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St. Louis Cardinals: Three targets necessary to win the winter
The St. Louis Cardinals need a big bat. Period.
All winter the talk has been about the St. Louis Cardinals and their pursuit of a big bat. This needs to happen. The Cardinals were daring and committed enough to bet the farm (as it were) on the Giancarlo Stanton sweepstakes. This didn’t pan out in the Birds’ favor but showed a commitment to finding that big bat.
Enter then the rumors of the Cardinals and fellow Marlins Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich. And lest I forget, the St. Louis Cardinals have also now been linked to having potential interest in Manny Machado. Time to dig.
Ozuna is definitely a big bat and was certainly one in 2017. Yelich, on the other hand, is more of a consistent player. Both names are interesting so let’s just post up their charts.
First, the left-handed batting Yelich:
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | Pos | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 21 | MIA | NL | 62 | 273 | 240 | 34 | 69 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 31 | 66 | .288 | .370 | .396 | .766 | 112 | 95 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7/8 | |
| 2014 | 22 | MIA | NL | 144 | 660 | 582 | 94 | 165 | 30 | 6 | 9 | 54 | 21 | 7 | 70 | 137 | .284 | .362 | .402 | .764 | 115 | 234 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | *78 | GG |
| 2015 | 23 | MIA | NL | 126 | 525 | 476 | 63 | 143 | 30 | 2 | 7 | 44 | 16 | 5 | 47 | 101 | .300 | .366 | .416 | .782 | 118 | 198 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | *78 | |
| 2016 | 24 | MIA | NL | 155 | 659 | 578 | 78 | 172 | 38 | 3 | 21 | 98 | 9 | 4 | 72 | 138 | .298 | .376 | .483 | .859 | 135 | 279 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 4 | *78/D | MVP-19,SS |
| 2017 | 25 | MIA | NL | 156 | 695 | 602 | 100 | 170 | 36 | 2 | 18 | 81 | 16 | 2 | 80 | 137 | .282 | .369 | .439 | .807 | 117 | 264 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 4 | *8 | |
| 5 Yrs | 643 | 2812 | 2478 | 369 | 719 | 146 | 14 | 59 | 293 | 72 | 18 | 300 | 579 | .290 | .369 | .432 | .800 | 120 | 1070 | 59 | 16 | 3 | 14 | 14 | |||||
| 162 Game Avg. | 162 | 708 | 624 | 93 | 181 | 37 | 4 | 15 | 74 | 18 | 5 | 76 | 146 | .290 | .369 | .432 | .800 | 120 | 270 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
And now Ozuna:
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | Pos | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 22 | MIA | NL | 70 | 291 | 275 | 31 | 73 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 32 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 57 | .265 | .303 | .389 | .693 | 90 | 107 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 98 | |
| 2014 | 23 | MIA | NL | 153 | 612 | 565 | 72 | 152 | 26 | 5 | 23 | 85 | 3 | 1 | 41 | 164 | .269 | .317 | .455 | .772 | 114 | 257 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | *87/9 | |
| 2015 | 24 | MIA | NL | 123 | 494 | 459 | 47 | 119 | 27 | 0 | 10 | 44 | 2 | 3 | 30 | 110 | .259 | .308 | .383 | .691 | 92 | 176 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | *89 | |
| 2016 | 25 | MIA | NL | 148 | 608 | 557 | 75 | 148 | 23 | 6 | 23 | 76 | 0 | 3 | 43 | 115 | .266 | .321 | .452 | .773 | 110 | 252 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | *87/9 | AS |
| 2017 | 26 | MIA | NL | 159 | 679 | 613 | 93 | 191 | 30 | 2 | 37 | 124 | 1 | 3 | 64 | 144 | .312 | .376 | .548 | .924 | 145 | 336 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | *7/8D9 | AS,MVP-15,GG,SS |
| 5 Yrs | 653 | 2684 | 2469 | 318 | 683 | 123 | 17 | 96 | 361 | 11 | 11 | 191 | 590 | .277 | .329 | .457 | .786 | 114 | 1128 | 57 | 10 | 1 | 13 | 8 | |||||
| 162 Game Avg. | 162 | 666 | 613 | 79 | 169 | 31 | 4 | 24 | 90 | 3 | 3 | 47 | 146 | .277 | .329 | .457 | .786 | 114 | 280 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
Notice the power difference but also notice the consistency factor. The question facing the Cardinals is whether Yelich and his .432 SLG but rather consistent .290 batting average will impact the lineup in the way that Ozuna’s .457 (.548 in ’17) might?
