Cardinals acquire left-handed phenom from Tampa Bay Rays. Who did they give up?
In the midst of a winter in which the St. Louis Cardinals have sought to provide clarity to an outfield picture replete with options but bereft of certainty, a move in the trade market on Thursday may be a step toward relieving a logjam.
The Cardinals acquired left-handed pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore, catching prospect Edgardo Rodriguez, and a Compensation Round B pick in the 2020 MLB draft from the Tampa Bay Rays, the team announced. In return, Tampa Bay received outfielders Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena and the Cardinals’ Compensation Round A pick in the same draft.
“We are extremely excited to be adding a top pitching prospect in Matthew Liberatore to our organization, and this trade also helps us to create more opportunity in the outfield for players like Tyler O’Neill, Lane Thomas and others,” Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said in a statement released by the team.
Liberatore, 20, was the 16th overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft. He was 6-2 with a 3.10 ERA for Bowling Green of the Single-A Midwest League in 2019, making 16 appearances (15 starts). He was ranked as the 41st best prospect in baseball by MLB.com’s Pipeline, placing him fourth among Tampa’s prospects as well as fourth among all left-handed pitchers.
Martinez, 31, made his Major League debut for the Cardinals in 2016 and quickly established himself as a versatile bat off the bench. A .298 career hitter, Martinez had the least productive season of his brief career in 2019, hitting .269 with a .410 slugging percentage in 373 plate appearances.
From Venezuela and the son of the late former Major Leaguer Carlos Martinez, Jose Martinez was a beloved figure in the Cardinals clubhouse. He played 10 full seasons in the minors before reaching the big leagues and seemed to relish every facet of his playing career, acting as a de facto team spokesman and frequent cheerleader. He also was occasionally a guest disc jockey at Big Daddy’s in Edwardsville, near his home. The DJ equipment of “DJ Cafecito” was a common sight in the clubhouse after victories.
Martinez’s defensive shortcomings have long made him a candidate for a trade to an American League team that could use him as a designated hitter. He began the 2018 season as the Cardinals’ primary first baseman, but his unsteady play in the field saw his opportunities there reduced after Mike Shildt was named manager. He did not play the infield in 2019.
After the Cardinals mustered only one run in the first two games of the 2019 National League Championship Series, Martinez was placed in the starting lineup for games three and four. The team recorded only 16 total hits in the course of Washington’s four-game sweep; Martinez was responsible for five of those. He also had two of the team’s three extra base hits (both doubles) and three of its five total RBI.
Arozarena, who turns 25 in February, was one of the most productive players in all of Minor League Baseball in 2019. He recorded a 1.003 on base plus slugging percentage spread across Double- and Triple-A, making his Major League debut in Kansas City in August.
Despite having only 20 plate appearances in the majors during the regular season, Arozarena was included on St. Louis’s postseason roster in both the National League Division Series against Atlanta as well as the NLCS. He made headlines following the NLDS when he live-streamed an expletive-laden motivational speech by Shildt via his Instagram account.
Arozarena’s 2019 results were viewed by some inside the Cardinals organization with skepticism, given the overall offensive explosion at Triple-A last season. In an outfield mix that also contains Harrison Bader, Tyler O’Neill, and Lane Thomas, as well as top prospect Dylan Carlson, it was difficult to determine an organizational fit for Arozarena moving forward.
Rodriguez, 19, has yet to advance past the rookie ball level. He was signed as a free agent from Venezuela in 2017.
Trading Martinez and Arozarena creates two available spots on the Cardinals 40-man roster and provides clarity on the team’s depth chart as they approach spring training. Outfielder Marcell Ozuna remains available on the free agent market, and recent news reports from the Dominican Republic have quoted Ozuna as preferring a return to St. Louis.
The Cardinals have been reticent to this point to offer Ozuna a contract of his preferred length, and the decision to highlight O’Neill and Thomas in the team’s press release announcing this deal suggests further confidence that Ozuna’s production can be replaced internally.
Liberatore was raised in the Phoenix area, alongside Cardinals standout prospect third baseman Nolan Gorman. Liberatore shared a video of the pair on Twitter on Nov. 27, 2018, showcasing both his velocity and Gorman’s reflexes.
The two have been friends and occasional teammates since meeting at 5 years old, and were featured in a video produced by MLB Network prior to the 2018 draft. Gorman was selected by the Cardinals just three picks after Liberatore was drafted by Tampa Bay.
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 5:00 PM.
