The Cardinals will face some changes in the coaching ranks, as third base coach Jose Oquendo has informed the team he will not return in 2019, president of baseball ops John Mozeliak announced to reporters Tuesday (links via Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Mark Saxon of The Athletic). Oquendo, who was offered the opportunity to return, will work with the club in Spring Training but will spend the bulk of the season away from the game with his family.
In Oquendo’s absence, bench coach Ron Warner is moving to third base coach. First base coach Oliver Marmol is taking the reins at bench coach, while hitting coach George Greer will be a minor league hitting coordinator moving forward. That leaves the Cards with a vacancy both at hitting coach and first base coach, and Goold notes that Triple-A manager Stubby Clapp is expected to be offered one of those two positions if he is not hired away from the team. Clapp, who has been quite successful in his current role with the Cardinals’ Memphis affiliate, is also a rumored candidate for the Blue Jays’ managerial post (though he has denied hearing from the Jays to this point).
More out of St. Louis…
- Goold notes that Mozeliak plans to speak with Rick Ankiel about the former left-hander/outfielder’s desire to make a comeback in 2019. Ankiel announced back in August that he was planning on pursuing a return to the Majors as a relief pitcher. He told Yahoo’s Tim Brown that month that he has “nothing to lose” and feels that he’s “in a better place” than he was when his career on the mound was derailed by the yips nearly two decades ago. While Ankiel would be nothing more than a roll of the dice, Mozeliak did express a desire to improve the left-handed pitching in the Cardinals’ relief corps. Zach Britton and Andrew Miller headline this year’s crop of free-agent lefty relievers, though there are ample names beyond that pair (to say nothing of countless options on the trade market).
- Details of Adam Wainwright’s contract to return to the Cardinals won’t become clear for a few weeks, but Mozeliak indicated (via Saxon) the venerable right-hander was “willing to bet on himself,” adding that the risks associated with the contract are low. Obviously, that indicates that the contract will come with a fairly small base salary. It’s already been reported that Wainwright’s contract will have both rotation- and bullpen-based incentives, so the team may not yet even have a determination on what his role will be in 2019. Mozeliak did note that the rotation, which is loaded with depth options, is “probably not going to be our focus of energy.”
- Rather, Saxon notes, supplementing the offense seems to be a greater focus. The preference, Mozeliak implied, would be a left-handed bat, though he added that he “[doesn’t] think it has to be.” The longstanding head of baseball ops for the Cards firmly indicated that the team hasn’t given up on Dexter Fowler being able to bounce back, though he also wouldn’t make any declarative statements about Fowler’s role in 2019. Mozeliak called the positions filled by Yadier Molina (catcher), Paul DeJong (shortstop), Marcell Ozuna (left field) and Harrison Bader (center field) all “pretty certain,” and indicated that Matt Carpenter would be in the lineup as well, most likely at first base. Beyond that, Mozeliak emphasized that he’s been a “big advocate” for Kolten Wong and hopes the defensive stalwart can continue to improve.
- As Goold notes, third base and right field seemed the two most plausible areas for upgrade based on Mozeliak’s comments. That’ll lead to no shortage of speculation tying the Cards to top free agents Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, though when asked about free agents, Mozeliak explained that he has “to be pragmatic and understand what that looks like” from a long-term vantage point.
Oh GRAT. The old WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE comment from MO! I have been a Mo fan in the past but it is getting old listening to him and also I am not gonna say he is the worst GM in baseball but a lot of his big success was also while Tony was there! Say what you want but sometimes I wonder if we lost our best people to Houston! I know before you say it that they blew up the organization to get to where they are now but those people still have built a hell of a team! I just hate hearing the comments from Mo about having to see how something looks like!! Gets old!
It’s the same song every year, and always rumored to be in on players, but never get the prized ones.
Always the bridesmaid never the bride
I am amazed with how much home grown pitching talent the Cards have and have had the past number of years. Their position players are quite strong as well, young, and cheap. I am jealous of this organization. Doing this while not spending on big name free agents. Avoiding Heyward and Pujols. Fowler was definitely a mistake. But man, I am jealous of this organization. You cards fans have it good. Quit your complaining. You guys are relevant each and every damn year.