But wait… Enter then the supposition that the St. Louis Cardinals should dive into the Machado campaign. For compaison sake, let’s look at Machado’s chart:
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | Pos | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 19 | BAL | AL | 51 | 202 | 191 | 24 | 50 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 38 | .262 | .294 | .445 | .739 | 98 | 85 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 2013 | 20 | BAL | AL | 156 | 710 | 667 | 88 | 189 | 51 | 3 | 14 | 71 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 113 | .283 | .314 | .432 | .746 | 102 | 288 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 0 | *5 | AS,MVP-9,GG |
| 2014 | 21 | BAL | AL | 82 | 354 | 327 | 38 | 91 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 68 | .278 | .324 | .431 | .755 | 110 | 141 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
| 2015 | 22 | BAL | AL | 162 | 713 | 633 | 102 | 181 | 30 | 1 | 35 | 86 | 20 | 8 | 70 | 111 | .286 | .359 | .502 | .861 | 132 | 318 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | *5/6 | AS,MVP-4,GG |
| 2016 | 23 | BAL | AL | 157 | 696 | 640 | 105 | 188 | 40 | 1 | 37 | 96 | 0 | 3 | 48 | 120 | .294 | .343 | .533 | .876 | 130 | 341 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 9 | *56 | AS,MVP-5 |
| 2017 | 24 | BAL | AL | 156 | 690 | 630 | 81 | 163 | 33 | 1 | 33 | 95 | 9 | 4 | 50 | 115 | .259 | .310 | .471 | .782 | 107 | 297 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | *5 | |
| 6 Yrs | 764 | 3365 | 3088 | 438 | 862 | 176 | 9 | 138 | 406 | 39 | 22 | 226 | 565 | .279 | .329 | .476 | .805 | 116 | 1470 | 82 | 13 | 14 | 24 | 16 | |||||
| 162 Game Avg. | 162 | 714 | 655 | 93 | 183 | 37 | 2 | 29 | 86 | 8 | 5 | 48 | 120 | .279 | .329 | .476 | .805 | 116 | 312 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
Wow, right? Hang on… Should the Cardinals take Machado with his career .476 SLG over Ozuna’s career .457 SLG?
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Let me say that I would love to have Manny Machado in a Cardinals uniform but if we look at numbers alone, I’m not sold that his SLG, which seems to be in a minor decline (could fare better in the NL admittedly), stacks up well against the rising Ozuna. Having said that, Ozuna is an unproven commodity in terms of his slugging. In other words, we aren’t sure yet if 2017 was a fluke.
Should we even think about financials? Nope. The St. Louis Cardinals had the money to throw at Stanton, they have the money to make any of these deals happen. The real question is the prospect load it may or may not take.
If I were the St. Louis Cardinals, I would immediately contact the Orioles and find out what it would take to land Machado. I would do this simultaneously while building the deal with the Rays for Archer/Colome so that I know what prospects are going where. But I would make these deals happen first and then I would turn my attention to Ozuna if necessary.
So here’s the wrap: the St. Louis Cardinals need to find a closer, a starting pitcher, and a big bat in order to win the winter. If they leave with two of these three, then the focus of spring training must be on whether Tyler O’Neill is your big bat or if you need to go get someone before the real contests begin. Thanks for reading!