The Cardinals have activated infielder Paul DeJong from the 10-day IL, per a team announcement. He’ll be in the starting lineup at shortstop for today’s game against the Mariners. To make room on the active roster, infielder Taylor Motter has been designated for assignment.
DeJong, 29, will look to bounce back from a brutal 2022 season that saw him slash just .157/.245/.286 in 77 games that culminated in him getting optioned to Triple-A, where he spent 51 games in 2022. That demotion to Triple-A seemed to help DeJong rediscover his bat, as he slashed .249/.313/.552 in 230 plate appearances. His activation hardly comes as a surprise, as the club announced yesterday that they were expecting to activate him today.
The real surprise here, then, is the decision to DFA Motter. DeJong was already on the 40-man roster, and Motter had options remaining, meaning the club could have simply optioned him to Triple-A. Instead, the club will have seven days to trade, waive, or release Motter. It’s a situation not unfamiliar for Motter, who has played for seven clubs across six season in the big leagues. Drafted by the Rays in the 17th round of the draft, Motter made his MLB debut in Tampa back in 2016, and has since suited up for the Mariners, Twins, Rockies, Red Sox, and Reds prior to joining the Cardinals on a minor league deal ahead of the 2023 season.
Motter hasn’t hit much to this point in his career, with just a .192/.264/.310 slash line in 466 plate appearances. Still, Motter provides valuable versatility, given his experience at every position on the diamond besides catcher and center field. He’ll likely clear waivers and look to latch on with another club on a minor league deal. After the move, the Cardinals’ 40-man roster stands at 39.
Wow
Taylor has more time to spend with his wife and sweetheart from high school, Alma Motter.
His wife is Melissa Bowman
Yes, he bragged about supporting two wives. He said ” Ain’t that big o’me? “
Hello Motter, Hello Fotter
Stoked for Motter Pop that he’s made it this long in the league. Scrappy dude
Keeping room for Winn to be called up
Winn won’t be called up without an injury or a trade. The Cardinals are already carrying 4 middle infielders on the roster. Winn had a great spring but his bat is struggling for Memphis.
Yeah but he has hops.
He was seen walking with his feet 10 ft. off of Beale.
Who writes these? Motter has zero options left. He used them in 2016,2017,2018. Not that hard to do simple research
If you wrote he played for 7 teams, common sense tells you he’s out of options. Hire new writers who know baseball and players
Yeah, embrace the Mottern world, people!
I know it doesn’t belong here but no other place to put it. How can an earned run be charged when the runner who scored reached on an error?
Why do I get “ unexpected server error “ when I try to post a comment
Because they hate you.
Because the iPhone app has been screwed up for many months. That and the Mute button that doesn’t work right. They don’t seem to care enough about comments to fix it.
They don’t care about fixing the issues with the site, but remind us periodically to keep paying to use their site.
Actually, I do that.
I pick out random people to piss off. Great fun.
DeJong has around 225 million reasons to test free agency if his club option isn’t picked up.
Again? Really?
youtube.com/watch?v=80r1bFH3nxQ
Lol cardinals. One game ahead of a team that draws less fans than a WNBA team. Dumb manager, a terrible staff, overhyped prospects, idiots in the outfield, and two infield mvp candidates that will be requesting a trade out of there any day now.
Say it like it is……
You left out the Grand Puba of Baseball Operations.
Not trying to be a jerk, but I think you mean Pooh Bah. ✌
Looks like I stepped in the Pooh, Brah!
Overhyped prospects…..that’s what they said about Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson last year when they struggled initially, Prospect development isn’t a straight line, and when outside organizations agree a player is a top prospect, they usually are. Check out how many top 100 prospects they have.
One need only look at each position and (Contreras being the exception) it’s occupied by a home grown player or one acquired with prospects from their system. That’s quite an accomplishment for a team that never has a top ten draft pick and usually drafts in the second half of the first round..
Moreover, the team’s history of contention is almost unparalleled in the sport, especially for a mid market, mid range payroll. Frankly, they’re due for a downturn.
The Cardinals have their flaws …they rarely get full value in trade, for example and they struggle to draft/develop quality starting pitching… but as a whole, it’s a blue chip organization.
This year they’re a cow chip team.
The Cardinals absolutely HOSED the D-Backs & Rockies in getting Goldschmidt & Arenado.
Especially the Rockies. No talent in return from the Cardinals plus the Rockies agree to pay half or more of Arenado’s salary. Has to be one of the great hose jobs of all time!
Tell us how you really feel. I sense when you wanna punch you pull.
And yet they are still living in your head to the point that you can’t let an article about them pass by without commenting. Between the Cardinals and eating White Castle cheeseburgers you are a pretty obsessive dude
Shut up, shortbus.
And yet every time I comment, you chime in. Who is the obsessive one? My best to Mrs Perkins.
Still living in that empty head of yours, rent free.
So basically, the cardinals are squatters. Seems about right.
Speaking of squatters…you seem to be used to that position
Whatever living in some hater universe that you know damn well won’t happen. Get with reality or go root for some other team if you hate them this much
Speaking of cesspool…a lot of trolls that belong in there
Wow talk about announcing yourself to the world stage. A worlds fair of activity. Activate Paul Dejong, the pink power ranger. And word to Taylor motter. Keeping it reels.
What in the blue fk are you babbling about?
It’s 5 o’clock somewhere?
Adam Duvall had a few bad seasons, got sent down to AAA and returned to form.
Motter has more big league teams played for (7) than seasons in the league (6). Wonder who number 8 will be
I think DeJong just earned himself some more playing time. 3 for 4 with a home run today. I know it’s just one game.
Yes!! He was busy today, shutting people’s mouths!!
That’s kind of how TLR operated. Meritocracy. You play better, you play more.
Of course, the game ‘passed him by’. Now it’s ‘you get paid better, you play more…’.
Former Cardinals great Matt Carpenter continues his resurrected career, single-handedly dismantling the Diamondbacks pitching staff with a 3 for 3, 5 RBI day out here in the desert.
Let’s stop the ad hominem attacks.
And since I’m from the city of Ralph Kramden, the ad homina-homina-homina attacks as well.
Congrats to Taylor on his pending release. He can sign a deal with an organization that isn’t a cesspool and a cheating batch of clowns.
I agree. He shouldn’t sign for the Astros.
“His activation hardly comes as a surprise, as the club announced yesterday that they were expecting to activate him today.”
What purpose does this sentence serve?
For the role he served, Motter played pretty well when given opportunities and I would have liked to see more of him. It seemed evident he was simply a placeholder and Marmol had no interest in establishing him on this roster.
Motter shouldn’t have made the team to begin with – should’ve been Kramer Robertson. Send him packing!
“The real surprise here, then, is the decision to DFA Motter.”
“Then” adds nothing to this sentence. It looks awful when set off by commas too. Just say “the real surprise here is the decision to DFA Motter.” There’s no reason to add “then” and it doesn’t make the writer look more sophisticated. It has the opposite effect, in fact.