St. Louis Cardinals: 5 Realistic Trade Deadline Candidates
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
1. Adam Lind, 1B, Milwaukee Brewers
Making $7.5M in 2015, $8M salary in 2016 with $500K buyout
The Cardinals have had issues at first base all season, especially since Matt Adams went down for the year with a torn quad in late May. Cards first basemen are hitting just .230/.285/.369 this season, the lowest numbers in all three of those categories for any position except center field. Adams’ replacement, Mark Reynolds, got off to a hot start as the starter, hitting .278 over 85 May at-bats, but he’s regressed back to his usual self since then, hitting .202 since June 1. Worst of all, Reynolds seems to have been sapped of his power, as he has just eight homers (including an inside-the-parker) this season and is in serious jeopardy of breaking his seven-year streak of hitting 20 home runs per season.
The Cardinals have had few issues surviving without an impactful first baseman thanks to above-average production from players like Jhonny Peralta, Kolten Wong, and Randal Grichuk. However, if they are to survive through October, they should try to have as sturdy of a lineup as possible. Luckily, the Brewers are reportedly eager to move their first baseman, Adam Lind, and he could solve the Cardinals’ problems at the position. While he gets much less publicity, Lind’s numbers are very similar to Adrian Gonzalez’s this season. Through 294 at-bats, Lind is hitting .289/.374/.507 with 15 homers and 52 RBI. Gonzalez, meanwhile, is hitting .292/.366/.545 with 20 homers and 58 RBI with nearly 40 more at-bats to his credit (and four of those homers coming over the past week).
While Lind is a great player who would be fully deserving of the $8 million he’s scheduled to make next season, the Cardinals would also have the freedom to buy him out for half a million dollars if they really intend on restoring Adams to the starting first base position next season. With that said, the Brewers will be charging for Lind on the assumption that he’ll be playing for the team that acquires him in 2016, so the Cardinals should probably retain him and cross the Adams bridge when they come to it.
The biggest issue with the acquisition of Lind is that even if the Brewers are willing to trade him within the division, they’ll likely command a higher price from the Cardinals than they would for a team outside of the division. In addition to possibly replacing Lind, the Brewers will need to replace third baseman Aramis Ramirez, who is retiring at the end of the season. That could eventually be done in-house; top prospects Jake Gatewood and Gilbert Lara, both of whom are currently shortstops, could end up moving to third long-term. With both of them in the lower minors, however, the Brewers will need to find someone to at least bridge the gap. Cardinals third base prospects Jacob Wilson and Patrick Wisdom could be candidates to fill that role, at least in the short term. The Cardinals could also consider giving up Stephen Piscotty, who could either take over for Lind at first or for Gerardo Parra, who is also a candidate to be traded at the deadline, in the outfield.
In addition, while the Brewers have a large quantity of young pitching, they’d almost certainly jump at the chance to acquire another impactful young starter, whether it was a guy ready to jump in and be a steady member of the big-league rotation right away (i.e. Tim Cooney) or a prospect in the lower minors who could supplant the erratic Devin Williams as the club’s top pitching prospect, perhaps Luke Weaver or Jack Flaherty.
It’s not like Lind is an MVP candidate or anything, but he’s a very good hitter who could slide into the middle of the Cardinals’ order and would probably be the second-best hitter in the lineup behind Jhonny Peralta. If he continues to hit like he has for the majority of the past three seasons, he would be a tremendous upgrade over Mark Reynolds and a huge addition to the Cardinals’ lineup.