St. Louis Cardinals: 2019 needs a return of Matt Adams

The St. Louis Cardinals welcomed back Adams after sending him away one season earlier. As his contract expires this season, the team would be wise to welcome him back yet again.

Matt Adams had incredible promise at the start of his St. Louis Cardinals career. He showed power when needed and was surprisingly spry at first base. Then the Mike Matheny regime did everything they could to ruin the promising young slugger.

I wrote at the time of Adams’ departure that MLB would get the chance to see what kind of hitter was Adams just because he would no longer be under the ineptitude of John Mabry. And I was right as Big City found his swagger again and found his swing.

Here’s my article from that time not too long ago:

That brings us to late in the 2018 campaign when the St. Louis Cardinals once again welcomed Matt Adams back to the Arch City where he had once loved to play.

Here’s the thing though… and this confounds even me. Adams is very skilled coming off the bench but still seems that he is unable to muster what it takes to play nine innings. No, not defensively– he is an acceptable and almost great first baseman. His slights come in the way of offense.

When coming off the bench as a pinch hitter, Adams produces and seems to be skilled at doing so when it matters most. In the first game facing the Giants, Adams once again came into the game as a pinch hitter and recorded yet another RBI on his season with a timely single.

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As the St. Louis Cardinals look past 2018, the question stands as to what will happen with Matt Adams. The argument can be made that the Cardinals have no place for Adams in their future and this might well be true, but it also might quickly become false depending on the moves of other players.

Let’s assume for a moment that Jedd Gyorko is gone this offseason in some blockbuster move… in his absence, the St. Louis Cardinals could use the danger of Adams off the bench. Another scenario when Adams would become quite valuable would be in the loss (trade) of Jose Martinez.

In both cases, Matt Adams could well be used as a threat off the bench and an inexpensive one at that. Adams’ contract was for $4M in 2018 between the Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2017, also on a one-year contract, Adams was paid $2.8M.

2019 will be his first season as a true free agent. I believe he can be had for a 2-year, $10M contract. He is not a Scott Boras client which will help the St. Louis Cardinals in these negotiations. Quite honestly, any team will be in a buyer’s market when it comes to Adams.

With those thoughts in mind, I feel the St. Louis Cardinals should welcome Matt Adams back in 2019 and allow him to be a threat and protection off the bench.

What do you think? Am I crazy for this thought or should the team find some security in bringing Big City back?