The Cardinals announced today that infielder Matt Carpenter has been reinstated from the injured list while fellow infielder Luken Baker has been recalled from Triple-A Memphis. In corresponding moves, the club optioned outfielder Jordan Walker and granted infielder Brandon Crawford his unconditional release.
Crawford, 37, signed with the Cardinals in the offseason, a one-year deal with a modest $2MM salary. It seemed as though he was a bit of veteran insurance for rookie Masyn Winn, who the club was planning to have as their everyday shortstop. That was a sensible move at the time, as Winn had just 37 games of major league experience coming into the year and hit just .172/.230/.238 in those.
But here in 2024, Winn has delivered on his prospect hype. He has 11 home runs and a slash of .274/.324/.419, which translates to a wRC+ of 108. His glovework has led to 11 Defensive Runs Saved and 3 Outs Above Average at shortstop, and he has also stolen 10 bases. His all-around contributions have led to FanGraphs crediting him with 2.8 wins above replacement, which is third among National League rookies, just behind Jackson Merrill and Tyler Fitzgerald.
As Winn has been doing all of that, Crawford has hardly been used. Though he has been on the active roster all season, he has only appeared in 29 games and has only been sent to the plate 80 times. In that sporadic playing time, he has struck out at an uncharacteristic 32.5% rate and slashed .169/.263/.282 for a wRC+ 58. Perhaps it was difficult for Crawford to get into a groove with so little time in the lineup, but that rough performance is actually not too far off from last year, when he hit .194/.273/.314 for the Giants and produced a 62 wRC+.
Regardless of the cause, that performance from Crawford and the emergence of Winn have gotten him bumped off the roster. That will likely leave utility player Brendan Donovan as the Cardinals’ backup for Winn at the shortstop position. Perhaps Baker can give a jolt to the lineup, as he has hit 32 home runs in Triple-A this year and walked at a 14.8% clip.
For Crawford, rather than put him on waivers and be forced to go wherever he’s claimed, the Cards have given him a bit of agency over his next steps by releasing him instead. His brief time in St. Louis will seemingly be destined to a future bit of esoteric trivia for the Giants’ legend.
Any team could now sign Crawford for the prorated league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the Cardinals pay. The level of interest is likely tempered by his recent string of poor results, but he also has a lengthy track record. Since debuting with the Giants back in 2011, he has just under 1700 games of major league experience with roughly league average offense and very strong defensive grades. In the offseason, he seemed to at least give some thought to retiring before getting the deal with the Cards, which could perhaps be on the table again if he doesn’t get a tempting opportunity in the coming weeks.
As for Walker, this is the latest in his up-and-down treatment from the Cards. He was recalled just over a week ago with Carpenter landing on the IL and is now back to Memphis after getting one hit in 12 plate appearances while Carpenter was out.
Last year, he rode a wave of excitement to the club’s 2023 Opening Day roster but his performance was inconsistent throughout the year. Though he was optioned for a spell last summer, he was recalled and hit .277/.346/.455 from the start of June to the end of the year, leading to a 119 wRC+.
But here in 2024, he struggled out of the gate and was optioned before the end of April. His .257/.321/.426 batting line in Triple-A this year leads to a subpar 92 wRC+ but he still got recalled to cover for Carpenter briefly.
It’s a strange spot for him to be in as he is still looking to properly break through and cement himself at the major league level but there’s a bit of a ticking clock now. Because he burst onto the roster last year but has been optioned in two straight seasons, he’ll have just one option remaining after this one even though he’s only 22 years old. If he exhausts his final option next year, he could perhaps be out of options by 2026, which will be just his age-24 season.
Poor Jordan Walker man…
They have absolutely no idea what they’re doing with him. Can’t believe what they’ve done with the former #1 prospect in baseball
Maybe he should go work with Juan Soto like Elly did.
I was actually thinking more like Judge. Similar build, and we all see what Judge is becoming.
Ok 101 ESPN Radio over here. Dude the guy is 21 years old. He will be fine.
He’s terrible in the field, and has big holes in his swing.
But “He will be fine”.
Ok.
He will be fine! When he leaves StL
I may be wrong about him, but I think he’s overhyped. They should trade him while his value is still fairly high. Should be able to get some good pieces back for him.
