The Cardinals began their offseason by declining second baseman Kolten Wong’s option, making him a free agent, but he remains unsigned two-plus months later. Although Wong called the Cardinals’ choice to let him go a “punch to the gut,” both sides remain interested in a reunion, per reports from Jon Heyman of MLB Network and Jim Hayes of Fox Sports Midwest.
The Cardinals caught heat for cutting ties with Wong in the first place, but it was not an indefensible decision. The team saved $11.5MM by letting go of Wong, who would have earned $12.5MM in 2021 in lieu of a $1MM buyout had the Cardinals retained him. Wong’s option would have been pricey for St. Louis or any other team.
To Wong’s credit, the 30-year-old has been a valuable part of the team since he debuted in 2013. A two-time Gold Glove winner, Wong has mixed outstanding defense (55 DRS, 32.6 UZR) with respectable offensive production throughout his career. Most recently, he batted .265/.350/.326 with one home run and five stolen bases over 208 plate appearances in 2020.
With Wong at least temporarily out of the picture, Tommy Edman is the in-house favorite to start at second for the Cardinals in 2021. If they’re not content with Edman, and if Wong goes someplace else, they could pivot to free agents such as Tommy La Stella or Cesar Hernandez.
Considering his solid all-around game, Wong could land with several teams this offseason for a lesser price (at least on an annual basis) than the Cardinals turned down. MLBTR predicted at the outset of the winter that Wong would sign for $16MM over two years. Since then, no fewer than a half-dozen teams have shown interest in Wong.
Wong has always been overrated..
I always kind of admired him, he is a good player
Maybe the Orioles could look at him if his price comes down
He’;s not overrated, maybe he was overpaid
Overpaid is exactly correct. Cardinals fans and media are pissing themselves because management didn’t want to overpay.
Great glove. Good hitter. Nice guy. Just not worth $12.5 million AAV.
If the unexpected happens and DJLM signs elsewhere, Wong seems like the perfect fit for the Yankees should they also not re-connect with Didi and Glaybar remains at short. Yanks have plenty of offense as it is and a glove at second seems the best way to then go.
I agree that Wong would be a benefit to the Yankees if they don’t resign LeMahieu. Plus, I have no doubt that Molina would be worth his weight in gold to the Yankees!!! Great with working with pitchers. Still above average on offense and defense. To go along with him being a well respected veteran player who could provide leadership for Sanchez and a blunt force in the clubhouse. Another Cardinal free agent, Adam Wainwright, would be a no brained to slide into the rotation as a 5or 6th starter. The knowledge and leadership he could bring to the Yankee pitching staff would be invaluable.
Molina, & Wainwright’s playoff mindset and attitude of failure is not acceptable
Should be just the right ingredients to jumpstart the young superstars into playing through injuries. Plus— not playing just to their potential—- but beyond their potential !!! World Series here we come with Molina, Wainwright & Wong.
He’s an ass
So like Ozzie Smith in the 80’s you’re saying?
who is an ass?
A gold glover that hits around .300, how is he overrated??
How is a career .261 BA hitting around .300? Great defensively but doesn’t offer much with the stick.
I said around .300. have you looked at the stats the last few years, minus this last year? Also have you compared the stats to other 2b around the league? Have you looked at the ones equal to or better then his production and compared his defense? baseball is more then just offense and keyboard coaches like you tend to forget this.
look at the last few years. yes he wasn’t hitting great when he started in the league, but its a learning curve to be had.
@dhamell you tend to forget that there isn’t a single gm in the last at least 10 years who looks at batting average let alone cares what batting average players have. If you want to out yourself letting everyone know you don’t know what you’re talking about just start with I think batting average is important, it will save anyone who’s intelligent the tell from reading the rest of your comment.
uh ok…. you want to compare his other offensive stats with others around the league? how about looking at defensive runs saved or on base percentage? I’m able to talk to you about any and all stats for him. I was trying to state some facts but now you want to make it personal about how much I do/do not know. before making comments like this might want to find out what the person actually knows about baseball before commenting…
Mostly around .260. Whe hit .285 two seasons. The rest wer aroun.260 or below. The .265 he hit last year would not have pulled his career average down to .261 it took a few years in the .240s to do that. Does not have much power except when he plays Pittsburgh and then he seems to hit big home runs to beat them several times. Good player but I would not want to pay him $12.5 million either.
