The Cardinals have outrighted infielder Kramer Robertson and right-hander Kodi Whitley, according to the transactions tracker at MLB.com.
Robertson, 28, began 2022 as a Cardinal but ended up bouncing around a bit. He went to Atlanta and then to the Mets before returning to the Cards on a series of waiver claims. It seems that he passed through waivers unclaimed this time around and will stick around the organization as depth.
Despite all that bouncing around, he only got into two major league games this year, spending most of the year on various minor league clubs. In 116 Triple-A games this year, he hit .239/.393/.363 for a wRC+ of 114. That high on-base rate and limited power have been a part of this repertoire for a while now, though he also brings defensive versatility to the table. He spent time at second base, third base and shortstop this season.
As for Whitley, 27, he was added to the club’s 40-man roster in July of 2020 and has been an up-and-down arm for the club since then. He’s thrown 42 2/3 innings at the big league level over the past three seasons, registering a combined 3.38 ERA with a strong 24.9% strikeout rate but a high 12.4% walk rate. The needles moved in the wrong direction in 2022, as his ERA was up at 5.68, his punchouts down to 20.3% and his walks were up at 15.3%. Like Robertson, he will stick with the organization as depth but without taking up a spot on the 40-man.
Many teams face roster crunches at this time of year, given that there’s no injured list between the World Series and Spring Training, meaning guys on the 60-day IL will need spots again. Also, the deadline for adding players to protect them for the Rule 5 draft is coming up in mid-November. With those pressures, it seems that Robertson and Whitley were squeezed out and the Cards were willing to risk losing them on waivers.
Sounds like the name of a half-decent buddy cop series set in the 90s. “Kramer and Kodi”
Cop and a Half?? Hahah Funny Burt Reynolds film…
It’s gonna take a lot of work! It’s gonna take a lot of sweat! But eventually, I’m gonna mold you into one of the greatest 12yr olds to ever play this game!
-Phil Brickma
George strikes again
Nooo, I liked Kodi Whitley and Kramer I still think has some value left in there.
PUJOLS AND MOLINA HAVE OFFICIALLY RETIRED.
Does this mean we are keeping Alex Reyes?
Can’t trade him (more valuable to keep him as a lottery ticket, at this point), so yeah, the Reyes era will continue.
Sneaky good move here by Mozeliak to keep these two in the organization
“Many teams face roster crunches at this time of year, given that there’s no injured list between the World Series and Spring Training, meaning guys on the 60-day IL will need spots again. Also, the deadline for adding players to protect them for the Rule 5 draft is coming up in mid-November. With those pressures, it seems that Robertson and Whitley were squeezed out and the Cards were willing to risk losing them on waivers”
Baseball should fix this
I remember when Whitley first came up? Think he struck out the side in the south side of Chicago? Part of the everyone and their mother call ups for the Cardinals in 2020 when they played the craziest schedule baseball has ever seen all because Carlos Martinez needed to go to the casino? When he first came up I thought if he can figure it out he’s a back end/closer piece for that bullpen. Never has quite found consistency
Wonder if the a’s would take gorman, knizer, liberatore, Burleson, and luken baker for murphy, puk and trivino.
Trivino plays for the Yankees man
Totally forgot he got traded lol. Then throw in some other average reliever
Why would STL do that?
They need an above average catcher and a good bullpen piece(puk) and could use another reliever with how the bullpen fared last year. Giving up gorman(blocked), knizer(murphys an upgrade and herrera heir apparent), burelson(great prospect but blocked), luken baker(blocked) and liberatore(slightly soured on) they lose nothing from the major league roster while making upgrades where they are needed and the A’s get a ton of cheap talent which they always desire.
Would you want them to pick up their salaries as well for rest of their careers? That’s way too much for an avg catcher and a couple folks that they already have access to in their system.
Way too much for a slightly above avg catcher. And two throw ins.