St. Louis Cardinals: USA Today predicts Josh Donaldson to Cards

TORONTO, ON - MAY 11: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Toronto Blue Jays hits an RBI single in the first inning during MLB game action against the Boston Red Sox at Rogers Centre on May 11, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MAY 11: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Toronto Blue Jays hits an RBI single in the first inning during MLB game action against the Boston Red Sox at Rogers Centre on May 11, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

The USA Today released a list of the top 20 players they predict to be on the move soon and the St. Louis Cardinals were included as a landing spot for one bird.

The St. Louis Cardinals may be interested in collecting a player who could soon be on the move. The USA Today published a piece by Bob Nightingale predicting the top 20 players who will be on the move before the MLB trade deadline.

Nightingale’s piece obviously highlighted Manny Machado. We at Redbird Rants have debated Machado to the Cardinals for a while now. Just jump here to see some of our pieces. Nightingale, however, predicts that the Phillies are the likely landing spot for Manny in their rebuilding effort.

Others included on Nightingale’s list are Cole Hammels, Kelvin Herrera, Zach Britton, the often-connected-to-the-Cardinals Mike Moustakas, and Avisail Garcia. I mention that final name since our own co-editor, Tito, had begged for the St. Louis Cardinals to hunt him down this offseason.

Related Story: Cards should get Garcia

By the way, if you are keeping score at home, none of the names listed in the paragraph above are linked to the St. Louis Cardinals by Bob Nightingale. He has predicted the Brewers, Indians, Astros, Indians (again), and Phillies as the landing spots for the names above in order of listing.

So where did Nightingale attach the St. Louis Cardinals? To none other than Josh Donaldson. The Donaldson name has not been a stranger to the Cardinals nor to us here at Redbird Rants. Check out our posts here.

Should the St. Louis Cardinals actually have interest in Donaldson? Nightingale says that he remains a formidable bat and the Cardinals could use one of these. Is this true, though? Let’s have a look at Donaldson’s numbers over his career and as they have decreased with age.

Standard Batting
YearAgeTmLgGPAABRH2B3BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSOPS+TBGDPHBPSHSFIBBPosAwards
201024OAKAL14343215101400212.156.206.281.48732900000/2D3
201226OAKAL752942743466160933411461.241.289.398.68791109650105/23
201327OAKAL1586685798917437324935276110.301.384.499.883145289156162*5/D36MVP-4
201428OAKAL1586956089315531229988076130.255.342.456.798127277167045*5/DAS,MVP-8
201529TORAL158711620122184412411236073133.297.371.568.9391513521662100*5/DAS,MVP-1,SS
201630TORAL155700577122164325379971109119.284.404.549.953153317169236*5DAS,MVP-4,SS
201731TORAL1134964156511221033782276111.270.385.559.944145232530215/D6MVP-22
201832TORAL361591372232110516202144.234.333.423.75710558100125D/3
8 Yrs8673757324254889219012179544346447720.275.366.507.8731371643753652716
162 Game Avg.162702606102167362331026184135.275.366.507.873137307147153
TOR (4 yrs)462206617493314921057116316173279407.281.383.548.93114795938184169
OAK (4 yrs)4051691149321740085563228173168313.268.347.458.80512568437181117

Is the decline due to growing injuries? Is the decline due to age? Or could a change of scenery be just what is needed for Donaldson?

More from St Louis Cardinals Rumors

Here’s my take: the St. Louis Cardinals SHOULD grab Donaldson while the grabbing is good. His value is low and his potential upside is high. While he is certainly an injury risk, Donaldson could spell the question marks at third base and would likely make Matt Carpenter and/or Jedd Gyorko expendable.

If the St. Louis Cardinals could get Donaldson and help him back to his plus-.500 slugging numbers then the investment would be worth the risk.

Donaldson is set to be a free agent after the 2018 season so he has much to gain from working hard and getting his numbers up. This effort would be to help the St. Louis Cardinals as well. In return, the Cardinals could be interested in an extension for the two-time silver slugger.

All in, I say the St. Louis Cardinals take the risk and grab this northern bird before someone else does. I also admit, on the other hand, that I was surprised to see the Cardinals linked only to one name on the rumor front. I believe this will change as the weeks go by.

Next: Shifts hurt

Stay with us for more rumors and reactions and thanks for reading!