Cardinals cut ties with infielder Ronny Cedeno.

In a move that is mildly surprising, the Cardinals released infielder Ronny Cedeno yesterday.

Cedeno, who was brought in as a backup to Rafael Furcal, quickly became expendable when it was determined that Matt Carpenter could handle the second base job and Pete Kozma won the short stop job.  This allowed the Cardinals to use Daniel Descalso as their backup short stop and, with Ryan Jackson and Greg Garcia waiting in the wings, Cedeno became redundant.

What this also means is that the Cardinals now have a bench spot open for hard-hittin' Matt Adams.

Adams has hit well this spring (.304/.333/.565 with 3 homers) and deserves a bench spot.  What's more, the Cardinals probably could use his left handed bat off the bench.  With a projected lineup that features only 2 lefties (John Jay and Matt Carpenter), having a left handed bat off the bench, especially one with power, could definitely come in handy.

In addition, with 2 open spots on the 40 man roster, the Cardinals will be keeping a close eye on the waiver wire to see if a team tries to pass anyone useful through.  However, that is pretty unlikely.  More likely the Cardinals will use those 2 spots for a couple players that could help them this year, such as Michael Wacha and Oscar Taveras.

With Cedeno out of the picture, the only battle for the Cardinals bench appears to be that of Shane Robinson and Adron Chambers for 4th outfielder. 

On the pitching side, there are still a few things to sort out, such as the 5th starter and whether the loser of that battle will end up in the pen or at AAA.

But we've still got 11 days to figure that out.

Did the Cardinals make a mistake in signing Ty Wigginton

With a batting line of .105/.205/.128 this spring, Ty Wigginton has been drawing the ire of Cardinals fans everywhere who believe his signing is blocking more deserving players, such as Matt Adams, from making the opening day roster.  Believe me, it had me scratching my head too.

However, when you look more closely at the construction of the Cardinals roster, it makes more sense.

Assuming the Cardinals go with an opening day lineup of Yadier Molina (C), Allen Craig (1B), Matt Carpenter (2B), Pete Kozma (SS), David Freese (3B), Matt Holliday (LF), John Jay (RF) and Carlos Beltran (RF), that leaves them with a bench woefully short of right handed pop.

Consider the following bench:

Tony Cruz (R)
Daniel Descalso (L)
Shane Robinson (R)
Ronny Cedeno (R)
Matt Adams (L)

The right handed trio of Cruz, Robinson and Cedeno have combined for just 41 homers in 2,681 at bats, with Cedeno hitting 37 of those in his 8 year career.


In contrast, Wigginton has hit 169 homers in 4,422 at bats in his career, including 11 last year in 315 at bats.  He may not strike the fear of God in pitchers, but he at least makes them think twice about grooving one down the middle, plus he keeps opposing managers from throwing a bunch of LOOGY's (left handed one out guys) at us.

If anyone should be dropped from that bench, its Cedeno.  Assuming that Descalso is capable of backing up at short, Cedeno is unnecessary.  If the Cardinals were to give his spot to Adams, they would have a nice lefty/righty one-two punch off the bench.

Adams has certainly done his part to earn a major league job this spring.  He leads the Cards with 12 Rbi's and is hitting .304/.333/.565 this spring. 

In any case, don't blame Wigginton for the Cardinals roster crunch, the Cardinals actually needed him.  What they didn't need was another light-hitting short stop.

Projecting the Cardinals opening day 25-man roster

With a little over 2 weeks left until opening day, the Cardinals are still trying to decide on a 5th starter.  Despite my speculation that Joe Kelly won the job with his performance yesterday, Mike Matheny stated after the game that no decision had been made, adding that the team could allow both Kelly and Shelby Miller to pitch again before reaching a decision. 

Even with that job still unsettled, the rest of the roster is beginning to take shape, with only a couple spots still in doubt.

