Harrison Bader has claimed the Cardinals centerfield job, per Derrick Goold, Benjamin Hochman, Rick Hummel and Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. If manager Mike Shildt decides to go with the dibs system this spring, Bader will be in excellent shape. Otherwise, he’s going to have to hit to stay the everyday man in center.
President of Baseball Ops John Mozeliak specifically mentioned a desire to see Bader become an “all-fields hitter,” while acknowledging that his offensive floor to remain a starter is lower than most in the game because of his elite defensive abilities. The .650 OPS he finished with in 2019 isn’t going to cut it – thought it’s worth noting that even with the .205/.314/.366 batting line, Bader put together a 2.0 bWAR season in 128 games.
The final note on Bader is that while the Cardinals have a handful of outfield options, none are suited specifically for center quite like him. That said, prospect Dylan Carlson, whom the Cardinals view as part of the 2020 picture, has spent a decent 43 percent of his minor league starts in center. The 21-year-old Carlson tore through the upper levels of the minors last year, hitting .292/.372/.542 across Double-A and Triple-A as a 20-year-old. Also mentioned, Lane Thomas – acquired in 2017 from the Blue Jays for international spending money – as a possibility for at-bats in center should Bader continue to struggle with the outside breaking ball.
Thomas, 24, played a total of 68 innings in center for the Cardinals in 2019, tearing it up in 44 plate appearances with a .316/.409/.684 small sample burst. In Fangraphs’ January prospect update, Thomas landed as the #8 ranked prospect in the Cardinals system, while Carlson came in at #2, behind only Nolan Gorman.
Along with Bader, Thomas, and Carlson, Tommy Edman looks like a fan favorite in the making, and he figures to get most of his playing time in the outfield while the Cardinals wait to see if Matt Carpenter bounces back. Even if Carpenter moves full time to the bench at some point, veteran Dexter Fowler enjoyed a bounce back season (of sorts) in 2019, tellingly appearing in 150 games as a clearly trusted veteran.
Read between the lines and it’s hard see how a reunion with Marcell Ozuna makes sense. That said, the Cardinals seem to be at least considering it. Speculatively speaking, the ongoing engagement could signal a willingness on Ozuna’s part to settle for a short-term pact.
Despite the outfielder’s interest in returning, the article notes that Mozeliak declined to answer when asked whether he has remained in touch with the 29-year-old. The Cardinals have enough coverage in the outfield to let Ozuna walk and feel okay about their depth. Besides the five potential outfielders mentioned above (Bader, Thomas, Carlson, Edman, Fowler), the Cardinals can also call on Rangel Ravelo, Tyler O’Neill, Justin Williams, or the recently acquired Austin Dean for outfield at-bats. If there’s a potential weakness in the Cardinals outfield, it’s depth in centerfield, where Ozuna does not help anyhow. Even there, depth is hardly a weakness. Bader and Carlson have immense potential while Fowler provides a veteran floor (though he’s more of a week-by-week stopgap at this point of his career).
Furthermore, payroll estimators peg the Cardinals opening day payroll somewhere between $162MM and $167MM. The low end of that spectrum would match last year’s opening day payroll, which was a franchise all-time high. That doesn’t paint a welcoming environment for a new Ozuna contract. Nor does it, before you ask, make the acquisition of Nolan Arenado’s $26MM contract seem at that likely. That said, if there’s any takeaway from the 500-or-so words above, it’s that Mozeliak and GM Mike Girsch have an eye for contrivance in roster building.
Lankford – Gilkey – Whiten
BREAKING NEWS:
‘Astros Fire Trash Can Responsible For Sign-Stealing Scandal.’
‘GM Jeff Luhnow and Manager AJ Hinch did not stop the problem. Yes, players took part as well. But they weren’t actually communicating signs like the trash can was. To truly stop the problem, he needed to be gone.”‘
Repeat, replicate, duplicate MUCH. How long do you plan to use this on every article? I TOTALLY AGREE w the poster who was calling for a C & D order.
Surly … give it a rest bozo
I think you mean the Houston Asterix?
Nobody axed, but the word is asterisk.
Unless Red Feather was referring to Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix, which is a comic series about Gaulish warriors, who have adventures and fight the Roman Empire during the era of Julius Caesar. You should’ve axed…
My bad.
Cor blimey, not the rubbish bin! Bugger!
