The Cardinals announced that shortstop Masyn Winn was placed on the 10-day injured list due to back spasms. Winn will be replaced by fellow infielder Nolan Gorman, whose own 10-day IL stint (due to a hamstring strain) has now ended with Gorman’s activation to the big league roster.
Winn lasted just an inning into yesterday’s game before his bad back required his removal from the lineup. Winn also fought through some back problems last season, and told reporters (including MLB.com’s John Denton) yesterday that his current issue “was similar” but “last year was actually a little bit worse.” Winn felt he might miss a couple of games but wouldn’t need an IL trip, yet the Cardinals have apparently decided to take the cautious route in giving the shortstop 10 days to fully recover.
A second-round pick for St. Louis in the 2020 draft, Winn went from highly-touted prospect to everyday shortstop when he hit .267/.314/.416 with 15 homers over 637 plate appearances in 2024. With both this above-average hitting and strong glovework in the view of some defensive metrics, Winn earned himself an everyday role in the Cardinals’ lineup, though he was off to a slow start at the plate this year.
Thomas Saggese now looks to play shortstop while Winn is out, though super-utilityman Brendan Donovan will also receive his first taste of shortstop playing time since 2023 as the Cardinals figure out how to juggle their roster. Having Donovan at shortstop would open up second base for Gorman, since third base will only be a possibility if Nolan Arenado is given a rest day. Gorman appeared in two games before hitting the IL, but he’ll now make it back after just a minimal 10-day absence.
Saggese will play short just like he did last night. Donovan will be the backup
Time to re-evaluate Baker and Siani. Are the big leaguers or AAAA?
Siani isn’t even AAA
As far as Baker is concerned, he’s an MLB bench player at worst. The only reason he hasn’t had more MLB playing time by now is due to a glut of 1B/DH options over the past couple of years.
Baker is good at making contact with his bat but he is slower than Christmas!!!
(He hit an obvious double to the wall in left…. As the cameras came back to him … he’d just rounded first going full speed, and lumbered into second. Barely beating the throw).
Baker is a back up type player because of his lack of speed and quickness.
Lack of speed doesn’t matter much when a guy is a really good hitter. Nobody ever faulted Mark McGwire much during his prime for being so slow. Even Yadier Molina was usually considered an offensive asset despite his lack of speed once his bat developed.
No, for most games, it will probably be Donovan at SS and Gorman at 2B (with Saggese as the backup). When Saggese plays, Gorman will probably have the day off, like today.
Why in the world would they bench Donovan?!
They would let donovan sit for at most 5 games unless he is really injured like end of 23. I think that donovan will be lf and saggese will be ss
LF? They’d be just as crazy to bench Nootbaar! I suppose they could move Nootbaar to RF, but it would also be a mistake to disrupt Walker’s rhythm with him off to a decent start.
It’ll simply be Gorman and Saggese splitting playing time until Winn gets back.
From a financial perspective, Winn’s pre-arbitration salary of $750,000 and his 2024 performance suggest a high value return on investment. Gorman, with a projected 2025 salary of approximately $1 million, also offers significant value, especially considering his offensive contributions. In contrast, veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado is set to earn $21 million in 2025. While Arenado brings experience and leadership, the emergence of younger, cost-controlled talent like Winn and Gorman presents the Cardinals with strategic options regarding roster construction and payroll management.
Sure, but only if/when the Cardinals fall out of contention or they have time to try to adjust the roster construction next offseason.
At this point, financial value doesn’t matter, and Arenado is still a much better player than either Winn or Gorman. So Arenado will continue to play to help the team win as many games as they can for now.
Those players also do not have the name recognition and marketability that Arenado has. At the end of the day pro sports are ultimately businesses built upon sports. Those businesses are all star driven and players with name recognition are what draws casual fans.
Yes Winn and Gorman are a better value for production. And if constructed properly teams can be much more competitive with such players. But while diehard fans recognize these names, we unfortunately are not the ones generating the most revenue. It’s the casual fans who go to a handful of games as special events and shell out much more on these special occasions. Many also will go out and buy apparel for these events they otherwise would not. Some might purchase a streaming package shortly after while still excited from the event, only for it to linger thereafter like New Years resolution gym memberships.
I would bring up Pietro or Fermin just for depth and send down Baker so he can get some more ABs!!