It was less than a year ago that the Cardinals made the decision to move three-time All-Star Willson Contreras to first base after the veteran slugger indicated he wasn’t interested in waiving his no-trade clause to leave St. Louis ahead of their impending rebuild. That decision was intended to open up the catcher position so that younger players more tied to the future of the franchise, like Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages, could get reps at the position and prove themselves capable as regulars in the majors.
Getting opportunities for those young players was a sensible goal, but it didn’t come without risk. Replacing Paul Goldschmidt at first base would be a big ask for any player, and while Contreras has long been a talented hitter he’s not always been able to produce enough offensively to justify a role as an everyday first baseman. Contreras also had just 11 appearances (three starts) on his resume at the position prior to 2025, the most recent of which had come all the way back in 2019, so learning a new position would place additional challenges on the veteran as he headed into his age-33 season.
At first, the experiment looked like it was poised to be a failure. Contreras came out of the gate ice cold in 2025, with a .145/.198/.237 slash line in his first 82 trips to the plate that was difficult to stomach from a first baseman. A month into the season, more than 65% of respondents to an MLBTR poll regarding Contreras’s future suggested that he would be either a league average hitter or worse in 2025, while just 34% of respondents believed Contreras would be able to rebound to his typical numbers. Fortunately for St. Louis, Contreras managed to overcome expectations and do just that. Flash forward to the end of the season, and Contreras is now coming off a solid .257/.344/.447 campaign. His 124 wRC+ this year is right in line with his career mark of 122 and only slightly below the 129 he’s posted to this point in his Cardinals career.
While that rebound from Contreras is certainly encouraging, a 124 wRC+ from first base isn’t exactly the sort of production that one would hope for. Among baseball’s 25 qualified first baseman, Contreras ranked just 12th by wRC+ and actually wound up tied with teammate Alec Burleson, who is entering arbitration for the first time this offseason. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Burleson for a salary of just $3.5MM in 2025, a figure that comes in well below the $36.5MM Contreras is owed over the next two years. Given that they can get similar production for much less money in-house, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Cardinals were hoping once again to trade Contreras this winter. For his part, Contreras has stated he prefers to remain in St. Louis but will at least consider waiving his no-trade clause this winter.
While Contreras’s production this year might not be commensurate with his salary now that he’s a first baseman, that doesn’t mean there’s no room for optimism. In fact, there’s plenty of positive signs in Contreras’s performance that leave the door wide open for him to deliver at a high level offensively in the coming years. From May 1 onward, Contreras hit a much more robust .268/.357/.480 with a wRC+ of 136. That’s good for the fifth-highest wRC+ in baseball among first basemen during that period, behind only Nick Kurtz, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Matt Olson, and Michael Busch.
Many players would look a great deal more impressive if you ignored their worst month of the year, of course, but Contreras’s underlying numbers reveal reason for further optimism. The veteran’s .369 xwOBA this season is more or less in line with his numbers since his offensive breakout season in 2022, and a near perfect match for the .370 wOBA he posted in 2024. That performance came with a wRC+ of 141, and there’s at least some reason to believe he could match that performance again in the future.
Contreras’s 13.8% barrel rate and 48.9% hard-hit rate this year were both career highs despite a .190 ISO that was one of the weakest of his career. That drop in ISO and walk rate that dropped to just 7.8% this year were the weakest parts of Contreras’s profile as a hitter this season, and a look at his swing decisions this year reveals the cause of that flaw. Contreras’s contact rate spiked to 73.6% this year, the highest its been since 2018. That’s not a bad thing in isolation, but digging a little deeper reveals that almost all of that improvement came on pitches outside of the strike zone, while he actually swung at pitches inside the zone far less often than he had in the past. Contreras took a swing at just 65.7% of pitches in the strike zone this year, a nearly four-point drop from the previous three seasons.