‘Despite the lengthy tenure with the organization, the trash can’s punishment was swift and unforgiving. “I’ve served the organization from the Lastros days until the championship days. I only wanted to help us win, no matter the cost,” he mentioned in a statement. The trash can gathered his belongings, which were mostly trash, and walked out of Minute Maid Park for the last time, a “walk of shame.”‘
‘Other teams around the league are implementing new processes to ensure no other trash cans have the opportunity to communicate signs to hitters.’
Hard hittin Mark Whiten
Whiten is like Rocky Horror Picture Show – popular beyond imagination and I have no idea why……? As a Phillies phan, he graced us as well…
Didn’t he drive in like 13 runs one day St Louis had a double header?
Also he struck out the side once in a mop up pitching appearance. Guy just was addicted to awesome
Yep. He hit 4 homers and drove in 12 runs in one of the games.
Plus he had a cannon in the outfield.
he hit 4 home runs in one game versus the Reds.
Sincerely,
Reds fan who’s old enough to remember
It wasn’t in one game, it was in a doubleheader. Bader is not among the very few in MLB history that have hit four HRs in a single game.
If you’re talking about Whiten, he did it in one game.
Brock – Flood – Maris.
Stargell-Oliver-Clemente
Poze-José-Conine
Zupcic-Hatcher-Plantier
Woof that was an ugly Outfield! (’92 Red Sox for those who may not know).
Vaughn Eschelman on the mound ?
Musial, Mize , Slaughter
The St. Louis Swifties of the 1940s featured Musial, Moore, Slaughter. It was the franchise’s best all around OF. After their respective WWII service, Terry Moore was washed up.
Johnny Mize played 1B in the late 1930s, but was foolishly dealt away to make room for the younger Ray Sanders, who proved to be a bust. The Man was then moved to 1B, where he posted his best offensive seasons.
Vince Coleman
Willie McGee
Andy Van Slyke
If Fowler plays over any of the young guys, it will be a joke.
No, of he plays over them it’ll be because he’s playing better than them.
Not true – you obviously haven’t watched him play for the Cardinals for the last two years.
Instead of benching him and playing someone else, he continues to block good OF players because MO gave him a bad contract .
Yeah they should have started … “good OF players”.
Good would be about 17 times better than Fowler.
@Payne Train
What “good of players” was he supposedly blocking?
If you check the stats.. technically Fowler had one of his best seasons in his career last year.
Lower OBP than all but 1 1/2 years of his career, .238 BA with 142 K’s, almost zero stolen bases,
… he did enjoy a decent year when looking at his career stats with 70 something walks and hit 19 HR’s.
Too bad he struck out about 95% of the time in clutch situations.
All of that for a whopping 18 mil or so :(
Oh and he batted .060 in 33 AB’s during the post season .
David Carson is the Post-Dispatch’s photographer—he didn’t break any story on Bader
You are so very right. The article came from four different Post-Dispatch reporters, none of whom were the photographer David Carson, and all of whom are properly attributed now. Thanks for the correction!
I’m being 100% serious when I say this but have the cards made a move this off season?
they got KK the pitcher
2 signings. The pitcher Kim for 2 yrs 8MM and re-signing Wainwright for 5M…..other than that, trades and minor league signings.
Oh yeah I forgot about them re-upping on waino. Thanks for the clarification Chief
They also got that young leftie who could start with the major league club.
I’m being 100% serious when I say this but have the cards made a move this off season?
I’m being 100% serious when I say this but have the cards made a move this off season?
Gilkey – Lankford – Jose
Milt Thompson for the bench.
CHOCOLATE MILT….! Was a favourite chant for him in Philly and he acknowledged it with a smile.
“Chocolate Milt,’ really??? I’m from Philly and I don’t remember that at all (tho I was very young in the early-90s). That chant would never fly in 2020.
Walker, Edmonds, Sanders
Smith-Mcgee-Hendrick love me some Whitey ball
E.T.Mcgee!!!
The Cardinals need to eat $10 million of Fowler’s contract and trade him!!!
Not without his agreement. No-trade clause.
Cardinals are going with an internal patchwork Outfield it seems.
Probably wouldn’t look as bad with Arrenado at 3B but that’s likely not going to happen.
Patchwork is pretty harsh. Edman needs to play everyday. So he plays third against lefties and RF vs. righties. Bader in center with Fowler sliding over when necessary. Carlson plays left against righties, and platoons when necessary against lefties. While a switch-hitter he is known to a better left hand bat. That still leaves O’Neill, who mashes lefties, Williams a left hand bat, and maybe somewhat of a sleeper, and Thomas. All-in-all, I like the possibilities. Beats Ozuna chasing breaking balls out of the zone and floundering in the outfield.
