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Paul DeJong

Cardinals Activate Paul DeJong, DFA Taylor Motter

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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.

Cardinals Plan To Activate Paul DeJong From 10-Day IL On Sunday

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The Cardinals are aiming to activate infielder Paul DeJong from the 10-day injured list on Sunday, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told reporters (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).  A corresponding move will be determined by the team prior to its game with the Mariners.

A bad back sidelined DeJong about a week before the start of the regular season, and he began the campaign on the IL.  The missed time in Spring Training meant that DeJong had a fairly lengthy minor league rehab assignment, as he played a combined 12 games at the A-ball and Triple-A levels, totaling a .302/.388/.512 slash line over 49 plate appearances.  Yesterday, DeJong went 3-for-4 with a homer and six RBI with Triple-A Memphis.

Now recovered from his back problems, DeJong will enter the seventh and most pivotal season of his MLB tenure.  This is the final guaranteed season of DeJong’s six-year, $26MM deal — he is owed $9MM this season, and the Cardinals seem very likely to then buy out DeJong (for $1MM) rather than exercise their $12.5MM club option on his services for 2024.  After an All-Star performance in 2019, DeJong has hit only .196/.280/.351 with 28 homers over 813 PA since the start of the 2020 season.

In that time, DeJong’s shortstop defense has remained very good, but Tommy Edman has taken over the everyday shortstop job thanks to equal or better glovework and a more consistent performance at the plate.  With this in mind, it is hard to see exactly how much playing time DeJong might get at shortstop or second base, with Edman now entrenched at short and Nolan Gorman and utilityman Brendan Donovan splitting time at the keystone.  The DH spot doesn’t offer much relief, as the Cards are also trying to find at-bats for their outfield surplus.

It could be that St. Louis just uses DeJong as a bench player, perhaps supplanting Taylor Motter (who seems like the most obvious candidate to be optioned to Triple-A as DeJong’s replacement).  In theory, the Cards might try to give DeJong some playing time to showcase him for any sort of trade, yet that doesn’t seem likely unless the Cardinals were to eat basically all of the infielder’s remaining salary, which the club was hesitant to do last winter.

Cardinals Notes: O’Neill, Nootbaar, Wainwright, DeJong

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Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill is not in today’s lineup, with Dylan Carlson taking his center field spot. It appears as though this is relation to a play in last night’s game where O’Neill was thrown out at home, trying to score from second on a single by Brendan Donovan (Twitter link with video from the Braves). Manager Oli Marmol is of the opinion that O’Neill wasn’t running with full effort on the play and spoke on the record about it last night and again today, as relayed by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Katie Woo of The Athletic.

“There is a standard,” Marmol said. “You meet it, you play. You don’t meet it, you don’t play.” He further commented: “There’s going to be a style of play that we are known for. It’s going to involve effort and it’s going to involve being relentless. It’s going to involve being smart. We’re going to hold guys to that, because that’s how you sustain being good for a long time. There’s a lot of good players in that clubhouse, and down below, and I love competition. And the last thing you want to do when you’re in competition is open up a window.”

O’Neill doesn’t agree with Marmol’s view of the situation. “I’m trying to do everything I can to stay on the field and give it my best effort,” O’Neill said. “I’ve never been known to be a dogger in any caliber. So for him to say that is very strong words.” The outfielder also took exception to Marmol talking to the media about the situation. “I don’t think it should’ve been handled that way,” O’Neill said. “I think if there’s internal issues they should be handled internally. We should have each others backs out there. Sometimes it doesn’t go that way I guess. Live and you learn.”

The club came into the season with a glut of outfielders, including O’Neill, Carlson, Jordan Walker, Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson and Juan Yepez. Nootbaar is currently on the injured list but there’s still plenty of guys for three spots, while Nolan Gorman has been the designated hitter most days so far this year. Marmol’s comments suggest that his feelings about the play in question are strong enough that O’Neill is at risk of losing playing time beyond just today’s benching. Time will tell as to how it plays out in the long term, but O’Neill didn’t seem to have a good answer when asked how they will move past this. “I don’t know,” O’Neill said. “Continue with our communication. But really? I don’t know.”

