Cardinals whiff on prime opportunity to upgrade bench following NL Central rival's gift

In a surprising move, the Cincinnati Reds placed two of their most recognizable veterans on outright waivers this week, freeing up the chance for any of the other 29 teams in the league to take a chance on TJ Friedl or Eugenio Suárez. The only cost for doing so would be their remaining salaries for the 2026 season, which come out to around $700,000 for the former and $3 million for the latter.

Because neither player is playing all that well (and those salaries aren't completely negligible figures this late in the year), both went unclaimed and will remain with the Reds. That should tell you pretty much all you need to know about their respective values at this point.

Still, I'm here to argue that the St. Louis Cardinals probably should have taken a chance on Friedl, who would have covered for one of their biggest weaknesses on the roster at the moment.

Cardinals may have benefited from giving TJ Friedl a change-of-scenery opportunity

Early on this year, the Redbirds looked like they were going to field one of the best defenses in baseball. They had Gold Glove candidates at nearly every position, all of whom were displaying their best work in the field at the same time.

Now, we can safely say that those early prognostications were correct. The Cardinals have been elite with their gloves, ranking third overall in cumulative Outs Above Average (+31) and Fielding Run Value (+37). Were it not for those pesky Cubs posting a historically elite season on that side of the ball, they'd be the best defensive team in the National League this year.

The problem? Pretty much all of that success is owed to the Redbird's incredible infield. Their outfield has graded out as below average by most metrics, including OAA (-3, 19th), FRV (-8, 21st), and Defensive Runs Saved (-9, 20th). There's a lot of reasons for that, including Victor Scott II's demotion in early June and the fact that Jordan Walker (-4 OAA, -6 DRS) is the only outfielder on the roster who has played more than 1,000 innings in the field this year.

This is the point where I would've introduced Friedl, had the Cardinals claimed him. The 31-year-old has been terrific with the glove this year, especially in center where he's posted +5 OAA and +5 DRS in just 432.2 innings.

The only problem is, much like Scott, Friedl has forgotten how to hit this season. He's batting .158 with a 33 wRC+ with the Reds, having earned his own demotion to Triple-A earlier this summer. It makes sense why the front office might not have wanted to add another Scott-type situation to the roster during a Wild Card chase.

Still, Friedl has a long history of being an above-average hitter, and perhaps a change of scenery could have sparked some of his old magic. Instead, he'll be left to waste away on a rebuilding Reds team, while the Cardinals will continue to rely on their infield to compensate for their outfield.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow