not major holes but bigger issues than Cards usually have this time of year
Seems to me like the Cardinals have more trades in mind with this deal.
That was my exact thought upon seeing this…
The level of hate I always see on this site towards players in their mid 20s who have shown themselves to be good but have had a bad year or two is baffling. Elvis Andrus, Starlin Castro, Julio Teheran, Leonys Martin… it never ends. This guy put up 2.2 rWAR two years ago. He could be a huge bargain at $5m a year, even in a utility role.
Totally agree….Petco is a huge park, and Busch isn’t a hitters paradise, but it’s gotta improve his HR chances somewhat. He’s a super utility guy who plays 2B, 3B, SS….and has power.
Castro has earned some of the negative comments. Two of his last three years have been barely (if that?) replacement level. His contract is not a rookie deal AND he is clogging up a very talented infield in CHI. As you can tell, I’m not a fan.
Anyone else besides me that still can not reply to comments?
using firefox, have no problem
I can’t reply either. Sometimes “reply” is there, sometimes it’s not. Terrible time to try tinkering with the comments.
Cycling from oldest to newest usually fixes it
Gyorko isn’t terrible by any means but the only reason he ever played short was cuz Padres don’t have one. He’s limited to 2b,3b and hasn’t played first but could try, I guess. Also he has decent power but doesn’t hit for good average and has virtually no speed. Much different lineup if he splits some time at third with Carpenten. Not hating on Gyorko, he just not typically the kind of player Cards go after. Kinda perplexing
I don’t see him regularly splitting time with anyone so much as potentially giving each infielder a day off per week. The whole Cards team was gassed at the end of last season, especially Carpenter who was dealing with fatigue issues a few times last year. He’ll hopefully be a poor-man’s Zobrist (and is much cheaper than Zobrist). A little addition by subtraction, too, because Jay was taking playing time from better outfielders. If the Cards resign or replace Heyward, there’s no room for him.
I’d assume he’s in a utility role as his most likely role is giving Carpenter and Wong days off but who bats leadoff on days with a lineup of Molina, Adams,Wong, Peralta, Gyorko, Holiday, Grichuk, Piscotty? And who in that lineup can run?
Wong, Piscotty, and Grichuk.
Clearing an OF spot to sign Heyward (or Gordon, if Heyward goes elsewhere )
Was reading elsewhere money was going with Gyorko but didn’t say how much. Gyorko will definitely rebound because all ex Padres thrive in their new homes. Preller was never in on Gyorko and its one more Byrnes contract flushed out. Let’s just hope Mr Jay isn’t Ludwick the sequel..
Finally Padre news that didn’t mention Kemp or Sheilds. Pretty happy with the 2015 offseason AJ so far.
Jedd Gyorko reminds me of Khalil Greene. Hopefully he turn out to be less of a head case.
On first look Bad deal for the Cards.
How is this a bad deal for the Cardinals?
They have a log jam in the OF. This fixes that problem. They need a utility INF who can spell the starters once a week to keep them fresh. This fixes that problem. Gyorko provides more pop than Jay ever could.
The Cards need a utility INF and they got one for a player would was going to make ~$7MM next year to produce very little and was not necessary with the emergence of Piscotty and Grichuk and Pham.
This is a good move for the Cards. They get a younger controllable player for at least 4 years at a salary that wont kill the budget.
Whatever happened to Khalil Greene?
Am I the only person who thinks SD wins this trade?
I didn’t quite finish… Jedd Gyorko may hit with more power than Jon Jay but he doesn’t have very good defensive range to fit in the St. Louis infield. Gyorko is right handed hitter whereas Jay is a left handed hitter. It seems like a wasted trade for St Louis.
Jon Jay, however, hits better overall than Gyorko. He has speed on the base path and plays good defense in all three OF positions. Jay is an upgrade over CFs Max Venable and Melvin Upton.
I pretty sure he’s been out of baseball for years now. Pretty unfortunate considering the potential he had.
Also, I’m pretty sure the Padres traded him to St. Louis just like they’re doing right now with Gyorko.
Jon Jay is awful. At least now he will go to San Diego, get lost, and I don’t have to hear about him ever again.
Lol, Jon Jay is absolutely not awful. He was hurt last year, but before that e was a very solid, above average CF. Much better than Gyorko.
Why? Weird offseason Pena and Gyrko they have two open slots in the rotation and no Heyward. No price, Greinke., the list goes on no Davis no big bat just Gyrko Pena and Moss what happens to Reynolds? Stinking deal for Cards!
Wonder if they could be including wong in a deal for freeman? This may be a precursor to that?
Reports are 17m going to St Loius with Gyorko..
Nightengale was wrong. It’s $7.5M according to Rosenthal and Dennis Lin.
Local radio Xx1090 just said 17m but I like KR figure better. Hope it’s that.
Cardinals are getting ready for a trade to a team that wants either Wong or Carpenter?
There is zero chance the Cards would trade Carpenter, and if they did move Wong it would be for an awesome return.
The Padres are kicking all the cash minus Jay’s salary. So basically the Cardinals are getting 4-5 years of Gyorko for the exact same price as 1 year of Jay. Seems like a no lose situation. Why can’t the Rockies ever stumble into a deal like this?