O’Neill can be an excellent player when healthy, which he showed in 2021. He hit 34 home runs that year and slashed .286/.352/.560 for a wRC+ of 144. He also stole 15 bases and was given strong grades for his outfield defense, leading to a tally of 5.6 wins above replacement by FanGraphs. Last year, injuries limited him to 96 games and he wasn’t as impactful while on the field. He’s making $4.95MM this year and can be controlled via arbitration in 2024 before he’s slated to reach free agency.

Moving to less dramatic and more standard fare, Katie Woo also relayed some updates on injured members of the team. As mentioned, Nootbaar is currently on the IL, which is due to a thumb contusion. It seemed like he would likely have a short stay on the shelf and Woo relays that he may not even require a rehab assignment, though the club still isn’t sure about that. His return would further complicate the already-crowded outfield mix.

Adam Wainwright, on the injured list with a groin strain, will throw a bullpen tomorrow as he works his way back to health. Infielder Paul DeJong, who’s been out with a back issue, will begin a rehab assignment tomorrow, taking the designated hitter spot for Palm Beach.

Paul DeJong Likely To Open Season On Injured List

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Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong has been dealing with some back tightness of late and suffered a setback yesterday. He told Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he was planning to serve as the club’s designated hitter today but now doubts he’ll get into a game before camp breaks. He said he can’t flex or rotate his spine without pain. Since Opening Day is now just over a week away, he seems destined for a trip to the injured list to begin the year.

It’s an unfortunate start to the season for DeJong, one that figures to be important for him. He’s headed into the final guaranteed season of the six-year, $26MM extension he signed prior to the 2018 campaign. At that time, he was coming off an excellent rookie season in 2017 in which he hit 25 home runs and slashed .285/.325/.532 for a wRC+ of 123.

Unfortunately, his offense has been trending down in each season since then. His wRC+ dropped to 103 and then 101 in the first two years of that deal, then 87 and 85 in the next two, before dropping to a dismal 55 last year. He struck out in 33.3% of his plate appearances in 2022 and finished with a batting line of .157/.245/.286. Tommy Edman took over the shortstop job and DeJong was even optioned to the minors for over two months in the middle of last summer. Edman hit .265/.324/.400 last year for a wRC+ of 108 and earned strong grades across the board for his shortstop defense.

Despite the struggles at the plate, DeJong is well suited for a backup infield role given his own defense. Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating have always been fond of his glovework and that has continued to be the case. Outs Above Average had mixed feelings about DeJong’s early career work but gave him a +4 in 2021 and a +5 last year.

DeJong is set to make $9MM this season, which is certainly a high price to pay for a backup infielder. But the money is already committed and his work in the field is good, so there’s little harm in keeping him around as a bench piece. He has now surpassed five years of service time, meaning he can no longer be optioned to the minors without his consent. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak indicated in December that the club planned to keep DeJong, saying that they’re “not ready to cut bait” on him. The Marlins reportedly had some trade talks with the Cards about DeJong this winter but it didn’t seem much progress was made.

The extension that DeJong originally signed has a pair of club options. There’s a $12.5MM option for 2024 with a $2MM buyout and a $15MM option for 2025 with a $1MM buyout. There was a time when those options would have seemed like bargains but they now seem highly unlikely to be picked up. DeJong would have to produce an incredible offensive turnaround for it to even be a consideration this year, which will be hard to pull off while serving in a part-time role. Injuries to other players could potentially open up more playing time for him down the road, but DeJong is the one hurt at the moment.

