St. Louis Cardinals: Putting Jose Martinez on the block is a huge mistake

On top of Fowler’s general futility, Jose Martinez has been a valuable contributor to the St. Louis Cardinals offense over the past two seasons, making it simply ridiculous to value Fowler over him.

Let’s compare Dex to Jose Martinez, the St. Louis Cardinals’ most consistent hitter last year. Jose Martinez. Jose put up a -6 DRS, which is comparable to Fowler, but his -1 UZR and -4 UZR/150 was miles better than Dex.

Put simply, he was better than Fowler in right field last year. Given more consistent playing time in right, Martinez could improve and truly surpass Fowler as a fielder. If you think the defensive metrics are a toss-up and do not like Jose on the eye test, simply switch to the offensive metrics and this debate ends.

Jose Martinez slashed .305/.364/.457 with an .821 OPS and 124 OPS+ in 2018! For those of you scoring at home, Jose was more than twice as productive as Fowler offensively and is good or better than Dex defensively.

Moreover, Martinez is a consummate team player and puts forth max effort on every play. For a team like the St. Louis Cardinals, whose fans value players who leave their heart and soul on the field as much as any fan base in all of sports, this factor can’t be understated.

Finally, let us remember that Martinez makes the league minimum, and is under team control for the next four years. He is not even arbitration eligible until 2020, so the Cardinals can pay him a fraction of what he is worth and what Fowler is owed.

Dex is owed $16.5 million each year for the next three seasons, a hefty sum for a player producing as little as Fowler has been for the Cardinals. A no-trade clause makes things even more fishy, and is probably the only reason that Fowler is still on the team at all.

Despite all of this evidence that the move is objectively wrong, you can color me shocked that the front office continues to stand behind Dexter Fowler. Sticking by a player because a front office doesn’t want to admit a mistake is not something that usually works out too well, and Fowler won’t be the exception.

Other teams, namely the Yankees and Dodgers, handled similar situations differently with Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, and Jacoby Ellsbury — they benched the players or released them.  They ate the money because that was in the best interest of the team.

What is John Mozeliak prepared to do? Instead of biting the bullet and admitting his mistakes, he wants to anoint Dex the starter and trade Jose Martinez. Playing Fowler just because you can’t trade him and you don’t want to see that money on the bench is placing your own pride over the well-being of the team.

Jose Martinez is one of the best hitters in the National League. He has some pop, he gets on base, and he hits for a high average. He is inexpensive and he is a great clubhouse presence. That is the type of player you keep.