- The Cardinals acquired outfielder Lane Thomas from the Blue Jays in exchange for international bonus pool money, as announced by the Cards’ Twitter feed. Thomas, 21, was a fifth-round pick for Toronto in 2014 who has a .242/.321/.379 slash line over 1109 career PA, none above the high-A level. The Jays entered the July 2 int’l signing period with $4.75MM bonus pool and they have already reportedly spent $2.15MM of that total on two notable prospects.
Cardinals Rumors
Red Sox Acquire International Bonus Money In Trades With Reds, Cardinals
5:48pm: The Reds sent $2.75MM in spending room to the Red Sox, tweets Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
10:33am: The Red Sox have acquired international bonus pool space from the Reds in exchange for minor league first baseman Nick Longhi, as per a Sox press release. In a separate deal, Boston also acquired more pool space from the Cardinals in exchange for minor league infielders Imeldo Diaz and Stanley Espinal. Specific financial terms weren’t announced for either trade.
The Sox made a big splash as the 2017-18 international signing period opened this morning, agreeing to deals with highly-touted prospects Daniel Flores, Danny Diaz and Antoni Flores for a combined $6.1MM in bonuses. Since the Red Sox had only $4.75MM available to spend in their draft pool, some trading was necessary to bring in the extra funds for these youngsters, as well as any other less-splashy international signings the Sox may make. Teams are allowed to acquire as much as 75 percent of their original draft pool, which works out to $3,562,500 in Boston’s case.
Longhi was rated as Boston’s 14th-best minor leaguer by the 2017 Baseball America Prospect Handbook, which described Longhi as “one of the best pure hitters in the Red Sox system” despite a lack of power. Longhi has six of his 16 career homers as a professional this season at Double-A, with a .262/.306/.401 overall batting line in 252 PA. The 21-year-old was originally a 30th-round pick for the Sox in the 2013 amateur draft.
Both Espinal and Diaz have appeared in just seven games each this season, all for Boston’s low A-ball affiliate in Lowell. Espinal, a 20-year-old third baseman out of the Dominican Republic, has a .682 OPS over 577 pro plate appearances. The 19-year-old Diaz also hasn’t shown much at the plate in his brief career, hitting .222/.279/.258 over 522 PA.
The Cardinals had $5.75MM and the Reds $5.25MM in available pool money for this July 2 class, though both teams are under the $300K limit since both exceeded their bonus pools in the 2016-17 signing period. It stands to reason that St. Louis and Cincinnati felt comfortable dealing their pool money since they didn’t plan on using all of it given their limited signing capabilities. It wouldn’t be a surprise if other teams facing the $300K penalty (the Astros, A’s, Cubs, Padres, Royals, Braves, Giants, Dodgers and Nationals) also deal some from their bonus pool funds in the coming weeks and months.
Matt Carpenter Getting Work At Second Base
- Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter hasn’t seen any action at second base this year, but he did get some work at his former position before the Redbirds’ game on Friday, relays Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. Langosch adds that moving Carpenter back to the keystone, at least temporarily, could lead to more opportunities for first baseman Luke Voit (via Twitter). Notably, St. Louis didn’t try this season earlier in the season when it couldn’t find at-bats for first baseman Matt Adams, whom it traded to the Braves in May for an insignificant return. Adams has since been one of the majors’ hottest hitters. In fairness to the Cardinals, though, second baseman Kolten Wong wasn’t on the disabled list at that point. Wong landed on the DL with an elbow strain the week after the Adams trade and won’t return until mid-July.
DeWitt On Cardinals' Deadline Plans
- Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. discussed his organization’s approach with the trade deadline coming, as Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. DeWitt said he “never” believes it’s advisable to “go all in for a season and sacrifice the future.” Obviously, that applies now as the Cards find themselves in a somewhat strange position — not playing terribly well and way out of the Wild Card race, but still within range of the division lead. He did say its possible the team could “try to do something with a short-term asset to get a long-term asset” — if, that is, the Cardinals end up being “totally out of the race.” As newly minted president of baseball operations John Mozeliak noted, even if the Cardinals are in the thick of things, it’s not clear to what extent they’ll be buyers. “When I look at the future we have to embrace our farm system,” he said. “For us unless there was this one thing that we felt could change the outcome of our season, then I might look at it a little differently. But we haven’t been able to identify what that one thing might be.”
Cardinals To Promote John Mozeliak, Mike Girsch
2:02pm: Both executives are now under contract through 2020, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweets.