While it doesn’t seem like DeJong is going to be out for an extended stretch of time, the Cards will still have a bit less depth in the middle infield until he recovers. Edman should be the everyday shortstop, with Brendan Donovan likely at second base on most days. Donovan can also play elsewhere, including shortstop, which could open up some more playing time for Nolan Gorman. If they want another middle infielder on the team, they could select a non-roster invitee like Taylor Motter, who is having a nice spring. José Fermín is on the 40-man but was recently shut down for a few weeks with a quad strain. But if the Cards feel the trio of Edman, Donovan and Gorman is enough cover until DeJong gets back, perhaps that opens a bench spot for an outfielder like Alec Burleson.

Red Sox, Marlins Have Discussed Joey Wendle In Trade Talks

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The Red Sox have had some discussions with the Marlins about infielder Joey Wendle, reports Chad Jennings of the Athletic. There’s no indication a deal is imminent or even likely, as he’s one of a number of names whom Boston has looked into as they search for middle infield help.

Wendle is headed into his second season in Miami. The Marlins acquired him from their in-state counterparts last offseason, sending minor league outfielder Kameron Misner to the Rays. That was one of a number of transactions Miami made in hopes of adding a jolt to their lineup, as they also brought in Jacob Stallings via trade and Avisaíl García and Jorge Soler through free agency.

None of those additions panned out as expected in year one. Wendle had his worst season in a few years, hitting .259/.297/.360 over 371 trips to the plate. He kept his strikeout rate in check, punching out in a career-low 13.5% of plate appearances. That higher-contact approach was the product of increased aggressiveness at the dish, and it tamped down his walk rate to a meager 4% clip. Wendle managed just three home runs, and he played in only 101 games around a trio of injured list stints thanks to issues with both hamstrings.

Wendle’s value is certainly at a low ebb, though there are reasons the Boston front office could view him as a solid bounceback target. He’d posted above-average offensive numbers in three of his four seasons with Tampa Bay, showing the ability to handle the AL East. Between 2018-21, the left-handed batter compiled a .274/.330/.414 mark in just under 1500 plate appearances. His power and walk rates were both a touch below average, but he demonstrated plus contact skills. He was particularly adept against right-handed pitching, putting together a .287/.337/.439 mark with the platoon advantage. During his first two seasons with the Rays, Wendle overlapped with Chaim Bloom. The current Red Sox chief baseball officer was a high-ranking member of the Tampa Bay front office at the time.

At his best, Wendle pairs that slightly above-average offense with quality defense around the infield. He’s primarily a second and third baseman, logging more than 1500 career innings at each spot. Public defensive metrics have loved the former All-Star’s work at the keystone, while he’s earned more solid but unspectacular marks at the hot corner. Wendle has never been an everyday player at shortstop, but he’s logged limited time there in each of the last five years. He topped out with 233 1/3 innings for Miami this past season, posting strong marks in that very limited sample.

Jennings suggests the Red Sox are eyeing Wendle as a potential option at shortstop after the departure of Xander Bogaerts. Turning to him there regularly would be a bold gambit, as he’s headed into his age-33 season and coming off a year in which he was nagged by leg injuries. Playing him more frequently at second base with an occasional game at shortstop would be more straightforward, yet Jennings suggests the front office is somewhat divided on how best to handle the middle infield.

Boston signed Trevor Story to a $140MM free agent deal last offseason. The longtime Rockie shortstop posted strong defensive numbers throughout his time in Colorado, but some evaluators raised questions about his arm late in that tenure. That wasn’t a concern in 2022, as Story moved to second base in deference to Boagerts. He posted strong numbers there, showcasing high-end range and hands. His arm remained subpar, though, with Statcast ranking him 155th out of 162 qualified infielders in maximum throw speed. Story averaged 76.1 MPH on his throws, around four MPH below average at second base and nearly 10 ticks below the league mark at shortstop.

That alone doesn’t mean Story can’t play shortstop. He’d had a below-average arm for the position in both 2020-21 and still rated highly there by measure of both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating (albeit with less enthusiastic reviews from Statcast). Bloom has previously suggested Story’s presently the favorite for the position, but Jennings writes that some in the front office would rather keep Story at second base and play Enrique Hernández at shortstop. That’d require finding someone to replace Hernández in center field, so bringing in another middle infielder would be the simpler solution.

