St. Louis Cardinals: Avoid Charlie Blackmon at the Trade Deadline

Charlie Blackmon to the St. Louis Cardinals has hit the rumor mill in recent days. Some think it’s a good idea, but here is why John Mozeliak should stay away from the Colorado Rockies Outfielder.

The July 31st Trade Deadline is almost upon us and the rumors are flying like hot pancakes in a skillet at a Rotary breakfast. One of the latest involves Colorado Rockies veteran outfielder, Charlie Blackmon, and the St. Louis Cardinals. I’m not sure how serious this rumor is, but due to the Cardinals current situation in the outfield, there could be some credence to it.

Whether the St. Louis Cardinals are interested in pursuing Blackmon or not, I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring in the 33-year-old left-handed bat. The reasons for my reluctance are on the offensive, defensive, and cost side of the issue.

Offensively, Blackmon’s numbers are inflated by playing in Coors field and defensively, he just not very good. In fact, his defensive metrics are worse than the much-maligned Jose Martinez. Finally, the cost of bringing Blackmon aboard, in my opinion, is just not worth it.

Here’s my case why John Mozeliak and the Cardinals front office should avoid trading for Charlie Blackmon.

The Coors Field Paradigm

In the hitter-friendly Coors Field, Blackmon’s stats are quite impressive. So far in 2019, he has a slash line of .319/.366/.595 with 21 HR and 60 RBI. However, away from Coors, the slash line is .243/.278/.393 with 6 HR and 21 RBI in 48 games. In his career, Blackmon’s numbers reflect 2019. He has a career slash at Coors Field of .350/.409/.591, but away from Coors it’s much more human at .261/.312/.427.

If he became a St. Louis Cardinal, Busch Stadium III wouldn’t be a friendly confine for the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket. In 18 games at the Cardinals home field, Blackmon has a slash line of .247/.276/.425 with two HR and five RBI.

Additionally, the Georgia native’s postseason history is even less impressive, although somewhat limited due to the Rockies rare attendance in the playoffs. In five games he has a slash line of .105/.150/.105 with only two RBI to show for it.

A Defensive Liability

Defensively, Charlie Blackmon makes Jose Martinez look like a Gold Glover. Most Cardinal fans know Martinez is a defensive liability which reflects in the outfield where he has a career Rtot of -16 and a Rdrs of -21. Considering 0 is considered average by these two metrics, you can see Martinez’s obvious defensive shortcomings.

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Nevertheless, Charlie Blackmon’s defensive metrics are worse, where his career Rtot is -29 and Rdrs is -49. Also, it appears centerfield in which he has played the most games, is his weakest defensive position by far. There he has a career Rtot of -25, and Rdrs of -48.

It could be that Blackmon would make a serviceable left fielder for the Cardinals, where he has a Rtot of 3 and Rdrs of 3. But the cost to bring Blackmon to St. Louis could make even that unattractive.

Blackmon would be a costly acquisition.

Blackmon is currently in the middle of 4/yr $77 million contract that he signed in 2018 which also includes player options in 2022 and 2023. In other words, he could potentially make an additional $70 million over the next few years as he approaches his mid-30s.

Blackmon also has a 15 team no-trade clause that could make negotiations complicated and acquiring him even more expensive. Additionally, the Rockies are wanting to upgrade their pitching staff and would be looking for a fairly high prospect or prospects in order to turn loose of Blackmon.

To Conclude

I don’t mean to disparage Charlie Blackmon. He is a four-time All-Star and twice won the Silver Slugger Award. Undoubtedly, he has had an impressive career for the Colorado Rockies.

Also, we should keep in mind what an impact a former Colorado Rockies player had on the St. Louis Cardinals, Matt Holliday. There were some who felt Holliday couldn’t hit outside of Colorado, but his eight years in St. Louis proved those concerns wrong.

Nevertheless, I believe adding Charlie Blackmon to address the Cardinals need for another good bat in the lineup would be a costly risk. Blackmon is coming to an age where regression has started in most players, so the Cardinals would be paying for past performance more than future performance.

This is a trade the St. Louis Cardinals need to stay away from. I’m not against the idea of adding another bat in the lineup, but trading for Charlie Blackmon is not the right move for John Mozeliak and the Cardinals front office to make at this year’s Trade Deadline.