The Cardinals announced this morning that the club had selected the contract of infielder Taylor Motter. Infielder Jose Fermin was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Motter on the active roster while the club granted right-hander Jake Walsh his unconditional release, a move that opened a 40-man roster spot for Motter.
A 17th-round selection by the Rays in the 2011 draft, the 33 year old Motter has played for seven MLB clubs since making his debut with Tampa back in 2016. Motter has never hit well at the big league level, with a career .191/.263/.309 slash line in 468 career plate appearances. That being said, the veteran journeyman does offer a great deal of versatility. Across his six seasons in the big leagues, Motter has appeared at every position on the diamond except for center field and catcher. He’s even taken the mound previously in his career, with 1 1/3 innings of work to his name as a pitcher.
With Motter seemingly poised to take over as the club’s big league utility option in the infield, Fermin is headed back to Triple-A. The 24-year-old rookie made his big league debut with the Cardinals earlier this month, though it hasn’t gone well to this point. In five games with the big league club, Fermin has slashed just .091/.167/.091 while chipping in at both second and third base. Fermin, who came to St. Louis in a cash deal with the Guardians last November, has an uninspiring career slash line of .216/.337/.338 at the Triple-A level, though he’s still a potentially valuable utility option given his solid glove all around the infield.
Making room for Motter on the 40-man roster is Walsh, a 16th-round pick by the Cardinals in the 2017 draft. Walsh, 28, made his MLB debut for the Cardinals last year, allowing four runs on three hits and two walks while striking out five in 2 2/3 innings of work. That difficult start to his big league career seems to have carried over into his performance at the Triple-A level, where he’s posted a 5.28 ERA in 30 2/3 innings of work this season.
In addition to Walsh’s struggles at the big league level, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat indicates that health may have been a factor in the club’s decision to release Walsh, as the right-hander had just been placed on the minor league injured list with a nerve issue in his arm. Now on the open market, Walsh figures to look for a new club with whom he can rehab his current injury and attempt to work his way back to the majors.
Ah the weekly Motter article. this guy gets more press here than Acuna. Who’s he related to?
You might say he’s Taylor made for MLB Trade Rumors articles.
He has pictures of DeWitts and Mo I think.
Utility lives Motter
Stop crying about free content.
This Motter saga is one of the more embarrassing aspects of a very embarrassing season.
You can say that again.
What they are nuts
Because Fermin is killing it??
Yuck
Of course they did.
Maybe getting ready to do a trade.
Logan Gilbert for Gorman – who says no?
No
I’m not giving Seattle Gorman for anyone not named Kirby. And even then I’d hesitate
“For anyone not named Kirby”…good luck on that one; Now admittedly I don’t watch the Cards often, but does Gorman even own a glove, because I’ve heard the Cards best young hitters, like Gorman, couldn’t even catch a cold. Seattle I do watch and I think it’ll take 2.5 Gormans to get a front of rotation type like Kirby. You don’t wanna OVER value your whole team, because if you do we’ll be having this exact same conversation next yr at this time and the Cards will again be bringing up the rear in the NL Central.
Lol you need to watch Gorman elite young hitter already 20 hrs. Don’t worry you won’t be getting him as I don’t see the mariners giving us anything we want. 2.5 Gormans lol
So you’re admittedly commenting from a position of ignorance on the players? You’re NOT getting Gorman for anything SHORT of something painful. And I don’t mean Gilbert. Gilbert is definitely a good pitcher, but he’s NOT a number 1 pitcher. Gorman’s glove is fine. And getting better. He’ll never be Ozzie Smith, but with his power, he doesn’t NEED to be.
Gorman had to switch positions from 3b to 2b. I would say on the 1 to 10 scale he’s currently a 4. He makes a nice play every few games but also makes mistakes. He’s not terrible.
Jordan Walker on the same scale is a negative 12. He’s terrible…..
Gorman is not bad in the field. He’s getting better at second as well. He can absolutely mash at the plate though. He’s a really good young player. I would watch a game and judge for yourself before just going off what you “heard”. Just me though I like to form my own opinions and do my own research.
They’re in 4th place. Checkmate!
Gorman is SO good he’s carrying you to last place. I guess you haven’t been watching the standings. You ought to try comedy, it seems you’re quite good at it. I watch mostly relevant contenders, not teams out of the race by May.
Julio Rodriguez is a superstar and the Mariners have 3 aces yet they are a 500 team.
It’s a team game. Gorman is a stud if you watch the games you know this.
Congrats on the dumbest comment of the day!!
“Position of ignorance”..When the Cards are good, relevant and contending, I watch them more. I watch a lot of MLB, but nobody can watch all 30 every week. I see the Cards a couple times a week, mostly when I watch them play actual contenders. Get a grip and a clue, they’re not exactly “must see” TV these days my friend.