With Contreras’s impressive underlying power metrics this year, it’s certainly possible that being more aggressive on pitches inside the strike zone could allow him to access more of that power in games than he did this year. Even if that adjustment doesn’t come, however, one major feather in Contreras’s cap is his work with the glove at first base this year. Despite learning the position on the fly this past winter, the veteran posted +6 Outs Above Average this season. Just three first basemen (Olson, Ty France, and Carlos Santana) beat that mark this season, and it stands to reason that Contreras could build on his performance next year now that he has more experience under his belt.
Whether Contreras ultimately ends up finishing out his contract with the Cardinals in St. Louis or getting traded at some point over the next two seasons, it’s hard to view the contract as anything other than a success for the club. In the first four seasons of his five year deal with the organization, Contreras has hit .261/.358/.459 (129 wRC+) with 8.2 fWAR and 8.9 bWAR in 344 games for the Cardinals despite injuries and multiple moves off of his natural position. While the incoming ABS challenge system next year and the lack of catching depth around the league could make the idea of Contreras moving back behind the plate appealing for some potential suitors on the trade market, Contreras proved himself to be a quality first baseman in 2025 and should be able to provide value in that role regardless of if he does so in St. Louis or elsewhere.
Both Willson and Burlson are professional hitters who care about their batting skills. They both make the Cardinals better, although Contreras should work on his anger management issues. I just don’t think there is a good trade market for Willson without paying his salary down, since he is a below average defensive catcher.
He’s not a catcher anymore hes a 1b. I am sure that was mentioned somewhere……
While I appreciate the comical, smart a$$ answer, I believe what he was trying to say is that he likely has more trade value for a team looking for a catcher, as he (as the article pointed out) is just an average, middle of the road hitter at 1B. Not a lot of teams will be bending over backwards to trade for an average, middle of the road hitting 1B on a large contract who is slightly below average defensively as well. I’d guess he’s finishing out his contract in St. Louis either way.
“slightly below average defensively”
The article stated he was in the top four defensively among first basemen last year With a chance to get better with experience. Also, he was fifth in wRC+ among 1B after May 1.
Being a good defensive first baseman is kind of like being the hottest girl in the trailer park, ain’t it?
Wander,
No, it’s not.
@gbs Being a good defensive 1B does not have the same weight as being good at every other positions by varying degrees. Without a doubt different positions provide more value than others it has been proven statistically and is backed by the laws of mathematics.
As far as his offensive production, his #s from May 1st on are encouraging. However, the 2026 season starts prior to May 1st as did 2025 so his stats are what they are for 2025. The statistcal normal for stats are career or season, any breakdown there after by time period is arbitrary unless referencing as a trend not a statistical norm.
Charlie, the article was wrong if it tried to imply that Contreras is a middle of the road hitter as a 1B. His 124 wRC+ was 11% better than the 113 wRC+ average for players with a qualifying number of plate appearances whose primary position was 1B. Don’t take anything Deeds says at face value. Do your own research because he gets the facts wrong often. Contreras was a poor defensive catcher and the move to 1B is permanent after his arm was broken.
The 1B touches the ball in play nearly as much as the rest of the IF combined since most balls are thrown to the 1B to make the out. A bad defensive 1B not only effects his own play, but he also increases the number of errors by the other IF. He makes the entire team worse.
The average among players whose primary position was 1B was a 107 wRC+. fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?stats=bat&…
For players with a qualifying number of PA the average while they were playing 1B was a 113 wRC+.
Either way, Contreras’ 124 wRC+ was far above average.
Contreras was a catcher when the dirty birds traded for him. He was a below average defensive catcher. The relevance of being a below average defensive catcher is the same reason why Cal Raleigh might be the MVP over Aaron Judge who was the superior hitter, teams pay a higher premium for a good hitting catcher as opposed to a good hitting first baseman. To me, Contreras is a slightly above average defensive first baseman but the expectation for offensive prowess is so much higher for a first baseman than a catcher. As a first baseman, Contreras is maybe worth what he is getting paid but there is no surplus value to trade away without buying down the contract if the dirty birds want to garner a decent prospect.
