According to Jennifer Langosch (and other) the Cardinals have signed infielder Aledmys Diaz to a major league deal. The team did not release details, but it is believed to be for 4 years.
This represents the biggest investment ever by the Cards in a Cuban player and while that is all fine and good, the first question I asked myself is where will he play?
According to scouts, Diaz is capable of playing second, third and short. However, the Cardinals currently have Kolten Wong, Matt Carpenter and Jhonny Peralta manning those positions. Carpenter just received an extension from the Cards, which has him under team control through 2019. Peralta was signed as a free agent through the 2017 and Wong is under team control through 2019. So, there is no obvious spot for the young Cuban.
But there are some scenarios under which he could make an impact this season:
1. Kolten Wong struggles
This is Wong's first full season in the majors. He was a September callup last year and hit an uninspiring .153 in 59 at bats (small sample size rules apply). However, he is a career .301/.365/.446 hitter in the minors.
He could hit the ground running or he could struggle in his first extended taste of the bigs. If its the latter, look for Diaz to get the call.
2. Someone gets injured
Obviously, the addition of Diaz gives the Cardinals some much needed infield depth. Behind the starting 3, there is only Daniel Descalso, Pete Kozma and Mark Ellis. Ellis has only really played second base in his career and while Descalso and Kozma can play short, neither is a very good hitter.
Diaz would give the Cards a decent hitting backup to Wong, Carpenter or Peralta, should they get injured and would not be as big of a downgrade as Kozma or Descalso would be.
3. Trade
The Cardinals could decide to jettison one of their infielders for an upgrade elsewhere. This doesn't seem likely though, as it appears that the Cards are committed to Carpenter, Peralta and Wong on the infield.
4. Utility Infielder
This seems to be the most likely scenario. With his ability to play 3 different positions, Diaz could become a better hitting version of Descalso. Despite hitting a meager .238 with a .656 OPS last season, Descalso still managed to play in 123 games last season "earning" 328 at bats. He played 39 games at second, 55 at short and 38 at third.
Diaz does not have a lot of pop, but he showed the ability to hit for average, batting .315/.404/.500 with 12 homers and 11 stolen bases in his last season in Cuba. In fact, Diaz' presence could spell the end of Descalso's career with the Cards.
My guess is that the Cardinals will start Diaz in the minors to get him accustomed to American baseball. Ones he proves himself, he will get called up to play a utility role. He could get significant playing time if there is an injury or Wong struggles, so I could see him getting around 300 at bats.
Showing posts with label free agent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free agent. Show all posts
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Cardinals step up their search for right handed infielder and Rule 5 wrap
As I noted a couple days ago, it appears that the main piece the Cardinals need to complete their team is a right handed infielder, one who can back up Kolten Wong at second or perhaps even platoon with him.
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak, obviously aware of this need, has been poking around the free agent market to find such a player.
On Tuesday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, reported that the Cardinals met with Mark Ellis' agent, Jamie Murphy of TWC.
Derrick Goold confirmed Slusser's report on Wednesday and also indicated that the Cards met with the agent for Ryan Roberts, stating that the team is looking for a backup or compliment for Wong, but not necessarily competition.
According to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, my personal favorite, Jeff Baker, is being pursued by 6-7 teams, which will likely drive his asking price up (and may also explain the Cardinals interest in the other players).
Finally, Derrick Goold reports that the Cardinals have discussed Brian Roberts as a potential target, but his injury history makes the team a bit wary.
Overall, although I would prefer Baker, he may soon be priced out of the Cards range. Short of him, the pickings are pretty slim.
Ellis is a decent plan "B" and has a career .777 OPS against lefties, but has played primarily second in his career.
Ryan Roberts, despite years of inconsistency, has a career .785 OPS against lefties and has more versatility than Ellis, having played second, third and left field extensively in his career.
Brian Roberts is probably more of a last resort type, as he has fared better against righties (.782 OPS) in his career than lefties (.716 OPS). Plus, he's played most of his games at second in his career (1213 games) with 53 games at short and his days as a shortstop are likely over.
If I had to rank them, I would go Baker, Ryan Roberts, Ellis and then Brian Roberts.
In other Winter Meetings news, the Rule 5 draft was conducted today and the Cardinals did not select any players in the major league portion nor did they lose any.
However, in the minor league portion, the Cardinals lost RHP Kevin Thomas to the Twins, shortstop Jake Lemmerman to the Padres and LHP Hector Hernandez to the Diamondbacks, while claiming shortstop Greg Miclat from the Rangers and first baseman Jesus Ustariz from the Tigers.
Of the players the Cards lost, Lemmerman was probably the most well known, having been acquired by the Cardinals for Skip Schumaker back in December 2012. However, he has only hit .232 above class A ball. Thomas was a 33rd round pick of the Cards in 2008 and has a career 3.93 ERA in the minors. Hernandez also has a career 3.93 ERA and was a 10th round pick in 2009.
Of the additions, Miclat was a 5th round selection in 2008. He is a career .259 hitter in the minors and at age 25 is unlikely to be more than just organizational depth.
Ustariz may have a little more upside. He is just 21, but has not played above short season ball. However, he has a career slash line of .292/.382/.420 in 678 at bats.
Overall, not much to get too thrilled or despondent about as the Winter Meetings wrap up.
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak, obviously aware of this need, has been poking around the free agent market to find such a player.
On Tuesday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, reported that the Cardinals met with Mark Ellis' agent, Jamie Murphy of TWC.
Derrick Goold confirmed Slusser's report on Wednesday and also indicated that the Cards met with the agent for Ryan Roberts, stating that the team is looking for a backup or compliment for Wong, but not necessarily competition.
