St. Louis Cardinals: Cardinals’ end of season presser reaction part one

What do Mozeliak’s comments mean for Kolten Wong?

I’ll admit, my immediate thought after hearing Mozeliak’s comments on positions went straight to second baseman, Kolten Wong. I find it absolutely insane anyone would or could think Wong does not deserve a starting spot in this lineup. Yes, he had a rough start to this season with trade talks and some of the comments he made regarding his future. But Wong proved he is capable of producing at a high level.

Kolten Wong’s 2017 was his best season in terms of production for the St. Louis Cardinals. His slash line of .285/.376/.412 is such a dramatic improvement from last year, you hardly heard anyone complain about his performances. Obviously, it all comes down to performance, but it was like this whole year made all those negative comments about Wong disappear. Wong’s 2017 season is a prime example of a player getting the opportunity to play everyday.

These improvements aren’t incremental either. Wong raised his average forty points higher than last year. For as much as every one complained about Wong not getting on base, he raised his OBP fifty points higher than last year. What is even better is Wong was able to raise his SLG% to a career high without setting a career high in home runs.

Related Story: Looking ahead to Kolten Wong in 2018

According to Fangraphs, Wong finished the season with a 107 wRC+, eleven points higher than his career high in 2015. Wong accomplished this feat in 411 plate appearances. However, due to injury, he was unable to get to 500 plate appearances and crack the leaderboard on Fangraphs. If he had, we are talking about a potential 130 wRC+, good for a top-ten finish among the leaderboard for second baseman.

It’s tough to imagine a team passing on a player with that kind of a season, so why would Mozeliak not include Wong in his comments?

It comes down to one thing for me. It’s all about what the St. Louis Cardinals plan to do this off-season, especially if it involves Josh Donaldson. If their interest in Donaldson is legitimate, then the Cardinals will have some decisions to make in the near future. I think if there is any trade for Donaldson, the Blue Jays would ask for Wong in return.

If that is the case, then the Cardinals will have to take a real long look at who would they rather have playing second base, Wong or Jedd Gyorko? While I wont get into the details of a comparison between the players now, I think’s it’s fair to say the Cardinals could probably manage to lose Wong and other prospects at the price of a player like Donaldson and have Gyorko man second.

However, if you are a believer in Wong, especially after this last year, you’d have to wonder if a team like the Blue Jays would be interested in someone like Gyorko. He has defensive flexibility, good power, and could also serve as a designated hitter in some cases. Perhaps it is that very defensive flexibility the St. Louis Cardinals would keep Gyorko on the days Donaldson needs rest.

It’s a tricky situation, one that we talked about in July last season before the trade deadline as well. But even if Wong is traded, there is still some concerns of how the roster will shake out. If Jose Martinez is going to work on his first base skills this off-season, what does that say about Matt Carpenter and his positioning on the field?

Yeah, more questions, right? Look, there will be questions no matter what move the St. Louis Cardinals make. However, if we acquire Donaldson at the expense of Wong and a few other players, AND sign him to an extension, then we probably won’t ask too many more questions after that.