The Rangers have acquired third baseman Patrick Wisdom from the Cardinals for infielder/outfielder Drew Robinson, according to an announcement from Texas. Additionally, the Rangers have hired former major league right-hander Brandon McCarthy as special assistant to general manager Jon Daniels.
Wisdom, 27, was a first-round pick of the Cardinals in 2012, though he didn’t reach the majors until last season. He impressed over a small sample of work, hitting .260/.362/.520 with four home runs in 58 plate appearances. In Texas, the former well-regarded prospect may have an opportunity to receive quite a bit of work at third base, as the club lost Adrian Beltre to retirement and may trade Jurickson Profar this offseason. Playing time would have continued to be hard for Wisdom to come by in St. Louis, which boasts Matt Carpenter as its starting third baseman and has quality depth in the form of Jedd Gyorko (if he’s not dealt), Yairo Munoz and now Robinson.
The 26-year-old Robinson will give the Cardinals the lefty-hitting utility player they’d been seeking, having garnered big league experience at second, third, shortstop and all three outfield positions. Robinson hasn’t hit much, however, with a .204/.301/.366 slash and nine HRs in 246 trips to the plate. He did rake at the Triple-A level last season, though.
As for McCarthy, he’s shifting to a front office position immediately after the end of his playing career and returning to the Rangers, with whom he pitched from 2007-09. The 35-year-old spent the final season of his career with the Braves, his seventh team in a big league tenure that was productive but marred by injuries. McCarthy was someone who embraced analytics throughout his pitching career, helping make him a logical choice for a front office role in his post-playing days.
Wise move…
Not a Wise choice at all, damn
Are those words of wisdom?
Surprised Wisdom wasn’t pick up off waivers last year but dumb move by Cardinals. They will need a 3rd basemen at some point. Wisdom is a stud
Hahaha! Wisdom is no where close to a “stud”. “Stud” category would be a Machado or a Arnado.
He’s 27. It’s now or never for him and it’s not gonna happen in St. Louis. Use your head
Just what the Cards need another 206 hitting utility player
No kidding, that’s been their problem for years now. An entire infield of half ass second baseman
I hope Wisdom turns into Josh Donaldson. Another great move Mo.
They’ve got Gorman, what do they need Wisdom for?
So many cardinal fans are on the Gorman is elite train. Let the kid work his way up before getting your hopes up.
lol what? Gorman’s a flawed prospect, he’s a 55 grade for the power but he’s 18 with so much to do, literally every team has one of these types
Hey Justin turner overdrive a top 10 prospect who raked to A ball, nope not every team has that. But every team has some lowly troll like you spewing your uneducated garbage.
And he’s already shown more tools than Wisdom. Wisdom has zero path to the majors now and the Cardinals expect Gorman to take the helm before Wisdom has a chance to become a starter. So again, why do they need wisdom? So he can waste away in their farm?
Also as an aside, Gorman rated as a 70 power, not a 55.
I had the same hopes for Bobby Bradley when he obliterated rookie ball, but now to me he just looks like he’ll have problems with major league pitching.
Gorman might be the real deal or he might not be, but judging a kid fresh out of high school in the low minors could get you disappointed. Either way, it’s too early to justify moves by saying “we have Gorman” when he’s a few years away as it is.
I had the same hopes for Mike Schmidt when he obliterated rookie ball … and I was correct.
Next season is 2019, not 2022.
Wisdom is not the starting third basemen in 2019. He’s fourth or fifth on the depth chart if they go into the season with him again, so I say again. Why do they need Wisdom?
Everyone needs wisdom.
Dumb comment.
I like the move. With Carp and Gorman in the system, Robinson fills the role of utility LHB on the infield.
Plus we still have Gyorko.
so who’s this Robinson kid? anyone seen him play? I hate to see wisdom go.
Robinson has good pop, just strikes out a lot. Improved in AAA last season. Also has decent speed for pinch running
also plays all over the diamond
doesnt make much of a difference. none of them have seen much mlb at-bats
Robinson struck out half the time and batted 180. But he’s left handed
He won’t even be on the club unless someone’s traded. Neither would Wisdom.
Somewhat Wise
Congrats to Brandon McCarthy and to the Rangers for hiring him. Good guy and solid move.
They project to have very similar numbers. Cardinals needed a left handed middle infielder and the Rangers needed a cheap 3b. Pretty even trade.
Quite a sea change we’re seeing here, with a guy like McCarthy. In days of old, teams would hire a guy like McCarthy (obviously smart enough) and make him the pitching coach on a Short-Season team. Now they kick them right upstairs.
Not a bad idea. Everybody from Hinch to Cora speaks about how much they learned, and other perspectives they saw, being in the office. It’s become less a reward and more a training ground.