Contreras’ days as a catcher are over. And at $17m/year and a .791 OPS/ 2.6 WAR, his contract represents a solid market value.
Hope you are right!!! Hope there is a good market for Contreras!!!
I’d like to see Contreras and his drama gone and Burleson as the everyday first baseman!!
What drama? It’s not his fault they signed him to be a catcher then 2 months later decided they didn’t want him there?
Contreras is not a catcher anymore. He is a 1B. A well above average defensive 1B who also happens to hit much better than the average 1B.
Why trade Burleson over Contreras or Gorman???
Burleson is the better ball player than either one of them!!!
The best move is to retain Burleson —- trade Gorman while you can get something for him. Same goes for Contreras— pay part of his contract to get rid of his drama while you can get something for him too.
Burleson is not better than Contreras with the bat and especially not on defense. Contreras is a much better player.
Gorman is a different story, and he will bring back exactly squat in trade. No real reason to trade him other than to clear a roster spot.
How you measure the effect of “drama” is something that can’t be described in stats. Never heard anyone on the Cardinals say that they want to trade Contreras because of anything like that, have you?
youtu.be/zrqCCHiPG4I?si=Ikp0gXhNtJ4601xH
A vlogger doesn’t value 1B? Ok. What is your point?
Burleson has 3 years of control left. If the Cardinals are truly rebuilding they shoupd get some long term value for him instead of keeping him. I also think you would be selling high on Burleson.
Contreras isnt drama. He’s a good guy and good teammate. Marmol is drama.
@websoul Ranking 12th out of 30 is not much better than average. For 2025 he ranked 12th at 1B as stated in the article offensively.
Defensively yes he ranked decently above average at 1B. But not top 5 in any defensive metric and at the least valuable position defensively.
His trade value is going to depend heavily on amount STL is willing to pay. His production for $17M from a RH 1B are nothing special and leave much to be desired.
The average wRC+ for players with a qualifying number of PA and whose primary position is 1V was 113. Contreras had a 124 wRC+. Combine being 11% better offensively with being a plus defensive 1B by StatCast’s FRV and that makes Contreras a very valuable trade target. If you prefer bWAR Contreras was the 9th best player at 1B. If you prefer fWAR he was the 8th best player at 1B. Either way, his value was far above $17 million.
Deeds took the number of players and said because he was 12th out of 25 that he was average. Because he was talking about Contreras’ wRC+ and not his rank, Deed’s logic was faulty as usual.
The average among players whose primary position was 1B was a 107 wRC+. fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?stats=bat&…
For players with a qualifying number of PA the average while they were playing 1B was a 113 wRC+.
Either way, Contreras’ 124 wRC+ was far above average. His 4 FRV, StatCast’s defensive metric, was also far above average.
A 2.6 bWAR was valued at $26.5 million in free agency this past offseason. That is higher than the $17 million Contreras will be paid.
The Cardinals will not have to eat any of his salary to trade him, just get his blessing for a trade. Gray and Arenado will need to Cardinals to fork over at least half of their remaining salary owed in order to find a taker.
1B typically has quite a few players available in free agency or on trade market coming off down seasons. Some are due to regression, some weaker lineups, some bad luck, etc… Point being its a position that teams can often find bargains in cost related to production or WAR. Not to mention 1B is one rare in that being LH is not a detriment its actually a plus defensively. LH bats are also obviously a plus, unfortunately for Contreas he is RH. We can try and dismiss that, but that is reality.
2.6 bWAR was worth $26.5 million in signing free agents this past offseason. It will likely go up this offseason. That is the value the Contreras provided for his $17 million salary.
Whether he hits RH or LH has no bearing on his proven value. It does not change it one penny. What he did over the season matters. That was a wRC+ that was much higher than the average 1B. That was perform defensively at well above average, a 4 FRV. That was provide 2.6 bWAR. Against RHP his wRC+ was above average, so that further devalues your argument.