He’s a plus defender this year…
Yeah thanks for strengthening my point. He has things to work on in the minors. He. Is. Young. – he will be fine. Cardinals arnt going anywhere this year too so if they want to bring up and give him some big leagues looks.. who cares? It’s good for him. AAA these days are viewed as one of the worst minor league levels. The system needs work and change. You need to figure out how to stop crying over ridiculous things. lol
“They should trade him while his value is still fairly high.” There are no such things as time machines.
Walker stats in minors show he was below average once he hit AAA.
His MLB stats is reflective of the ladder climb from someone who hits below .260 in AAA.- adjustments on his side have not been made. no matter where he was positioned in prospect list.
Just trade him for a bucket of balls to the Rays already
Rays should trade for him this off-season, nice buy low candidate
I don’t know what the Rays have the Cardinals would want. I think a trade involving Robert from the White Sox makes more sense.
I would trade Walker in a package for Luis Robert perhaps. But they won’t just give him away.
Buy low for his potential Mr literal. Obviously we’d give you something in return not saying we’re getting him for pennies. We have number 1 farm in mlb plus plenty of controllable arms if the cards are interested
Ok Rays fan how about Pete Fairbanks and Brayden Taylor for Walker? I think I would do that.
Cardsfan
“You’re special aren’t you?”
Totally unnecessary attack.
Off to never never land with you
Walker is “buy low” even if you don’t want to admit it. The dude is a poor defender who is a mediocre at best hitter. You are not getting a good return on a poor player.
douglasb
Walker is “buy low” even if you don’t want to admit it. The dude is a poor defender who is a mediocre at best hitter.
=======================
Wouldn’t that make him a ‘sell low’ candidate?
Doug
“Walker is “buy low” even if you don’t want to admit it. The dude is a poor defender who is a mediocre at best hitter. You are not getting a good return on a poor player.”
That makes no sense. That’s not what”buy low” means
Cards betted on Carlson having some level of a bounceback season and lost. Now that they have Pham, Walker hasn’t really impressed enough to keep anyone else out of the lineup. They’ll do next year what the should have done this year and let Walker and Burleson handle RF\DH.
They barely even gave Carlson a chance. Not many players can succeed after multiple injuries while getting short side platooned. Needs to get regular playing time to get a better read on what he’s capable of. Might not happen on the Rays either given their penchant for platoons
Can Walker play 1B? Or is his height considered too much of a problem in the infield?
He needs to go to a rebuilding team that can give him three years of 600 PA/year. The Cardinals are never going to give him that run in St. Louis.
He’s no different than Jo Adell. People anointing him as a future Hall of Famer before he ever did anything. When in reality, becoming a star at the major league level is difficult for anyone, even #1 prospects. He is young enough that he can still salvage a good career, but I doubt he will ever be a good as he was hyped. But that fault lies more with the people doing the hyping, doesn’t it?
More so the fans who cry that players are having service time manipulated because they’re good hitters. There’s more to being a pro than hitting but fans just look at useless batting average stat.
The majority of the time that the press and the fans scream ‘manipulation, the player struggles. Success at a young age is still fairly rare.
Nailed it!
Was arenado on the juice? Or a product of Coors Field?
That’s an absurd comment. He’s had some very good years with the Cardinals.
We live in a weird baseball world these days where everyone thinks that a guy hit 270 and 25 HRs a year is bad.
OPS+ as a Rockie: 121
OPS+ as a Cardinal: 120
Part of the calculation is based on league average. It does not fully represent whether Arenado’s numbers were better in St Louis, but rather that his numbers were better in-comparison to the rest of baseball.
OPS+ also adjusts for the ballpark – he’s been pretty much the same guy.
Even looking at the raw numbers; with the exception of triples, they’re really not that off when you consider he played in Coors.
He needed juice to lose OPS+?? Is he a moron? And when offense was higher pre-cardinals? And his coors home/away splits were very skewed? He would juice to potentially repeat performance???
/s
Not many 3b age well.
Not many players age well and live up to the huge contract they signed
Giants return incoming….
No way that happens.
Stop smoking your pipe. What a terrible idea for the Giants.
Giants will SIGN him to give him a nice retirement send off with hometown fans…..problem is who do they release to do it — unless the bad mouthing SF on exit was too much
Too many bridges burned. That’s why you don’t bad rap your employer on the way out the door.