I mean I like the cardinals outfield mix better then the braves minus Acuna
I mean I like the cardinals outfield mix better then the braves minus Acuna
Never will happen but Cubs and Cards line up pretty well.
Cardinals get Kris Bryant
Cubs get Dylan Carlson, Tyler O Neil, Junior Fernandez, and Zach Thompson
Lol the cardinals would never give that up for Bryant…sorry but that is a way overpay and Carlson isn’t going anywhere even for Arenado…it’s only two years of control for Bryant…no team would be that stupid…wait a minute…the cubs did give up Torres
There’s no such thing as a prospect you don’t give up for Arenado.
Sure there is – we have three of them. Carlson, Gorman, and newly acquired Libby
You seem to be forgetting about the 35 mil a year or the opt out after two years .
There is when he’s owed $234M
If it makes sense then yes you are right…unfortunately there are other variables you must consider when making trades…The cardinals have plenty of outfield depth but nothing that might change their future except Carlson…he has a chance to be a great outfielder and bats left handed something the cardinals need…so yes there is prospects you don’t trade and one of them is Carlson
@Payne Train
If you think he’s opting out of a contract paying him 35 mil/year, then I’ve got a bridge to sell you. That said, if you’re not including Carlson, then trade talk is a moot point anyway.
He will opt out if he is still in Colorado because he wants to win…so maybe if the team that gets him doesn’t win he opts out…I agree that it would be a tough decision for him but if he puts up the numbers and plays that defense he could possibly get another year or two and make more money…so yes there is a great possibility he opts out
Carlson isn’t getting traded for Arenado – zero % chance at that happening… you could argue Gorman or Libby IF a bad contract was going to Denver in return.
Only won a world series for that stupid move…. Oh well, win some lose some
They gave up Torres, broke a curse, and won the World Series.
That type of team management makes way more sense to me than today’s game where it’s better to stay 500 than to sell the farm for a ring.
Everybody here seems to forget that, when Epstein came to the office as president of operations, one of his plans was to trade position prospects for pitching, if needed. Therefore the Torres-Chapman trade, which worked great, as Cubs wouldn’t had won 2016 WS without Chapman, or at least wouldn’t had get to the seventh game of that WS without him.
Good baseball gods, Dogs. Why not throw in Yadi and Flaherty? .282/.382/.521 with 31 home runs, 77 runs batted in, and 108 runs scored is more than fine, but not the 2nd coming of Pujols. Arenado is the 2nd coming of Pujols.
You gotta be crazy. Bryant ain’t worth hardly any one of them you mentioned. He’s not close to being in Arenado’s league.
I think Fowler will play well. He’ll get 400 at. bats and hit270-360-500.
Somethin the braves wished you did when they signed you to that massive contract
Stop doing drugs
That’s a pretty dumb statement.
Latest is cards are too cheap to make a move
Les – who is “your team” ? I see you on the Cardinals posts pretty often, but it’s usually negative . So I’m just curious which team it is that you like ?
Reds. Came out of hiding for this season. Lolz
Les 160 million payroll!! But they are cheap? It’s always better to let people think that you don’t know what your talking about then to open your mouth and confirm to people that you don’t know what your talking about!!!! Go be a Marlins fan!
It’s not that their cheap, it’s the stupid way they spend their money. Overpay Molina, Carpenter, Fowler, Mikolas.
So stupid that they won a playoff series last year – well ya win some ya lose some.
Good pitching can do that
But Molina is a valuable backstop and can still squat in the position. Not many catchers out there that are better than Molina
lol he had 4 good years 5 years ago
How bout then they are still suffering from PTSD from the carpenter and Fowler deals then and are paralyzed in fear to make a move. That read more accurately?
$80-90 mil plus coming off the books after ‘21-‘22. They are tweaking for one more year then will do more drastic things.
they can afford 200. they just want to pretend they are small market so they can get that astors edge or hey even their scouting reports.
The Cardinals are interested in Matt Joyce but have not offered him yet.
This love fest with Bader is sickening. He’s overrated defensively and can’t hit a lick.
Overrated defensively ? lol, good one
One of the best if not THE best I’ve seen. So smooth and quick, he doesn’t grandstand anything like Edmonds either, the dives and crashes are all extending range!