“Julio Rodriguez is a superstar” …Rodriguez is having half the year he had last yr and Seattle lacks consistent, everyday hitters. I watch Seattle 5+ times per week and I’d say they have several good young pitchers and ONE “Ace”, George Kirby.
You don’t know anything about Gorman. Don’t talk bad about a player you know nothing about.
“dumbest comment”..You Cards fans lose quite a bit of credibility, because to hear you tell it Gorman is top ten, Edman is top ten, Nootbar is top 10 etc…If you have so many great players, why are you in last place?
“Don’t talk bad”…I never brought up Gorman and certainly didn’t “talk bad” about him. I commented on someone else who said Gorman is worth more than George Kirby. You Cards fans are a curious bunch, who really don’t want to hear any opinions not your own. With that attitude, you’ll soon be getting accustomed to frequent last place finishes, because you’re not open to anything other than what you’re currently doing, King of Cards. I’ve seen the Cards play at least 30 times this year, although other teams I see much more frequently.
I didn’t say he was “worth more” moron. I said, “I’m not trading him for anyone NOT named Kirby. I no where said he was worth more. Reading comprehension hard?
“Worth more moron”…Grow up bro. MLB shouldn’t need to involve insults. You sound like a 13 year old boy, who’s mad because everybody doesn’t love his favorite player. Your immaturity level makes Cardinals fans look bad my “friend”.
We’re not friends… And if you don’t want to look like a moron, stop putting words in peoples’ mouths. Lol, the troll telling people to grow up.
The hitting is top 10 in the majors so thats how they have so many good players in last place. Being a mariners fan and trying to act like you’ve ever won anything is funny, didnt your Franchise player leave the city to go to Cincinnati? Not even being God in seattle did he want to stay, then you had a 20 year rebuild after choking with the team with the best record in history. You think its still may, but man look up; the Mariners are cooked behind the stros AGAIN and a rangers team missing its ace.
Mr Castillo would like to have a word with you.
Absolutely right.. hes still learning 2b and is already avg with the glove. he’ll get better obviously. great arm. Can really make the play in the hole.
We are talking jeff kent with the bat and probably ends up better defensively.
Little immature, infantile boys and their insults. Hope you feel better soon. If you weren’t such a dunce, you’d know that “friend” in quotes totally means we’re not friends.
with motter and musclehead K’neill in the lineup we may never score
Calm down fella
musclehead Kneil is worthless
NO! Gorman is the LH power hitter who has to balance out the Big 4 of Goldy, Arenado, Contreras, and Walker. Dude, with Gorman in the middle of all that, it’s a helluva lineup in 2024. Need some pitching!
The Cards.
Hell no
Both teams.
“ready to do a trade”…..Yep. Getting ready to rearrange the roster, something Mo should have done in the off-season. The Cards have too many players out of their natural positions, often to disastrous results.
Lol dude retooling not selling and Gorman and Walker know where they stand and are fine in their roles. It’s unclogging outfield jam and free agent pitchers we can get great value for and Herrara who can get us a great young arm too
Moe can’t stand Contreras so you really think he’s going to trade Herrera? He’s not going anywhere. Moe said he’d address Willson in the off-season (that’s if he doesn’t trade him to the Yanks first).
The Yankees have all the DH players they can use.
Their catcher, Trevino, is on the IL and will miss the rest of the year.
No
The biggest problem I see with the Cardinals is their defense is bad because guys are playing in the wrong positions. Their usually stout defense is plagued by guys who can’t play the positions they’re being asked to. Gorman should play 3rd and Walker should play first base but those positions are kind of filled already. It’s just bad roster construction. Plus as Deshaies says the Cards pitching strikes out nobody so that means a ton of balls in play to bad fielders. Just my opinion.
Agreed. If the Cardinals REALLY want to rebuild a contender, they convince Goldy and Arenado to waive their no-trade clauses and trade both of them. That moves Gorman to 3nd and Walker to 1st, with Donovan sliding into 2nd and Winn into SS. That would open the outfield for a combination of Nootbaar, Carlson, O’Neill, Edman and Burleson – pick 3 and trade 2. But, alas, it will never happen.
But what do you get for them? Name me a trade of a superstar mvp caliber player that netted a great return? Then you have to fill those holes, no? Middle of the order bats with great defense dont grow on trees.
Walker isn’t any more of a 1B than he is an OF, and trading those huge corner bats hurts the offense too much.
It probably wouldn’t even help the defense, as the excellent gloves of those two will likely provide more defensive value going forward than they lose by playing Gorman and Walker out of position.
Gorman and Walker are the ONLY players out of position, and Gorman is actually playing decent defense at 2B.
