The Cardinals made what was an unpopular decision among many fans last week, buying out Kolten Wong’s $12.5MM club option for the 2021 season and making the now-two-time Gold Glove second baseman a free agent for the first time in his career. Wong spoke to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the team’s decision in a must-read interview for Cards fans, calling it a “punch to the gut” after he’d given his “heart and soul to the organization.”
Goold reports that Wong has heard from “at least” six other clubs since free agency began — the Angels among them. It stands to reason that others will filter in as teams get a greater sense of their 2021 budgets and/or make other transactions that could create a stronger fit for Wong within their organizations. That said, Wong made clear that he’s “absolutely” open to a reunion with the Cards, even if he sounded somewhat disappointed that the team didn’t make an effort to work out a more creative alternative. Wong plainly stated that he’d have been open to restructuring his contract or backloading a deal to help offset the 2020 revenue losses.
Whether a return to the Cardinals is plausible remains unclear, however, given the apparent financial constraints that ownership is placing on the front office. President of baseball ops John Mozeliak must also determine how to proceed with franchise icons Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright — both free agents themselves. Goold writes that the Cardinals have yet to initiate negotiations to re-sign Wong but hope to be in touch with him as his market develops.
Wong now joins a free-agent class of second basemen headlined by DJ LeMahieu and also featuring Jonathan Schoop, Cesar Hernandez and Tommy La Stella, among others. While LeMahieu obviously carries the most earning power of the bunch, Wong is arguably the second-best option on the market thanks to his blend of elite glovework, strong contact skills and perennially high on-base percentages.
The 2020 season was a down year in terms of power for Wong, who hit just one home run in 208 plate appearances, but he won his second Gold Glove and posted a strong .350 on-base percentage. Over the past four seasons, Wong has posted a combined .273/.356/.398 batting line with 25 home runs, 74 doubles, 11 triples and 43 stolen bases. In that span, Wong ranks 14th among all Major Leaguers, regardless of position, with 37 Defensive Runs Saved. He’s 16th in composite Ultimate Zone Rating in that same span.
Are you sure it was only six teams?
That is Wong.
FA has only been open for a few days
Thank you I needed that !
What’s the deal with no communications between the Cardinals Owners & Front Office with their players??? As players leave we find this to be all too familiar. Ozuna was another player— like Wong— who wanted to stay with the Cardinals, but could not get the Owners or front office to even listen to him, concerning what kind of deal arrangements the players would do just to stay a Cardinal.
It’s understandable why— if they have a choice—— players would not want to come to the Cardinals. Cardinal Owners are cheap and treat their players like a piece of meat.
Lmao
seriously! Wong even said he told them let’s talk and they were like “um yea nah nice knowin ya!” smh
I’m OK with the move if it’s NOT just penny pinching. On the two veterans, ONE YEAR contracts only. More thoughts here socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2020/11/cardinals-repl…
Other teams tried to contact him, but they dialed the Wong number
I think what they are upset about is the previous moves management made while continuing to cry broke even though they built a Babylonian ball park village to cater alcohol to those who indulge in its sinful pleasure. Where is all the money going if not the team?
That joke is like the paternity suit. You know, two Wongs don’t make a White.
I’d really like him on Boston
I hope not
Wong is a very solid player and seems to be a good guy.. .. but with dalbec set to get an extended look at first, Chavis will be set to get most of the at bats at second. Bringing in an every day second baseman doesn’t make much sense in boston right now. With that said, bringing in a cheap option to battle for playing time with chavis and dalbec. That cheap option could wind up being Christian Arroyo. Let’s keep in mind too that wong would be a longer term investment at second where Jeter Downs could be in the majors by the end of 2021 and Tristan casas, a first baseman who is the sox number 1 prospect could surface in 2022. That would leave the sox this season to evaluate chavis and dalbec to see if either one of them are real potential long term options
Hes REALLY good at going the other way, boston would give him a few extra lazy fly ball hits off the green monster
*insert obligatory “bUt caN He pItCh” post from Angels fans/trolls here
i mean it would help
Jump on him Mariners! Wong and a few relievers and the M’s are in contention.
