St. Louis Cardinals RUMORS: Are Wisdom and Ravelo on trade radars?

The St. Louis Cardinals have two names currently playing for Memphis who- it seems- are finally landing on trade radar for other teams.

The St. Louis Cardinals decided this week to send prospect Luke Voit to AA rather than AAA so that his rise back to the majors for the Cubs series would be more easily facilitated. At least this was the message that the organization released.

Formally, Voit was being sent to AA since the AA Springfield team is playing a series at home and the Memphis team is on the road in New Mexico. This move was ostensibly to place Voit in a location that would make his return to the St. Louis Cardinals easier when Jose Martinez takes his one-series paternity leave.

But is it really? Could there be other factors at play here than the ease of travel?

Two names come immediately to mind: Patrick Wisdom and Rangel Ravelo. Both of these players are with Memphis and I find myself wondering if the Voit move was to allow these two to remain in active duty while the team was on the west coast. In sending Voit to AA, this certainly allowed Wisdom and Ravelo to appear in the lineup for Memphis’ first game against the AAA team in Albuquerque.

Patrick Wisdom

Patrick Wisdom is the elder of the two names and has been with the St. Louis Cardinals organization his entire career. While he has made a few stops in St. Louis, his career has never progressed to the level that would see him find reasonable footing to remain with the big club.

Of late, however, Wisdom has found a way to catch the attention of other teams. While nothing has been formally discussed (or heard), there are plenty of reasons why playing Wisdom daily would make sense and why the organization would favor this approach over displacing Wisdom with Voit.

Let’s take a look at Wisdom’s career numbers in the minors:

Immediately, readers can take notice of his surge within the past two seasons (at least). His slugging alone should make teams stop and take notice; a .507 and .472 slugging combined with on-base percentages over .300 would and could and should be a player that any team would want.

So why haven’t the St. Louis Cardinals pulled him up? Wisdom plays first and third and the Cardinals have a plethora of players already on the MLB bench who man these positions. That fact alone is enough to prevent the rise of Wisdom.

Are there teams then on the west coast who could use a third baseman or first baseman? Is the Giants’ loss of Brandon Belt a reason that they could take interest in Wisdom? Are there others out there seeking the ilk of Wisdom? It is just a little too likely to me.

By the way, Wisdom showed off his home run power in the first game in Alburqueque so eyes should be on him.

Rangel Ravelo

Fans of the St. Louis Cardinals may not be too familiar with the name Rangel Ravelo but this is largely due to his infancy with the organization. Ravelo is originally from Cuba and broke into MLB when he was drafted by the White Sox in the 2010 draft (6th round). He didn’t join the Cardinals organization until the offseason before the 2017 season.

The St. Louis Cardinals signed Ravelo as a first baseman free agent and placed him immediately in AAA in April of 2017. He has remained there since then.

Here’s a look at his numbers:

While he has carried respectable numbers in his career, the apparent work that he did in the foreign league between 2017 and 2018 has shown a growth in power and productivity at the plate.

More from St Louis Cardinals Rumors

• What’s next for the St. Louis Cardinals after Contreras signing?
• Report: Cardinals Emerge As Mystery Team for Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Trade targets after signing Willson Contreras
• Cardinals Rumors: Is Willson Contreras Defense a Concern?
• St. Louis Cardinals: Alejandro Kirk or Danny Jansen?

To this point, I was present for this past Monday’s game in Memphis when Ravelo blasted a grand slam to put Memphis on top 6-0. Despite the fact that Memphis lost the game (thanks to Greg Holland), Ravelo instantly became a feared hitter to the pitching staff of Reno.

And rightfully so… To further illustrate this, we need look no further than game one in Alburqueque when Ravelo blasted his ninth home run of the season in just the second inning of the game. In fact, Ravelo went 3-for-5 on the night bringing even more attention to his name.

Is Ravelo on the radar of MLB organizations and, if so, had Voit gone to Memphis wouldn’t this have spelled an off-day or more for Ravelo? Sure seems this way to me and the St. Louis Cardinals would be wise to dangle out this carrot.

All teams should add these names

The following teams have series being played on the west coast:

• Houston at Oakland
• New York Mets at Arizona
• Boston at Seattle

To me, any of these mentioned above could and should have interest in Wisdom and/or Ravelo. Additionally, each of the teams above have names who could be interest to the St. Louis Cardinals. Ultimately, time will tell if any of the organizations above had interest in these young names.

Next: More rumors

Bottom line to me is if I am John Mozeliak or Michael Girsch or the St. Louis Cardinals, I’m calling each of the six clubs listed above and telling them to send someone to watch Wisdom and Ravelo.