St. Louis Cardinals: Making The Best of Kolten Wong’s Imminent Situation

Once a prized prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm system, Kolten Wong may lose starting second base dutifully as soon as next week.

According to St. Louis Cardinals’ general manager John Mozeliak via MLB reporter Joe Trezza’s article, three-time All-Star Jhonny Peralta could return to the team’s infield by Tuesday. The proposed infield involves Peralta moving from shortstop to third base to accommodate rookie Aledmys Diaz, while shifting Matt Carpenter back to a second base position he regularly played in 2013.

This essentially means that the tough luck victim, in regards to starting opportunities, is Kolten Wong, who Mozeliak said would take likely take on a utility role.

St. Louis’ current infield intentions could be much attributed to Wong’s slow start, as the Hawaii native has only 1 home run and 5 RBIs with a .225 batting average. Additionally, Jedd Gyorko and Greg Garcia have made positive impacts on the infield with positional flexibility and offense outbursts, which do not exactly help Wong, who only has four years of Major League experience, garner attention.

Perhaps, the largest concern that arises when considering Wong’s upcoming fate is how will the Cardinals respond after signing Wong to a 5-year, $25 million extension nearly three months ago?

Most strategies would force Wong to receive decreased Major League experience in short-term, but the Cardinals can have a huge impact on the 25 year-old’s future depending on how the situation is handled.

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Option 2: Minor League assignment

Another action that seems possible more from a present than future standpoint would be optioning Kolten Wong to the minor leagues. Such a change could help Wong correct inconsistencies that led to increased strikeout and error rates in each of the last three seasons.

The Cardinals have already experimented with this by keeping Tommy Pham in Memphis after completing his rehab assignment late-May. But sending Wong on a minor league assignment would be a larger issue because it doesn’t necessarily offer much confidence in the second baseman’s future abilities.

Wong has played pivotal roles on the Cardinals last three playoff rosters, placing third in the 2014 National League Rookie of the Year voting and compiling a 4.3 WAR in his first two full years. Demoting Wong to the minors would question the Cardinals’ system for developing future building blocks, and not allow Wong to make proper pro-level adjustments that may help St. Louis down the stretch.

Thus Peralta and Brandon Moss are the only two Cardinals infielder with contracts ending in the next two years, meaning the middle infield competition will only grow tougher for Wong.

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Option 3: Keep in big leagues, but eventually trade

Wong’s situation proves similar to one that the Cardinals experienced with Allen Craig in 2014.

The former All-Star signed a 5-year, $31 million contract and guided the Cardinals to their last World Series birth with 13 HR, 97 RBIs and a .315 batting average in 2013. But a slow decline and the promotions of Randal Grichuk and Oscar Taveras forced the Cardinals to trade Craig to the Red Sox, where his career has not been the same ever since.

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If the Cardinals envision themselves in a win-now mode, it wouldn’t be out of proportion for the Cardinals to move Kolten Wong similar to how Craig and Joe Kelly were deployed for John Lackey. But St. Louis’s stakes were much different two trade deadlines ago, as the Cardinals had a slimmer margin to climb than the current 10.5 game standings deficit behind the Cubs.

From a management standpoint, trading Wong to a team with a larger need for a second baseman could help the Cardinals acquire a much-need asset, such as more left-handed relief pitcher or m swing man. But the team outlook could need be much different two months from now, as there could be a larger need for a player with the power and speed combination of Kolten Wong.

In retrospect, it’s hard to determine if the Cardinals are in a similar win-now, especially with five of their next seven opponents featuring records above .500.

Other less-likely scenarios

A trip to the disabled list could follow if there is an apparent injury. But this seems very unlikely, given that Wong has yet to reach day-to-day injury status and hasn’t sat out back-to-back games once in 2016.

The Cardinals could roll with a larger bench and fewer relief pitchers. This arrangement would allow Wong to remain with the organization and see more starts in interleague road games against Seattle and Kansas City in June, but it’s almost more unlikely than a trade.

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Ultimately, the Cardinals will be challenged to make a move that mutually serves in the best interest of the team and their former first-round draft pick. Whatever the decision may be upon Peralta’s return, it will prove difficult for St. Louis to assess the talent of Kolten Wong for this year and beyond.