No 1B that were free agents in the 2024-2025 offseason outperformed Contreras with the bat or overall, let alone that did it for less money. Of the 1B that are free agents this offseason none will make less than $17 million. Alonso, O’Hearn, and Naylor are all going to make that or more as an AAV.
All of that is the reality of the situation.
Nearly everywhere has O’Hearn projected under $17M. There are also numerous other free agents of varying risk and age avaible and well over half hit LH or switch. And yes teams seeking LH hitting absolutely care what side of plate a player hits from. That need easily supersedes total WAR added at one position as a balanced lineup is protecting the total WAR they are trying to pick across rest of lineup.
1B is the position LH position players most likely to play. It is also a position teams have more and more frequently sought out bargains at or resorted to changing the position of a player already on the roster opposed to spending in free agency((wait Contreas…..))
Avg WAR is not equal across positions or in anyway linear. The laws of supply/demand, lineup needs, position needs, current 25 man roster all factor into what positions teams spend the most on. For 1B it has been trending down for years. The mere fact Alonso is backing seeking a longer multi year deal is a testament to that.
Everything you said was wrong. Thanks for wasting all our time.
Of course there is a trade market for Willson Contreras. He is only making $18M in 2026 and $18.5M in 2027. A $5M buyout in 2028.
He provides very good RH bat and very good defense at 1B. Passionate attitude and WS experience.
The Brewers ought to be knocking on the door for Contreras and Gray. Though it would probably take a 3-way for optics.
That said, I’d also trade Burleson. Good bat against RHP. . Burleson’s good season and team control should be attractive to other teams.
But neither of these guys will be core by the time the Cardinals are competitive again.
Contreras has been an excellent Cardinal and happy to keep him around. But Burlesons best position is 1b and my guess is thats also Gormans best position. I would be ok with trading Burleson I think his value is about at its peak hes as good as hes ever going to be and hes still cheap with 3 years of team control.
Gorman’s best position seems to be in Triple-A.
Yes him and Walker are incapable of adjustment
Burleson’s best position is DH. He has not been good on defense in the OF or 1B.
Gorman has a chance to make it.
Walker…probably not…….
Walker has the quickest bat and is an immensely talented hitter. It seems hard to understand why he cant put it together. But I just maybe forgetting how difficult hitting a baseball in today’s MLB is
Walker is a mess. Gorman has legit power but makes bad swing decisions. Walker is just dont think has it.
It’s time to move on from Gorman.
I agree that the Cards won’t get anything useful back for him —- except open up a roster spot for J. J. Wetherholt.
Burleson belongs at first but good luck dumping Contreras on someone
Burleson is not a good defensive 1B or OF. His best position is DH. Contreras was a good defensive 1B.
@Gambler Numerous Cards fans here dont want to hear that. They seem to want to ignore the ongoing trend against spending big @ 1B. Ironically tho Contreas was an internal move at the very position they are trying to spin this inflated demand for him.
What was the 2nd largest contract in history signed just this year? What position does he play?
What is expected by this site to be the 2nd largest contract of the offseason? What position does he play?
Your very premise is wrong.
The best scenario is Herrera catching, Burleson and Contreras splitting 1b and DH. But is Herrera able?
Unfortunately Herrera is a horrendous defensive catcher. I wouldn’t be opposed to trading him for the right price, as he is injury prone and can’t play any position on the field well. Cards can’t keep all these guys around who can’t play a position but are decent hitters. You need one of those at most. Gotta trade for whatever they can get in the offseason and move on. The team is nowhere near competing, and they do still need to make everyday playing room for Weatherholt and possibly Josh Baez, who, if he continues this progression, could finally give us an every day RF.
If Wetherholt and Baez force the issue, 2B and RF will be available for them.
