The Cardinals announced that they’ve signed infielder Jose Rondon to a minor league contract Friday. He’s been invited to Major League Spring Training.
Rondon, 27 in March, appeared in 106 games between the Padres, White Sox and Orioles from 2016-19, mostly with the White Sox. He’s a career .201/.260/.336 hitter with nine homers in 290 plate appearances. Rondon has appeared at all four infield positions and at left field in the Major Leagues, albeit just 16 combined innings at left field and in first base. Shortstop has been his primary position throughout his pro career, though Rondon hasn’t graded out well in an admittedly tiny sample of 217 MLB frames at the position. His marks at second base and third base are better.
Rondon gives the Cardinals some infield depth after the club decided to decline second baseman Kolten Wong’s $12.5MM club option back in November. Even if he were to make the roster, Rondon would presumably serve as a bench piece, with Tommy Edman slotting in as the primary second baseman and Matt Carpenter getting a chance to rebound at the hot corner. The Cards currently have Edmundo Sosa and Elehuris Montero as additional infield options on the 40-man roster, and St. Louis recently added Max Moroff on a minor league deal with a non-roster invite — the same type of deal received by Rondon.
In parts of four Triple-A seasons, Rondon is a .258/.301/.448 hitter.
He’s not making the roster lmao
This and the Moroff deal seem like depth at Memphis. Hopefully, we see some MLB action soon. These MiLB deals aren’t very exciting!
These are signings to fill the gap if Carpenter isn’t able to perform or is injured until Gorman shows favorable stats in the minors prompting a call up. They don’t wanna rush Gorman (who should be entering his AAA season), but also realize they need more depth after letting Kolten Wong walk in favor of 12 million should injuries happen. I don’t see them signing anyone if they were not willing to pick up Wongs option… He was the best option I think they had avalible. Carpenters advanced stats have been on decline since 2016 with 2018 being an outlier and they realized if they are getting replacement level production from him and Gorman isn’t ready yet they need other options. Edmundo Sosa might be an option, but it seems they are unsure about him as well. They haven’t been the best at grading the talent they have in prospects, or there ability here recently. I could throw out some names, but anyone who watched the 2020 postseason already knows that man sat on our bench in 2019 after Lane Thomas was injured, and he flat out raked in the minors. Lets hope things change with that soon
I think Montero gets a call up before Gorman does unless Gorman just takes off out of the gate
I also think Montero will get a shot before calling up Gorman since he is already on the 40 man
That’s what I have read also because Montero can play other infield positions.
So far he’s been more like Ron-don’t
I think three minor league signings for the cardinals is a new record for them
Nice, our new Wilfredo Tovar
Daddy likey.
Brad Miller wasn’t expected to do anything for the Cardinals last year and wound up playing quite a bit. Don’t rule out either Rondon or Moroff being on the big league roster at some point
Nice work Mo! Way to help the major league teams offense. By signing more AAAA guys who can’t hit.
Yeah the Cardinals faithful should be rightly upset with what ever the front office has been smoking here recently. I was pretty upset when I saw they traded Arozarena. Kept talking about it. He was clearly the best outfield prospect of the group when you looked at his minor league numbers. Now you got Dewitt crying broke and Matt Carpenter and Dexter Fowler getting paid millions more than Arozarena to put up replacement level numbers… I like Dexter and Matt as people but baseball is a business, it seems they have forgotten what they preach.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Molina and Wainwright leave to play for a front office that is commited to winning a championship instead of this “its good enough to get us a wild card” mentality the front office has has since 2015.
As Much as I’m a huge Yadi Molina fan… I’m beginning to hope they do let him walk. He seems to be wanting something in the vicinity of what he was being paid last season. The fact is, he’s not worth that anymore. Anything more than 2/10M with incentives and he needs to go elsewhere
I have seen where they are looking for a left-handed bat in the outfield when Justin Williams has never been given a real chance. I could see him going to another team and doing well also. I hope they give him a shot this year.
I hope and pray they give Williams a shot finally.
Neither of these guys are meant for the MLB Roster … They are replacements for Max Schrock and SS Jose Martinez, who are no longer in the system. These two will play at Memphis and be depth pieces. Stop overreacting
Mo…….. Is that you?!?
I would want to see what Sosa has to give us in the big leagues before these last two signings. I see the need for depth but neither should be option #1 unless they are very impressive in spring.
Sosa is locked into a reserve role this season unless they sign someone specifically to replace Wong. I cant see much chance for Moroff or Rondon to break camp with the big club unless one has an incredible spring. Also should see Lane Thomas role expand with Edman most likely not taking away OF ABs this season
Pretty much exactly what i figured too. Hadn’t thought much about the outfield AB’s. Your probably right there.
Great another infielder who they can stick in the outfield. Would much rather see Molina, Wong, and a 3rd Baseman (miss Arenado rumors, but not sure we have the farm anymore)
If you didn’t notice, almost every team, Cardinals included cut a ton of guys last year when they knew there wasn’t going to be a minor league season. Then there was the usual minor league free agents that left the organization. The Cards have a bunch of depth spots to fill out for the Memphis and Springfield rosters. So these kinds of signings just show there is an above average chance of there being something resembling a minor league season in 2021. So I love these signings bc I’m excited to see some minor league games again.
Cardinals are going to rue the day they let Kolten Wong go. See the article regarding Matt Carpenter’s decline. What was said in that article, I have been saying for the past couple of years. It was so obvious that Matt had one outstanding year and several good ones before that, but his value over the past few years has diminished greatly. He is the one who should have been let go along with Dexter Fowler. Kolten, on the other hand, has been increasing in his value as a player. He makes plays few others can make. His hitting has improved. He also has occasional power. His Ks have dropped and his OBP has risen. I don’t understand why a team lets go one of its best players and in so doing thinks the team has improved. Now we pick up this utility infielder whose numbers are far worse than KWs and who will unlikely play on a regular basis. In addition, DeJong has not met expectations either. No serious talks with Waino and Molina either. Our minor league system has gone to pot. We used to have the #1 minor league system. Now we are no longer in the top 10. Others used to learn from the Cardinals how to run a system that developed good, strong, committed players. I have always been a fan of the Cardinals and will still root, root, root for them, but I am not a fan of Mr. Dewitt or of Mo who created a new position for himself. I guess he wasn’t satisfied with what he was paid as the GM. Today’s rant is now done.
Wong getting paid 12.5 million to hit .263 come on. Edmans will be just as good defensively when he finally gets to concentrate on a position and he is a firecracker. Oh and he only makes like $580000.