St. Louis Cardinals: Finding a place for Marwin Gonzalez

The St. Louis Cardinals have the ability to add a Swiss army knife to the lineup.

The front office and management of the St. Louis Cardinals will tell you the importance of flexibility.  They will tell you that adding flexibility was the impetus to trade for infielder Jedd Gyorko.  In fact, the flexibility of Matt Carpenter and Jose Martinez were assets last season, even with the defensive shortcomings exhibited by these two star hitters.

Flexibility was also on full display with the playoff teams in both leagues this year.  The Chicago Cubs employ ultimate flexibility with the flexible Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Ben Zobrist.  That flexibility allows the small bears to employ platoon splits, late game defense, and a great lineup night in and night out.  You saw similar flex-players on the Dodgers, the Brewers, the Red Sox, and the Astros.

The St. Louis Cardinals would do well to add additional flexibility to their roster by signing swiss army knife, and switch-hitting player Marwin Gonzalez.  I call Gonzalez a player because he can play almost anywhere on the field, and he does so with good defense.

In fact, in 2018 he played all outfield positions as well as short stop, second, first, and third base for the Astros.  He only made 10 errors all season across those positions, with six of those coming at short stop – the position he would be deployed at the least for the Cardinals.

Marwin, in a down year, posted a WAR of 2.5, hitting 16 home runs and driving in 68 with a .247/.324/.409 slash line.  Marwin is one year removed from a breakout 2017 campaign in which he posted a .303/.377/.530 slash with a .907 OPS and a 146 OPS+.  Those are excellent numbers for a guy who offers so much defensive flexibility.

The St. Louis Cardinals should jump at the opportunity to add a younger version of Ben Zobrist who has more upside offensively and who is probably better defensively.  Who would be the odd man out, you might say, if we sign Gonzalez?  Marwin could basically be a roaming substitute who gives all infielders/outfielders a day off.  You would create a situation where Marwin, Jedd, and Jose Martinez (if they are with the club and assuming no further hitters as additions) all get about 500 at bats.

The St. Louis Cardinals have the inside edge to sign Gonzalez

The St. Louis Cardinals recently announced the hiring of Jeff Albert as the hitting coach for next season.  Albert was the 2018 assistant hitting coach for the Astros, the team that Gonzalez spent the last seven years with.  To the extent that Albert is familiar with Gonzalez and his ups and downs, he may be a good lure to get Marwin to sign with the redbirds.

While a former hitting coach relationship may help the Cardinals sign Gonzalez, the deal will come down to money (as all free agent contracts ultimately come down to, see, for example, Price, David).  To get the deal done, I believe that something in the range of 4 years and $48 million will get the deal done.

Remember that Zobrist, who was a more accomplished hitter coming off of a better offensive season, got 4 years and $56 million from the Cubs.  Marwin is five years younger than Zobrist was, but he is coming off a down year which may lead to a discount.

Additionally, Marwin profiles mainly as a third base/infield option and the market is rich with infielders that provide better offensive upside than Marwin.  For example, Mike Moustakas, Manny Machado, Johnathan Schoop (if his option is not exercised), Josh Donaldson and many others flood this free agent class.  The existence of these other options should drive down the price for Marwin.

The X-factor here is Scott Boras.  Reports show that Marwin hired Boras last December.  Boras is typically known for getting big contracts for his clients.  That has changed in the past couple of years and Boras has done disservice to many of his clients by holding out for too long and leaving big extensions and offers on the table early in free agency.

If Boras similarly betrays his responsibilities to Marwin, then the utility player could pass up a good offer early in free agency only to be forced into taking a pillow contract later in the free agent cycle (this tactic failed most recently with Mike Moustakas).

I do not want to turn this piece into a rant against Boras, but his tactics usually only work for his best players.  He has not done well for his 1-A options in free agency the last couple of years.  Thus, the St. Louis Cardinals should play that card when making an early, and competitive offer to retain Marwin’s services.

Lastly, the Cardinals should consider Marwin because he is a switch hitter.  Thus, he adds that left-handed bat to the lineup when facing right handed pitchers.

As a left-handed hitter this past year he regressed offensively just like his overall numbers, but if you take a look at his 2017 splits, he slashed .322/.394/.552 as a left-handed batter- which would be a welcome improvement over Gyorko’s line against right-handed pitchers of .244/.328/.374, while maximizing Jedd’s .309/.393/.526 slash against left-handed pitchers.  In other words, Marwin is the perfect platoon split with Jedd Gyorko and they both provide the flexibility necessary to get adequate at bats for everyone.

What do you think?  Do you think a younger, better Ben Zobrist would drastically improve the offense and defense?  Leave a note in the comments or on Twitter and let us know!