12:24pm: The Cardinals are set to promote John Mozeliak from general manager to president of baseball operations, while assistant GM Mike Girsch will be promoted to the post of general manager, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cardinals have called a 2:00pm press conference to announce the move.
Mozeliak will still, of course, oversee the team’s baseball operations decisions and will remain heavily involved in all facets of the department, Goold notes, though he’ll now have a title that is perhaps more commensurate with his considerable experience. Mozeliak has been the general manager of the Cardinals for nearly a decade, and in making this move, the Cardinals will adopt what has become an increasingly popular front office structure throughout the game. Among the teams that utilize the president of baseball ops/GM hierarchy are the Dodgers (Andrew Friedman/Farhan Zaidi), Cubs (Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer), Athletics (Billy Beane/David Forst), Rays (Matt Silverman/Erik Neander) and Indians (Chris Antonetti/Mike Chernoff).
It’s not immediately clear if Mozeliak will receive an extension with the new title, though Goold notes that chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. has recently suggested that extension negotiations and talk of a new title for Mozeliak have been ongoing. His current deal runs through the 2018 season, though it certainly stands to reason that with the elevation in title will come a lengthier deal.
The 2017 season, of course, hasn’t been a strong one for the Cardinals, although the organization has generally prospered under Mozeliak. Since he took the job following the 2007 season, the Cards have made six postseason appearances, including a World Series victory in 2011 and a second World Series appearance two years later in 2013. Mozeliak, of course, also had a role in the Cardinals’ 2006 World Series championship, as he previously spent five years as an assistant GM to Walt Jocketty and has been involved in the organization’s scouting department dating all the way back to 1995.
Girsch, meanwhile, has held his AGM post since 2011 and has been with the organization since serving as an amateur scouting coordinator back in 2006. He’s spent six years directly assisting Mozeliak in nearly all facets of the game, including: contract negotiation, player evaluation, amateur scouting, player development and international operations.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Diaz, Mozeliak On Demotion To Triple-A
- Aledmys Diaz was caught off-guard by the Cardinals’ decision to option him to Triple-A, writes Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. However, the 26-year-old offered a professional attitude to the media following the move’s announcement, telling reporters that he’s happy to do whatever is best for the Cardinals in the long run. General manager John Mozeliak also weighed in on what he labeled a difficult decision, telling the media: “What we really want to see is that he’s able to take a deep breath and go down and work on some things offensively, as well as his whole game. … (Diaz) hasn’t been picking the ball up (at the plate) and he’s been chasing a lot of balls outside the zone.” Mozeliak also noted that injured second baseman Kolten Wong won’t be back with the team until after the All-Star break.
Cardinals Option Aledmys Diaz
The Cardinals announced that they’ve optioned shortstop Aledmys Diaz to Triple-A Memphis and selected the contract of infielder Alex Mejia in a corresponding roster move. (Jen Langosch of MLB.com first reported the news, on Twitter). The move to option Diaz, who sandwiched a productive month of May between an ugly June and an uglier April, comes just about a month after St. Louis also optioned the struggling Randal Grichuk.
St. Louis has also released veteran infielder Jhonny Peralta over the past month, a move that was accompanied by a “no one is safe” message from general manager John Mozeliak, whose front office is clearly tired of the team’s lackluster play as of late. Diaz is hitting .260/.293/.396 on the season as a whole, but he’s collected just six hits in his past 30 plate appearances and hasn’t graded out well at shortstop, from a defensive standpoint (-9 Defensive Runs Saved, 0 Ultimate Zone Rating). More troubling, perhaps, is the fact that Diaz’s walk rate has been cut in half, while his chase rate on pitches outside the zone has soared by 10 percent (from 28.2 percent in ’16 to 38.6 percent in ’17).
The 26-year-old Diaz was a surprise breakout star last season — just months after being designated for assignment and being passed over by every other team in the league when he was on waivers. Injuries created an opportunity for Diaz last year, and he responded with a .300/.369/.510 batting line with 17 homers. The optional assignment for Grichuk earlier this year was similar to a surprising option of Kolten Wong a year prior in that both were relatively brief in nature.
Mejia, also 26, is a former fourth-round pick of the Cardinals (2012) that hasn’t hit much in the minors, but Baseball America rated him as the best defensive shortstop in the Double-A Texas League back in 2014. He’s batting .253/.309/.355 with three homers, 18 doubles and a steal through 293 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A this year.