Last day of the season maybe MLB would make an exception for a one-day contract
Long term, I’m thinking there will be no hard feelings. I’m sure we’ll see him at future reunions for the championship teams.
I don’t think the Giants would give any consideration to resigning him at this point. Frankly, I don’t think anyone will. But that’s okay; he’s had an awesome career.
He will have PLENTY of time now to work on his #6
If the Giants sign Crawford so he can retire in their uni, it won’t happen this season. They can do exactly what they did for Romo. He can retire as a Giant in the 2025 spring training.
And as far as burned bridges go, Sandoval burned plenty, and they brought him back.
Crawford is a Forever Giant. Zaidi is not.
Spring training retirement is bush league way of doing it – not really a welcome home retirement. For Crawford I would hope they give him a late september replacement of 60 day DL move so no one is cut.
Who says a ST retirement is bush league? Why in the world would the Giants expose someone on their 40-man roster to another team just for some sort of sentimental gesture? A ST retirement has been done before, will again, and it offers a good alternative to putting a guy on the 40-man roster on waivers, just to make room for a guy who has no future with the team. Doing that would be plain stupid.
Maybe a one day contract to retire as a Giant.
I had him being released during All Star break.
Nice 12 mil sign Louis.
Braves
If only he could catch…hit and mentor the young uns.
This front office continues to prove the need for all of their unconditional releases. The only one I’m good with keeping is Flores. He can draft, but no one else can do their part in development.
Flores is also part of the problem. Player development starts with the guy that initially scouts the player. Since Flores took over, the farm system hasn’t produced the amount of talent needed. He’s also the one that sets the course for what the development plan will be for said prospect.
He certainly doesn’t deserve a pass.
He has drafted some pretty top shelf talent. They just can’t handle them properly once in the system. His talent judgment is great. I really think the biggest problem is the big league staff. All of these young guys come through looking like world beaters and hit the MLB like a brick wall. The “philosophical differences” with Shildt seem to be on the team side more and more with every game and roster adjustment.
Craw coulda been a one team for his career dude with two rings. Oh well, we still love him
Really a shame he couldn’t let go of his ego. But the stats were there for him to see.
He got 2 million bucks to sit on his butt. Not a bad gig if you can get it.
The Cardinals have broken Jordan Walker, he needs a fresh new start with a new team and just play
Really, AllAboutBaseball, Walker had such a promising rookie season, and the Cards seem to have given up on him
But keep in mind that Walker’s glove is shaky and if he doesn’t hit his value is nil.
“shaky”?
His glove and approach to all thing defense are more like San Andreas Fault, than just “shaky”.
Can he not adapt to 1B and catch a ball, if his bat still plays? Why are they so deadset on re-signing a soon-to-be 37 y/o 1B hitting below average (89 OPS+): Goldy? You can’t seriously expect him to get better and commit the dollars to that expectation. If he weren’t hitting in the middle of that lineup, then fine, but with Burleson and possibly Walker, they need that 1B/DH spot to spread the young bats around. STL FO does not want that roster median age anywhere near-30.
Dylan Carlson had a promising rookie year too. Seems the Cards are struggling in developing Outfielders that can be productive on both sides of the ball
It didn’t help when Walker clotheslined Dylan Carlson earlier this year while running around lost in right field.
Player development is a third of learning, another third of adjusting, and the other third is natural instinct.
Sometimes they all click and you get a star or a fast track player. Other times it takes a slow learner a while to click and you get a late bloomer.
The difference has always been how quickly players adjust, and that’s in large both instinct and learning together.
The Cardinals aren’t going anywhere anyway. He should just play in STL.
Walker didn’t gather a hit while up….he also didn’t get many chances in consecutive days.
Strange how this organization continues to handle some players.
Good luck to Luken Baker. He’s always voted the Nicest Teammate in Memphis.
Walker didn’t earn the callup. Baker has. Walker is not a victim this is what should have happened a week ago.
I agree that Baker should’ve been called up initially. The org has just mishandled Walker terribly, and continue to do so.
But, they just posted tonight’s lineup and Baker is on the bench. The question there is, will they just leave him there like they were Walker?