How on earth does .261 to .270 even remotely come close to batting .300??? He’s got a great glove, but he’s got a mediocre bat – very plain – very simple!!
You continue on to try to rationalize your weak comments – but on this site – we’re educated ball fans, full time , not wannabe knowledgeable fans.
You’re so smart. We’re all lucky to bask in your genius. Thank you.
Hey, I just learned that Wong has a “plain” and “simple “ bat. Whatever that means. Now I’m an educated ball fan!
he has NEVER even hit .300 for a season.
Wong has a “plain” and “simple” bat? Maybe he could put some flowery stickers on it? That would make it stand out.
they do look and do care about AVG, its just not the only thing they look at.
The problem with Wong’s hitting as with most of the Cardinals hitters, is the launch angle technique. Not many power hitters on the team for launch angle techniques. When Wong started to be a contact hitter, his batting average improved. Bad at need to switch to a contact hitter also. With good consistent contact, homers will come.
You should have said, “A gold glover who runs an OBP around .350, how is he overrated?”
Would have spared me from reading the comments after your post. 🙂
Please! 2019 full season he lead 2nd basemen with runs saved. Add that to his stats and he’s totally rated correctly.
i think it was a mistake not to pick up his option he has played much better now that mathaney isn’t the manger. in the last 2 years i’ve seen him play with more confidence and not letting his struggles at the plate follow him. finally cards are built on the philosophy of pitching and defense and who better to fit that mold than a glove 1st guy
The underated player at 2B is Jonathan Schoop. Solid bat and glove. Capable of batting in the middle of the order. Cheaper than Wong. Can someone provide me a reason his name is not being included with the top FAs at his position?
Love his defense.
Got picked off to end World Series game, hit a home run to walk off NLCS game, 2 time gold glove winner and got MVP considerations. Wong is a good player, one of the better 2nd basemen St Louis has had in past 20 years.
When has Wong gotten MVP consideration.
Got a vote or two last year
Last year Wong really improved with the bat…and his eye with the strike zone…one thing that I thought about Wongs hitting was that he hit to all fields, which in today’s shift culture means a lot…teams really had a tough time shifting on him…I particularly remember a time the Brewers tried to play on the second base side and Wong hit to the left opening for a hit…next time up they didn’t play to the right side of the bag and he hit it to the right side up the middle for a hit
The problem isn’t that they wanted to be cheap. The issue is now we have another hole to fill. With Edman going to play second, whose going to start third? Probably Matt Carpenter and I would waaaaaayyyyy rather pay Wong 12.5 million to have him play second and then Edman play third. Carpenter getting regular starts is going to be a disaster.
Geez take it easy on the guy lol why do people always feel the need to tear someone down for a opinion. Relax….its just baseball. Happy new year!!
none of us are here to just pat players on the back. if your opinion isnt a bit contentious then it probably doesn’t need to be said.
Then why do you comment with your non-contentious opinion, on every single post every single day?
true
Agreed. Overrated.
Mets could go after him
Wong has always been underrated.
No, he’s rated fine. He’s got a great glove and a meh bat.
Wong has always been rated
Y’all are all Wong
Yeah, but two Wongs don’t make a Wright
This name game stuff is never funny.
Gold glove and high on base percentage. Wong will land somewhere! Maybe the Angels can use him.
Everyone can use a great glove. The only question is the price. If the price falls low enough everyone will want him.
The Cardinals did not think he was worth $12.5 million, and considering 2020, he is not worth it. He will be worth what the team who signs him is willing to pay.
JD Martinez thought he was worth $200 million in 2018, but signed for $110 million. He did not opt-out the last two offseasons as no one will pay him $38 million (for a DH) over the remaining two seasons.
My son said a Pokémon card just sold for $200,000. Go figure…
Use him where? Fletch costs league minimum and players GG caliber 2b. I suppose you could move him to utility role but that’s a waste
Angels made sense prior to acquiring Iglesias. Not any longer.
Perhaps if we traded Fletcher for pitching but that’s it. And I really hope that doesn’t happen.
Someone should rate wong.