Read McCarthy’s fan Q & A on the Athletic. He sounded like extremely bright, open-minded, individual. loved openness answering controversial questions on rising use of analytics
You mean like Transiberian Orchestra controversial?
Will do
Wisdom was blocked from playing time…got the LH hitting utility fielder Cards were looking for and he is younger and cheaper than signing Descalso
I don’t understand the Munoz love people constantly show. “Quality Depth”? He was literally a replacement player and given way too much playing time. Had he been even average, the Cardinals might have made the wild card.
This guy is basically the same thing – replacement level, only left handed.
Plus he plays with a cast iron skillet instead of a glove. I’m definitely not a fan.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a replacement level bench player especially one that can play nearly every position
This greatly lessens the potential to spot Rickie Fowler at a Cards game.
So he’s left handed…never mind the fact he can’t hit. Wow. Don’t do something just to do it!
Gepetto and Pinocchio spot the bruised fruit from miles away. Uncanny.
Since July the cardinals have traded for Chasen Shreve and Drew Robinson both Vegas natives. A prelude to the signing of the highest profile Vegas native, Harper?
That was creative
Don’t we wish?
def hope those are not the two you would bring in to try to win harper over because those are two scrubs compared to the guys you should have got then.
Who knows what the Card’s FO is doing? Certainly not bidding on Harper. Their own reporter even mentioned the Cards are willing to stand pat with Fowler/O’Neil. If that’s true, they REALLY need to upgrade their bullpen.
The talk of upgrading the bullpen is going to be trading Martinez. Cards again are going on the cheap.
Wisdom is going to be a great player now that he has a potential everyday role. I think he’ll be a late bloomer like Mitch Haniger was for the Mariners. Too bad to see him go, I’ll be interested to see what kinda career he has.
With Carpenter getting up there and Gyorko not much left on his contract I could see Wisdom as the Cardinals starter in 2020. Not saying it got me excited or anything, but he had that potential.
Always thought these two teams were a match, Rangers full of lefty outfield bats and Cardinals full righty bats…this is not the deal I was hoping for.
Description of this trade in one word: Meh
Just what the Cards need another 206 hitting utility player
I was hoping for Michael Brantley to be the left handed bat, but that would require unlocking the safe, and no one remembers the combination
Thatd also be completely and utterly idiotic
neither wisdom or voit were given a chance. i hope it bites the cardinals.
Considering you comment on most cardinals articles, I’m assuming you’re a fan. In what world does it make sense to hope that the team does bad in any scenario just because you disagree with a move the front office makes? That is the opposite of fandom. I’m not saying you have to agree with or even like the front office, but at what point do you have to look in the mirror and say, “I guess I’m just not a fan of this team.”
I like how Wisdom will get good playing time. But I don’t like loosing him because I really liked him. And we could do better then Robinson. There’s Descalso and Dietrich available in free agency.
Not a big move for either team but each gets a more usable depth player. Hopefully both players see more playing time given and produce. I am waiting to see how aggressive the Cardinals are with rebuilding the bullpen. Getting someone like Britton would add some proven production to complement the strong potential offered by Hicks and would provide another closer option.
I don’t understand all of the meaningless moves . Are we really going to use this guy as our utility guy just because he’s left handed . Same with the Orioles guy we claimed yesterday …. why have a billion dollar tv deal and fill your voids with two guys that couldn’t make it on the Rangers or the Orioles lol —— if you say that last sentence out loud it really sinks in .
Wisdom being traded is a consequence of the Goldschmidt trade. You only need so many 3B/1B on a team and 40-man roster spots are scarce. If you signed a free agent to fill the LH utility need you would probably need to DFA someone from the 40-man roster and risk losing them, in addition to paying the player to mostly ride the bench.
That said, the move does not seem to move the needle much….
More than anything, Robinson provides a ton of flexibility.
If the team decides to move Jedd for example, a bench with Robinson and Munoz on it is incredibly flexible, though, lacks the specialness you’d like.
It’s also easy to see upside in Robinson if he got consistent hacks at the MLB level
The flexibility is great, but the one position player they need is a back-up SS. And I don’t think Robinson fills that role. Gyorko may have already been a backup SS. I really don’t understand the move because Wisdom may be a future starting 3b somewhere, Robinson does not project as even an above average bench bat. The Cardinals definitely needed a LH bat, but I don’t think they got the “bat” part out of that deal.
Well, to be frank and honest, I watched McCarthy in his last season in ATL. I wasn’t impressed with his makeup or work ethic.
He showed really nice flashes. He went down and didn’t really care to come back. He also didn’t have the bald to retire in season and forfeit that paycheck. If I was AA, I would have been pushing him and filing a grievance.