The Cardinals have outrighted Moises Gomez off their 40-man roster and assigned the outfielder to Triple-A Memphis, according to Gomez’s MLB.com profile page. St. Louis designated Gomez for assignment earlier this week, but he’ll remain in the organization after clearing waivers.
Gomez started his career in the Rays organization and joined the Cards as a minor league free agent prior to the 2022 season. At age 25 and after eight seasons of pro ball, Gomez has yet to make his Major League debut, which is perhaps in part due to the Cardinals’ glut of outfielders. On a team with less crowding in the outfield, Gomez would likely have gotten at least a cup of coffee in the Show after a huge 2022 season that saw him hit .294/.371/.624 with 39 homers over 501 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A.
However, Gomez’s dream year was helped by a hugely inflated BABIP, and he still struck out in 174 of those 501 PA. The regression bug bit hard last year during a full season in Memphis, as Gomez hit only .232/.293/.457 in 567 PA. Gomez slightly cut back on the strikeouts and he hit 30 homers, but his walk rate also dropped.
The power potential is obvious here, though between the problems making contact and Gomez’s average-at-best corner outfield glove, it isn’t surprising that rival teams didn’t put in a waiver claim. Gomez will get more time at Triple-A to see if he can finally correct his approach at the plate, or at least cut back on the strikeouts enough to make himself a viable candidate for a call-up. St. Louis still has plenty of outfield options, though the list got slightly shorter when Tyler O’Neill was traded to the Red Sox earlier this winter.
Moises has de’ PARTED the Cardinal Red Sea?
The AAA team is still called the Memphis Redbirds.
Well….it isn’t as Biblical
I guess it’s not another Randy?!
But he could be another Adolis.
It turns out he has little to no value to the other teams. I don’t think he ever had any trade value. He’s the AAA version of Joey Gallo without the glove.
Apparently. I guess that worked out.
And without the walks.
Surprised no one gave him a shot
In particular, it seems like he’s a better option for the White Sox than Sheets.
Seems to me the fact Gomez cleared waivers after having back-to-back 30 HR seasons and being the 2022 organizational Minor League Co-Player of the Year, goes to support the belief the organization grossly overrates its own players…
He wouldn’t have cleared waivers after 2022, when he was one of the more interesting prospects in AAA.
Still, make the facts fit your opinion if you want to.
I didn’t say he would have cleared waivers after 2022. Look at his numbers. Yes, he hit .294 in 2022 , but he hit .171 and .220 the two seasons before his “breakout season”. His average plummeted back to normal for him in 2023, but the power was/is still clearly there, proven by back-to-back 30+ homerun seasons. I’m not shaping anything around my opinion, which is nothing more than that, an opinion.
Hes never been a top 10 prospect, his internal award was 2022-specific (the clue’s in the title).
Nobody in the orgsnisation has ever said he is a top prospect. Hence yoyr opinion is fact-free, at least as regards Gomez.
My typing sucks. Sorry.
And I’d say the fact that they designated him for assignment speaks to their opinion of his potential.
RD, I never said he was anywhere near a top prospect. I know his rankings were not impressive, and despite his award last season, the organization still planned to keep a close eye on him. All I ever remember saying about him is (for the most part, since the beginning of the topic days ago) it may have been too soon to give up on him (that’s only my opinion, time will tell the facts) because he has such raw power, which IS impressive, and he’s still only 25. I also said something about, I think the “professional” training he’s gone through should have been able to somewhat help his approach at the plate, and maybe the trainers etc are the ones who needed to go. Again, that was just a thought I threw out there. Truth be told, I really don’t care, it’s part of the business, but some decisions, even from geniuses like Mozeliak, can come back to haunt us, which they should have learned from recent memory. I didn’t mean to kick up dust, but I’d still like to know how my comments were “fact free” …
No worries, RD, I don’t judge other people based on them (typos) only myself.
In case anyone ever wondered.. I commented exactly the same as I do now (all
of it.. Mo, owners, etc) on the Cardinals official website for years, until MLB shut down the boards prior to the plandemic. I became part of a select group and we met in a place/site called Cardinals Cove.. I oftentimes wonder if anyone around here recalls The Cove, or maybe even was a member.. I never brown-nosed the team then and I still won’t now, but I am certainly open to reading and learning from people who know more than I do.
^ edit: IN case (tried to edit, didn’t work)
Or their fans do.
Possibly. But nobody outside the gas station thought Gomez was anything he isn’t. Most of us hoped they would trade him while he had helium.
I would not have ever been opposed to trading him in a package to acquire a guy the big club really needs. I certainly agree about that part. The organization of wise guys wasted another chip, at least, until he wasn’t claimed..
He was probably never much of a chip. Most teams probably assumed his season was an outlier. You’re making a pretty big assumption. It’s quite possible that the value he had wasn’t worth finding out if it’s season was a complete glitch or real
How does this support the belief the organization “grossly overrates its own players?” Just because he was the team’s minor league co-player of the year? That award honors a player’s season. It has zero to do with a player’s promise as a prospect. Gomez had a fantastic season and deserved the award. Yes, he was given a spot on the 40, but again how is this grossly overrating him as a player? Honestly, the fact that he hasn’t been promoted to St. Louis in the past two seasons show they saw his warts from day 1 even when he was compiling that massive first season with Springfield.. Remember, there was a reason the Rays let him go in the first place. If you have real instances where the team itself, not outside evaluators or media, overrated Gomez, I’d love to hear them. Seriously.