I’m looking forward to seeing if JJ can play 3rd. If they find a trade partner for Arenado AND he accepts the trade, we could see JJ up at 3rd sometime this next season. I also wouldn’t be opposed to JJ playing in Memphis until late August. It worked with Masyn getting some exposure like that. Baez was very impressive in Springfield this year and I can’t wait to see how he does at AAA. He could certainly be LF/RF in the near future. I kind of think Noot could be on the move this off-season opening things up in LF.
Wouldn’t it be better to keep Weatherholt at 2B and move Donovan to 3B? Of course, this also depends on what they do with Gorman…
I don’t know if Donnie’s elbow can handle 3rd full-time. JJ has only played 38 games at 3rd, so I’d like to see him get more experience there in Memphis. I have no doubt he could play 2nd or SS.
If it means getting both of their bats in the lineup, I see no reason not to continue playing Herrera at DH most games and sacrificing some corner outfield defense with Burleson.
Considering Baez hasn’t even hit AAA yet, he won’t be an option until midseason at the earliest and likely not considered for a starting until 2027.
That’s the drawback with Baez, no exposure to AAA pitching yet. He’s been exciting to watch at each level so far. I agree that he probably won’t be an option until ’27 at least. Pujols’ development was an outlier and so was Matt Carpenter’s. Baez will probably be somewhere in between.
As usual Nick, you are horrible at presenting the facts in a cogent manner and far too often get the facts wrong.
Contreras was 6th in wRC+ out of fifteen 1B with a qualifying number of PA at that position.
fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?lg=all&sea…
What you quoted was how players who had at least some PA while playing at 1B and a qualifying number of PA overall.
Even then, you blew it by not telling the entire story and instead presenting your opinion. As Paul Harvey would say, “And now for the rest of the story”. Contreras was 12th out of 25 players with a qualifying number of PA overall and that had played at least a portion (not starts) of 50% of their games at 1B. He was well above the average of 113 wRC+ for that group of players.
That combined with Contreras being 24% above average for all players means there was nothing to indicate that there was more to be hoped for. He had a fantastic season that every fan and his GM should be quite happy with. Would it have been nice if he repeated what was a career year at the plate in 2024 at age 32? Of course. Is that a reasonable expectation or something that makes the very good season he had in 2025 disappointing? Of course not.
Last, but not least, Burleson did not have a qualifying number of PA at 1B. He also had a below average season overall in his 3rd full season in the majors. In no way did his 1.8 WAR season indicate he should replace Contreras at 1B. In fact, that Burleson continues to be bad defensively at 1B and in the OF is an indication that Burleson should be moved to DH and Contreras, who was playing 1B regularly for the 1st time in his career, should continue at 1B. Prior to 2025 Contreras had 4 starts at 1B and 3 of those were in 2017 or before and his Feilding Run Value at 1B was in the 77th percentile and his OAA was a 6 this season.
Stick to the facts and keep your opinion to yourself, especially when it’s not supported by the players actual performance.
When a guy is average today we go to all kind of stats to prove our slanted points, there are hundreds of ways to measure bad
Who was average?
Well, as long as Herrera needs to be the primary DH, Burleson can stay in the CO where his below average defense is acceptable in exchange for his excellent bat, but otherwise I agree.
They went after the wrong Contreras
…
HE SHOULD STILL BE CATCHING
Oh I’m sorry he doesn’t measure up to Yadier Molina #BUM move him to 1B so we can make Jordan Walker try to learn how to play OF and kneecap Walker’s confidence so he forgets how to hit, too
There’s 15 things that went wrong moving him to 1B. That alone should get Mozeliak fired for even suggesting it
I mean he moved to first for good after he broke his arm on a backswing and Walker was playing 3rd base and the outfield before the move, are the other 15 things that went wrong things that actually happened or more of just what you think happened?