Wendle figures to be attainable in trade, even if Jennings characterizes Miami’s current asking price as high. With over five years of MLB service, Wendle is in his final year of team control. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $5.4MM salary for his final arbitration season. That’s reasonable but not insignificant for a Miami club that is seemingly up against it from a payroll perspective. The Marlins are known to be looking for ways to upgrade their lineup and have yet to address it in any meaningful capacity. Moving Wendle’s salary while recouping some pre-arbitration or minor league talent could be appealing for general manager Kim Ng and her staff as they try to create some flexibility to kickstart their offseason.

It seems a trade is Boston’s preferred means for adding the up-the-middle talent they desire. Jennings suggests any interest on their part in the top remaining free agent shortstops like Elvis Andrus and José Iglesias is fairly modest. He reports they’ve given internal consideration to players like Cleveland’s Amed Rosario and St. Louis’ Paul DeJong at points this winter but no longer seem to be targeting those players. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported earlier this month that Boston had reached out to the Fish on shortstop Miguel Rojas; however, it seems unlikely Miami would move Rojas, a clubhouse leader and quality defensive shortstop, without being overwhelmed by the return.

Latest On Cardinals’ Offseason Priorities

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The Cardinals have had a quiet offseason, with minor league infielder Jose Fermín being their only outside acquisition to date. That’s certain to change in the coming days and weeks, as St. Louis will undoubtedly bring in a catcher. They could look to the rotation and perhaps to the middle infield or corner outfield markets as well, although they have a number of position players on a typically deep St. Louis roster.

Entering the offseason, there was a fair bit of speculation the Cards could partake in the loaded free agent shortstop class. There’s not much indication they’ve dived deeply into that market, although Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweeted this afternoon they’ve at least checked in with free agent options at the position. Still, it doesn’t seem that’s a huge priority, as president of baseball operations John Mozeliak reiterated this evening the team is comfortable with Tommy Edman as their primary shortstop (via Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat). The top St. Louis executive went on to note the team likes Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman as second base possibilities.

That’s a sentiment Mozeliak has expressed a few times in the offseason’s early going. Asked about the possibility of adding a shortstop last week, Mozeliak replied that Edman is “is a very, very good shortstop” (link via Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic). While he’s never expressly ruled out an acquisition at the position, Mozeliak has extolled Edman when given the chance. The switch-hitting infielder is a Gold Glove caliber defender at both middle infield positions, and he’s coming off a quality .265/.324/.400 line through 630 plate appearances.

Edman could certainly move back to second base, but the presence of Donovan and Gorman gives St. Louis plenty of options. The former finished third in NL Rookie of the Year balloting this year after posting an excellent .394 on-base percentage through his first 126 MLB games. The latter had strikeout concerns but connected on 14 home runs in 89 games as a rookie after mashing in Triple-A. Neither Donovan nor Gorman is a strong defensive fit for up-the-middle work, but that’s perhaps not as significant a concern for a St. Louis team that otherwise has plus defenders (Paul Goldschmidt, Edman and Nolan Arenado) manning the dirt.

Paul DeJong also remains under contract, due $11MM and headed into the last guaranteed season of his deal. The former All-Star is coming off a third straight well below-average offensive season that kicked him down the depth chart, but the front office has consistently maintained they expected he’d bounce back. After a .157/.245/.286 showing in 77 MLB games in 2022, DeJong can’t be counted on for everyday reps on a win-now team. Yet it’s possible he sticks on the roster as a glove-first complement to Gorman and Donovan in the middle infield.

Mozeliak suggested DeJong is likely to be with St. Louis heading into 2023, telling reporters tonight (via Jones) they’re “not ready to cut bait” on the 29-year-old. He indicated the Cards have received some trade interest in DeJong — presumably from teams asking they’d pay down most of the contract while accepting a meager return — but suggested that’s not a course of action the Cards plan to take.