Baker being on the bench really doesn’t bother me. That’s probably his long term role if he does have a long term role so let him get used to it. Putting Walker on the bench is stupid.
Walker should not have been called up unless they were committed to playing him. This is more mismanagement of players which has become the norm with this management team.
Walker should not have been called up unless they were committed to playing him
========================
I agree 100%. I’m not a purist. If he’s up for a month, plays 25 games, and has a 32/2 K/W, sure, send him down.
But what did they learn in four games?
Hey Blackpink I was wondering if you could explain what happened to Nootbaar and Gorman this season, not seemingly taking that next developmental step. Particularly surprised about Gorman continuing to hit .200 with no power. Back when people were bandying about trade scenarios for Mariners starting pitching, Gorman was seen as a main guy coming back. Not so excited about him now. Are they just banged up? Thanks
Nootbaar has had some injury issues I think that’s hurt him. Gorman doesn’t have any excuses. Gorman was supposed to be taking the next step to being a core player and he’s not doing it at all.
Thats the end of the road for Brandon Crawford. Hell of a career. Tip of the cap to him.
Unless SF gets eliminated and decides to pick him up for the last week of September…
So you’re giving a pass to the guy who evaluated them before drafting, sets their development plan, and gives his endorsement before they’re called up?
You say top shelf talent but let’s unpack that statement for a moment.
1) The Cardinals have 1 player on the active roster drafted after 2020 and that’s Victor Scott. That’s 1 player in 4 drafts and he isn’t even established.
2) Masyn Winn,Burleson, and Donovan are the only position players that have developed into sustainable major leaguers still on the roster since 2016. Gorman and Walker are yet to turn the corner.
3) Where’s the pitching! The crown jewel of the Randy Flores era that’s still on the roster is Andre Pallante. And that’s it! No other pitcher was drafted by Flores that’s on the current roster.
You can give Flores a pass but I certainly wouldn’t.
So you think Flores deserves all the hate and anger of the fan base because he can’t literally hand feed every guy he drafts? That’s why there are coaches and trainers and programs at every single level. Just because he puts a plan in place doesn’t mean the coaches can make it happen. These guys get up to AAA and thrive, but hit a wall in St Louis. It’s not just the young ones either, look at the decline the veterans have when they come to the team also. Flores finds the talent, makes his suggestions, and prepares them for future success. He can’t make every one of them succeed on his own and the major league staff is the biggest obstacle the team has in making them successful. Pitching is another story, as they have had a pretty good number of guys with high ceilings that fall flat before they get very deep. But again, when you look at the MLB club, the guys that have showed promise get tossed around between teams, from pen to rotation, etc.
Most underrated team history in all of sports.
Historically yes for sure as I’m sure like 75% of younger baseball fans wouldn’t even know they have the second most titles and most in the NL. Last few years haven’t been kind to them though as they just keep being middle of the pack much like my Giants. Miss the 2010s where they won five straight NL pennants and 4 of 5 WS
Crawdad is an all time great Giant. Wish he had just retired and left his streak of playing only shortstop intact though.
Wow doing crawdaddy dirty.
Expecting teams to hold on to a guy with a -1 DRS, and 2 OAA, while producing only a 58 wRC+, is absurd. I can’t blame him for wanting to continue to play. But nobody is to blame except Crawford himself, for that desire, and ignoring how time has eroded his skills.
Knowing the Cardinals organization and the way they do business I’m sure they offered him a chance to just retire and walk away gracefully on his own terms. Obviously that didn’t happen so he got released instead.
Why would he leave money on the table and retire during the year?
What did he leave on the table, $100,000 or so? Dude has money so if he stayed for the last couple paychecks it’s silly. He obviously still thinks he can play, but he probably should have done like Joey Votto did and walked away gracefully.
And since I know someone is going to come correct me, it’s closer to $450,000 if I did the math right.
I wonder if any team will be interested in Crawford. He’s not the fielder he was. He’s just about average now with the glove. But with his hitting at 42 points below league average, any team with interest isn’t getting much of anything from the bat.
Why would anyone pickup Craw now? He was done 2 seasons ago.
That was my point. Hard to imagine any contender would see value there. And he makes zero sense for noncontenders. I’m always surprised when a guy like Crawford gets picked up though. I just think of the multitude of chances that Billy Hamilton got.