As an M’s fan I had to lol
A complete set gold glove infield would be getting real nutty. You sob I’m in!
pitching jokes aside i’d love if angels brought him in on a steal of a contract… believe it or not folks angels have more needs than just pitching. Although obviously that’s #1
No, I think pitching is #1,2,3,4, and 5 lol. No, y’all have Bundy, Ohtani (hopefully), and Heaney…
Ohtani is a true number 1. Heaney and Bundy are both solid mid rotation. Canning is an elite talent too. Maybe a guy like Bauer could solidify the rotation.
The real issue is signing guys that are over the hill to big deals. Upton, Pujols etc.
I don’t imagine any major FA signings will happen before Phillies and Angels have hired new GMs and staffed the front offices. Story in LA Times today said Angels plan on hiring “before Thanksgiving”, which clearly could be three weeks from now.
Not every player is needed by the Angels or wants to play for them, but I would imagine any player seeking to measure his value and drive up bidding wants Angels and Phillies in on the action.
Rangers, Angels, Red Sox, Cardinals, Yankees, and Blue Jays? Maybe throw the Indians in there too?
Just my own pure speculation, but I see the Royals as a dark horse. Wouldn’t be moving too far from St. Louis and I have no reason to think he wouldn’t welcome a reunion with Matheny. Plus, Moore has come out as saying he wants to add on-base skills at the top of the lineup and Wong would do just that while adding balance to the righty heavy lineup and allowing them to take Lopez’s bat out of the lineup without missing his defense.
I like that idea. I also saw somebody say the Giants, which would both be good choices. I’d put both of those ahead of the Yankees. If I had to rank the order of teams, I’d go:
Cardinals
Angels
Red Sox
Giants
Rangers
Blue Jays
Indians
Royals
I haven’t heard many good things about Matheny, so that’s why I put them lower, but maybe familiarity with pull him over there like you said.
Since we are just talking about teams contacting him, I wouldnt be surprised if the Cubs were one of them. A high contact second baseman is exactly what they need.
You can take the redsox off the list all together.
The sox top 2 position player prospects are Tristan Casas, a corner infielder (likely destined for first base given Devers’ presence at third) and Jeter Downs (middle infielder likely destined for second given questions about his defense at short and Bogaerts locked up at short). The sox also have 2 young guys already in the majors capable of playing first in Dalbec and Chavis. Chavis also plays second. In order to evaluate both of these guys for the future, dalbec needs to get an extended look at first, leaving Chavis to get the bulk of at bats at second.
This is before we talk about Hudson Potts, a 22 year old infield prospect who has power, is a former first round pick and could be viewed as a long term option as soon as the end of 2021 or early 2022.
The sox don’t have a need in the short term or long term to invest in a second baseman this year.
I’d tend to agree with you @ 123RedSox, but Boston could decide to trade Jeter Downs this offseason. I could see them matching up with the Rangers, sending them Jeter Downs, Michael Chavis, Thad Ward and one more Top 20 prospect to get Lance Lynn and Joey Gallo. In addition to the starting pitching help they’d get with Lynn, Boston would be able to fill their OF vacancy with a huge RH power bat. Gallo would rake at Fenway Park and he is an excellent defensive OF too. Either Benny or Verdugo would slide over to play CF until Duran is ready.
After trading Downs & Chavis, Boston would be light on true 2nd base options (Potts, Chatham and Arroyo), so a 2-3 year deal with Kolten Wong would make a lot of sense after the trade. This way, Boston would be adding a solid #2/#3 SP in Lynn along with one of MLBs premium power bats in Gallo and and one of the best defensive 2nd basemen and table setters in baseball in Wong. Given this depressed market, Wong should be available for a 2/$16-$18M or 3/$21-$24 deal. Lynn is very affordable at $8M for 2021 and Gallo probably earns $5M in arbitration this year. Boston significantly improves it ML roster while really only adding an additional $6-$8M to their payroll vs last year (they lose Martin Perez @ $6M, JBJ @ $10M and Chavis ~ $1M). This would make Boston a much more competitive team next season and give Texas some excellent prospects to build around as well. Thoughts from fellow Red Sox & Rangers fans? Is the prospect package enough or would Texas need more for Gallo & Lynn?
Wong to the Yankees makes sense if DJLM signs elsewhere.
