Cardinals Rumors

Cardinals Designate Josh Lucas, Breyvic Valera

By Jeff Todd | March 28, 2018 at 3:07pm CDT

The Cardinals have designated righty Josh Lucas and infielder Breyvic Valera, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). That’ll open space on the 40-man for the team to select the contracts of reliever Jordan Hicks and catcher Francisco Pena.

It’s a bit of a surprise to see Lucas, who generates whiffs and grounders at solid rates, bounced from the 40-man. He is coming off of a spring showing in which he recorded 11 1/3 scoreless innings with a dozen strikeouts while permitting only four base hits and a pair of walks. Lucas briefly reached the majors last year after throwing sixty frames of 3.15 ERA ball, with 10.2 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9, at the Triple-A level.

As for the 26-year-old Valera, who is mostly a second baseman but has played a variety of other positions as well, he too briefly cracked the bigs last year. Playing at Triple-A for most of the season, he carried a .314/.368/.450 batting line — his best full-season effort as a pro — through 470 plate appearances. Valera showed a big leap in power with eight long balls, topping his career tally to that point. He also walked as much or more than he struck out for the sixth time in eight professional campaigns.

Cardinals To Add Jordan Hicks To Opening Day Roster

By Mark Polishuk | March 27, 2018 at 5:09pm CDT

The Cardinals will include right-hander Jordan Hicks on their 25-man roster, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, with the move becoming official on Wednesday or Thursday morning. Righty John Brebbia will be optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding transactions once Hicks’ contract has been selected.

A third-round pick for St. Louis in the 2015 draft, Hicks has looked good in Spring Training, posting a 2.35 ERA and recording eight strikeouts against just one walk over 7 2/3 innings. Despite this strong performance, this is quite an aggressive promotion for the Cards, as Hicks will be entirely skipping both Double-A and Triple-A en route to the majors. He posted good but not dominant numbers (2.82 ERA, 7.4 K/9, 1.85 K/BB rate) over 165 2/3 innings in the minors and was a well-regarded but not elite prospect, ranked as the sixth-best minor leaguer in the Cardinals’ farm system by both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus.

[Updated Cardinals depth chart at Roster Resource]

Despite this lack of a standout pedigree, Hicks obviously impressed Cardinals officials during the spring and offers even more potential as a bullpen weapon. Just three of Hicks’ 34 career appearances in the minors have come as a reliever, though the 2018 Baseball America Prospect Handbook predicted that relief pitching could be Hicks’ ultimate future due to some issues with his control and command. Hicks offers an arsenal of two excellent pitches that would seem to lend itself to bullpen work, including a power curveball “that draws plus-plus grades from evaluators,” according to BA. He is best known, however, for a fastball that routinely averages in the mid-90’s, and he has touched the 102-mph threshold this spring.

This type of velocity could be even more dangerous in short bursts as a reliever, and Hicks’ inclusion on the roster adds another fascinating wrinkle to the Cardinals’ closing situation. Luke Gregerson was signed this winter to ostensibly work as the St. Louis closer, though it seems as if the team will take something of a situational approach to the ninth inning, especially since Gregerson will start the season on the DL. Tyler Lyons and Dominic Leone look like the top choices for saves right now, though there have been rumors that the Cards are still interested in free agent Greg Holland. Should Hicks impress early in the season, however, his power arm could quickly move him up the depth chart and potentially get him into the closer mix as well.

