St. Louis Cardinals: Francisco Pena being expendable is a good omen

With the news that Francisco Pena has been traded by the St. Louis Cardinals, the doors should be closed on doubts that the Cardinals are not confident in their preparation for a life during and after Yadier Molina.

Honestly, the dumping of Francisco Pena probably became inevitable after the St. Louis Cardinals were able to grab longtime starter Matt Weiters in free agency. While Weiters served a bench role in 2018, the 4 All-Star appearances, 2 Gold Gloves, and over 1000 major league games caught speaks for itself.

While his power is declining, he has maintained average to above average defense behind the plate. Put that all together and compare it with Pena’s .203/.239/.271 slash in 2018, and it’s a no-brainer who the Cardinals would have as the backup on the major league roster.

Normally, catchers like Pena are still valuable for minor league depth. There are a lot of minor league teams to fill, and most if not all of them need more than a single catcher. At the price point Pena is being paid, I can understand why they would rather cut ties with him than send him to a certain level.

The St. Louis Cardinals management deciding to cut Pena instead of using him in Double-A or Triple-A most likely means that there will be players to fill those roles soon. The biggest name on this list is the one that helped spur the Paul Goldschmidt trade: Andrew Knizner.

Just as it may have been more difficult to part ways with Carson Kelly without the presence of a legitimate heir to Yadier Molina‘s sacred Cardinals catcher spot, letting Pena go may have not been as viable of an option without Kninzer rising through the ranks.

Knizner is right back on that track in 2019, slashing .320./.386/.400 in his first 83 at-bats with Memphis. This is, of course, huge for the St. Louis Cardinals, as they can theoretically have one offensive and one defensive backup catcher, or a failsafe for Yadi should he get hurt.

This means that there would essentially be zero reason for Francisco Pena to be called up, which makes it an easy decision to unload his major league contract. It may have been nice to keep him around to mentor guys like Ivan Herrera, but the cost for Pena was simply too much for a minor leaguer, and Pena assuredly would rather be traded than be a minor league stowaway.

Francisco Pena served his purpose as a serviceable backup catcher, but the Cardinals have grown beyond that. With Matt Weiters in place and Andrew Knizner on the way, catcher shouldn’t be a problem for the 2019 St. Louis Cardinals.