He still has 4.3 or 4.4 second 40 yard dash type of speed, so he still has value especially as a pinch runner
ATL just signed Gio Ursela to replace Riley at 3B. While Crawford has played some 3B, Crawford could be 3B (if Ursela doesn’t work out) and/or be a replacement for Arcia, who has been much better lately, but had a terrible 1st half.
IMHO, b/c Crawford can played both 3B/SS better than Ursela with a similar bat, Crawford may be the better choice of the 2.
I agree that Crawford is an upgrade over Urshela with the glove. but I disagree that the bats are similar. Urshela is bad at the plate, but Crawford is worse by 16 points of wRC+, and 20 points of OPS+.
Now whether Urshela’s bad glove is worth his better hitting is a decision above my pay grade. Personally I think defense is severely underrated, so I think you might be right, that Crawford could be the better option.
He would be the third best hitter in the Mariners lineup…Sign Him Up!
Braves better pick him up. They need about 5 more backup infielders to get through the season.
Crawford actually played some 3B in ’24. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a minor-league signing and him reassigned at AAA during Gio’s tryout, so if he starts off poorly, go with Crawford.
I guess Donovan is the backup shortstop now. Crawford would never get enough playing time to be relevant. I know he has had a very good career but I never liked the signing. I like that Baker could get some more big league time. He is deserving. Time for Koperniak to be promoted and Carpenter to become a coach.
Kapernick is doing baseball now? Guess he gave up on ever getting a QB job.
Duly noted
It was a real rib-tickler. Get a sense of humor, B G 55.
If you think calling someone “pookie” is a measure of your sense of humor, you have another think coming.
Maybe several, if there’s room….
Fermin has earned a shot not sure why he can’t get one. Carpenter needs to go.
Fermin had a shot….he did nothing with it.
Koperniak and Prieto/Saggese are the two that should be up. Not Walker and definitely not Baker.
Fermin had 51 plate appearances. Not much of a shot.he has a 926 OPS at AAA. I guess you don’t follow the minor leagues?
Baker and Fermin up. Carpenter and Crawford gone. That’s what it should be.
Baker says hi.
No responses to my comment yet. I’m out of here.
I did give you a thumbs up however.
Crawford is done. Wait to reconcile with the Giants and sign the one day contract to retire a Giant
Which team do you guys think will claim craw? Multiple teams could his a veteran SS presence like him as we gear up for the post season. Maybe orioles?
I honestly don’t think he gets signed.
However, teams like the Orioles, Twins or Mariners could take a flier on some veteran depth
Nobody will claim him as there are no waivers.
As for signed … I think his MLB career is over.
His ship has sailed amigo!
What took them long to dump Craw? Obviously he had no interest in keeping himself in shape, having ballooned his belly. Sadly, Giants will do a pity signing.
To the one accusing me of “fat shaming” – sorry, he’s paid millions of dollars to stay in shape. It’s in his job description, like throwing the ball to first base and not swinging at balls 2 feet off the plate. That’s not “shaming”, that’s pointing out that he’s to blame for letting himself go. Is it “arm shaming” to have picked on Doval for not throwing strikes? “Zaidi shaming” to pick on FZ for some questionable moves? Check yourself, dude.
He’s really struggling, but Braves desperately need bodies to fill the roster that have some proven record of being able to hit and field. Braves should sign him to a minor league deal if he’d open to it
Matt Carpenter is 38 and is replacement level, which is a pleasant surprise. I wonder if he will play next year?
Cards seem to think they still have a shot to make the playoffs. Otherwise, why keep Carpenter. Let Walker play and put Baker at first and see what you have in those 2.
It should be Carpenter and Crawford both let go Walker sent down and Baker and Fermin up.
Fermin sucked when he was here. He’s never the answer
The answer is Koperniak and pick one between Saggese and Prieto
Saggese isn’t ready he needs to earn his job. Prieto is ok but him and Koperniak are lefties.
Koperniak hits both better than Baker .
It’s the end of the season, Prieto and Saggese have future with the Org….not Baker. And Baker had his chance, he sucked when he was here.
Saggese is one of the best Minor Leaguers since the ASB.