Jimmy baseball had the better b-ball IQ. Grandstanding? Cmon let the man have a little fun! Bader can’t hit and Jimmy raked all day long.
Yes, overrated defensively. The defensive sabremetrics are a total subjective and inaccurate tool. His throwing accuracy is terrible. Routes are average. He dives around to make himself look cool. I see him drop balls. He has speed, that’s it.
Your just a hater – never anything positive from your posts. Probably a Reds fan, maybe a Cubs fan?
Truth hurts, doesn’t it Payne?
Do you prefer Munoz in CF?
Thomas over Munoz, but they both can outhit Bader. I love Bader but Mo derailed his development by falling for Fowler.
How can you not love the hustle? 1st to home on an infield hit, who does that? He has gotta start hitting or he will the next Burgos.
Cardinal fans be like no way we are trading our prospects for all stars! We need Arenado for Fowler , carp, and maybe MAYBE Carlos Martinez,,, Rockies should take that cause We are the Cardinals.. Then trade Tyler Oneil for Mookie Betts , or get Lindor/Clevinger for DeDong/Reyes and we should be good…but no way are we giving up any prospects
Munkes2….wa wa wa wa wa you sound pathetic…
Oh my feelings are hurt… You sound intelligent lol
That is literally 90% of cardinal fans post.. To be fair its 90% of Braves fans post as well
I’ve yet to see much realism from Cardinals or Rockies fans regarding Arenado. Most don’t accept that the trade will likely be painful for both sides. Rockies fans expectations are too high due to the contract while Cards fans underestimate the talent cost required for a truly elite player, even if that player is on a market rate contract.
It’s going to take the Rockies eating money in some form. There will be at least two players/prospects that Cards fans don’t want to see leave the team going to Colorado.
The Cards look like they’ll hold out till the trade deadline, see what position there in, then make a move. Boston lines up nicely for a trade if the Red Sox are off the pace by July.
If Molina shows his age, Carpenter has a repeat year and Bader doesn’t progress… Cards are in for a long season.
Bader should be in a flat out competition after the year he had at the plate. Don’t care how good the defense is. His bat was bad and it was even worse against righties who he hit pretty well his previous 2 seasons.
I’d like to see Thomas get a crack at either LF or CF. I think he’s underrated.
Once again Mo tries to sell fans on the bounce back year theory. He throws good money after bad. This offense was bad ALL season long! They were finally exposed in Nlcs and yet Mo makes zero moves, so typical. Hudson, O’Neill, and Monteiro maybe Cmart for Arenado. Do this and all will be forgiven. Arenado is a true difference maker, worth the risk and investment so as a diehard fan I know Mo is too timid to ever make this no brained move.
Dark horse to have a great year in St. Louis is Lane Thomas. Was never in line for PT with Toronto, but with the iffiness that comes with Bader and O’Neill, Thomas just might jump ahead of them and others. He’s a good fielder and puts his bat on the ball.
Pity Cards still owe Fowler big cheese, He’d be an easy DFA were it not for that. Carpenter? Who knows? Was torrid two years ago until pitchers stopped throwing him fastballs. From September 2018 through the end of last season, Carpenter’s stats would even be an embarrassment for a reserve middle infielder.
Starting pitching should be fine, especially if Martinez and Reyes are ready to go. Bullpen? Not gonna see Hicks until June or July, so guys like Gant are gonna have to carry the load in the early going.
Finally, I still see the Reds as being a decent bet to win the NL Central. if the Cards falter. JMHO, but not looking for Milwaukee or Chicago to do much this year. Don’t like the Brewers SPs and the Cub SPs are getting long in the tooth and/or showing diminishing results.
Brewers win (if Cards struggle) the division. To believe Reds are winning the division is like saying Bengals are going to the super bowl this year. Reds will be the 4th place team in the division. Reds are definitely not division champs yet. Nice imagination though. 1. cards 2. brewers 3. Cubs 4. Reds and 5. pirates. Games that separate Cubs and Reds is 1 game.
lol. ya you got one old man and 2 constantly hurt guys in your rotation. an old catcher who is past prime. way past. not much else. so ya we are terrified. you guys lost your brain trust a few years back to the Astros and laugh out loud they were all cheats.
Yes, lets just pencil in Bader for center field. Bader is a season 200 hitter. Who is the Dimwitt that makes this decision? The Cards need a impact player