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Cardinals Release Tyler Heineman

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The Cardinals announced they’ve released catcher Tyler Heineman from the minor league deal he signed over the winter. (St. Louis also confirmed their previously-reported agreement with left-hander T.J. McFarland). Heineman’s contract allowed him to elect free agency if a major league opportunity opened up elsewhere, notes Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat (Twitter link). It’s not yet clear if that was the impetus for his release.

Heineman only picked up 77 plate appearances with Triple-A Memphis this season, hitting .254/.325/.313 without any home runs. The 30-year-old has typically been more productive at the minors’ highest level, evidenced by his career .284/.351/.422 line over parts of six Triple-A seasons.

That generally solid minor league work has earned Heineman brief looks in the big leagues in each of the past two years. He suited up for the 2019 Marlins and 2020 Giants, totaling 62 plate appearances.

Cardinals Sign T.J. McFarland

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The Cardinals have signed left-hander T.J. McFarland to a split contract, The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty reports (Twitter link).  McFarland has spent the season pitching with the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate, but he was granted his release earlier today, as the southpaw “felt he had a better shot of being called up by the Cardinals than Washington,” Dougherty writes.

Given the Cards bullpen’s lackluster performance this year, McFarland is probably correct in that assumption, though he has a 5.25 ERA in 24 innings at Triple-A Rochester this season.  However, some bad luck (and three home runs allowed) lies behind that inflated ERA, as McFarland also has a 25.74% strikeout rate, 4.95% walk rate, and 63.6% grounder rate.

Should McFarland reach the Cardinals’ active roster, St. Louis will be the fourth different team of his career and 2021 would be the southpaw’s ninth MLB season.  The groundball specialist (McFarland has a 62.8% career grounder rate) has a 4.08 ERA over 401 career innings in the Show, including a 4.35 ERA over 20 2/3 frames with the Athletics in 2020.

Cardinals Looking For PItching

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  • The Cardinals are doing their best to patch together a rotation in the wake of Jack Flaherty’s extended absence, but they’re also exploring their options outside the organization. They have reached out to the Twins about Jose Berrios and the Rangers for Kyle Gibson, but the price for Berrios was “high,” and presumably, the same will be true of Gibson, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. With very few difference-making arms likely to be available, Berrios and Gibson are sure to be in high demand. President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak spoke of the Cardinals’ desire to win, but “not at the cost of our future.” While that’s a reasonable mode of thinking, such a mind-set isn’t likely to procure an arm like Berrios or Gibson.

Cardinals Select Roel Ramirez, Designate John Nogowski

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The Cardinals are selecting right-hander Roel Ramírez and recalling lefty Brandon Waddell to the big league roster, general manager John Mozeliak told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat). Righties Jake Woodford and Seth Elledge have been optioned to Triple-A Memphis to clear active roster space. To open a 40-man roster spot for Ramírez, St. Louis is designating first baseman John Nogowski for assignment.

Ramírez went from the Rays to the Cards as part of the 2018 Tommy Pham trade. He made a cameo at the big league level last season, making his MLB debut against the White Sox. It didn’t go well, as Ramírez yielded six runs on as many hits (including a staggering four homers) while recording just two outs. He was designated for assignment before he got another major league opportunity.

The 26-year-old Ramírez has now pitched his way back to the bigs, where he’ll hope to find more success this time around. He’s tossed 27 innings across 18 appearances as a multi-inning reliever with Memphis this year, working to a 4.67 ERA with slightly better than average strikeout (25.2%), walk (7.5%) and groundball (49.3%) numbers.

Woodford has worked in a similar multi-inning relief capacity at the major league level this year. He’s being optioned to build up as a potential starting pitcher, Mozeliak said. In 2019, his last full minor league season as a starter, the 24-year-old tossed 151 2/3 frames of 4.15 ERA ball with Memphis. Woodford’s peripherals that year weren’t especially impressive, and he’s struggled over his MLB time coming out the bullpen. St. Louis has been hit hard by injuries and underperformance in the rotation, though. They’ve scoured the market for potential upgrades, but Woodford will stretch back out as a potential internal option.