It’s in the details. Which you tend to overlook. Saggese would give you a back up to Winn. Again, Fermin sucked when he was up. No to him
Koperniak and Baker have the exact same OPS fella. Maybe you should watch some minor league games.
Saggese having a good couple weeks does not constitute a promotion. That’s what the team did with Walker and it was wrong then and wrong now.
Don’t care about any update here until Marmol, or Mo are fired. Or both.
That will take both of them being fired.
Belt and Crawford not playing next season will be confusing because Belt should’ve been the one to play this year and not Crawford.
Just trade Walker to a team like the Dodgers and he will be a star.
It wasn’t enough that they jerked O’Neill and Carlson around until they had to give them away. Now they are doing it to Walker. Carlson is thriving in Tampa. O’Neill is thriving in Boston. Management needs to be purged. They are horrible at player development. I’m not blaming Flores. He’s drafting good players who are subsequently mismanaged.
Yeah it’s hard not to blame the organization for at least some of this. All 3 of those guys were handled poorly.
The organization of this team is ENTIRELY to blame for this.
Now? After having him on the roster for 121 games they decide to release him. Those analytical, forward thinking types upstairs really know their stuff.
“Dear Ma and Pa, I’ll be home soon. They’re starting to throw me breaking balls. That and they expect me to play defense and I can’t.”
He had a career year that got him his last extension, and since that kicked in he continued on the downward spiral he started in 2019 or so. SF didn’t get their money’s worth in ‘22 or ‘23, so Crawford didn’t have any room to criticize the org on the way out the door. Giants should only consider bringing him back at the tail end of the year if they’re eliminated.
Giants def don’t owe Craw anything, in fact Craw owes the Giants and their fans something – an apology as big as his belly for dissing the organization that gave him his multi-millionaire lifestyle. Or he should refund about 30 million bucks for how dreadful he was the last few years.
This team is so poorly run now it feels like history is the only thing that separates us from the Rockies, White Sox, Marlins and such.
This organization doesn’t need to “tweak” things. It needs wholesale changes in the front office.
I wouldn’t bank on that happening.
I find the Cards more and more mystifying. Was there a point in promoting him if they were only going to demote him after four games? Is this some sort of development strategy that I unaware of?
Brandon Belt didn’t get a contract this year and he deserved one unlike Crawford.
Wonder if the cardinals had a claim on Ahmad Rosario? A few days earlier and STL would have had priority over CIN.
Craw was such a Good Giant. And I’ll miss him. But he was toast last year. Good for him to keep trying this year and a sad way to end up being cut. But 2 rings. A slam vs the Bucs. Gold Gloves All Star Games. The Guy is a modern great at shortstop. Can’t take that away.
Yeah, but the fact is he DIDN’T try. He let himself go. He was in terrible shape and could barely complete a swing. He has no place on an MLB roster even as a so-called “veteran presence”, which means zero if you can’t actually play the game. It’s not sad he got cut, it’s sad that he just didn’t care and just wanted more cash.
It is hard to believe that the Cardinals can’t find an outfielder in their minor league system that can hit .200 at the major league level? Anyone? What do they have, probably about 50 outfielders in their minor league system?
Does anyone see a problem here?
Yes, they traded all the good ones away.
Letting Crawford go? I guess you don’t need veteran leadership on a team that’s destined for fourth place.
Veteran leadership is from coaches, not washed up players.
I agree, but that’s why Crawford was signed. I was being sarcastic.
Hey cards, just trade walker to the rays and let him become the next randy arozarena:)
It won’t matter. The Rays still won’t win in the playoffs.
Ollie and Dusty are in over their heads. Time to clean house
Congrats to Crawford for getting out of cesspool east Missouri. Burn all that team gear you had and try and block that part of your life out completely!!
Poll
Which SS will sign a new deal first?
A). Brandon Crawford
B). Nick Ahmed
C). Neither
They shouldn’t have even brought him up
Wishing Crawford all the best in his next chapter of life. He’s been a great ball player, earned a lot of money chasing a childhood dream and built a big family to enjoy. May the next chapter be his best
Do the Cardinals have most all of Venezuela as part of their farm system? How are the cardinals able to pull up and then give away so many elite players and other teams look like they have only 100 players in their farm system? Do the Cardinals have 500,000 players in their farm system?