What I’m saying is, shouldn’t it be kinda odd that no other team wanted to take a chance on a guy who just won the organization’s highest minor league player award in 2022, and he followed that up with another 30 HR season in 2023 ?
The organization is overrating something, that’s for sure..
He was the award winner in 2022, followed up with 30 homers in 2023, dumped like dirt not long after the 2023 season.. it just doesn’t add up to me.
The flaw in your premise is that if the team was truly overrating him, he would have earned a call up by now. The fact he wasn’t called up in 22 or even last year in what was a lost season for the big club, shows that they saw/see something that won’t translate to big league pitchers. Look at his numbers beside homers and it’s obvious. That BABIP in 2022 alone is a huge red flag. It’s funny to me that so many fans were convinced he would get swooped up after being outrighted. This shows that fans overrated Gómez as a prospect, not the Cardinals. I’m pretty sure the Cardinals thought they could pass him through. There is a huge difference between having a great minor league season and being a legitimate prospect. Every team knows this and is why relying on basic stats alone is troublesome. The reason this topic interests me is that the Cardinals have had an issue evaluating prospects. But instead of overrating them as you said, the loss of Garcia and Arozarena shows a problem of undervaluing. They didn’t understand what they had. Thanks for the conversation!
I think the real flaw in my premise is my ability to convey my thoughts as accurately as I would like to, sometimes, which is just the way life is after a person cracks their cranium (I did).. I didn’t mean to make people think that I thought the organization held Gomez too highly, or “overrated” him in the rankings.. anyway, thanks for the conversation! See you around sometime..
Honestly, now that I know what you were going for, it’s just another way of looking at it. I think we are saying the same thing as far as evaluating talent. I totally understand how physical (and mental for me) trauma can affect the process! Nice talking with you and take care!
Thank You, 643D.. I wish well for you and yours, too. Baseball is right around the corner, Thank God.
You mean the Top 30 prospect rankings? MLB compiles those, not the teams. It would be MLB and their writers who overrated him.
Of course, you’re right, Lanidrac, but when the organization goes along with the rankings and hype, I think it, too, takes part in the process (overrating)..
You’re a smart fan, you know overrating doesn’t necessarily involve prospects, although in this case, it does. Prospect or not, I’m talking about real potential/ability vs. hype.
No it’s not out at all odd. That award has nothing to do with what they are as a prospect
Future Ranger
Kills LHP in the minors.
They’re lucky he wasn’t claimed. Their farm is the worst in that division especially on the position side. After trading O’Neill, Palacios, and Yepez, they’re thin in the outfield leaving Memphis with Koperniak, Gomez and most likely VS2. They better hope the Edman experiment works out and Noot doesn’t turn into a pumpkin.
Farm’s weak i agree, though thats a little artificial given so many graduated lately and are still controllable for 4-5 years
If Walker, Noot, Gorman, Herrera, Donovan progress (and they have made promising starts) they dont need a lot of position players to graduate in the next 3ish years, though you’re right the OF is light. Going to need a trade somewhere probably.
Pitchings another matter, they really need 2 of Hence, Roby and the rest to come through in 2025 (or Thompson to prove it in the bigs)
Noot isn’t turning into a pumpkin he takes great at bats and plays good defense. Outfield is fine there is no need for young guys at the moment.
I like Noot. Walker coukd be great. Donovan, Gorman and Herrera i have confidence in too.
But in the OF there are a couple square pegs in round holes (admittedly Edman does a good impression of a CF, but Burleson is a 1B/DH type) and Carlson is Piscotty 2)
They need to get lucky with Victor Scott but he hasnt got much high-minors experience so nuts to rely on it
Scott will be ready mid season and he might not be a star but his floor is high he’s not gonna bust. That’s our 3 starting outfielders until Davis and Cho are ready. Donovan and Burleson can both play outfield and we still have Carlson too. That’s plenty fine.
Ok…….
If that’s all you have to say you don’t have to reply champ. The outfield is fine even if there are injuries it will be fine.
Right you are
Then it’s a good thing that Carlson and Burleson are only the 4th and 5th OFs, roles that suit them just fine. The starting OF of Nootbaar, Edman, and Walker is really good as it is, along with a number of players like Donovan available to DH.
Yeah I think Carlson will make an excellent 4th outfielder and one who you could give more playing time to if he bounces back. And hes under control for 3 more years. At that point Cho should be ready and he should at least be a 4th outfielder. And Davis is coming to.
Your definition of really good is a really low
Two of the three starters are well above average offensively, while the third at least hits lefties really well and is a great baserunner.
Two of the three are above average defensively, one of which has previously won a Gold Glove at 2B and could very well do so again in CF. While the third is one of the weakest defenders on the team, he’s better than he was when he started playing the position a year ago and at least has a good arm.
Overall, how is that not really good?
HOLY MOISES !!
His minor league numbers are much better than alfonso rivas,remember arozarena,garcia,he’s another desperate Latin outfielder for the cardinals without and opportunity and he has show power and production since joined de cardinals organization.
Franmil Reyes 2.0
In Moses/Jesus/Abraham We Trust
Well, the Carpenter signing looks at least a little better now that they also get to keep Gomez.