Agreed. They’ve had numerous guys come up and perform, and probably unexpectedly. Minor league development has been a huge plus for the Cardinals.
SOOO TRUE, MO is ALL talk, He will say Fowler will be just fine and go after a Cheap 3rd baseman
consider that mo isn’t the gm
True!! But Mozeliak still calls the shots. Ask Michael Girsch about that!!!
Mozeliak will do absolutely NOTHING to bring in and All Star quality impact players into the Cardinal Organization!!! A Leopard does not change it’s spots!!! Continue build from within, with hopeful talent, and Low Hanging Fruit!!! That’s all !!! When are the Owners going to figure that out??
So when they traded for Ozuna that was low hanging fruit?
They also agreed to a trade for Stanton before he declined to waive his no trade clause. Mo has always added all star quality players and will continue to do so.
SMDH.
Give MO some damn credit we almost got the reigning NL MVP last year.
Where was Mo when Scherzer was a free agent? St. Louis guy. He was shocked when the Cardinals didn’t even offer him a deal.
He’s the President of Baseball Operations. Michael Girsch is the GM
They haven’t given up on Dexter Fowler because their stuck…owed high dollars, with minimal value
Or because he had a decent amount of value the previous season? While money will play a factor, its extremely rare that a player with consistent value suddenly craters and just never regains it.
If someone else sees value in him they will trade him
Not with a full no trade clause.
Just say no to Machado. I’ll stop watching the Cards if they sign him.
Enjoy watching them be just good enough to almost make the playoffs then
Yeah, it’s not one or the other.
You will be missing out on a superstar player.
Superstar hitter, not player.
Why? Mediocrity your thing?
Im pretty sure if you are a fan you won’t stop watching. He has made a bit of an ass out of himself in this Brewers serious. Machado is a fine player but he fits the model of a guy who gets paid and cruises through the contract.
Agreed. Machado is a thug and would be a cancer.
Trump is a thug. I’m pretty sure you voted for him, so…
Absolutely no reason to bring politics into this. Very unnecessary
No real reason for us to bring politics into it but the 1st poster did so by calling this man of color a thug. I don’t like Machado’s attitude at all and prefer the Cards stay away from him. But that doesn’t make him a thug! It is a known fact that Trump voters have made “thug” the new n word and use it to lump together all people of color disfavorably.
No, they also refer to white Antifa members as thugs too (rightly so)
Thug has nothing to do with race, and trying to claim it a racial thing is just continuing this non-stop, unnecessary cycle of useless politics into every thing. Nobody cares about race, stop looking for issues that aren’t there.
He is called a thug because he is behaving like a thug by trying to injure a fellow player and causing an argument over it and then providing no accountability afterward but instead just shrugging and acting aloof.
Machado fills a lot of needs that the Cards have.
Impact Bat
Defensive stability SS or 3rd
Marketable superstar
Lazy, entitled prima dona….
machado looks bush league in the brewers series. even jim palmer called machado out for not hustling. milton bradley 2.0
I don’t see why Donaldson wouldn’t be of interest. High AAV, low length would be ideal.
I’m personally a fan of low AAV, low length myself
He makes a ton of sense for StL. I hope he comes here too. They’ve tried to acquire him in the past so there is interest IMO. Donaldson would make a nice addition to the lineup and shouldn’t tie up a ton of payroll in the future.
I feel like we are going to end up with one of Moose or Markakis.