NL Notes: Tomas, Wainwright, Padres

By Connor Byrne | March 25, 2018 at 11:14am CDT

A few notes from the National League…

The Diamondbacks announced that they’ve optioned outfielder Yasmany Tomas to Triple-A Reno. With a $10MM salary, Tomas ranks among the D-backs’ highest-paid players, which makes this an especially notable move. Despite both Tomas’ price tag and starting oufielder Steven Souza Jr.’s injury, the former still wasn’t able to win a roster spot this spring. It’s the latest negative development in what has been a disappointing major league career for Tomas, who parlayed stardom in Cuba into a six-year, $68.5MM guarantee with Arizona heading into 2015. Still just 27, Tomas has been worth minus-1.4 fWAR in the majors, where he has batted a mediocre .268/.307/.462 in 1,169 plate appearances and been borderline unplayable in the outfield (minus-30 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-23.3 Ultimate Zone Rating).
The Cardinals scratched Adam Wainwright from his start Sunday, and president John Mozeliak told reporters (including Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) that the right-hander is dealing with a hamstring injury. Consequently, Wainwright will start the season on the disabled list, and righty Jack Flaherty will replace him, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports. The 36-year-old Wainwright was on the shelf for a large portion of last season because of elbow problems, and he managed some of the worst run prevention numbers of his stellar career during the abbreviated campaign. Across 123 1/3 innings, the former ace pitched to a personal-high 5.11 ERA, though he did post a 4.29 FIP with 7.01 K/9, 3.28 BB/9 and a 47.2 percent groundball rate.
Padres outfielder Franchy Cordero will begin the season on the disabled list because of a groin injury, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Cordero, 23, had been in the running for a big league roster spot, but that bid’s now on hold. As a result, it’s likely Hunter Renfroe and one of Matt Szczur or Travis Jankowski will open 2018 as the Padres’ reserves behind starting outfielders Wil Myers, Manny Margot and Jose Pirela, Cassavell suggests.

Market Notes: Youth, Holland, Werth, Rays, D-backs

By Kyle Downing | March 24, 2018 at 5:28pm CDT

The fans are more excited about youth than ever before, writes Grant Brisbee of SB Nation. That’s good news for the owners, as they’re getting rich off the youth movement flooding this era of baseball. Young players are cheap, and Brisbee points out why that matters in an example featuring the Astros’ World Series lineup. Their first five hitters were George Springer, Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel; the latter made about $5MM more in 2017 than the first four combined. Having elite young talent under control on relatively cheap salaries allows teams the financial flexibility to fill a few holes en route to a championship-caliber roster. As Brisbee notes, player salaries are determined more by circumstance than by talent nowadays, describing this fact as “the secret of baseball, the only part of Moneyball that really matters.” After seeing proof of concept from the Cubs and Astros in recent years, fans are actually getting excited about rebuilds and trades for prospects, which means ownership has less of a reason to spend money on players that Brisbee describes as “just a guy” types. This quote from his piece describes it best: “Prospects aren’t just future major leaguers; they’re memorable seasons and postseason runs that haven’t happened yet.”

A few more market-related items…

Jim Bowden of The Athletic confirms in a tweet that the Braves, Diamondbacks and Cardinals have all checked in on free agent reliever Greg Holland. However, none of them feel as though they can be competitive financially based on the right-hander’s current asking price. Bowden suggests that Holland should take the best offer on the table. With less than a week left until opening day, it’s hard to argue that point.
Jayson Werth is still looking to continue his career, as he tells Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The 38-year-old is currently working out and waiting for someone to give him an opportunity. He’s coming off a season in which he hit just .226/.322/.393 and missed nearly three months due to a toe injury, though he still managed double-digit homers in half a season’s worth of plate appearances. The fact that his walk rate has been above 10% in every season of his career could also make him worth a look.
Werth could be a good fit in theory for the Rays. The club is still on the lookout for a right-handed hitter who can play the outfield, according Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Jose Bautista and Melky Cabrera represent the top remaining options on the free agent market. Players like Domingo Santana and Hunter Renfroe could potentially be had in a trade, though neither of them would come cheap.