Wong is a mixed bag offensively and should definitely hit at the bottom of the order but defensively he’s as good as they get. Red Sox were interested earlier, not sure if they still are but Wong could end up being had on a one year deal and won’t break the bank
Contract prediction by MLBTR is WONG !!
Bad time to be a def first 2b-
With teams favoring offence and moving guys like Muncy and Moose to 2b these guys are going the way of the Dodo-
Shifting and 3TO also dont help his cause
Thought coming up he had the potential to be a Poor mans Roberto Alomar, never quite made that rank imo although thats a pretty high bar
Alomar is in a class by himself. I doubt we will see a 2B as good as he was in his prime
He was one of the funnest players in the 90’s no doubt- Never gonna find a clean jersey on this guy at the end of the day.
He was Ozzie Smith at the keystone sans the backflip with a more potent bat –
Might be one of the best recent players in the game today that the youngsters never heard much about
Wong has always been
Have we shifted so far to valuing power that people have forgotten that the point of an at bat is to get on base? Wong is a gold glover at an up the middle position and gets on base 35% of the time? Sign me up.
I think the 350 comes from being pitched around out of the 8 hole-
You bat him leadoff I bet he’s no more than a middling 330
He always seems to go into prolonged slumps as well every year-
With shifting and 3TO it often feels your playing short handed when he goes into these month long slumps-
Nice player indeed I just dont see the Big Bucks coming for him whatsoever. I think he should go to a team like Kc or Det on a 2 yr deal where he’d have a great chance to be a core player from jump street and maybe get a nice TY contract the next go around from that org
Kowten Wong is ovewated.
I see what you did there kripky
It would actually be funny if that was what he was going for rather than just being a jerk.
He doesn’t hit for much power, but if you have a line-up with a decent amount of power already, he’s going to help you score a lot of runs. His OBP since 2017 seasons is .356 which is third among 2B’s with at least 1500 PA’s in those four seasons.
Part of the underrated team
1B-Brandon Belt
2B-Wong
3B-Brian Anderson
SS-Paul Dejong
LF-Brett Gardner
CF-Kevin Kiermaier
RF-Whit Merrifield
C-Jacob Stallings
Tyler Flowers has been the 3rd best C in MLB since 2017 via WAR. Does anyone say “Tyler Flowers is a top 3 catcher in MLB”? No.
Point .7 WAR in 2018, negative -.3 2019, point .3 in 2020.. i dont think he has been a top 3 Catcher the last 3 years.. I dunno tho..
@rangers92 you are using Baseball Reference, while the other commenter was using FanGraphs. Baseball Reference values offensive catchers over defensive catchers, but FanGraphs values defensive catchers more. That’s why there is such a split between the war on the two websites.
McRae with another bit swing and a miss.
Gardner, really? The guy only has a job in the league still because he’s been a part of the Yankees forever. No other team would waste a spot with him. Just because once upon a time there were underrated doesn’t mean they still are. If you disagree, baseball reference is just a quick Google search away. His numbers are horrid the last 3-4 years. He is a clubhouse presence and literally nothing more. Hes overrated if anything
Gardner- 4.9 WAR 2017, 3.3 WAR in 2018, 4.1 WAR 2019, .7 (2.5) WAR 2020… he is getting older and I’m sure he is fading but he’s still one of the most underrated guys over the last 10 years or so.
From 2009-2019 he was ranked number 10 in WAR for outfielders.
You don’t have to google anything I dropped a link below
fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=of&stats=bat&#…
WAR is a very subjective stat. Enough with the Jonah Hill worship.
It’s literally a formulaic stat. The complete opposite of subjective.
He has not been horrid the last 3 to 4 years. Since 2017, he’s hit .249/.335/.428 with a 103 OPS+, 106 wRC+ and .329 wOBA. Don’t forget about the defense either. He’s third in DRS only behind Lorenzo Cain and Mookie Betts and 7th in UZR/150..Since you want to look at BBREF, let’s take a look at his bWAR
2017: 4.9
2018: 3.3
2019: 4.1
2020: .7 (still averaged more than 2.5 bWAR over 600 plate appearnces)
I don’t see how a slightly above average hitter who’s a top 5 defender and plus base runner is considered “horrid”.
Thank you good sir
What criteria are you using to designate someone as underrated?
