St. Louis Cardinals: Reasons for the Cards to avoid the Moose

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The St. Louis Cardinals should avoid Mike Moustakas.

The St. Louis Cardinals are rumored to have interest in former Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas. My take is that the St. Louis Cardinals should stay far away from Moustakas for three primary reasons.

First, Moustakas is not better than incumbent Jedd Gyorko (or Matt Carpenter for that matter because Matt is a far superior offensive player than the Moose). Second, Moustakas is not good at getting on base. Third, and finally, Mike Moustakas does not play good defense and lacks positional flexibility.

The context for making these points becomes important. Moustakas’ best tool – his power – is a need the St. Louis Cardinals already filled when they acquired Marcell Ozuna. Thus, we do not have a need for a one-dimensional power bat because we filled that void with a five-tool guy in a trade.

I will do a brief breakdown of each of the three primary reasons in these slides.

In an effort to avoid dwelling on just the negatives of a player, I also note that Moustakas hit 38 home runs last year while batting .272.

He appears to be a good teammate and he would bring an additional left-handed bat to this lineup.

I also recognize that Moustakas is relatively young (29) and that last year could be a breakout power year – with more to come.

I still believe the St. Louis Cardinals would be better off avoiding the Moustakas for the good of the team.

Also, do not get me wrong, I enjoy a good moose joke as much as the next guy. However, they are not as amoosing (see what I did there) when the player on which they are based subtracts from, rather than adds to, the team as a whole.

KANSAS CITY, MO – OCTOBER 21: A fan holding moose antlers is seen during Game One of the 2014 World Series at Kauffman Stadium on October 21, 2014 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

Jedd Gyorko is better than Mike Moustakas and already on the St. Louis Cardinals.

Jedd Gyorko had a great year last year. He was a stud defensively ranking in the top-5 or top-10 of all MLB third baseman last year. Moustakas, meanwhile, was bad defensively, hurting his overall value gained from a great offensive campaign. And Gyorko is already on the St. Louis Cardinals.

Gyorko also had a superior offensive year by many metrics other than home runs. Gyorko had a similar OPS+ to Moustakas in 23 fewer games. Gyorko also dwarfed Moustakas in OBP, posting a .341 number to .314 by Moustakas buoyed by Gyorko’s 13 more walks in fewer games. But, Gyorko struck out more, had fewer hits (and far fewer extra-base base hits), while posting a lower slugging percentage.

Gyorko, however, grounded into far fewer double plays than Moustakas. Yes, Moustakas is a slow moose, which calls his nickname into question because the average adult male moose can run up to 35 miles per hour and swim up to 6 miles per hour (both likely faster than Moustakas on the bases).

The stats show that Gyorko and Moustakas added similar value offensively, albeit in different ways: Moustakas had more pop and extra-base hits and Gyorko got on base more – which gave only a slight edge in OPS+ to Moustakas. The players had nearly identical wOBA.

The real separator here is Gyorko’s stellar defense and slightly better baserunning. Gyorko adds defensive stability at the hot corner that Moustakas lacks. Given that the players have similar offensive value – the defense and positional flexibility of Gyorko are a better fit for this team than Moustakas offers.

CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 27: Mike Moustakas /

The Moose stinks at getting on base and the St. Louis Cardinals need on base machines.

Last year, Moustakas had an OBP of .314. He has a career OBP of .305. Critics will point out that Gyorko has the same career OBP.

That is true, however, Gyorko posted a career-high OBP last year in his breakout season. His average OBP is also dragged down from his time with San Diego. Gyorko’s OBP as a Cardinal is a much more respectable .324. Over two additional seasons, Moustakas showed the world that his average OBP is accurate.

In addition to not getting on base, Moustakas puts the ball in play a lot. That is a problem when you are incredibly slow and your teammates are also very slow. Moustakas on the St. Louis Cardinals might set a record of double plays grounded into. That, my friends, is a rally killer.

If Gyorko can replicate his .341 OBP or otherwise improve on that number, he will be the better on-base guy. Moreover, I would rather have Gyorko’s slightly higher number of strikeouts than Moustakas’ propensity to ground into double plays – one out (yes, even via strikeout) is better than two.

BALTIMORE, MD – JULY 31: Manny Machado /

Mike Moustakas plays a shoddy third base and that is the only place he plays which will not help the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mike Moustakas, as mentioned briefly above, does not play good defense. Moustakas posted the following slash line in defensive metrics -8/-3.6/-.7 in defensive runs saved/UZR150/dWAR. Compare that to Gyorko who posted a 16/3.8/1.9 defensive slash.

Additionally, Moustakas plays exactly one defensive position – third base. Gyorko, on the other hand, plays first, second, short, third and can play the outfield in a pinch.

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Due to the emergence of Jose Martinez and the positional flexibility of Matt Carpenter, Gyorko gives Mike Matheny multiple options to play matchups and to maximize either offensive or defensive starters depending on which makes more sense for the St. Louis Cardinals.

If the St. Louis Cardinals sign Mike Moustakas, then he is the third baseman and that further locks Matt Carpenter into the first base slot. It is difficult to imagine Gyorko and Martinez getting at-bats in that scenario and the Cardinals would have to make another move of an infielder to clear the logjam.

Thus, for these additional reasons Moustakas just does not make sense. The tendency of national writers to mention the Cardinals as fits for Moustakas is driven by the reported interest the Cardinals have in Josh Donaldson and Manny Machado. Those players are stars and play great defense.

Moustakas is not a star, does not play even average defense, and was not even the best offensive player on his team last year (see Hosmer, Eric). So, the interest should not, and likely will not translate to Moustakas being a fit in St. Louis. He simply is not the right fit for this team.

The St. Louis Cardinals should take a hard pass on the Moose – even if his market falls to a one year deal. Many of you know that I say there is no such thing as a bad one year deal (remember Ty Wiggington got a two-year deal so that does not count), but I do not trust Mike Matheny to be able to deal with all of the moving parts that adding another infielder would present.

Next: Should the Cardinals Pursue the Wizard of Hos?

I would rather see those extra at-bats go to Jose Martinez (remember him and his 900 OPS?). What do you think?

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