Injury Notes: Sale, Pomeranz, Rodriguez, Gregerson, Lincecum, Hughes

By Kyle Downing | March 24, 2018 at 4:03pm CDT

Red Sox starter Chris Sale left today’s start after being struck by a comebacker off the bat of J.D. Davis. Chad Jennings of the Boston Herald was first to tweet that the club called it a hip contusion. Thankfully for fans in Boston, the X-rays on his hip came back negative (according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe). For his part, Sale himself has said that he feels fine and that it “looked a lot worse than it actually is.” The lack of serious injury to their prized left-hander brings a sigh of relief to the Red Sox, as they need him now more than ever; Alex Cora announced today that both Eduardo Rodriguez and Drew Pomeranz will begin the season on the DL (h/t Sean McAdams of the Boston Sports Journal). With Steven Wright set to face a 15-game suspension, that leaves Brian Johnson and Hector Velazquez at the back end of the club’s rotation. With David Price no sure bet to stay healthy, any questions surrounding Sale would have been wildly unsettling for a club hoping to compete with a tough Yankees ballclub for the AL East crown.

Other injury-related news from around the league…

Luke Gregerson, who was projected to be the Cardinals’ closer on opening day, will instead begin the season on the DL. Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch outlines the news, which comes as a result of a hamstring strain. The usually-durable Gregerson had also dealt with an oblique injury earlier in the spring, and it’s unclear when he’ll be able to return to major-league action. According to Jon Morosi of MLB.com, the club has said that Dominic Leone or Tyler Lyons will receive closing opportunities. They do not appear close to any sort of deal with free agent closer Greg Holland at this time, Morosi adds.
Speaking of right-handers who’ll begin the season on the DL, Tim Lincecum’s blister issues will put him in that company as well. Lincecum joined the Rangers on a one-year deal with a $1MM base salary just weeks ago and didn’t pitch competitively in 2017; by his own words, he was unlikely to be ready for opening day anyway. Still, the blister issue will delay The Freak’s comeback bid, which will be an interesting story to watch as the season progresses considering how much he impressed scouts in a February showcase. Lincecum’s last MLB stint was with the Angels in 2016, when he posted a 9.16 ERA across 38 1/3 innings (nine starts).
Twins right-hander Phil Hughes has a mild oblique strain, according to a tweet from Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press. Berardino adds that a DL stint would give him more time to build up arm strength following surgery, though I’d add that Hughes might simply be utilized in a long relief role anyway. For the time being, the Twins will continue to evaluate Hughes.

Cardinals Notes: Gregerson, Munoz, Molina, Kelly

By Mark Polishuk | March 23, 2018 at 1:06pm CDT

Some items out of the Cardinals’ camp…

Righty Luke Gregerson is dealing with a minor hamstring problem and didn’t travel with the team for today’s Spring Training road game, Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports (Twitter link). Gregerson has been limited to just three outings this spring due to a minor oblique injury, and while the severity this new issue isn’t known, it can’t be a good sign with less than a week before Opening Day. John Mozeliak’s recent comments about the Cardinals’ plans for a flexible approach to the ninth inning has brought further lack of clarity to Gregerson’s role, as he was initially slated to be the team’s closer when signed to a two-year, $11MM deal in December. Dominic Leone, another offseason acquisition, has recently been mentioned as a potential candidate for saves, plus the Cardinals have been reportedly interested in Greg Holland, who still remains unsigned as we approach the end of March.
Yairo Munoz has made the 25-man roster, MLB.com’s Joe Trezza and others reported. Munoz was acquired from Oakland as part of the Stephen Piscotty trade and wasn’t expected to contend for a big league job this spring, but Munoz forced the issue by hitting .375/.423/.625 over 52 plate appearances. This red-hot bat and Munoz’s capability of playing virtually every spot on the diamond gave him the edge for a bench job over Harrison Bader and Luke Voit, who were optioned to Triple-A. Munoz will be one of several multi-position players on the St. Louis roster as the Cards plan to regularly juggle their lineups to keep everyone fresh and regularly receiving playing time.
As part of a piece about Yadier Molina’s durability for The Athletic (subscription required), Bernie Miklasz observed that the Cardinals’ recent assignment of top catching prospect Carson Kelly to Triple-A means that Kelly won’t accumulate the MLB service time he would’ve received had he won the job as Molina’s backup. This could make Kelly more attractive to potential trade suitors, as Kelly has just 102 days of service time accumulated and is controllable through the 2023 season. Of course, the Cards’ primary reason for the assignment is also valid, as they want Kelly to get regular playing time rather than see him sit on the big league bench, as the durable Molina is showing no signs of cutting back on his workload even as he enters his age-35 season. Molina is signed through the 2020 season, so there will inevitably continue to be speculation about Kelly as a possible trade chip.

