St. Louis Cardinals: Two of our writers debate Kolten Wong

The St. Louis Cardinals have an interesting decision to make coming up regarding second baseman Kolten Wong.

Should the St. Louis Cardinals try to trade Kolten Wong? And if so, what is a good price tag to give him?  There is a lot that goes into answering both of those questions.

With Wong being a former first-round selection by the St. Louis Cardinals out of the University of Hawaii, there is still the hope of him reaching the expectations he once held. On the other hand, his recent stints on the DL could also cause a problem.

Wong has certainly been the subject many discussions by St. Louis Cardinals fans. In fact, he has been discussed more than just about any other player on the roster. He has great potential that has sometimes been realized, sometimes not, and with the way he’s eaten up miles on the Interstate-55 St. Louis-to-Memphis Shuttle, Wong’s future with the Redbirds has been debated hotly and frequently. -LL

The best way to come to a conclusion to this problem is to talk it out.  That is exactly what fellow Redbird Rants writer Larry Levin and I did.  We messaged back and forth arguing both sides of how much Wong is actually worth.

There was even a discussion of how to introduce this slideshow.  So, as to keep peace in the Redbird Rants clubhouse, we both wrote parts of this intro. To give credit where credit is due, if an “LL” follows a paragraph, it is brought to you by Larry.

Believe it or not, sometimes our contributors have very different perspectives on the same issue. The way I see it, Wong holds limited market and on-the-field value, while Larry holds out more hope that there’s solid potential and value for a trade.  -LL

So, as any spirited sports minds would do, we took to the stats to make our points, to argue, and to get as close to an answer as there can be in sports.  The Wong conundrum is certainly something to keep an eye on as the trade deadline draws ever closer.

It’s not surprising then that Larry and I have some pretty substantial disagreement about the prospects for Wong both on the team and on the open market.  The following slideshow presents both sides in a point-counterpoint format, and of course we expect Redbird Rants fans to have their own potent, and maybe equally fiery, views on the matter. We would love to hear your thoughts as well! Enjoy! -LL