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.
ronnsnow
Wise move…
nmendoza7
Not a Wise choice at all, damn
lizardking
Are those words of wisdom?
RedFeather
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
Kane U.
Hahaha! Wisdom is no where close to a “stud”. “Stud” category would be a Machado or a Arnado.
STLCards33
He’s 27. It’s now or never for him and it’s not gonna happen in St. Louis. Use your head
Art poli
Just what the Cards need another 206 hitting utility player
Dad
No kidding, that’s been their problem for years now. An entire infield of half ass second baseman
beetlejuice
I hope Wisdom turns into Josh Donaldson. Another great move Mo.
stan lee the manly
They’ve got Gorman, what do they need Wisdom for?
Codeeg
So many cardinal fans are on the Gorman is elite train. Let the kid work his way up before getting your hopes up.
justin-turner overdrive
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
stan lee the manly
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?
stan lee the manly
Also as an aside, Gorman rated as a 70 power, not a 55.
Michael Chaney
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.
Polymath
I had the same hopes for Mike Schmidt when he obliterated rookie ball … and I was correct.
daved
Next season is 2019, not 2022.
stan lee the manly
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?
sufferforsnakes
Everyone needs wisdom.
Dotnet22
Dumb comment.
irishtc
I like the move. With Carp and Gorman in the system, Robinson fills the role of utility LHB on the infield.
barkinghumans77
Plus we still have Gyorko.
fmj
so who’s this Robinson kid? anyone seen him play? I hate to see wisdom go.
ty11
Robinson has good pop, just strikes out a lot. Improved in AAA last season. Also has decent speed for pinch running
Christian Larsen
also plays all over the diamond
Caleb Clark
doesnt make much of a difference. none of them have seen much mlb at-bats
moe 3
Robinson struck out half the time and batted 180. But he’s left handed
baseballpun
He won’t even be on the club unless someone’s traded. Neither would Wisdom.
ty11
Somewhat Wise
Le Grande Orangerie
Congrats to Brandon McCarthy and to the Rangers for hiring him. Good guy and solid move.
EndinStealth
They project to have very similar numbers. Cardinals needed a left handed middle infielder and the Rangers needed a cheap 3b. Pretty even trade.
bobtillman
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.
xabial
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
Owen National
You mean like Transiberian Orchestra controversial?
bradthebluefish
Will do
jfive
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
jeremyr
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.
EndinStealth
Plus he plays with a cast iron skillet instead of a glove. I’m definitely not a fan.
STLCards33
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a replacement level bench player especially one that can play nearly every position
Triteon
This greatly lessens the potential to spot Rickie Fowler at a Cards game.
rocknwell
So he’s left handed…never mind the fact he can’t hit. Wow. Don’t do something just to do it!
daved
Gepetto and Pinocchio spot the bruised fruit from miles away. Uncanny.
jjghost
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?
woodguy
That was creative
rocknwell
Don’t we wish?
TEXRANGERS05
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.
rocknwell
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.
fasbal1
The talk of upgrading the bullpen is going to be trading Martinez. Cards again are going on the cheap.
vvann0139
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.
CJ81
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.
Four4fore
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.
Joe Belkin
Description of this trade in one word: Meh
Art poli
Just what the Cards need another 206 hitting utility player
timtim007
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
STLCards33
Thatd also be completely and utterly idiotic
troll
neither wisdom or voit were given a chance. i hope it bites the cardinals.
jlmini10
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.”
javier 3
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.
sixfourthree
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.
Payne Train
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 .
Nuggethoarder
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….
JFactor
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
CJ81
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.
chrisones
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.