Probably Moose
1. Sign Donaldson for 3/$54 with a club option for 4th
2019 – $26
2020 – $18
2021 – $10
2022 – 6/20 can auto vest with 500 PA in 2021
2. Trade Gyroko to the Angels for Eduardo Paredes and Osmer Morales
3. Sign Justin Wilson for 3/24
2019 – $8
2020 – $8
2021 – $8
4. Sign Adam Ottavino for 3/$45
2019 – $12
2020 – $15
2021 – $18
5. Sign Mawin Gonzalez for 2/$20
2019 – $8
2020 – $12
2019 roster
C – Molina – $20
C – Kelly – $.5
1B – Carpenter – $14.75
1B – Martinez – $0.5
2B – Wong – $6.5
SS – DeJong – $1.67
3B – Donaldson – $26
IF – Munoz – $0.5
LF – Ozuna – $12
CF – Bader – $0.5
RF – O’Neill – $0.5
OF – Fowler – $16.5
IF/OF – Gonzalez – $8
Total – About $108M
Top prospects to fill in from AAA are
C – Knizner
OF – Garcia
Of – Ararena
Of – Williams
IF – Shrock
IF – Could use another corner infield bat that help at third since Gyroko was shed
Rotation
1. Mikolas – $8
2. Martinez – $11.7
3. Flaherty – $0.5
4. Wacha – $8
5. Gant – $0.5
Bullpen
R – Hudson – $0.5
R – Mayers – $0.5
R – Brebbia – $0.5
R – Gregerson – $5
L – Cecil – $7.75
L – Wilson – $8
L – Shreve – $0.5
R – Hicks – $0.5
R – Ottavino – $12
Total – About $58M
Total payroll around $165M
It would be great fortune if we could actually pull all of this off, which none of it is likely. But that would be an amazing squad
Next years lineup?
1. Carpenter – 1B
2. Bader – CF
3. Donaldson – 3B
4. Ozuna – LF
5. Molina – C
6. O’Neill – RF
7. DeJong – SS
8. Wong – 2B
Bench of
Gonzalez – Utility
Kelly – C
Martinez – 1B/RF
Munoz – Utility
Fowler – OF
That’s a loaded lineup and squad with no weaknesses, and plenty of upside in the front half of it. That would be the third best lineup in the NL.
Marwin would likely be unnecessary and it wouldn’t need to be Wilson, just any lefty in that price range.
Getting Donaldson and trading Gyroko and adding to the bullpen would be the areas of great priority.
Where is Alex Reyes? Also, that’s a lot of money for Ottavino. No thanks on Marwin. Giving up on Weaver?
Marwin Gonzalez would be a huge asset. People in the Houston organization have said that they believe he is the best defender they have at any of the infield skill positions – there’s a reason he started last night while Altuve was the DH. In 2017 Gonzalez was 6th in the AL in OPS…he’s a really good player.
I see a few problems.
1. No Reyes on your roster.
2. You’ve got a 28 man roster.
3. Donaldson is probably going to take a 1 year contract to prove himself healthy.
4. The Cards aren’t $10 mil a year for a utilityman.
5. J. Martinez is going to get traded.
6. If they are going to bet on a second starter with little ML experience in the rotation, it’ll be Gomber and not Gant.
7. A 9 man bullpen kills the bench.
8. Gyorko isn’t netting 2 relievers of decent quality.
9. Yadi shouldn’t be hitting 5th on any team.
1. He may not be ready OD
2. More than 3 guys have options, it wasn’t supposed to be a 25 man roster set up
3. I doubt that
4. That’s what they are paying Gyorko. But I said later that Marwin wasn’t necessary, but if payroll room is there because Gyorko was moved, it would be a fine option
5. I hope not
6. Maybe, but Gant started this year, and was a full run better in ERA (though similar FIP’s)
7. Again, not all of those guys are actively on one roster
8. Morales and Paredes hold basically no value, but you can find any one else. Gyorko is worth close to his contract value, I’d assume we’d need to cover a little of it when shipping him out.
9. He’s an ideal 5 hitter, however, he doesn’t produce much. But low strike outs and good bat to ball contact lets him do well with men on with two outs.
1. He’ll start the season in the pen.
2. You wrote out a roster and now are backtracking on it.
3. I doubt you.
4. Who cares what they are paying Gyorko…and, they are paying him $8 mil for 1 more season. $5 mil of the $13 mil is being paid by the Padres. Gyorko wasn’t brought over to be a utilityman.