Here is my projected opening day roster:

Starting Lineup

C - Yadier Molina
1B - Allen Craig
2B - Matt Carpenter
SS - Pete Kozma
3B - David Freese
LF - Matt Holliday
CF - John Jay
RF - Carlos Beltran

Bench

Daniel Descalso
Ty Wigginton
Tony Cruz
Shane Robinson
Ronny Cedeno

Starting Rotation



1. Adam Wainwright
2. Jake Westbrook
3. Jaime Garcia
4. Lance Lynn
5. Joe Kelly/Shelby Miller

Bullpen

Jason Motte
Mitch Boggs
Edward Mujica
Trevor Rosenthal
Fernando Salas
Randy Choate
Marc Rzepcynski

Notes

The "on the bubble" guy, in my opinion, is Ronny Cedeno, who does not have a guaranteed contract and has not been very impressive this spring.  If the Cardinals decide to go with 13 pitchers to start the season, I could see them release Cedeno and carry the loser of the 5th starter battle as a long reliever.

Ty Wigginton has not hit at all this spring (just 4 for 32), but with a 2-year, $5 million deal, he's not going anywhere.

Adron Chambers has played fairly well this spring, but Shane Robinson's insane hitting (.516/.571/.968) this spring has pretty much locked up the 4th outfielder spot.   The only thing Chambers has going for him is that he is a left handed hitter and the Cardinals may need another lefty on their bench.

There was some speculation that Michael Wacha's strong spring could earn him a spot on the opening day roster, but alas he was reassigned to minor league camp yesterday.

Oscar Taveras is still in play for a roster spot, but he has cooled off a bit since his hot start to the spring and is likely ticketed for AAA as well. 

Rafael Furcal to undergo Tommy John surgery.

Jennifer Langosch broke the news this morning and it was confirmed by Derrick Goold that Rafael Furcal will undergo Tommy John surgery, as soon as next week, which will knock him out for all of the 2013 season.

With that issue finally settled, albeit in a bad way, the Cardinals need to move forward and, as I see it, the they have 3 options:

1.  Go with what they've got

Sure none of Ronny Cedeno, Pete Kozma and Ryan Jackson don't inspire confidence as the Cardinals full-time option at short, but, as my blogging cohorts at Viva el Birdos point out, the Cards have had worse shortstops and succeeded. 

While it may not be the best option, going with the current triumvirate for this season gives the Cardinals time to sort out their strengths and (other) weaknesses.  Although the Cardinals are said to have an abundance of pitching, it will take them time to sort it out and determine if they want to trade some of that pitching to fill their shortstop hole.

They can then address the shortstop situation next offseason.

2.  Make a move now

Another option would be to try to shore up the shortstop position now (or before the season starts).  The Cardinals are nearing a decision as to who their 5th starter will be.  Once that decision is made, could they use the "loser" of that battle as trade bait for a shortstop?

Texas is looking for pitching after recently losing Martin Perez to injury and they have stud prospect Jurickson Profar waiting in the wings to replace their current shortstop Elvis Andrus.  Colorado is also in need of pitching and they have Josh Rutledge capable of taking over for Troy Tulowitzki at short.

However, are the Cardinals prepared to take on Tulowitzki's salary--he's owed $144 million over the next 8 years (including a $4 million buyout of his 2021 option).  Andrus' salary is a bit more reasonable, but he is only signed through 2014 and the Cardinals would probably want to sign him to an extension.

3.  Make a move in July

To split the difference between the first two options, the Cardinals could decide to make a move to acquire a shortstop in July.  That is how they acquired Furcal a few years ago.

This option would give the Cardinals time to see who establishes himself as their 5th starter and thereby help the Cards to better identify their trade chips.  Also, teams are always looking for pitching for the stretch run and this would give the Cardinals more leverage in trade negotiations.

Finally, if the Cardinals cannot reach an agreement on an extension with Adam Wainwright and if they are out of contention, they could flip Wainwright for a young shortstop that can fill the position for several years.

Basically, it would give the Cardinals more time to sort out their options, while also giving them more leverage than an offseason trade.