Yadier Molina, so-called (by Cardinals fans) greatest defensive catcher ever, couldn’t make Willson Contreras playable behind the plate? He graded slightly above average in Chicago, I guess the Cubs are better run. Yes Jordan Walker is playing out of position because he has $80 million blocking him at 1B. This makes Walker stand in RF, which blocks other guys from developing. Adolis Garcia got traded because they didn’t have room. Tommy Edman was given away. Lars Nootbaar could have had enough ABs by now to convince the brass that he isn’t that good but the 3 guys I just named all played a part in gumming up the works.
Walker has never played 1B, so nobody is blocking him there.
Garcia was snatched off of waivers years ago, so the current OF situation has nothing to do with him.
The Edman trade made sense at the time. The 2024 Cardinals were in contention at the trade deadline with Edman on the IL at the time, the Cardinals had no room for him on the 2025 roster and he would’ve been a free agent right now anyway, and Fedde falling apart starting in June was completely unpredictable.
Nootbaar has been given been given full-time ABs whenever he has been healthy. He’s just been injury-prone up to this point of his career. He was also a very good player from 2022-2024 when healthy. He just had somewhat of a down year this year but still wasn’t a bad player We’ll see how he does next year if he’s not traded…
Walker’s not a 1B in the first place, so Contreras’s move to 1B has nothing to do with him. It was Arenado’s presence at 3B that forced Walker to move to RF.
I think the guy has some value on the trade market but not very much. If the cards can find a way to trade him, they’re probably gonna have to pay about 4 1/2 million each season for the last two years of his contract at least.
He’s being paid fair market value, and even contracts that are a little below water don’t usually need to be paid down to trade them. Given that the Cardinals don’t need to trade him in the first place, and there is no way they’d accept a deal where they’d have to pay part of his remaining contract.
I can’t think of one single team that would take him for the money he’s going to be making for the next two years. No they don’t have to trade him. If they do find a trade partner and he’s willing to go there and waive his no trade clause the Cardinals are either gonna get next to nothing in return or they’re gonna have to eat some of that money. If you think it’s gonna be any other way you are delusional.
The Cardinals would like to keep him for that contact, so that’s one team for sure, and I’m sure there are at least half a dozen others that would take his full contract if they could come to an agreement on the return package.
Offhand, the Red Sox, Giants, Diamondbacks, and Angels would love to upgrade to Contreras at his price over their current 1B options. The Brewers might find it difficult to fit his contract in their budget, but they would take him at full price too if they could, and not just because his brother is already on the team. You’re the delusional one for thinking he has such little trade value.
By the way, if you’re actually right and the only trade offers they get for Contreras would require paying down part of his contract, then the Cardinals would be perfectly happy to just turn down those offers (without even bothering Contreras about whether he’d waive his no trade clause) and keep Contreras as their starting 1B for at least one more year.
I honestly don’t see anything happening with him whatsoever. We’ll see.
CLNC, I have shot your line of thinking down several times in this thread when responding to a few other mistaken commenters. Go see those posts for why.
Ok I’ll try to do better. I’ll look later when I have time.
He was very average as a fielder. Not close to Goldy. Hit only 250. We go after him to catch and we find out that skill has moved on. Move him on
StatCast says Contreras was one of the top defensive 1B this season while Goldschmidt was below average.
baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/fielding-run-va…
DRS says Conteras was as good as Goldschmidt in 2025.
fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?lg=all&qua…
Either way you are incorrect.
The Cardinals signed him to catch and then his arm was broken while catching and that position is no longer one he can play. Can we just move on from your comments? They don’t seem to have any basis in reality.
He could still play catcher if necessary or if some other team wanted to move him back there.
But otherwise, I agree with your points.
The comments about Burleson not being a good hitter are so inaccurate. He’s been the best hitter on the team the past 2 years. Give me a .290 hitter with decent power and hardly ever strikes out any day of the week. If you had 9 of those guys (along with decent pitching), you’d win over 100 games. And anybody who thinks he’s not a good outfielder, either wasn’t watching or doesn’t know what they’re looking at.
