Fansided
Redbird Rants

St. Louis Cardinals: Reacting to Jenifer Langosch’s roster predictions

By Christian May-Suzuki

ST LOUIS, MO - JUNE 04: Mike Thomas, former PGA player and father of defending PGA champion, Justin Thomas speaks with St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill Dewitt Jr. during the 2018 PGA Championship Media Day visit to Busch Stadium on June 4, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - JUNE 04: Mike Thomas, former PGA player and father of defending PGA champion, Justin Thomas speaks with St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill Dewitt Jr. during the 2018 PGA Championship Media Day visit to Busch Stadium on June 4, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 6
Next
St. Louis Cardinals
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 20: Jose Martinez #38 of the St. Louis Cardinals runs to first as Yasmani Grandal #9 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reaches to tag him out during the sixth inning of a game at Dodger Stadium on August 20, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Another sentiment that Langosch expressed was the fact that she still believed that the St. Louis Cardinals would trade Jose Martinez. I am not particularly surprised, as Martinez was displaced from the lineup, fits better on an American League team, and the Cardinals are not particularly thin in depth.

Guys like Jedd Gyorko and Tyler O’Neill will presumably serve as bench units, while Jose provides the perfect mix of cheapness, production, team control, poor defense, and incompatible age with the younger core of the St. Louis Cardinals makes Jose Martinez a perfect trade candidate for them.

But other teams know this too, which has presumably made it somewhat difficult to get the value back from Martinez that he should command. His .305 average and .457 OPS should make him an appealing DH option, but the lack of home runs paired with questionable discipline, speed, and defense all hinder Martinez’s value.

If the Cardinals can’t find a player that they believe will be a major contributor to the Cardinals in the next several seasons in exchange for Martinez, the Cardinals might as well keep him. You might be worried that he takes a 25-man spot from a younger player that deserves it, or even a 40-man spot later in the season.

However, based on the way he has hit over the past two seasons, Martinez should provide more than enough as an above average pinch hitter to justify a postseason roster spot.

At the end of the day, the St. Louis Cardinals should be doing all they can to appeal to Paul Goldschmidt enough for him to want to stay in St. Louis. While an extension would be amazing and would keep the contention window open, his very subtle decline over the past several years and his advanced age only makes this year’s success even more pivotal for the future of the team.

Thus, this should be a year that the Cardinals should focus on being good in the present day. If you can’t find something like that to exchange for Jose Martinez, then you honestly shouldn’t trade him.

Home/St Louis Cardinals News