Cardinals Release Jason Motte; Reunion Still Possible

By Jeff Todd | March 22, 2018 at 11:08am CDT

The Cardinals have released veteran righty Jason Motte but remain open to bringing him back into the organization, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. If he is unable to find a MLB opportunity elsewhere, Motte is expected to return on a new deal.

It seems the hope, if not the expectation, is for Motte to ink a new minors pact that will allow him to work at the Cards’ top affiliate to open the season. The 35-year-old, once the team’s closer, fell short in his bid to crack the Opening Day roster but showed enough to earn a place on the depth chart. First, though, he’ll see if there’s interest from another team.

Motte managed to carry a 3.54 ERA in 40 2/3 MLB frames last year in spite of an uninspiring mix of 6.0 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9. He surely benefited from a .200 batting average on balls in play, as Statcast suggested a .337 xwOBA that lands significantly higher than the .305 wOBA mark that actually resulted.

That said, Motte did continue to work near 94 mph with his average heater and maintained a 7.6% swinging-strike rate that — while well below league average and his own peak rates — fell in line with his output in recent seasons. This spring, Motte surrendered six earned runs on 13 hits in 5 1/3 innings, but did record six strikeouts.

Central Notes: Indians, Cards, Pirates, Royals

By Connor Byrne | March 21, 2018 at 8:42pm CDT

Indians first baseman/designated hitter Mike Napoli and outfielder Rajai Davis will be able to opt out of their minor league contracts Thursday, according to Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com. It’s unclear whether one or both will vacate their deals, though Napoli has seemed especially likely to do so since his late-February signing with the Indians, who don’t have an opening for him in the majors. Asked Wednesday if Napoli could stay in the organization in a minor league role, manager Terry Francona said: “The next step is for him to talk to (president) Chris (Antonetti) a little bit more to figure out what he wants to do and what is available as far as the organization goes. Obviously, we think a ton of Nap and respect him a lot. There’s just a lot of unknowns.”

More on Cleveland a few other Central clubs:

Indians infielder Giovanny Urshela will miss 10 to 14 days with a right hamstring strain, Hoynes tweets. Urshela may open the season on the DL, which would enable the Indians to delay their decision on him and Erik Gonzalez, who are each out of options and battling for the same bench role.
Although Cardinals president John Mozeliak suggested over the winter the team would deploy offseason pickup Luke Gregerson as its closer, it now appears the Redbirds will take a communal approach to the ninth inning to open 2018, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explains. “We don’t have a closer,” manager Mike Matheny said. “Ideally, would we like to have that title on somebody? Ideally, yeah. But right now we’ve got a bunch of guys who can do that. Over time we’ll figure it out. We have a bunch of guys who can pitch any inning.” The Cardinals’ general bullpen plan is “to maximize the flexibility,” Matheny revealed, meaning they’re likely to shuttle optionable relievers between the majors and minors throughout the season.
Pirates righty Tyler Glasnow, a former top prospect, had a rough time in the majors last year, but pitching coach Ray Searage has seen legitimate progress this spring, Liz Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette details. “Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes,” said Searage, who added that Glasnow “has embraced” the adjustments the Pirates have suggested this year. Searage likened the 2017 version of Glasnow to a deer in the headlights, but now, even though there’s still work to be done, “he’s mature.” The 6-foot-8 Glasnow, 24, will kick off the season in the Pirates’ bullpen, though their hope is that he’ll ascend to the rotation, per Bloom. He made 13 starts in 15 appearances last year and pitched to a 7.69 ERA/6.30 FIP with 8.13 K/9 against 6.39 BB/9.
Royals middle infielder Adalberto Mondesi is dealing with a right shoulder impingement, and he could begin the year in extended spring training as a result, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports. Mondesi appeared to be the Royals’ likely Opening Day starter at shortstop a couple months back, but that was before they re-signed Alcides Escobar in late January. Thanks to both Escobar’s presence and Mondesi’s injury, the 22-year-old certainly won’t be a factor in KC at the start of the season.