Cardinals top 4 hitters stats over the past 2 seasons:
115 OPS+/115 wRC+
132 OPS+/134 wRC+
129 OPS+/130 wRV+
116 OPS+/117 wRC+
Which of those is Donovan, which is Herrera, which is Contreras, and which is Burleson?
Point taken, but all four of them still count as good hitters including Burleson.
Besides, Burleson faded down the stretch in 2024, which didn’t happen this year as his bat continues to develop. He also improved significantly against LHP this year.
The OP said “He’s been the best hitter on the team the past 2 years.” Burleson is not even in the top 3.
He is a good hitter, but not as good as Contreras and his defense at 1B is not as good as Contreras either. That would be perfectly fine if they had a spot for him at DH, but with Herrera entrenched at that position by even worse defense behind the plate than Contreras, Burleson is forced to play in the corner OF where he is even worse defensively than at 1B.
#freeburleson
Don’t confuse him with facts Web.
Well, he might be replacing the offense of Goldschmidt but he’s not replacing his defense.
Goldschmidt’s defense is no longer what it was in his prime. Contreras might actually be a better defensive 1B right now.
Guy stunk…fantasy good at catcher, now he doesn’t qualify at C…certainly not going to waste fantasy pick at my 1B
Want to join my league? We have a guy that is leaving after a decade and we would like to take your money, I mean benefit from your overwhelming knowledge. Entry is just $500. 15 teams. 1st place is $4500.
So hey, Willson Contreras’ Move To First Base Was A Success
A 124 wRC+ is perfectly fine for a starting first baseman. You said yourselves that only 11 players on other teams beat that mark, which makes Contreras’s offense at 1B above average. Meanwhile, Contreras lengthens the lineup while Burleson continues to play either corner outfield or DH. Granted, Burleson is better defensively at 1B than CO, but the OF is currently a weak area for the Cardinals anyway.
And that’s before you consider that Contreras has become an above average defensive 1B. While 1B is much lower on the defensive spectrum than C, I still see as a net positive that a significantly below average fielder has turned into an above average fielder no matter the position change (excluding P and DH).
@Release the Epstein Files Contreras was also a below average defender at catcher for blocking, and his improved pitch framing was only possible at the cost of changing his stance to interfere with his throwing so that it fell below average instead.
It also required him to be closer to the plate which resulted in his arm being in the path of a swinging bat that broke it.
He was moved to 1B because his arm was broken when be stuck his glove in front of a bat being swung by a batter.
I already own that beachfront property in Arizona and in spring training he still couldn’t make the throw to 2B from HP. He played 1B because it was the only option and, unlike at catcher, he was actually good defensively at 1B.
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You are probably confused about beachfront property in Arzona, so I will be kind and explain.
1st, the saying you were looking for is “oceanfront property in Arizona”.
2nd, lakes and rivers have a beach. All waterfront does. I own separate properties on both a lake and a river in Arizona.
I do hope that clears up that question for you. I think you are beyond help in terms of baseball and are well into tin foil hat land.
Ok Tin Foil Hat. Whatever you say Tin Foil Hat.
Contreras was better than Yadi? Now I know you are smoking something.
Please go back to not posting. We all love to read intelligent comments about baseball and you not posting would clear up so much wasted space on our feed. Thank you for volunteering to do that.
With the other better defensive catchers around, that move was destined to happen, though I thought they waited too long.
As a fan of a team with too many shortstops and too many guys who play 1B/3B and too few outfielders, I feel your pain of bad roster construction.
To be fair, they couldn’t move Contreras to 1B while Goldschmidt was still here. That’s why they tried that short experiment with Contreras as an OF before abandoning the idea.
But yeah, we have too many C, 3B, and DH, and too few natural OF, especially CF.
Why is a transactions-focused site writing this tripe that should be on a Cardinals fan blog?