St. Louis Cardinals: From Pham to Bourn

The St. Louis Cardinals are rumored to be linked to the recently-released Michael Bourn. Should they grab him at league minimum?

The St. Louis Cardinals are masters of reclamation cases.

Michael Bourn might just be the next in this series. Released on the April 2nd from the Atlanta Braves, Bourn could spell some needed relief in the already-crowded outfield.

With a crowded outfield, why would the Cardinals even consider jumping at Bourn?

With a ten-year career slash line of .266/.331/.356 one obviously wonders about any benefit. That said, Bourn brings more to the table than offense.

In light of the injury to Tommy Pham that could last as long as a full month, the Cardinals might be on the lookout for a player similar to Pham, which would spell additional time for Matt Holliday at first base.

Let’s be honest, too. The options outside of Holliday at first — Matt Adams and Brandon Moss — are sleepy at best.

So let’s do a little comparing. Let’s compare Bourn to Pham to see if these are comparable players.

These are Bourn’s 2015 offensive numbers: .238/.310/.282 earned in 141 games with Cleveland and Atlanta.

These are Pham’s 2015 offensive numbers: .268/.347/.477 earned in 52 games with St. Louis.

Pham’s numbers are better, but not by much. Pham may actually have reached near similar numbers had he appeared in a greater number of games.

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What the two players do add and share is speed. Bourn is known for his quick feet and Pham showed his own quickness this spring. Now in Pham’s absence, could the Cardinals use some foot speed from Bourn?

Let me cut to the chase, I wouldn’t mind seeing the team take a waiver on Bourn at a league minimum contract for the 2016 season.

I think he would complement this team nicely and could be released with little harm later should he not pan out. I also think Bourn could benefit from joining the team for his own rebuilding.

Let’s go out on the limb though and say too that the team would likely benefit as well by NOT taking a waiver on this released player.

While a favorite of Freddie Gonzales, Bourn simply didn’t perform well enough this spring to warrant a roster spot, which should indicate that he wouldn’t perform for us either.

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Either way, take him or leave him, I like Bourn as a player and was terribly fearful once he got on base thanks to his speed. Maybe this alone makes me find interest in this player as a potential Cardinal.

Time will tell.