It looks like Cardinals will pay most of Gyorko’s salary (all but $7.5 million).
Yay! Jon Jay out of the Central… up until last year Jay was a beast against the pirates leading to a .311/.390/.389 over 80+ games.
I would figure next years out field will be Holiday, Piscotty and….? Heyward if they can get him?
Grichuk will be in CF
Comment section is a mess right now. It keeps collapsing if a page is refreshed.
Gyorko for whatever reason has played great against Cardinals, so I’m sure this factored into the equation. Neither player was needed on their team’s roster. Jay’s wrist could still be an issue. He never got it going last year, which surely concerned Mo.
I like this from Cards standpoint. He’s controlled thru 2020 potentially, so infield will have backup covered for years to come. Change of scenery.
The Cardinals are ready now they have Gyorko in second base.Its time to trade Kolten Wong.In addition, with Matt Adams , Wong, Two good Prospects they could try to get Freddie Freeman or the cards need to make a trade because I know they are not having two second basemen. Lets go Cardinals.
No doubt Cards need to fix their 1B problem, along with their scoring problems. I think this sets the table to move Wong. Would the Braves take Wong, Piscotty(sell high) and a prospect for Freeman?
Also clears a spot for an OF. I don’t think the Cards will spend big money on a FA outfielder, but might sign a McClouth/Stubbs as a fourth OF behind Holiday, Grichuk and Pham.
So your solution to the offense is to trade away two very talented young stars and start bench players at 2B and RF?
Just having a healthy Holliday, Grichuk, and Adams as well as a full season of Piscotty is a huge boost on its own, and nabbing someone like Heyward or Cespedes would be icing on the cake.
This is one of those ‘meh’ offseason moves that we love to over-analyze. I give the edge to the Pads, though this hardly makes them much better long or short term.
So let me see if I understand this correctly. I am thinking this out, so bear with the long post to come.
Preller sent Gyorko and $7 million to the Cardinals.
Last year Gyorko hit .247 with 16 home runs in 421 AB. That places him 5th in the game in home runs at the position, even though he only started 76 games at 2B. 3rd in HR/PA. It is a 23 home run pace for 600 AB. Gyorko is owed $32 million over the next 4 seasons with a $1 million buyout of a $13 million option for 2020.
The Padres received Jon Jay and his $6.225 million contract for 2016 after which he will be a free agent. Jay hit .210 with 1 HR and 0 sb while playing league average defense in 2015
Jay is not as good as either Upton or Jankowski on defense, he has exactly zero speed (0 SB in 2015) while both Upton (65 on scouting scale of 80) and Jankowski (70) have exceptional speed. Jay hit .210 while Jankowski hit .211 with 2 HR in his cup of coffee with the team and Upton hit .251 with 5 HR in his 41 starts. So Jay was worse on defense and in BA, power and speed in 2015 than the 2 CF ahead of him on the depth chart.
The Cardinals save $2.225 million this season in salary, get all of Gyorko’s $6 million salary paid by the Padres for 2017, and $1 million of his salary for 2018. If you include the $2.225 million savings from this year, they basically get Gyorko for free until June of 2018.. This trade also leaves them free to move Kolten Wong in trade for a starting pitcher.
The immediate bottom line? The Padres get a backup CF who plays league average defense for $6.225 million and the Cardinals get a starting 2B with power for $4 million. The Padres now have nearly $22 million invested in CF for 2016.
Am I understanding this correctly? What am I missing?
No, the Cardinals take on more of Gyorko’s contract than that. I think they only are getting 7 million from Padres, as a one time payment. Cardinals are paying about two-thirds of his contract.
I did get that wrong. Its $7 million going to Cards along with Gyorko and Jay makes $6.85 million, not $6.225. Cardinals still getting Gyorko and his league best HR numbers at 2B for free until sometime in 2018.
Jay was injured last year. I would not necessarily compare his .210 BA to Jankowski’s healthy .211.
That said, you also didn’t mention their ages. Jay being 31 and Gyorko 27. I could see this being an awful deal for the Padres.
On one side, Jay is actually an above-average defensive CF who consistently posts a .290+ AVG and massive OBP marks when he’s actually healthy, which he was not in 2015.
On the other side, Gyorko is now a very well compensated utility infielder who’s never going to see enough playing time to hit double-digit home runs outside of a major injury to one of the starters, not that he deserves to start. He’s basically another Moss who plays 2B and 3B instead of 1B and OF. The notion that the Cardinals would trade for Gyorko only to trade away Wong is ridiculous, as it would a massive downgrade at a higher price.
I”d say you’re missing quite a lot.
IF Adams is healthy—-he still can’t hit lefties. Gyorko hit lefties last year at a .282 clip. Health is a major factor here with the rest of the team. The Cards won 100 games last year with a lot of injuries because they had the backups to come in and pick up the team.
giants sign heyward, then send pence to st louis for grichuk. atlanta sends miller to giants and st louis sends wong to atlanta.
Wha?
While Gyorko makes a nice utility infielder, he’s certainly an expensive one even with the money coming back in the deal.. Between him, Moss, and Pena, the Cardinals are going to have one of the highest paid benches in baseball next year.