St. Louis Cardinals: The Cardinals must say no to Evan Longoria

The St. Louis Cardinals have been linked to the Rays as potential suitors in advance of this week’s winter meetings. That said, the Cardinals would be wise to avoid trading for the third baseman from the Rays.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been rumored to be linked to Evan Longoria. Our own Jason Grose examined the Longoria rumor recently. Jump here for his piece.

In the piece, Jason hints that grabbing Longoria would displace Jedd Gyorko and/or Kolten Wong. This, in addition to other tweets that I read today got me thinking about this supplanting. Let me dig into the facts to explain why I feel that the St. Louis Cardinals would be wasting themselves if they made such a trade.

First, Longoria’s lifetime stats are impressive in comparison to Gyorko and Wong but both of these Cardinals out-performed Longoria in 2017. Have a look at their numbers. First, Longoria:

Now Gyorko:

Now Wong:

Notice the similarities? Would it be wise for the St. Louis Cardinals to take a rider on Longoria with his seemingly declining numbers? Not without losing one of Gyorko or Wong.

If we keep with this thinking, does it make sense financially? Longoria is signed through 2022 and is owed $13.5M in ’18 with increasing values each year until ’22: $14.5M in ’19, $15M in ’20, $18.5M in 2021 and $19.5M in 2022 with a $13M team option for 2023 with a $5M buyout. He certainly carries control but is the cost worth it?

Quick note, Longoria is 32 years old. This is important when considering these amounts since Longoria will be 36 years old at the point of consideration of the team option.

Gyorko is under contract through 2019 and is owed $9M ($2.5M paid by San Diego) in ’18 and $13M ($3M paid by San Diego) in ’19. Gyorko carries a $13M team option for 2020 with a $1M buyout. For comparison sake, Gyorko is 29 years old and will be 31 at the point of consideration of the team option.

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Wong is under contract through 2020 and is owed $4M in 2018, $6.5M in 2019, and $10.25M in 2020. Wong carries a $12.5M team option for 2021 with a $1M buyout. Adding to the things to like about Wong (when he is playing to his abilities), Kolten is 27 years old and will be 29 at the point of consideration of the team option.

Here’s my reaction to it all: please, Mozeliak and Girsch, stay away from Longoria unless you have no other option. In other words, if Tampa insists on dumping Longoria in order for the Cardinals to get Alex Colome, then I won’t begrudge you for considering it. If, however, Longoria can be avoided then I think this is the more prudent approach.

I simply have a hard time convincing myself that Longoria- who seems to be in the decline years of his career with so much cash attached- is worth more (at least in the risk department) than Gyorko or Wong. At the end of the day, Gyorko and Wong are both younger and cost less with only a minimal dip in performance.

To add insult to injury, Wong carries a higher upside than either Gyorko or Longoria if he is allowed to play regularly. Remember, St. Louis Cardinals fans, “chicks love the Wong ball.”

Next: Not getting Stanton is a good thing

On a personal note, I regret that I haven’t informed you readers of an update on my missing son. I have great news that he was located and is home safely. As a family we are dealing with the reasons for his running but I know that many readers had kept us in their prayers and for that we thank you.