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

The St. Louis Cardinals had their end of the season presser this last Tuesday with John Mozeliak, Mike Matheny, and Mike Girsch each giving their thoughts on 2017 season.

Before Tuesday’s AL Wild Card game, the St. Louis Cardinals‘ John Mozeliak, Mike Matheny, and Mike Girsch all gathered around microphones to talk about the 2017 campaign. Management and leadership reflected on a season in which the team finished third in the NL Central, missing the playoffs for a second consecutive season.

As depressing as it was to listen to them ramble on about how the St. Louis Cardinals were so close to the playoffs, I did pick up on a couple of good sound bites that only leave me with more questions than answers. Over the next couple of days, I’ll look at those sound bites and give you my reaction to them.

If you haven’t had the chance to listen or watch to the presser, I encourage you to do so on the KSDK Facebook page. It’s rather lengthy, but necessary considering the ending to the Cardinals’ season. If you have listened to the presser, then this first quote should have stuck out at you as soon as John Mozeliak said it. When asked if second base and catcher were the only two spoken positions, here is how Mo responded.

“I would say catcher. And I think, when you, the moment you start locking, the less flexibility this group has to understand all its flexibility. Ultimately, again, it’s going to come down to how do we best better this roster. And on October 3rd, we don’t want to lock anything in and say well that’s what it’s going to be.”

If you’re shaking your head in disbelief, you heard him right. According to Mozeliak, there is only one position player that is a lock. Granted that position belongs to arguably the best catcher in baseball, Yadier Molina, but that’s it Mo? I’m as skeptical as some of you out there with these comments, but either way, he certainly raised a few eyebrows with his comments.

I don’t believe Mozeliak’s comments tip either way about what the St. Louis Cardinals may do in the off-season.  However, if he truly believes what he says, then the team has more unknowns than we previously thought. Here are some of the questions that came to mind after hearing that particular comment.

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.

What do Mozeliak’s comments mean for Tommy Pham?

If you didn’t go straight to Kolten Wong, then my next guess is you probably said, “What about Tommy Pham?” I don’t blame you either. Tommy Pham is arguably the team’s MVP of the 2017 season, and would surely be a lock for the starting outfield, whatever position that may be. However, again, it puzzles me to not hear his name in those comments.

Part of me understands why Tommy Pham wasn’t included as a sure lock. Lets be honest with ourselves for one second. Even though Tommy Pham had a career year, and was one of the best players across MLB, where was this production before this year? I’m not doubting his ability, but it was only one season of great play.

I don’t want to say we are over-hyping his season in any regards, but would you blame me if I did? Look what happened to Aledmys Diaz after 2016. What if Pham regresses, which could be expected, back to his old ways?

I think Mozeliak is aware of that scenario and won’t commit to anything like that just yet. Mozeliak will need to see it with his eyes before saying, yes Tommy Pham is a starter.

Now, on the other hand, Mike Girsch has publicly stated Pham is deserving of a starting role. It’s not contradicting what Mozeliak stated mainly because Pham’s play would be worthy of starting on any team in MLB.

Again, I don’t deny what Tommy Pham was able to accomplish this year. His play and attitude is something we can all admire. The only thing I wonder, with Mozeliak’s comments, is whether Pham is going to be on the roster by the time spring training comes around in 2018.

If the St. Louis Cardinals are seriously considering making the move for Giancarlo Stanton, which they should be, then one of two things will happen. Either Pham is a part of the trade or not. Simple, right?

The only reason the Marlins would take Pham is because of the massive salary dump of Stanton’s contract. However, lets recall a recent quote by Giancarlo Stanton in regards to a possible trade.

“I don’t want to rebuild. I’ve lost for seven years.”

If the St. Louis Cardinals want to improve the chances of acquiring Stanton in a trade, then you have to believe Pham MUST be a part of the 2018 lineup. The Cardinals could package many players to acquire Stanton without giving up Tommy Pham. That list includes Tyler O’Neill, Dakota Hudson, Magneuris Sierra, Harrison Bader, Sandy Alcantara, and more.

But hey, like last slide, the only question left for the Cardinals to answer is whether they are willing to give up those prospect for Stanton? If Stanton does not want to be a part of a rebuilding process, then I think the answer is pretty clear on what to do this off-season.

What if I’m reading far to into this, though?