It seems a long shot the Cardinals end up landing one of the three remaining top shortstops, with more motivated teams in the bidding. However, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets the team could circle back to that market if they find their desired catching upgrade on the trade market. Dansby Swanson, who’s expected to command a lighter contract than either of Carlos Correa or Xander Bogaerts, would be the likely target in that event, Goold suggests. It seems any full-fledged pursuit of a shortstop for St. Louis would first be conditional on affordably solidifying the situation behind the plate, and it’s still not clear the team would consider a marquee investment at the position to be especially appealing.

Cardinals, Phillies Swap Edmundo Sosa For JoJo Romero

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The Phillies and Cardinals announced agreement on a trade sending infielder Edmundo Sosa from St. Louis to Philadelphia for left-handed reliever JoJo Romero. Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo of the Athletic first reported Sosa was being traded to Philadelphia. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in the past couple days that the Cards have been discussing trades involving Sosa and could bring Paul DeJong back to the big league roster.

The Cards and Phillies enter play Saturday tied for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. It’s rare to see clubs this close in the standings exchange big leaguers, but the teams’ needs lined up well enough to facilitate a deal. Sosa had surpassed DeJong on the depth chart late last season, receiving the lion’s share of shortstop playing time down the stretch and putting up a solid .271/.346/.389 line over his first extended run in the big leagues. Yet both players have since been supplanted, as the arrival of top prospect Nolan Gorman at second base has pushed Tommy Edman across the bag to shortstop.

Sosa, kicked to the bench in a utility capacity, has struggled significantly in 2022. He’s not collected a single homer in 131 plate appearances, hitting only .189/.244/.270 with a 29% strikeout rate. He’s out of minor league option years, so the Cardinals had to either keep Sosa on the active roster or make him available to other teams. They initially chose to option out DeJong to keep both players on the 40-man roster, but the latter has gotten out a strong run at Triple-A Memphis of late. DeJong has a .249/.313/.552 showing with 17 homers in 230 plate appearances since being optioned, and he’ll seemingly be recalled to back up Gorman, Edman and utilityman Brendan Donovan as a power-hitting depth infielder.

Philadelphia has a less robust collection of infielders than does St. Louis, giving them more motivation to keep Sosa on the active roster and hope he rediscovers something approaching his 2021 form. The Phils have relied on Bryson Stott and Didi Gregorius in the middle infield of late, and Gregorius has struggled for the second consecutive year. The forthcoming return of Jean Segura from the injured list figures to kick Stott back to shortstop, and it’s worth wondering how the Phillies will handle the infield mix at that point. Gregorius could move into a utility role, but his .218/.274/.320 line could put his roster spot into jeopardy. Philadelphia could also choose to option either of Johan Camargo or Yairo Munoz, each of whom has played sporadically (primarily spelling Gregorius against left-handed pitching) in a utility infield capacity.

Sosa is only 26 years old, and he’s controllable through the 2026 season. He’s likely to qualify for arbitration this offseason as a Super Two player, but he wouldn’t command an exorbitant salary coming off a rough showing in sporadic playing time this year. The Phillies could keep him around for a while as a depth infielder if they’re committed to keeping him on the active roster.

In exchange, the Phils send a left-handed bullpen arm to St. Louis. Romero has appeared in 25 MLB games over the past three seasons, pitching to a 7.89 ERA in 21 2/3 innings. The 25-year-old has been quite home run prone in the big leagues, but he’s averaged nearly 95 MPH on his fastball and received decent grades on both his changeup and slider while he was a prospect.

Romero has missed the bulk of the past two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery last May, but he returned from the injured list a couple weeks ago. He’s in his second of three option seasons, so the Cards can move him between St. Louis and Memphis over the next year and a half if he holds his 40-man roster spot. St. Louis already has Genesis Cabrera, Zack Thompson, Packy Naughton and T.J. McFarland as left-handed relievers in the majors, but Romero adds a hard-throwing depth piece to the upper levels.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Cardinals Notes: DeJong, Matz, Molina

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After years of declining offense, the Cardinals optioned Paul DeJong to the minors in early May. Since that time, he’s showed some improved results, relatively speaking. Through 37 games with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, he’s hitting .230/.276/.500. The resulting 95 wRC+ is still below league average, but is miles ahead of the 25 wRC+ he posted at the MLB level this year.

