St. Louis Cardinals: Install Dexter Fowler as 2018 first baseman

Here’s a new thought for St. Louis Cardinals management and fans. Why not install a tall, lean, lanky, switch-hitter with strong offensive numbers at first base?

Nope, I’m not talking about a trade or free-agent signing. I’m suggesting we think about the St. Louis Cardinals’ very own Dexter Fowler, signed through 2021, as the everyday first baseman starting in April 2018.

What about Matt Carpenter, you ask? Well, this scenario would require dealing Matt, who, while a crowd favorite, could certainly flourish elsewhere and bring strategic assets our way.

Let’s start the discussion here. The Cardinals have an outfield glut. No one denies it; between those on the big-league roster and the push from below by guys such as Harrison Bader and Magneuris Sierra, the available pool is rather glutted.

Fowler, as most acknowledge, is not the best Cardinal to play center field. It would be hard to argue all of Tommy Pham, Randal Grichuk (if those two are left untraded), Bader and Sierra all provide better attributes in center than does Dex.

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Of course, Fowler could slide to a corner, but that doesn’t reduce the oversupply of outfielders in any way; it just shifts him.

Plus, is he really better than any of the other guys at a corner, either?

Surely over Jose Martinez, but we don’t even know if Jose will remain with the team, and he’s unlikely to be a full-time player in any scenario.

But instead of Fowler playing an outfielder corner, consider what happens if he slides to first.

First, even as an average first baseman, he almost certainly would be superior to Carp. While to some degree, Matt has ostensibly stabilized at first — at -0.2 dWAR he’s tolerable, but (ugh) look at those numbers on the link above — he’s hardly any great shakes. Moreover, even as a starting first baseman, Dex can always serve as a backup outfielder to increase roster flexibility.

Second, it doesn’t take a reading of the NL statistics pages to know how poor a baserunner Matt has been. He’s been really bad and not very fast, even with his long-legged stride. Dex, on the other hand, is fast on the bases, and has much more potential for being part of the running, aggressive team leadership claims they want for the Redbirds.

So that leaves hitting. They’re both fine hitters, and this year they are surprisingly similar in their on base, power and OPS+. But does the team need both, and if not, who should be traded? Carp’s contract suggests that he is the odd man out.

Matt has two years left on his base term. $13.75M for his age 32 year, $14.75 for age 33, and then the team has an option for the 2020 season at $18.5M with a $2M buyout.

Contrast that with Dex, who is a flat $16.5M commitment for four more years (he and Carp are almost the same age). He is thus likely less tradable, and requiring another team to take on $66M instead of $28.5M means less prospects coming back to the Redbirds as well.

Some might argue Carp can provide position flexibility as he may for this year’s season with Jedd Gyorko out. Truth of the matter is, that’s a specious argument, as Carp is particularly anemic at third base. No disrespect intended at all, but either management or Matt himself would be able to make a strong case for his defensive competence at the hot corner.

There is surely no guarantee Fowler would accept this assignment pleasantly. He wasn’t even happy with a possible shift to left. However, he was asked to move around in the lineup, and not only did he do so despite preferring lineup order consistency, but other than a slow July, his numbers have actually improved over time.

Plenty of superfine players have made positional switches with totally solid results. Cal Ripken, Ernie Banks, A-Rod, and on and on. In fact, the rest and relief on thirty-something-year-old knees might look somewhat appealing to Dex, if he’s asked to mull this over.

Fowler could also take comfort in knowing he would be solving a significant issue for the Cards, if he would consider an ask of this nature. Freeing up outfield surpluses, being installed in one position and knowing he’s a cornerstone of the next four years, all could provide a welcoming and positive message to the former Cub.

No one is ever happy when a longtime stalwart of a club is shopped. But this potential outcome offers some surprising positives and, to the extent Dex is willing to consider it, relatively few negatives.

This is one reasonable alternative that all parties involved ought to think about. It’s novel, it’s outside the box, but it does offer the potential to restore some positional sanity to what has been a merry-go-round for the Cards, one that has caused uncertainty and a lack of accountability in many ways.

Next: Pujols an all-time great

Dexter Fowler, first baseman. Who’d a thunk it? Still, it does has a certain ring to it. And I for one would continue to wear my #25 jersey proudly.

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