Marlins Close To Trading Adeiny Hechavarria
2:19pm: Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that the two sides are reviewing medicals of the players that will be involved. Topkin hears that outfielder Braxton Lee and right-hander Ethan Clark are among the names being discussed.
11:45am: Crasnick reports that if the Rays are to take on all of Hechavarria’s salary, they’d like the Marlins to include a cheaper, controllable power arm to help facilitate the deal (Twitter links). Crasnick notes that Barraclough would fit that bill, though he adds that it’s not clear if the Rays have actually singled Barraclough out as a target.
Meanwhile, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the Rays and Marlins are optimistic that they can reach an agreement to send Hechavarria to Tampa Bay in exchange for “fringe prospects” at some point today.
JUNE 26, 8:40am: The Marlins are close to a trade of Hechavarria, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. Like Frisaro, Morosi hears that the Rays are the likeliest landing spot for Hechavarria.
10:42pm: The Rays seem to be the “frontrunners” in talks, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets. Miami is looking for young pitching in return for Hechavarria.
JUNE 25, 10:20pm: The Padres have joined the Rays in the Hechavarria sweepstakes, Clark Spencer reports (via Twitter). The Cardinals are no longer involved in talks.
JUNE 24, 12:07pm: The Orioles are no longer involved, per Spencer (Twitter link). But he hears that the Cards (as well as the Rays) are still in talks for Hechavarria.
8:26am: There’s at least one mystery team involved, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro (via Twitter).
JUNE 23: The Marlins have informed other clubs that they expect to trade Hechavarria within the next 24 to 48 hours, Spencer reports (on Twitter). It seems the push from the Marlins’ side is driven by an ownership effort to save salary rather than a baseball ops assessment, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick notes on Twitter.
It appears that the Rays appear to have “created some traction” in structuring a deal, sources suggest to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Twitter link). Meanwhile, the Cardinals don’t seem to be pursuing Hechavarria at this point, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets. St. Louis had at least spoken to the Marlins about Hechavarria, tweets Spencer.
Could The Cards Explore Trading Jedd Gyorko?
- Also from Olney’s column, he opines that Jedd Gyorko could be a big trade chip for the Cardinals if St. Louis decides to sell at the deadline. Gyorko could be of particular interest to prospect-laden contenders like the Red Sox or Yankees, who are both in the market for third base help. Gyorko is hitting .291/.350/.500 in 254 PA and is locked up on a very affordable contract through 2019, though as Olney notes, these could also be reasons for the Cards to want to keep Gyorko in the fold. In my opinion, I would guess that St. Louis would explore moving several other players before considering a Gyorko trade, and even then wouldn’t move him for anything less than a massive return.
[SOURCE LINK]
- Also from Olney’s column, he opines that Jedd Gyorko could be a big trade chip for the Cardinals if St. Louis decides to sell at the deadline. Gyorko could be of particular interest to prospect-laden contenders like the Red Sox or Yankees, who are both in the market for third base help. Gyorko is hitting .291/.350/.500 in 254 PA and is locked up on a very affordable contract through 2019, though as Olney notes, these could also be reasons for the Cards to want to keep Gyorko in the fold. In my opinion, I would guess that St. Louis would explore moving several other players before considering a Gyorko trade, and even then wouldn’t move him for anything less than a massive return.
Cardinals "Open-Minded" As Deadline Approaches
- At 33-40, the Cardinals are already 12 games out of a wild-card spot in the National League. Consequently, their only realistic avenue to the playoffs is to erase a 5.5-game deficit in the NL Central. They’re going to have to start making up ground by next month’s trade deadline, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak admitted to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. “This team has a chance to do good things, but we have to get it going,” said Mozeliak. “Urgency has to be on the forefront of our thinking. There is no clock in baseball, but time is moving.” Mozeliak revealed that the Cardinals are “open-minded” to buying or selling, but Crasnick argues that taking the latter path could be difficult because they’re not exactly chock-full of trade chips. They already sold one veteran last month, sending first baseman Matt Adams to the Braves for minor league infielder Juan Yepez. While Adams has caught fire since the trade, Mozeliak doesn’t regret shipping him out. “Sometimes a change of scenery for players is what they need,” he noted. “Matt’s killed it, but that’s not to say he didn’t get opportunities a year ago. Sometimes when you make decisions, you know there might be more upside in a player. But unless you can create that availability [for playing time], it’s pretty tough.”