Even if DeJong were to take a step forward and get into a nice groove, it will be difficult for him to force his way back to the big leagues due to the success of those already there. John Mozeliak, the team’s president of baseball operations, spoke to Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the situation recently. “The way Tommy Edman’s playing, and we’re getting a lot of production out of our second basemen, (DeJong) is going to have to hit his way back,” Mozeliak said. “It’s really been a situation where he would go down, get himself right and then come back. In the meantime, there’s been a little bit of a Wally Pipp situation where the players who have taken over those positions have been thriving.” For those unfamiliar, Wally Pipp was a Yankees first baseman who was once replaced by Lou Gehrig, who then went on to play 2,130 consecutive games. Since then, Pipp’s name has become synonymous with a player’s job being stolen and never relinquished.

As Mozeliak mentioned, Edman is indeed playing well. The positional switch doesn’t seem to have slowed him down at all, as Statcast currently pegs him as having provided five Outs Above Average at both second base and shortstop, totaling ten on the season. DRS and UZR are similarly bullish on his glovework at both positions. At the plate, he’s hitting .274/.347/.407 for a wRC+ of 119. That’s just shy of the 124 from his rookie season and much better than the 91 he posted in each of the past two seasons.

As for the second basemen that were alluded to, since Edman moved to primary shortstop duty, the keystone has been manned by rookies Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman. Both of them are having great seasons at the plate, with Donovan hitting .311/.422/.416 for a wRC+ of 146 and Gorman slashing .255/.317/.455 for a wRC+ of 120. With the Cards getting that type of production from their middle infield, it’s understandable that they’re going to making DeJong show another gear before giving him another shot. DeJong is turning 29 in August and still under contract through 2023 at a $9MM salary. There are also club options for 2024 and 2025, at $12.5MM and $15MM, though those seem sure to be bought out, barring a major turnaround in the meantime.

Elsewhere on the roster, Mozeliak notes that Steven Matz has recuperated from his shoulder issues enough to throw a bullpen session and seems lined up to start a rehab assignment on Tuesday. Signed to a four-year, $44MM contract in the offseason, Matz has only been able to make nine starts so far, with diminished results. His 6.03 ERA is certainly unsightly, but there’s likely some misfortune in there. Matz actually improved his strikeout and walk rates compared to last year, but has a .350 BABIP, 67% strand rate and 21.1% HR/FB rate, all of those being worse than his career averages. As such, all of the advanced metrics believe him to be much better than that ERA, with xFIP going so far as to place him at 2.98. When Matz returns, he will likely join Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Adam Wainwright and Dakota Hudson in the rotation, leaving Andre Pallante as the odd man out. Pallante has a 2.03 ERA through 48 2/3 innings thanks to a healthy 62.7% ground ball rate. However, his 15% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate are both worse than league average, with a .282 BABIP and 91.3% strand rate helping him keep that ERA down.

One member of the team who doesn’t seem close to a return, however, is franchise catcher Yadier Molina. Hummel relays that he has returned to his home in Puerto Rico while rehabbing his knee, with no timetable for his return. Turning 40 in a just over two weeks, Molina has already declared that this will be his final season. However, knee soreness has limited his production to a line of .213/.225/.294 on the year for a 47 wRC+. Andrew Knizner has gotten the bulk of playing time in his absence, though he’s hitting just .185/.281/.244 on the season for a 60 wRC+. With just over a month to go until the trade deadline, the health of Molina’s knees and the status of Knizner’s bat could compel the team to consider outside options before the August 2 cutoff.

Cardinals Option Paul DeJong To Triple-A, Select Kramer Robertson

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3:05 PM: The Cardinals have selected the contract of infielder Kramer Robertson to fill DeJong’s spot on the 26-man roster, the team announced. It’ll be the first taste of the bigs for the versatile 27-year-old.