Gallo is a left handed hitter. I would think that the Rangers wouuld want some pitching in return, something the Red Sox totally lack. I could see the Padres as a better fit.
Him and Matheny didn’t really get along though. Wong felt the manager was kind of wishy washy with him in terms of playing him and benching him.
You’re absolutely right. I should have done some research about that. Thanks to you and Rangers29 for the correction
Are you kidding? Wong hated Matheny lol, he blamed him for all of his inconsistencies when Matheny refused to play him regularly. That’s the last place Wong ends up
Not kidding, just ignorant of the facts. I walked it back in the comment before yours once that was presented to me.
MM the coach who wouldnt play him..
Wong was one the young players MM hindered..
I would list the Royals as the very last team Kolton would consider. He and Matheny are oil and water.
Royals.
Boston needs an outfielder more than a second basemen. I don’t see a fit there.
they cant add both?
Farhan do the right thing…
The the absence of a strong pitching market it’d make sense to try and improve your defense up the middle.
Well… if he signs with the Angels that gets him 2 hours closer to home.
This just in, pretty much every team would like to have a 2x GG 2B that can lead off. I think he’s got a strong market and would improve most teams in the league. Someone’s gonna pay him 3/30 or maybe more. The Cards have pretty much said they’re unwilling to do that in letting him walk. If they don’t find a way to bring him back, my guess is Boston, LAA or San Fran
I’m not sure Wong is going to get 3/30 in this market. While he is a superb defender and has an excellent career OBP, he has very little power and doesn’t hit the 40-50 doubles per year you’d expect out of a leadoff hitter either. I would think his ceiling in this market could be 2/$18M or 3/$24M, maybe even a $1M/yr. less than this.
Many teams could use him but boy its the Wong time to be on the market. He should take a 1 year pillow contract from the highest bidder and see what next year looks like. Nows not the time to be hasty and end up being Wong.
IF Wong can find a 3 or 4 year deal with solid AAV, he will take it..
If likely A’s aren’t bringing back semien I’d spend to get Wong. Of course the ownership is cheap so this wont happen
This is not a charade We need total consentwation.Translation- Wong will get a Fistful of Yen
Kolten is Hawaiian so maybe a fistful of Macadamias?
I used Yen because the quote was from the short “Fistfull of Yen”
Good fit for the Angels. Shore up 2B and move on to pitching.
I feel bad for one of the best players in the game, Mike Trout. He should have cashed out in LA and found a new team a few years ago. He’d actually may have a World Series ring if he did move. Angels will be lucky to even sniff the wild card game at their current situation. No depth, just bulky contracts
Few teams are letting a player with no power lead off. Wong belongs at the bottom of the order. I definitely see better options than Wong among 2B free agents.
Saying no to Wong as much as it sucks, was a rare smart move by the MoGirsch front office. Kolten is an awesome dude and a great defender but has never totally clicked offensively and would never get $12.5 million on the open market. Bring him back for 3 years 27 million. Oh wait we are still paying Carp, Fowler, Mikolas, and Andrew Miller now we “can’t afford” to pay to keep the home grown talent. Mo you gotta go!
Mo has all but said if you can read between the lines, don’t expect anything from the Cardinals this year. They have gobs of money coming off the books in 2022 but until then will just have to deal with his horrific contracts.
If they can get him back for 3 years, 27 million that would be a great deal. I’m guessing he will want something more long term because if he signs for 3 years he’ll be 33 during his next contract negotiation and that’s not a good place to be for a guy who’s main game is defense and athleticism.
A 12.5 million dollar “punch in the gut”………poor, baby. Ah, the injustice of it!!
Cards need to resign Wong. With Yadi likely gone, he and Goldy are the leaders. Edman is not an everyday player and well carp is (swap a couple letters there). $12.5M was too much but just negiotiate something fair.
Indians, Padres, d-backs, reds, and tigers make the most sense with their need at 2B! Indians lost Cesar Hernandez to free agency
DeWitt Jr. emphasized the Cardinals would or could spend money in upgrading the team. He ought to tell that to John Mozeliak or he’ll sign another relief savior such as Holland & Cecil and another.215 avg. hitter to make Carpenter look good.