Overall, I think the Cardinals will go with the third option and make a trade for a shortstop in July as it makes the most sense, given the circumstances.  Until then, we'll just have to live with 3+ months of below replacement level play at short.

Can we really blame Rafael Furcal for the Cardinals shortstop mess?

With the latest setback for Rafael Furcal likely knocking him out for the early part of the season, if not longer, there has been a lot of vitriol spewed in Furcal's direction.  But is it really warranted?

According to Jennifer Langosch, back in 2012, when he suffered the injury, Furcal was examined by team medical director George Paletta who diagnosed him with a grade 2 UCL strain.  Paletta did not recommend surgery, but instead recommended aggressive therapy and platelet-rich plasma injections.  Furcal was re-evaluated a month later and the Cardinals saw enough improvement to continue that course.

Surgery was never an option at that time, as echoed by GM John Mozeliak yesterday when he stated "At the time, you couldn’t have found a surgeon who would have recommended surgery, so I don’t think that was an option.”

Did Furcal experience pain during his rehab or any other indications that this course of treatment was not working?  We do not know for sure, but everything seemed to be going fine until Furcal made a sidearm throw last Thursday, which appears to have led to new ligament damage.

So, we cannot blame Furcal for the Cardinals predicament.  Sure, he did not want to have surgery, but none of the doctors consulted recommended surgery anyway.

No, the real blame here falls on the Cardinals for not having an adequate backup plan.

The Cards must have known there was a risk that this rest and rehab process would not work, but the only steps they took to put a backup plan in place was to sign Ronny Cedeno. 

Now the Cardinals have a hole to fill in their lineup, possibly for the entire season, and the best they can come up with is some combination of Cedeno, Pete Kozma and possibly Ryan Jackson.  None of whom inspire confidence.

Perhaps the Cards can swing a trade either now or around the trade deadline, but they will have lost what little leverage they might have had.

In any case, the Cardinals have managed to win without a quality shortstop in the past and it looks like they will have to do so again this year.

Rafael Furcal injury highlights Cardinals lack of quality options at short

The latest news out of Spring Training is that Cardinals short stop Rafael Furcal is hurting, again.

According to Derrick Gould of the Post-Dispatch, Furcal continues to be hampered by pain in his right elbow.

As Furcal put it himself, "It still hurts. A lot."

Of course, by now we should expect an injury to Furcal.  Last year he missed 41 games, he missed 75 in 2011 and he missed 65 in 2010 and, at 35 years old, he's not going to magically get healthier.

Based on all that, one would have expected the Cardinals to have a backup plan.  Someone to fill in while Furcal is on the shelf. 

Instead, we have Ronny Cedeno, Pete Kozma and Ryan Jackson.

First dibs on the short stop job will probably fall to Cedeno--he of the $1.15 million contract and career WAR of -(yes, negative)1.6.  Cedeno did a decent job as a utility infielder for the Mets last year (.259/.332/.410 in 166 at bats) and he did start at short for two years for the Pirates from 2010-2011.  But there is a reason why the Pirates have not had a winning record for 20 years.  Because they continually  start players like Ronny Cedeno.

Once Cedeno proves that he is no better than a replacement level player, the Cardinals will probably turn to Kozma.  The Cards caught lightning in a bottle when Kozma hit .333/.383/.569 down the stretch last year, but that was probably just a small sample size (72 at bats) aberration.  Truth is, Kozma is a career .236/.308/.344 hitter in the minors and will probably not hit enough in the majors to justify a starting job.

Which leaves us with Ryan Jackson.  Jackson is regarded as a better fielder and has a better minor league resume than Kozma with a career .267/.335/.370 line.  But, what does it say when the Cardinals consider him lower on the depth chart the the light hitting Kozma.

So, with a little over a month left before opening day, the Cardinals are left with an ailing short stop and 3 below replacement level options as his backup.  The Cards are hoping that Furcal will be ready by opening day, but, given his history, they should have had a better backup plan in place.