5. J. Martinez has no business owning a glove, much less playing an actual position.
6. Gant will be a good long man from the pen. Gomber has starter quality stuff.
7. Backtracking again, i see.
8. Gyorko is a secondary player in a package trade.
9. “he doesn’t produce much” but “He’s an ideal 5 hitter”? That’s one of the most asinine things i’ve ever read on MLBTR. Low strikeouts and good contact rates should be a staple of every hitter, 1 thru 8. Yadi belongs hitting in the 7 spot.
Not back tracking, you are welcomed to disagree though.
Lol at roster size though I count 27
And Gomber isn’t on there and others.
Not all those guys play everyday on the 25 man (injuries and aaa options are obvious)
when the cardinals were tearing thru august, molina batted second. then he had the hamstring problem.
And he also left out Wainwright.
Rick Ankiel will win the Cy Young.
3rd best? Who are #1 and #2? Can’t wait to read this answer. I guess no other team is going to make their lineup better? That lineup has holes at #2, #5 and #6
Well they were 5th in wRC+ this year (Dodgers 111, Nationals 101, Cubs 100, Brewers 99, Cardsinals 98), and they were 5th in runs scored. And this lineup adds a career 140 wRC+ 3B (117 last year, but solid xwOBA numbers) to it. Ozuna and most of the lineup were under their xwOBA numbers as well. I’d say it’s got a great shot at being a top 3 lineup behind the Cubs and Dodgers in 2019.
Projected wRC+
1. Carpenter – 135
2. Donaldson – 135
3. Molina – 105
4. Ozuna – 120
5. DeJong – 110
6. O’Neill – 110
7. Wong – 95
8 – Pitcher
9. Bader – 95
Bench with Martinez and his 120 on it as well.
Moves guys around all you want of course
donaldson is not going to take a club option or lower payment in the 3rd year. octavanio and justin wilson walk too many batters.
molina is old and cant run.
wainright is old and belongs in the bullpen.
fowler is inconsistant.
wong will bat below 200 and still get picked off 1st base by a red sox reliever.
citizen, I agree with everything you said, but Ottavino is coming off a year where he had 112K to 36 walks. I’ll take that K rate of 13 per 9 any day. I find it funny that Mozeliak lost him to waivers 6 years ago and now he might be the most sought after FA reliever this off season.
That Donaldson offer was front loaded, which increases the total value of the deal (time value of money). It’s intentionally front loaded like Jhonny Peralta’s deal a few years ago. Team has money to spend in 2019, but wants flexibility long term, and it increases the value of JD’s total deal, and he isn’t such a burden when he is regressing because of age.
Any lefty reliever within that price range is fine, but we could use two solid relievers.
Molina, Wainwright, and Fowler are all the same issue regardless.
That is insane money to guarantee Donaldson
Of course Mo says he is high on Joltin’ Kolten Wong. He has to say that, because Mo gave Wong an unnecessary $25 mill/5 year extension that, with Wong’s proven inability to hit MLB pitching, is another black mark on Mo’s decision-making record.
With the Fowler situation, the puzzling acquisition of rag-armed Ozuna, and the demise of “The Cardinal Way” of good fundamental baseball, it’s becoming CYA time in Mo’s office.
Wong was a 3.5 WAR player last year, his bat is perfectly acceptable with the phenomenal defense and above average base running he brings to the table. If he figures out how to reduce the lengths of his slumps, that number is only going to climb.
Slumps and mediocre hitting. That’s been a big “if” all his career. It just ain’t going to happen.
OTOH, Hey, it’s only 5 mill a year that could have been used for say, an effective LH middle reliever for each of the last three years…
BTW, no one is questioning the demise of fundamentals. Now with Oquendo departing, expect to see more of the same.
Wong hit .317 with .823 OPS in the second half and ended with 3.5 WAR thanks to GG performance. He can hit. Needs to stay healthy.
So his WAR is good because of his glove. I get it. Still can’t hit MLB pitching and will continue to be platoon or defensive replacement level.
Gosh, some folks sure love Mo’s every move…..”Playoffs !!??!!”
He has a 97 wRC+ over the last three years. That’s solid for a 2B.
