The Cardinals announced their group of non-roster invitees to Spring Training this evening. Corner outfielder/designated hitter Nelson Velázquez is among the group, indicating they’ve signed him to a minor league contract. Velázquez is represented by MDR Sports Management.
Velázquez, 27, is looking to get back to the majors for the first time in two seasons. He bounced around last year after being outrighted off the Royals’ 40-man roster during Spring Training. Kansas City released him in May after he hit .202 across his first 33 Triple-A contests. Velázquez needed to settle for a job in the Mexican League but raked over 49 games there to play his way back to affiliated ball. He latched on with the Pirates on a minor league deal and played the final month with their top affiliate in Indianapolis.
The righty-hitting Velázquez carried over his strong form from Mexico in his second look at Triple-A pitching. He closed the season with a .284/.329/.554 line with five homers in 79 plate appearances. It wasn’t enough to get an MLB call from the Pirates, but he secured a non-roster invite from St. Louis.
Velázquez has split his major league work between the Cubs and Royals. He went on a power barrage in the second half of the ’23 season, slugging 14 homers over 40 games after the Royals acquired him from Chicago. That’s his only real run of big league success, as he struggled on either side of that scorching stretch. Velázquez has a .212/.286/.433 batting line in 615 plate appearances, essentially the equivalent of one full season. He has 31 homers in that time but the batting average and on-base marks haven’t been sufficient.
The Cardinals are amidst a rebuild that should open some playing time in the outfield. They already did so indirectly with the Willson Contreras trade, which is expected to bring Alec Burleson in from the outfield as the primary first baseman. St. Louis could move left fielder Lars Nootbaar, although they may prefer to wait until midseason to show his health after postseason heel surgeries. Jordan Walker is lined up for another look in right field in what looks like a make-or-break year for the former top prospect. There’s less opportunity available at designated hitter, where Iván Herrera will get the majority of the playing time when he’s not catching.
Velázquez has some similarities to Walker and current prospect Joshua Baez as right-handed power bats. The Cardinals certainly aren’t going to force him into the lineup over younger players who could be core pieces. He’s their only non-roster outfielder with MLB experience and seems likely to open the season at Triple-A Memphis.
Another good depth signing today he definitely figured something out in Mexico based off of his end of the year AAA performance. Hope he can make it back to the bigs this year.
So they basically exchanged Velasquez for Dylan Carlson who signed with the Cubs today. DC had that string of injuries he never recovered from. Velasquez probably has more power….maybe each of them will benefit from the fresh start. Each have had multiple stops and they only get so many.
That’s what what he was saying man. Read between the lines. Carlson was a compensation pick for the Cards for the Cubs signing John Lackey. Nelson Velasquez was drafted by the Cubs so they essentially were traded for each other like 10 years later.
Are you living in an alternate reality?
Seriously, it’s not that hard to figure out. Carlson played for the Cardinals, Velasquez played for the Cubs, and now they’ve signed minor league deals with the opposite team. It seemed like a harmless offhand comment that didn’t really warrant an in-depth analysis, but here we are.
Moving Walker to the if only blocks JJ
I know it’s his natural position but it’s hard to imagine Walker at 3rd in the pros after seeing how bad he is in right.
I really hope Walker figures it out this year. Seems like he was not fully committed to putting in the work to improve himself last year from info coming out of stl.
I would hate to see him go to another team and start raking. Seen that movie before.
Trade Walker to the Angels for a couple of minor league pitching prospects. This new guy will not make the club. Trade Nootbaar to the A’s for Tommy White. White will come to spring training and make the team and then they will have legitimate, young right handed power for a long time. Let Burleson play the outfield and just be done with it.
Is Moises Ballesteros the new Nelson Velasquez 2.0 ??? Both big power, similar frames ?
Huge difference in strikeout rate between the two. Ballesteros has way better contact.
I like how every sports publication on the planet says that the Cardinals are in rebuild mode, including every fan that I have read, but the ownership group and PBO states that they are not in rebuild mode. Talk about hilarious. Complete denial.
The org doesn’t say the word “rebuild,” but the careful phrasing when speaking about offseason moves and allllll the actions they have taken this offseason are unmistakably centered around the rebuild that’s absolutely happening.
@Champs: I hear you, but I also suspect the Cards will be better than everyone thinks, about 81-81.
ZIPS has them at .500
Not a bad pickup bat for the Cardinals Springfield AA team.
Nothing more.
Feel like Beaz is gonna do some stuff in the MLB. Surprised Pittsburgh didnt give Nelson Velazquez another look needing offense as much as they do? Guess they felt they’d done enough over the offseason
Cardinals are really weak on right-handed outfielders. He could get actually some run if he has a big spring showing.
@pignipple
— Moving Walker creates less opportunities on an already crowded infield. We need outfielders.
— Walker’s defense in right is fine enough. His bat is the issue.
— Let Walker focus on his hitting. Don’t complicate his situation by having him relearn a fielding position
They should buy back two of Walkers years at a super low price and gamble that the guy is just now getting to the MLB age and will be fine.
He should have never started in the MLB at 21 just because he had 3 good weeks in spring training.
It just shows how crappy of a job that MO did putting this team together for the last 6 years.
Well, Bloom did say he wanted an RH Outfielder, Velazquez is that.
Does 27 career Homer Runs make Walker a “power bat”? The potential for more might be there but I’m not sure if we’ll see it
He said he wouldn’t rule out adding a right-handed bat. Translation: if one fell into his lap, then it might be possible.
Every move he’s made has been to minimize contractual obligations/payroll for the next couple of years. Beyond extending Winn or Herrera, nothing he’s said or done should lead anyone to believe otherwise.
That may just look very smart mid-2027 post CBA/lockdown.
Its a bet with no downside, its easy to add contracts and payroll whenever you want to. Shedding big expensive contracts, on the other hand, is much harder.
Blooms only doing what common sense dictates. Find out who the new core is before adding expensive pieces to try to push over the top. Adding 2 premium FAs now makes no sense.
Rooted for Nelson in the minors for a long time, glad he’s still getting a shot somewhere.
I still thibk this guy could be a pretty good player.
I don’t think in any way shape or form this is a “make or break year for walker. He’s far too young to be making any decisions like that yet