The majority of the defense is fine. It’s pretty much only Walker, Contreras, Burleson (when he plays), and a strangely mediocre defensive year from Arenado that are hurting the defense.
It’s not because of any trade. With Edman on the IL, Donovan unable to throw, Gorman now day-to-day, and DeJong needed to play SS, they just don’t have anyone else available to play 2B right now.
Meanwhile, who would you rather play, Motter or Fermin?
Gorman is more valuable at second. He’s turned into a good defensive second baseman. Getting his bat at a glove first position is a big plus.
Yes, but he can’t do that at the moment while he’s day-to-day with a minor injury.
Less work for the team barber…
Welcome Back,Motter
Yay!! The season is saved!!!
Change my mind: There’s actually no difference between Donovan Walton and Taylor Motter, they may even be the same person.
It’s possible.
Actually, there is. Motter is actually capable of throwing the baseball and playing 2B at the moment, while Donovan is currently restricted to DH.
I got 2 words
MASYN
WINN
Why he’s not on the team yet I don’t have a clue. We promoted Walker in April so he could clown it up in the outfield but now in July when the super 2 cutoff has passed we can’t promote Winn instead it’s Fermin and now Motter.
This is dumb. I am legit angry about this.
Clock. Why start it early? Cardinals aren’t going anywhere so why rush a 21 year old?
What clock?
It’s freaking July. He’s ready RIGHT NOW.
What are you talking about???
The service time clock, of course.
Also, no, the organization doesn’t think he’s ready yet, and even if he was, he still needs every day PAs and not to sit on the bench once Gorman recovers within the next few days.
If DeJong is traded by the deadline, then they might reconsider at that point, but even then it won’t be too long before Donovan and Edman both recover.
Service time doesn’t mean squat in July. As long as you plan on him making the opening day roster in 2024 it doesn’t mean squat.
The last 3 games were all losses against a division rival. Basically that was the nail in the coffin. We started Motter yesterday and Fermin started the 2 games prior. Winn could have started all 3 of those games and DeJong should be dealt any day now regardless of all that.
There is room for Winn. Even when Donovan and Edman get healthy there is room.
It does matter, since we don’t know whether or not Winn actually will make the Opening Day roster next year, nor if he will ever need to be sent down afterwards like Walker was this year.
Like I said, there is NOT room for Winn to play every day as is needed. Gorman will be back at 2B within the next few days. DeJong is on the roster for now, and it’s not a guarantee that he will be traded. Even if he is traded, by that point, both Donovan and Edman will nearing their returns to full health. At that point, even if an outfielder is also traded away, there will still be too much of a logjam with Gorman, Donovan, and Edman all probably still on the team.
He’s ready now. He’s definitely ready next April.
Like I said there is room. Last 3 games 2 started by Fermin 1 by Motter. Thata room clear as day.
DeJong is getting dealt.
Walker is playing in the bigs when he doesn’t belong. If Walker is up then why isn’t Winn???? Donovan and Edman can play outfield far better than Walker can.
So, Tommy has a bad wrist. Donovan a bad elbow. Apparently, Gorman has a stiff back. Wow, the injury bug has hit 2nd base. Next up? Taylor frogging Motter. 2023 is now officially OVER. Walker & Goldy not in the lineup either. I cannot bring myself to turn on the game today. I’ll have to find something else to do.
Just blow it up already, I’ve lost interest in the games, as it appears our bullpen has. They need to move before the other sellers start.
No point in calling up Winn just to get 3 at bats every week.
He could have started the last 3 games. The 3 that we have lost, or about to lose in today’s case 2 outs left down 5.
You are wrong.
If Fermin was sent down and there was now an open 40-man roster spot, than I’d be thinking there might be a trade today and eagerly scanning MLB news.. But with Motter taking that spot, it’s really nothing more than Mo reshuffling the lawn furniture at this point..
I hope Mo signs a team barber this winter
I agree, that’s pretty pathetic. I respect the Yankees organization for their stance on facial hair and mops for hair.
The cardinals will let you wear your hair at any length, drink and drive, use steroids, do coke, leave the team during the season to watch your basketball team, encourage you to hack in to other teams computers, and fly escorts in during COVID lockdown. However they will NOT allow you to question the direction of the team, give interviews to Sports Illustrated condemning the way you were passed over, or video tape your manager using profanity in a locker room during a victory speech. Seems simple enough
Glorious Yadi dig.
Taylor was a legend in his time with Seattle..fan favorite for his hair. Pretty funny team commercials wih him and Kyle Seagar.
Motter has a 57 OPS+ this year, which is impressive because that effort is BETTER then his career OPS+ of 56.
At this point in the season, it really doesn’t motter.