Drafted out of LSU by the Cardinals in the fourth round of the 2017 amateur draft, Robertson has steadily worked his way through the St. Louis system, posting consistently solid numbers at each level. While he’s never had a ton of power, he has shown the ability to get on base, compiling a .248/.357/.369 triple-slash across five minor-league seasons. Across 100 plate appearances for Triple-A Memphis this year, he’s posted a .225/.380/.400 line.

With Edmundo Sosa likely returning from the COVID IL sooner than later, it could be a relatively short stay in the bigs for Robertson, but the fact he’s been added to the Cardinals 40-man roster could indicate a longer stay. For the time being at least, he’ll serve as the Cards’ primary backup at second, third, and shortstop — potentially sharing time with Brendan Donovan in that role when Sosa returns.

2:21 PM: The Cardinals have optioned shortstop Paul DeJong to Triple-A Memphis, The Athletic’s Katie Woo reports (Twitter link).  This clears the path for Tommy Edman to likely take over as the Cards’ regular shortstop.

With only a .130/.209/.208 slash line over his first 86 plate appearances of the season, DeJong’s offensive struggles have become too large for the Cardinals to overlook, even though his typically excellent glovework is still strong.  For a team that prizes defense as heavily as the Cards, DeJong’s ability in the field has given him a lot of leeway as a lineup regular, even as his offense has been in decline.

DeJong’s best offensive year is still his 2017 rookie season, as he finished second in NL Rookie Of The Year voting, and the Cards locked him up with a six-year, $26MM contract extension.  This was the largest (at the time) contract ever given to a player with under a year of MLB service time, and it isn’t like the extension was a real miscalculation, as per Fangraphs’ calculations, DeJong’s career $8.9 fWAR has been worth $70.9MM over his career.

However, DeJong’s power (74 homers in 2017-19) papered over his lack of average and OBP, but his slugging numbers have dramatically tailed off over the last three years.  The result is a 79 wRC+ over 662 PA since the start of the 2020 season.

Edmundo Sosa is currently on the COVID-related injured list, but has started a minor league rehab assignment and appears to be close to a return to St. Louis.  That will provide some additional depth at shortstop, plus Brendan Donovan can also play second base, giving the Cardinals some flexibility up the middle.

Edman and Sosa have also both looked good defensively at shortstop, albeit in smaller sample sizes at the big league level.  It is possible that moving DeJong wouldn’t lead to that much of a dropoff in glovework at shortstop, though since Edman is himself a reigning Gold Glove winner at second base, the Cardinals undoubtedly have some concern over whether they’d be weakening themselves at several positions.  Sosa essentially came out of nowhere to be a solid contributor to the 2021 team, but his limited track record in the majors or minors perhaps makes him something of a risk as a true everyday player.

Of course, the real x-factor here is Nolan Gorman, as the star second-base prospect is crushing Triple-A pitching.  It has become apparent that Gorman doesn’t have much left to prove in the minors, and St. Louis hasn’t traditionally been hesitant about calling up star prospects for important roles.  Having Edman, Sosa, and Donovan all on hand takes some of the pressure off Gorman to contribute right away, and it also isn’t out of the question that DeJong could return to the mix if he gets on track in the minors.

St. Louis still owes DeJong the remainder of his $6MM salary for the 2022 season, plus $9MM for 2023.  The Cardinals have a $12.5MM club option for 2024 that looks like a sure thing to be declined, with DeJong receiving a $2MM buyout.  While not a huge sum, if the Cards are really ready to move on from DeJong entirely, they could explore trying to move him before the trade deadline, possibly for another team’s undesirable contract.

NL Notes: Eflin, Lauer, DeJong

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Due to the lockout putting MLB business on ice for over three months, there are many players who don’t yet have a finalized salary for the 2022 campaign. Any arbitration-eligible players that couldn’t come to an agreement with their team will soon participate in a hearing as the season is in progress. The Phillies have one such player, right-hander Zach Eflin, who is hoping for a $6.9MM figure while the club will be arguing for the lower figure of $5.15MM. (MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected $6MM, a number pretty close to the midpoint between the two parties.)