That’s a below league average bat. It isn’t solid just because he plays 2B. Plenty of impactful bats at the keystone nowadays. But with his great defense it’s acceptable.
League average at 2B this year was 93, MLB total was 97, Wong was at 98.
He is league average, and above it for his position.
Not really sure why Wong’s contract is constantly brought up as a failure… 5/25 is peanuts to literally any MLB club, and Wong has certainly provided the value to justify it when healthy. Staying on the field has been his only problem.
Cecil’s contract? Sure, worthy of critique since he has provided subpar value for most of the deal.
The Fowler signing? There’s definitely room to argue it was a mistake, but the jury is technically still out.
But the Wong or Piscotty extensions were so cheap in baseball dollars that they really aren’t anything but a win for both sides.
Thank you for this comment. This is why early career extensions are almost always a good move for players who show some promise. If the player doesn’t improve as expected, the team isn’t underwater on the contract. But if the player blows up, you get a ton of value.
Somewhat recent cardinals who signed early career extensions:
Allen Craig – was part of the trade to get a year and a half of lackey, with one year at league minimum.
Matt Carpenter – tons of value in his deal
Kolten Wong – solid regular defensively with league average bat. Very easily can justify his contract.
Stephen Piscotty – netted 2 prospects (Munoz being a semi regular contributor) in a trade coming off his worst year.
Paul Dejong – projects to provide plenty of value over the course of his deal, but definitely need more time to see what happens.
I honestly don’t see why people get mad about these deals. They almost always help the team.
Everyone is hopeful for the Machado, Harper, Donaldson. I truly do believe that the cards are going to go all out for one of them. They r in a position of uncertainty with the lineup. It’s time to make concrete moves ex: trading Pham. Nobody is bad mouthing that trade or we need Pham. We got depth back in prospects. It’s time to move Weaver, J.Martinez, Kelly. Let’s try to sign a big time feee agent and move pieces from there. Either use those trade assets to try for Paul Goldy, J Abreu, Thor, or Sonny gray even.
Lineup
C:Molina
1b: Carp
2b: Wong
Ss: Machado
3B:dejong
RF:O’Neil
CF: Bader
LF: Ozuna
Martinez
Mikolas
Wacha
Flaherty
Gray
Trade Martinez and Weaver for Farm stuff. Be on the look out for SP deals to move Kelly. Don’t know how much more u can trust Wacha. Waino back to the pen. Sign andrew miller. Have Hicks, Miller, Waino be the back of the pen. I think Reyes will be slowly used until the end of year for playoff push. He will take Wacha or Gray spot eventually. Write it in stone
Manny Machado
Andrew Miller
Sonny Gray
Trade
Jose Martinez
Luke Weaver
Manny Machado… Backpfeifengesicht
Yeah trade Luke Weaver when he has his lowest value. As a cubs fan I’m entirely in favor of this
Well said
Dewitt wise up, move on from this clown.
fowler has one fan in st. louis, mo
Cheap Cheap, Fun Fun
When Kolten Wong figures out he’s not Babe Ruth, he might be a better hitter. That may never happen. And a reliable source in the Cards organization told me, Kolten Wong might be the only Cardinal who ever disrespected Red Schoendienst. Red offered his expertise a few years ago to Wong on how to hit, and Wong responded, “how much money did you make in your career?” And then he walked away from Red.
If that’s a true story he should have been released
Personal opinion. Sign Donaldson to a short term high AAV contract and sign Brantley for 2-4 years. Then a couple pieces to shore up the bullpen. Platoon Wong and gyorko at 2B based on matchups and the offense looks like this.
Carp
Brantley
Donaldson
Ozuna
DeJong
Molina
Bader
Wong / gyorko
Pitcher
I also think we should try hitting Wong / gyorko / Bader 9th to get an extra bat in front of carp rather than the Pitcher. Just my thought but it won’t break the bank and that offense is deep and potent. Especially when considering the bench would have power guys like O’Neill and (don’t laugh guys) on base guys like Fowler if he bounces back.