The Cardinals announced Wednesday that they’ve acquired minor league infielder Jose Fermin from the Guardians in exchange for cash. Fermin has been selected to the 40-man roster in St. Louis, the team added. The Cardinals also reinstated righties Alex Reyes and Drew VerHagen from the 60-day injured list, bringing their 40-man roster to a total of 38 players.
Fermin, 24 in March, spent the 2022 season with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate and batted .215/.336/.322 with just a 13.9% strikeout rate against a 12.7% walk rate. He’s hit just 22 home runs in 415 minor league games and 1687 plate appearances, which underscores the lack of power that scouting reports on Fermin have emphasized. He stole 28 bases in just 105 games as recently as 2019, but Fermin only swiped nine bags in 90 games and 330 plate appearances in Triple-A this year.
While Fermin played plenty of shortstop early in his minor league run with Cleveland, he was deployed exclusively at second base and third base in 2022. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote prior to the 2022 season that Fermin rarely swings and misses but “lacks passable big league physicality and is a better fit at second base than shortstop.”
For the Cardinals, Fermin will give them a right-handed hitter with experience at three infield positions and solid bat-to-ball skills. Fermin would’ve been eligible to be selected in this year’s Rule 5 Draft, but St. Louis obviously saw enough in him that they preemptively made a move to acquire him and add him to the 40-man roster. This is the first time Fermin has been selected to a 40-man, so he’ll have a full slate of three minor league option years — assuming he sticks on their roster for that long, anyhow.
The moves to reinstate Reyes and VerHagen were a formality. Reyes missed the entire 2022 season due to shoulder surgery and has now managed just 145 innings in the Majors since making his debut back in 2016. He’ll be in line to earn a projected $2.8MM in arbitration this winter, and the Cardinals will likely have to weigh non-tendering the once-vaunted prospect.
VerHagen, meanwhile, missed time with shoulder and hip impingements in 2022 and didn’t pitch after being placed on the injured list on July 17. Signed to a two-year, $5.5MM deal in March — the first post-lockout, Major League free-agent signing for fans of random MLB trivia — the 32-year-old VerHagen was unable to replicate the success he’d found pitching overseas in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. In 21 2/3 innings with the Cardinals, he logged a 6.65 ERA with a 17% strikeout rate against a bloated 13.2% walk rate. He’s owed $3MM next season.
Ah!
When are we getting the free agent prediction post?
We always wait until after the deadline for teams to submit qualifying offers (tomorrow, 5pm ET). We recognize that this makes us a bit late to the party, relative to other free-agent predictions, but QOs are so crucial to earning power and potential landing spots. We feel it’s worth the trade-off.
Makes sense looking forward to it
We now have our star shortstop
I don’t understand what the Cardinals are doing with these three players. How are two bum shoulders and a promising minor leaguers going to help?
I know that the Guardians often try to find marginal players that they hope will develop into something usable then try to pass them through waivers. It is a way to find productive players at the bottom of the 26 man roster. I’m wondering if the Cards are doing the same thing with Jose.
Jose was not going to make a dent in Cleveland. We have too many infielders. That said, it is not impossible that he could develop into a passible reserve infielder … someone you might bring up if your regular guy gets hurt.
I wish him the best. I always hoped to see another Fermin in Cleveland.
Are they doing a rule 5 eligible list? I know it will be a lot of names.
Fermin is a better player than his numbers indicate.. even so.. he’s still not a big time prospect.. He’s a guy that can fill a “need” space.. probably not much more..
Looks like a positioning move for things to come.
This isn’t the shortstop we’re looking for. Move along….move along.
(Just a depth move, nothing to see here.)
About time to cut bait with Reyes and VerHagen.
Edmundo Sosa v1.5?
… but with options.
And that is the key…..options.
Sosa will be a much better player in the long run? Idk I was pretty high on him, brought the energy, brought the speed, brought the glove occasionally would come up with a huge hit. Sosa is a impact player when he’s healthy. Phillies are lucky to have him.
Guardians fan here. Fermin has never been a true top prospect but he’s always played solid at every level and he’s one of the nicest guys in all of the minor leagues. He actually is used as the translator for Hispanic players in interviews with English speaking reporters. Love Fermin, we didn’t have space for him here so hopefully he can make it with St. Louis
Unless this is a precursor to possibly moving Gorman, and even if it is… I don’t understand it.
The depth chart at 2B and 3B is pretty great. Gorman, Edman and Donovan can all play 2B and it’s not like you’d expect Arenado to miss any time at 3rd so the only way this makes a lot of sense is if you need depth for when you deal one of those three for say a Catcher or Pitcher, the Actual Needs of the team.
I’d probably be a little worried if I were Gorman at this point. Seems the most likely to bring a big return for a top quality guy.
It is a depth move. These happen all the time in the off-season.
I understand the depth part? But what did the Cardinals see in him that they picked him up before the rule 5 draft which he would have been eligible for and protected him with a 40 man spot? He’s a glove first player who strikes out as much as he walks who has some contact ablity, speed, and absolutely no power to speak of? Feels like there something either I don’t know, or I missed something?
I could see Gorman as the start of a package for Sean Murphy. He seems to be the most expendable chip worth trading. Gorman, Herrera and a couple mid to lower end guys?
We never hear about how much cash is involved in these acquisitions. Just curious. Welcome to the Cardinals. Is Jose related to Felix Fermin?
Baseball Reference doesn’t have anything about either being relatives. They’re usually my first click for that kind of thing.
I believe he is Felix’s son…at least I always assumed he was.
I wonder about the amount of cash too. I always assume it is a negligible sum, relative to player salaries. If they lost him in the Rule 5 Draft, the selecting team would need to pay $100k, so I am thinking it would be around there
Fermin is worth having in your organization but not necessarily worth a 40-man spot, at least not this early in the offseason. He’s a solid defender with good plate discipline that runs well, but the bat might never come around. The best description I can give him is that he’s Ernie Clement with the sliders turned up.
He was way too far down the pecking order among all of Cleveland’s middle infielders, but he was a decent prospect not that long ago and a change of scenery could always help. He’s probably a utility guy and a fringe 40-man guy, but you never know. Good luck to him.
That is what I don’t understand m. Why is he on the 40 man roster?
Putmeincoach12: The reason he was placed on the 40 man roster is that he’d be Rule 5 eligible this winter. It stated it in the article.
Skill set, or lack thereof, reads similarly to a Cleveland shortstop of some years ago, former Indian and Pirate Felix Fermin.
When DeJong is traded, the Cardinals will need a right-handed hitting backup middle infielder with options and a good glove. Fermin sounds perfect. He seems much better suited for that role than Kramer Robertson.
Edmundo Sosa 2.0?
Not exactly. Sosa had tons of physical ability and an unrefined skillset. Fermin seems to be the opposite. I like the move. Sounds more like Kramer Robertson 2.0 than anything else. I agree with other posters that this is a depth move hopefully indicating a larger, later move.
Related to former Indian Felix Fermin?
Nope. Not related.
Interesting move. Fermin had 7 years of minor league experience and therefor could have been a minor league free agent, but instead he gets his contract purchased just before that. As a result Cleveland essentially had no leverage to trade him, this is just them getting him to a place that’s a good fit.
Fermin has always had a good approach, draws lots of walks without striking out much. Has a lot of speed and plays good defense. He got moved off SS mostly because Cleveland has like a half dozen SS prospects that are all top 100 prospect types (Arias, Freeman, Tena, Gimenez, A. Martinez). Always struck me as a guy who would be a lot more heralded in a different system but never got the love here despite consistently producing.
I hope he works out well for the Cards!