Nogowski has picked up 24 plate appearances at the MLB level over the past two years. They’ve not gone well, and the 28-year-old has slumped to a .195/.304/.297 line over 148 trips to the dish in a hitter-friendly Triple-A West environment in 2021. It’s been a difficult season for Nogowski, but he’d previously been a very productive offensive player in the minors. Through parts of seven minor league seasons, Nogowski has compiled a .281/.370/.404 mark, including a .295/.413/.476 line with Memphis in 2019. The Cardinals will have a week to trade him or place him on waivers.

Mozeliak also revealed that St. Louis has released outfielder Matt Szczur from his minor league contract (via Zachary Silver of MLB.com). The 31-year-old hit just .186/.236/.382 in 112 plate appearances with Memphis.

Cardinals Moving John Gant To Bullpen

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  • The Cardinals are shuffling their rotation, as manager Mike Shildt told MLB.com’s Zachary Silver and other reporters that right-hander John Gant is moving to the bullpen.  Gant has a 3.76 ERA over 14 starts and 64 2/3 innings, though a 6.00 SIERA, a host of advanced metrics and a league-high 48 walks indicate that Gant has been very fortunate to post such a respectable ERA.  Though control has been an issue for Gant throughout his career, he has posted good results as a reliever in the past, so the Cards are hopeful he can help out a struggling bullpen.  As for the open rotation spot, it will likely be recently-signed veteran Wade LeBlanc moving from the pen to the starting five.

Rockies Claim Bernardo Flores Jr., Designate Ryan Castellani

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The Rockies announced Thursday that they’ve claimed lefty Bernardo Flores Jr. off waivers from the Cardinals and designated righty Ryan Castellani for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster. Flores has been optioned to Triple-A.

St. Louis had designated the 25-year-old Flores for assignment earlier in the week after previously claiming him off waivers from the White Sox. He appeared in just one game with the Cards this season but was unable to retire any of the three Mets hitters he faced in that May 5 outing. Flores posted solid numbers up through the Double-A level during his time with the White Sox organization, but he’s surrendered a 5.74 ERA through 31 1/3 frames with lackluster strikeout and walk rates while pitching for the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate (17.6 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively).

While Flores has struggled this season, left-handed depth is an area of need for the Rockies, who currently have two struggling southpaws in their big league bullpen: Ben Bowden and Lucas Gilbreath. The only other near-MLB left-handed bullpen option on the roster is Yoan Aybar, who hasn’t fared well in Double-A. Veteran Chris Rusin and former Yankees/White Sox prospect Ian Clarkin are both in Triple-A as non-roster players, but neither has pitched well there.

Castellani, 25, was a second-round pick by the Rockies back in 2014 and has landed among their top 15 prospects in each of the past seven years, per Baseball America’s rankings. He posted solid but unspectacular results for the first several seasons of his minor league career but began to see his numbers take a dip when he repeated the Double-A level in 2018.

Despite a particularly rough showing at the Triple-A level in 2019, Castellani made his MLB debut with the Rox in 2020. His first two appearances went quite well, as he held opponents to one run with a 10-to-3 K/BB ratio and a 50 percent grounder rate in 8 2/3 frames, but he was hit hard for most of the remainder of the summer. Castellani oscillated between the bullpen and the rotation, finishing out his rookie campaign with a 5.82 ERA, a 13.2 percent strikeout rate and a 13.8 percent walk rate in 43 2/3 frames. His 2021 season hasn’t gone much better in the big leagues (two runs in 3 1/3 innings) or in Triple-A (7.82 ERA in 35 1/3 innings).

Castellani does have a minor league option remaining beyond the current season, so perhaps another club in need of some pitching depth will have ideas about how to coax a better performance out of him. The Rox have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Cardinals Select Lars Nootbaar, Designate Bernardo Flores Jr.

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The Cardinals announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Lars Nootbaar from Triple-A Memphis and optioned outfielder Lane Thomas to Triple-A in his place. Left-hander Bernardo Flores Jr. was designated for assignment in order to create a 40-man roster spot for Nootbaar, who’ll be making his MLB debut when he first takes the field.

Nootbaar, 23, was the Cardinals’ eighth-round pick in 2018. He didn’t enter the season ranked among the organization’s top 30 prospects at Baseball America, MLB.com or FanGraphs, but the USC product’s monster season in Memphis has overshadowed that lack of fanfare.

Nootbaar has been an average or better hitter at every minor league stop prior to 2021 but has absolutely erupted with the RedBirds, slashing at a .329/.430/.557 clip. That output has come in just a 22-game sample, given a brief stay on the injured list, but for a Cardinals club that has yet again seen lackluster production in the outfield, the allure is understandable.

