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Cardinals Rumors: St. Louis may move Edmundo Sosa, promote DeJong

By Josh Jacobs |
ST LOUIS, MO - MAY 18: Edmundo Sosa #63 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates after driving in a run with a double against the St. Louis Cardinals in the third inning at Busch Stadium on May 18, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - MAY 18: Edmundo Sosa #63 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrates after driving in a run with a double against the St. Louis Cardinals in the third inning at Busch Stadium on May 18, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
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The St. Louis Cardinals began the 2022 season with a lot of questions, but the central story for a while was how the shortstop position would be handled throughout the season.

After beginning the season with Paul DeJong and Edmundo Sosa fighting for time at short, the club decided to call up prospect Nolan Gorman to play second base and moved Gold Glover Tommy Edman to shortstop. The move has proved to be the correct one this season, but now questions are arising about what to do with Sosa and DeJong.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that at least one AL West team has shown interest in Sosa, and with DeJong’s recent success in Triple-A and the Cardinals’ intention to make moves for pitching, it is easy to see how Sosa may be on the move with DeJong taking his place on the roster.

DeJong began 2022 off in the majors by slashing .130/.209/.208 with just a single homer and 7 RBI. His struggles were so bad that the club optioned him to Triple-A Memphis, where he has regained his old success, slashing .249/.313/.552 with 17 homers and 54 RBI on the season.

With Sosa being out of options and struggling at the big league level this year, finding his OPS at just .514, it may be wise for the club to capitalize on any interested teams and give DeJong another shot in St. Louis. Not only could it help them acquire pitching, but it may actually provide a boost to their lineup as well. Here is how a Sosa trade and DeJong promotion could greatly benefit St. Louis.

Paul DeJong #11 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a two run home run off Bryan Shaw #27 of the Cleveland Indians during the seventh inning at Progressive Field on July 27, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)
Paul DeJong #11 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a two run home run off Bryan Shaw #27 of the Cleveland Indians during the seventh inning at Progressive Field on July 27, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images) /

Rotate the Cardinals’ middle infielders with DeJong

While the club has gotten much better production from the shortstop position since demoting DeJong, there are cracks beginning to show in this current setup.

While Edman, Gorman, and Brendan Donovan began their 2022 campaigns in St. Louis with hot starts, each of them has cooled off in the last few months, but especially in July.

Edman has played in 92 games this season, and his OPS has begun to fall off a cliff, with it sitting at .515 over the last 28 days. Gorman and Donovan have also seen regression, sitting at .679 and .548 OPS respectively this month, both down from their season average.

For Edman, it seems playing almost every game for St. Louis this season is starting to take a toll, and it would be helpful to find more off days for the fan favorite to maintain high levels of play in the second half. Donovan and Gorman are both probably being relied on too heavily to produce day to day, and the club could use other options to supplement their play.

Giving DeJong a shot again allows the club to rest Edman when necessary, or shift him to second base against left-handed pitching and allow Gorman to sit out against his glaring weakness. Donovan then shifts back into a utility man role, which would better suit him, playing more often than not but filling in all over the place. He also would no longer be relied on to carry the production at one position day in and day out.

If DeJong struggles again, the club can then DFA him, or barely play him like they are doing with Sosa at the moment. Donovan could become the backup infielder, and one of the Cardinals’ many outfield options can replace Donovan’s time out there.

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