St. Louis Cardinals: Evaluating the arbitration eligible players

Aug 2, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first basemen Brandon Moss (21) celebrates with teammates after hitting the game-winning hit against the Colorado Rockies at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Moss

This is an intriguing one. I really could see this going multiple different ways. The Cardinals did use a top prospect to acquire Brandon Moss before the deadline in Rob Kaminsky, so I could see that as being a reason the team would like to see him back in St. Louis next season. We all expected more out of Moss than the 12 extra-base hits that he provided with his .250 average. However, for some reason I think that Moss could potentially be a valuable asset for the Cardinals.

I could see Moss coming in a chipping in 10-15 homers off of the bench with about a .260 average (yes I am being optimistic) and somewhere around 80-100 strikeouts in about 200-250 at-bats. However, Moss is on the wrong side of 30 and has not shown great ability to hit consistently in his career. The power is what makes Moss a somewhat valuable asset and if for some reason Matt Adams is not with the club next season, Moss could step in and provide what we would likely get out of Adams.

In terms of value, Moss was worth about 0.2 WAR, which is really bad, but thanks to Chris Greene’s post on advanced offensive metrics, you already knew that. This put Moss’ financial value at $4.6 million according to Fangraphs, which is about $2 million less than his current contract of $6.5 million.

If I were the Cardinals, I would shop the veteran power hitting OF/1B and see what teams are willing to offer before they get into salary discussions with him. Otherwise, I would set the limit at the $5-$6 million range and if a deal cannot be made at that amount, or if the organization finds that to be too much, then it is time to cut bait.

Next: Steve Cishek