Cardinals outfielders are tied for 24th in the Majors with a 95 wRC+, as only Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson have provided the club with above-average offensive production. St. Louis outfielders, as a group, rank 23rd in baseball with a .232 average, 24th with a .307 on-base percentage and 20th with a .401 slugging percentage (thanks primarily to O’Neill’s 15 round-trippers). Thomas, optioned out today to create 26-man roster space for Nootbaar’s promotion, has been one of the primary reasons for the group’s poor overall rankings, batting just .104/.259/.125 in a small sample of 58 plate appearances.

Flores, 25, was an April waiver claim out of the White Sox organization and appeared in just one big league game before today’s DFA. He faced three batters back in a May 5 loss to the Mets but was unable to retire any of them, issuing a pair of walks and a base hit. Flores had a nice run through the Double-A level as a member of the White Sox’ farm system, but he’s been roughed up for a 5.74 ERA with sub-par strikeout and walk rates while pitching for the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate (17.6 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively).

The Cardinals will have a week to trade Flores or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, they’ll be able to keep him in the organization without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to him.

John Mozeliak Discusses Cardinals’ Slump, Trade Possibilities

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The Cardinals didn’t play on Saturday due to a rainout, and team president of baseball operations John Mozeliak admitted to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the unscheduled off-day had the benefit of providing “a timeout or break because right now we’re not playing great baseball.”  A 5-13 slide over their last 18 games has dropped St. Louis to an even 35-35 record for the season, and the Cards sit in fourth place in the NL Central (3.5 games out of first) and 4.5 game in the NL wild card race.

With a minus-39 run differential, an argument could be made that the Cardinals are fortunate to even be a .500 team.  The Cards haven’t really excelled in many areas this season, as the lineup, rotation, and bullpen have all had their share of struggles.  These issues and several injuries have all caught up to the team during this 18-game stretch, with Mozeliak noting that “it’s multi-dimensional, right?  The days you hit, you don’t pitch.  The days you pitch, you don’t hit.  Then some flawed defense.  Where we are — the health question isn’t going away any time soon, unfortunately.”

In response to these problems, the St. Louis front office has been exploring trade possibilities, with starting pitching being a specific priority.  Goold reports that the Rangers and Twins have been among the teams the Cardinals have been in contact with, though at this point in the season, it’s probably safe to assume that most contenders and would-be contenders have checked in with the teams (like Texas and Minnesota) who already look like clear deadline sellers.

Jose Berrios and Kyle Gibson are the most intriguing rotation possibilities that could be available for the Twins and Rangers, while impending free agents like Jordan Lyles and J.A. Happ are more readily available but not necessarily representing big upgrades on what St. Louis already has on hand.  Twins righty Michael Pineda is having a good season and is another impending free agent, though he was placed on the injured list this week due to elbow inflammation.

Whatever trade the Cardinals may or may not make, “it’s not all in or we’re going to break up the organization.  That’s not the pressure I feel,” Mozeliak stated.  With well over a month remaining until the July 30 trade deadline, Mozeliak said that it is still a “little premature” that the Cardinals complete a major trade any time soon, and that the team isn’t planning to “take a real chunk out of our farm system” in order to swing a deal.

“If, at some point, we look for something outside the organization, we certainly will, but we’re not at a point where we’re only going to define ourselves by 2021,” Mozeliak said. “We’re not feeling that pressure if we don’t win this year that we’re all in trouble.  We must understand that we can all do things better.  We also understand what we thought we’re going to have — because of injuries — hasn’t yet worked out.”

While no executive would publicly admit to a win-or-bust mentality, there is some natural pressure on the Cardinals this season.  Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright both returned to the team last winter on one-year free agent deals, and both longtime St. Louis cornerstones are still playing at a high level.  Beyond that, Nolan Arenado can also opt out of his contract after the season, and as unlikely as it may be that the third baseman could walk away from six years and $179MM, Arenado is certainly eager to win now.