According to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, my personal favorite, Jeff Baker, is being pursued by 6-7 teams, which will likely drive his asking price up (and may also explain the Cardinals interest in the other players).
Finally, Derrick Goold reports that the Cardinals have discussed Brian Roberts as a potential target, but his injury history makes the team a bit wary.
Overall, although I would prefer Baker, he may soon be priced out of the Cards range. Short of him, the pickings are pretty slim.
Ellis is a decent plan "B" and has a career .777 OPS against lefties, but has played primarily second in his career.
Ryan Roberts, despite years of inconsistency, has a career .785 OPS against lefties and has more versatility than Ellis, having played second, third and left field extensively in his career.
Brian Roberts is probably more of a last resort type, as he has fared better against righties (.782 OPS) in his career than lefties (.716 OPS). Plus, he's played most of his games at second in his career (1213 games) with 53 games at short and his days as a shortstop are likely over.
If I had to rank them, I would go Baker, Ryan Roberts, Ellis and then Brian Roberts.
In other Winter Meetings news, the Rule 5 draft was conducted today and the Cardinals did not select any players in the major league portion nor did they lose any.
However, in the minor league portion, the Cardinals lost RHP Kevin Thomas to the Twins, shortstop Jake Lemmerman to the Padres and LHP Hector Hernandez to the Diamondbacks, while claiming shortstop Greg Miclat from the Rangers and first baseman Jesus Ustariz from the Tigers.
Of the players the Cards lost, Lemmerman was probably the most well known, having been acquired by the Cardinals for Skip Schumaker back in December 2012. However, he has only hit .232 above class A ball. Thomas was a 33rd round pick of the Cards in 2008 and has a career 3.93 ERA in the minors. Hernandez also has a career 3.93 ERA and was a 10th round pick in 2009.
Of the additions, Miclat was a 5th round selection in 2008. He is a career .259 hitter in the minors and at age 25 is unlikely to be more than just organizational depth.
Ustariz may have a little more upside. He is just 21, but has not played above short season ball. However, he has a career slash line of .292/.382/.420 in 678 at bats.
Overall, not much to get too thrilled or despondent about as the Winter Meetings wrap up.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Could the Cardinals lose their draft pick compensation for Kyle Lohse?
When the Cardinals made their qualifying offer to Kyle Lohse, they were counting on two things: (1) that Lohse and greedy agent Scott Boras would like turn it down and (2) as a result they would get a draft pick from the supplemental round (between the first and second rounds of the draft).
However, that may no longer be the case.
Any team who signs Lohse would lose their first round pick, along with the allotted dollars for that pick and that is the main factor deterring teams from signing Lohse (along with his still high asking price).
According to the CBA, if a team waits until after the June draft, they would not lose their first round pick for signing Lohse. In addition, the Cardinals would lose their draft pick compensation if Lohse does not sign before the next June draft. Thus, there's been speculation that Lohse would wait until after the June draft to sign.
However, according to Peter Gammons, Boras insisted that Lohse wouldn't have to wait that long, indicating that "we have too many teams in play." However, Boras has been saying that for a while now and we still have no indication that any team is close to signing Lohse.
Even though the loss of a first round draft pick is the major deterrent to any team signing Lohse, his asking price still remains high. According to Yahoo's Jeff Passan, one week after spring training, Boras was asking for 3 years and $45 million for his client. That figure has dropped, but per Ken Rosenthal, Lohse is still looking to match Ryan Dempster's two year, $26.5 million contract.
For his part, Lohse is getting himself ready for the start of the season, throwing 90 pitch simulated games in Arizona, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown. But the question remains as to whether he will sign with a team before then.
Scott Boras is usually pretty good at pulling a rabbit out of his hat and getting a large contract for his clients when there is seemingly no market for them. However, I feel he has seriously misjudged the market for Lohse this year and its going to cost him.
It may come down to whether Lohse and Boras are willing to agree to a contract that they feel is "below market" or if they want to wait a few months and see if they can get that 3 year/$45 million deal they wanted in the first place.
The Cardinals are hoping its the former, but its looking more and more like its going to be the latter.
However, that may no longer be the case.
Any team who signs Lohse would lose their first round pick, along with the allotted dollars for that pick and that is the main factor deterring teams from signing Lohse (along with his still high asking price).
According to the CBA, if a team waits until after the June draft, they would not lose their first round pick for signing Lohse. In addition, the Cardinals would lose their draft pick compensation if Lohse does not sign before the next June draft. Thus, there's been speculation that Lohse would wait until after the June draft to sign.
However, according to Peter Gammons, Boras insisted that Lohse wouldn't have to wait that long, indicating that "we have too many teams in play." However, Boras has been saying that for a while now and we still have no indication that any team is close to signing Lohse.
Even though the loss of a first round draft pick is the major deterrent to any team signing Lohse, his asking price still remains high. According to Yahoo's Jeff Passan, one week after spring training, Boras was asking for 3 years and $45 million for his client. That figure has dropped, but per Ken Rosenthal, Lohse is still looking to match Ryan Dempster's two year, $26.5 million contract.
For his part, Lohse is getting himself ready for the start of the season, throwing 90 pitch simulated games in Arizona, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown. But the question remains as to whether he will sign with a team before then.
Scott Boras is usually pretty good at pulling a rabbit out of his hat and getting a large contract for his clients when there is seemingly no market for them. However, I feel he has seriously misjudged the market for Lohse this year and its going to cost him.
It may come down to whether Lohse and Boras are willing to agree to a contract that they feel is "below market" or if they want to wait a few months and see if they can get that 3 year/$45 million deal they wanted in the first place.
The Cardinals are hoping its the former, but its looking more and more like its going to be the latter.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