Eflin recently spoke about the situation to Matt Gelb of the Athletic. “I know what I bring to this club every fifth day,” Eflin said. “And I see my true value more than what their offer was. So that’s really all I have to say. I’m curious to see what they have to say in a courtroom. So, it’ll be interesting, but I’m looking forward to it.”

If the pitcher is particularly motivated for this fight, it’s possible that he’s still holding a grudge from an incident in 2019. The Phillies optioned Eflin, despite the fact that he was pitching well, in order to get an extra bench player on the roster. They had a double-header coming up that week, which lined up with Eflin’s upcoming start. Since teams are allowed to bring up an extra player for double-headers, they were able to option Eflin, call him up as the extra man for the double-header and then call him up for real for the start after that. Because of these roster shenanigans, Eflin ended up missing out on nine days of MLB salary, costing him about $20K. (According to this Gelb piece from the time of the incident.) “Players don’t forget that,” Eflin said in today’s article. “I’m looking forward to the hearing and seeing what they have to say about me. I feel like I’m going to learn a lot about the business side of the game.” The 28-year-old is heading into free agency at the end of this season.

Some other notes from the Senior Circuit…

  • After a disappointing 2020 season, Eric Lauer began 2021 at the Brewers’ alternate training site. “I wasn’t super happy about it,” Lauer told Will Sammon of The Athletic. However, the lefty used the opportunity to do some experimenting, taking some time in a bullpen session to mimic the mechanics of other pitchers, such as Aroldis Chapman and Tim Lincecum. To his surprise and delight, his velocity starting ticking up. That extra gas helped propel Lauer to an excellent bounceback campaign, as he ended up throwing 118 2/3 innings of 3.19 ERA ball last year, with a 23.9% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. The results are even better in Lauer’s four starts so far this year. Small sample caveats apply, but he has a 1.93 ERA with an incredible 36.6% strikeout rate and 5.4% walk rate. Brewers fans, or any baseball fan interested in the art of pitching, will want to check out the full piece for more details on Lauer’s tremendous turnaround.
  • Cardinals’ infield prospect Nolan Gorman is off to a tremendous start to his season. The 21-year-old (22 next week) already has 11 home runs through 20 Triple-A games and is hitting .321/.372/.769 overall. That has led to a chorus of voices among fans in St. Louis for him to be called up, especially with a few of the big leaguers struggling. Shortstop Paul DeJong has been under the spotlight for his shortcomings at the plate for a few years now. His overall offensive production has declined in each season of his career, according to wRC+. After a 123 in his rookie year in 2017, he’s put up a 103, 101, 87, 86 and a 55 in 2022 so far. Prior to the 2018 campaign, the club signed DeJong to an extension that runs through 2023. Despite that, he doesn’t have unlimited rope with the organization. “We’re still trying to figure out what we have here with (DeJong), so we’re trying to give him every opportunity possible,” president of baseball operations John Mozeliak tells Katie Woo of The Athletic. “If things don’t change trajectory or direction, then ultimately we’re probably going to have to do something different. Nolan would get more of a maj0r-league opportunity at that point. I think we have to remind ourselves that we’re a month into the season; we’ve had an odd first couple of weeks with weather and obviously a truncated spring training. You’re seeing a lot of offensive stats down in general in this league, so we want to remain patient.” The plan to merely switch Gorman in for DeJong is complicated, however, by the fact that the Cardinals are an organization that values defense so highly. As noted in the piece, Gorman only recently switched from being a primary third baseman to playing second base, as he’s blocked at third by Nolan Arenado. Bringing Gorman up to man the keystone would involve sliding Tommy Edman over to shortstop, a position where he only has 17 games of MLB experience. For the time being, it seems Cardinals’ fans yearning for Gorman’s promotion will have to keep waiting.
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