Speculatively, if the Cards can’t start winning over the next few weeks, there would also be a case for the team to look ahead to 2022.  St. Louis will have a lot of payroll space to work with, as Molina, Wainwright, Matt Carpenter, Andrew Miller, Kwang Hyun Kim, and the remainder of Dexter Fowler’s contract are all off the books, and Carlos Martinez’s $17MM club option isn’t likely to be exercised.  It’s also possible that the Cardinals could both sell and buy at the same time, perhaps taking on a higher-salaried player controlled beyond 2021 with an eye towards fitting that player more comfortably into their lightened payroll come next season.

Cardinals Sign Brandon Dickson

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The Cardinals have signed right-hander Brandon Dickson to a minor league contract, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link) first reported. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Memphis.

Dickson, 36, is looking to return to the majors after nearly a decade away. He pitched 14 2/3 MLB innings for St. Louis between 2011-12 but joined the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball before the 2013 season. Dickson spent the next eight years with the Buffaloes, pitching to a 3.32 ERA across 892 1/3 innings at Japan’s highest level. He began his NPB career as a starter but worked as a closer the past few seasons, suggesting he’s likely to serve as bullpen depth for St. Louis. Last season, Dickson worked to a 3.28 ERA with a 21.1% strikeout rate and a 10.5% walk percentage.

Dickson becomes the second arm the Cards have added in recent days, as St. Louis signed veteran lefty Wade LeBlanc to a big league deal yesterday. Nevertheless, the Cardinals front office is still hunting for pitching depth, Goold writes in a separate piece. St. Louis has been in contact with rival clubs about trading for starting pitching, he notes, and they’ve been active on the free agent market. Goold reported last week that St. Louis has been in contact with free agent Shelby Miller about a potential reunion, but he added today that Miller has received offers from several teams since being released by the Cubs last month.

The Cardinals rotation looks in need of an upgrade if the 35-34 club is going to make a run in the NL Central. Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas are down with injuries for extended periods of time, leaving St. Louis with a current starting staff of Adam Wainwright, Kwang-hyun Kim, Johan Oviedo, John Gant and Carlos Martínez. Oviedo and Martínez have struggled this season, while Gant’s elevated 15.8% walk rate raises some doubt about his ability to keep his ERA around its current 3.50 mark.

It’s still too early in the year for many teams to abandon hope of competing, but there are a couple arms who could offer passable innings at the back of the rotation and should be available right now. The Diamondbacks have no hope of contending this season and could consider moving Merrill Kelly, who’s controllable through 2022 via a $5.5MM club option. He only has a 5.40 ERA this year but his peripherals (21.4% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate, 4.26 SIERA) are closer to average. Pittsburgh figures to be willing to trade Tyler Anderson, who has a similar combination of poor ERA (4.89) but more adequate underlying numbers (21% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk percentage, 4.33 SIERA). The Rangers and Tigers would surely listen on Mike Foltynewicz and José Ureña, respectively, although it’s not clear either is an upgrade over Martínez or Oviedo with how poorly they’ve pitched this season.

Cardinals Sign Wade LeBlanc

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The Cardinals announced the signing of left-hander Wade LeBlanc.  The deal is apparently a Major League contract, as LeBlanc will move directly onto the Cards’ active roster.  In corresponding moves, right-hander Seth Elledge was optioned to Triple-A, and infielder Max Moroff was moved from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL.

LeBlanc is now lined up to pitch for the ninth different team of his 13-season MLB career.  LeBlanc was also briefly a member of the Brewers and Rangers organizations within the last two months, signing minor league contracts with both clubs but not receiving a promotion to the majors.

This transactional carousel began after the Orioles outrighted LeBlanc in April, and the veteran southpaw decided to become a free agent.  The move ended a tough two-year stint for LeBlanc in Baltimore that saw him post an 8.38 ERA over 29 innings, with LeBlanc starting seven of his 12 total appearances in the black-and-orange.

St. Louis manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat and The Athletic’s Katie Woo) that the Cardinals will mostly use LeBlanc as a relief pitcher.  While LeBlanc’s recent results don’t exactly indicate a quick fix for a struggling Cards bullpen, he can at least provide the team with some depth as a long man, and perhaps even as a spot starter in the event of more injuries within the rotation.  LeBlanc’s splits against left-handed batters have still been generally good, so a more situational usage — within the boundaries of the three-batter rule — might be the more optimal way to deploy the southpaw at this stage of his career.

“He’s got versatility. He’s not overly splitty, throws strikes to both righties and lefties.  But he’s built up, he’s got some length,” Shildt said.

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