Quick Hits: Extensions, Rizzo, Cardinals, Kelly

By Mark Polishuk | March 18, 2018 at 11:58pm CDT

The winter’s unusually slow free agent market has led to a number of major signings in March, though the 2017-18 offseason hardly has a monopoly on late signings. It was on this day in 1981 that Carlton Fisk signed a five-year, $2.9MM deal to join the White Sox, concluding a very unusual (and unexpected) trip through the free agent process for the star catcher. Fisk’s deal with the Red Sox was up after the 1980 season but, under baseball’s rules at the time, he was still under Boston’s control as long as the team mailed him a new contract by December 20, 1980. Red Sox GM Haywood Sullivan, however, mailed contracts to both Fisk and Fred Lynn a day late, leading to arbitration hearings that eventually resulted in Lynn being dealt to the Angels and Fisk being declared a free agent. Fisk went on to spend the next 13 seasons in Chicago, further adding to a resume that eventually led to enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.

Some notes from around the sport as we head into the new week…

Could the lack of free agent activity lead to more young players accepting early-career extensions? ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (subscription required) wonders if this could be the case, as “cautionary tales are swirling throughout baseball right now” as players and agents wonder if this offseason could be a harbinger of future free agent droughts. Players with more limited or one-dimensional skillsets, for instance, might jump at taking a guaranteed deal early rather than risk facing a cold market once they hit free agency. In the words of one agent, “The lesson to be learned is that for a lot of players, if you get offered a fair deal when you’re young, you should take it — to make sure you get paid. Then, if you get to free agency later, that can be the bonus on top.”
Mike Rizzo has built the Nationals into a contender and wants to remain as the team’s general manager, so the Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell isn’t sure why ownership doesn’t seem to be in a rush to extend Rizzo’s contract. Rizzo is entering the last year of his deal, and though he said last month that he was “confident” a new agreement would be settled, there hasn’t been any news on that front in the interim. Boswell wonders if the Lerner family has held off on an extension since they could be considering letting Rizzo leave if the team again falls short in the postseason — if this isn’t the case, however, it makes little sense to put Rizzo and the franchise itself through an awkward lame-duck period.
The Cardinals optioned catching prospect Carson Kelly to Triple-A today, seemingly solidifying Francisco Pena’s spot as Yadier Molina’s backup. Pena was a non-roster invite to the Cards’ spring camp, and though neither Pena or Kelly hit much, the team would prefer to see Kelly continue his development with regular playing time in the minors rather than spending most of his days on the Cardinals’ bench. “[Kelly] needs to play,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told MLB.com’s Joe Trezza and other reporters. “He’s still too young with too high of a ceiling not to go and be ready. If something happens, we need him to step in and be our guy. There are not going to be a whole lot of repetitions to get here.” As Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes, Pena’s defense has helped his case in a camp that also saw catchers Steven Baron and Andrew Knizner impress the team.

Cardinals Notes: Reyes, Mayers, Munoz

By Steve Adams and Jeff Todd | March 15, 2018 at 8:09pm CDT

The Cardinals won’t necessarily have a set role for right-hander Alex Reyes when he’s able to return from Tommy John surgery, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He’ll be something of a hybrid pitcher, working out of the bullpen but also making occasional starts with a goal of reaching 90 to 100 innings in the 2018 season. That, the organization hopes, will put the vaunted top prospect on track to work a full starter’s workload in 2019. The target for Reyes is still a return in early May, per Goold, who walks through Reyes’ Thursday workout and has quotes from Reyes, pitching coach Mike Maddux and others in his update on the 23-year-old.

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