Not heard of much..
their batting average and homerun stat lines look weak so people will think they’re not that good when really they are. Kind of like that guy saying Brett Gardner has been horrid the last 3-4 years when really he has been very solid and definitely well above average.
$12M isn’t much money though. That’s still way under his actual market value.
He wont get close to that in the market. 8 million tops.
It is less than his pre-COVID market value. But the COVID-19 market is one of depressed values for most FA.
if that were true then he would have been dealt instead of a free agent right now
$12 million is “way under”? Do you actually follow baseball?
The article doesn’t really speak much for the title though. Expected more rumors
Hope Wong resigns with the Cards. I do prefer him as a bottom of the order guy but he is better offensively than he showed in 2020, and that wasn’t so bad.
Cardinals need to resign Wong. Maybe $8M/yr for 3-4 years. They need to have Edman available at 3rd and other positions. They can’t play Carpenter and really should just release him amd eat his contract.
The Red Sox should sign him to a multi-year deal and trade for Shed Long. In a couple of years they could roll out:
Kolten Wong
Connor Wong
Noah Song
Shed Long
Am I missing anyone else?
You won
Happy New Year lol
His brother, Kean Wong.
Ding Dong
Reminds me of in 13 when they had a bunch of guys w 4 letter last names. Carp, Nava, Bard, Ross, Drew, Holt
Uhhh Ruby de la ROSA?
Honestly, I think the cubs might go after him. there has been a big gaping hole there since Ben Zobrist left.
This dude rakes and hits bombs.
On playstation?
I don’t like any of the Cubs 2B alternatives. Wong, albeit at a lot less than $12.5 million, would look good at Wrigley. Could also see the Giants and Yankees having interest.
I think the Royals should pursue Wong. They need a left handed bat and would make their infield so much stronger offensively and defensively because he’s a lot better than Nicky Lopez. Plug him second in the lineup and look at KC being a very competitive team this year as long as they add to a young promising bullpen. Watch out for Kansas City in 2021.
Wong is a fine player if he’s hitting 8th or 9th for you, but that’s it. has value? yes. worth 12 million? absolutely no.
Is english your second language?
He’d be a fine leadoff hitter. Has a .356 OBP the last four seasons which is third among 2B’s. If you have some good hitters surrounding him, he’ll help score a lot more runs.
Wong wate
Too late, someone else already made a lazy racist joke from the previous century. Gotta be quicker.
When Wong was brought up, it was evident that Matheny did not care for him (and others) because of the way he used these young men who had done very well in the minor league careers. So, they were left to try to do things themselves. KW was not used as an everyday player. Others were in the same boat. They never knew from day to day whether they would be in the lineup or not. Under those conditions, many of our young players did not do especially well and did not improve. There was no consistency for them. Only after MM left, did KW begin to improve. Schildt knows that a player needs the manager to exhibit confidence in him. Schildt let KW know that he was the second baseman. What happens’? Fielding begins to improve dramatically. Hitting has improved. His SOs are far fewer than they were. His OBP has risen considerably. He was given a 5-year contract, and the first two were wasted because he was not played consistently. He was basically platooned (which rarely works well). If he had been the everyday player and given guidance by the coaches, who can say how much sooner he would have improved. About the saving money thing, we have at least two players who receive big salaries but have under-produced the last three years. One of them had a very good year, but nothing since then. In fact, he has continued in a downward spiral, yet he is spoken of as being our everyday third baseman. Tommy Edman plays that position much better than the veteran who is at the end of his career. With Edman, DeJong, Wong, and Goldschmidt we would have one of the strongest infields.
There was an article a couple of days ago about ownership not being committed to having a winner but being content with being just good enough!???!?!?! What kind of an attitude is that for any owner to have? I wonder if there is anyone interested in buying the Cardinals who is committed to winning and to reestablishing the good minor league system we used to have (We used to be the #1 minor league system. Now we are not even in the top 10.). Schildt was raised in baseball with the Cardinal way and believes in it, but the owner is not. We need new owners who believe in and are committed to The Cardinal Way.
The best 2nd baseman in baseball, Love Wong and was a good lead off hitter. He Saved many of runs. Keep him Cardinals. I would pay him the money, if Carpenter is worth $18 million then surely is worth signing.
Long duck Wong is gone.