The St. Louis Cardinals can improve by trading prospects to the Mets for Michael Conforto
Watching the Major League Baseball playoffs, it’s immediately apparent that the teams still playing baseball bear little resemblance to the prematurely eliminated St. Louis Cardinals.
The Cardinals were dead last in MLB in 2020, hitting only 51 home runs in 58 games. The Arizona Diamondbacks were second-last with 58 homers. Power was a major component of the most successful teams this year. The Los Angeles Dodgers doubled up the Cardinals with 118 homers to finish first in baseball. Fellow playoff survivor the Atlanta Braves were second in homers. LA’s post-season opponent, the San Diego Padres were fourth. The New York Yankees were fifth.
It seems imperative that the Birds find some power before the 2021 season starts, likely a much easier task than finding a way to teach their strikeout-prone offense how to put the ball in play consistently, hit around the shift and move runners around the bases to manufacture runs.
One candidate who might make a good fit for the middle of the Cardinals batting order is New York Mets right fielder Michael Conforto, who stands to be a free agent after the 2021 season. There hasn’t been a lot of talk about an extension for the slugging outfielder, which very well could be because his agent is Scott Boras who notoriously pushes his players to test the open market. While the Mets might want to keep their player, it’s possible the Cardinals might be able to get them to part with the slugger out of fear they could lose him for virtually nothing if they let him play out his current deal.
What would be a risky situation for the Cardinals, who are sitting home and watching several players they let go, including Marcell Ozuna and Randy Arozarena, star for other teams in the playoffs. But Conforto’s contract status fits the Cardinals current payroll limitations. Conforto made $8 million last season and is expected to get $14-$16 million through arbitration. It’s a bargain price for a guy who hits for a decent average with 30 home run power when St. Louis claims it doesn’t have much to spend in 2021. But by the time Conforto hits the open market in 2022, Matt Carpenter, Dexter Fowler, Andrew Miller and others will come off the books, allowing the Cardinals to make a competitive offer to make the Mets outfielder an excellent compliment to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt in the middle of the batting order.
Conforto would likely come at a premium after hitting .322 with a .412 on-base percentage and nine homers in 202 at-bats in the shortened 2020 season. But it’s hard to put too much weight on two months worth of baseball. The 27-year-old is a .259 hitter with a .348 on-base percentage over the course of his six seasons in the big leagues. He’s hit at least 27 home runs in each of his last three full seasons.
If the Mets can be convinced to part with Conforto for a couple of prospects, he could play right field with Fowler playing out the remainder of his contract splitting left field with Tyler O’Neill while Dylan Carlson takes over center field from the Cardinals offensively-challenged defensive whiz Harrison Bader. It would be a huge boost for the worst hitting group of outfielders in the majors.
It would be a risky move that would certainly come with a high price in terms of talent, not to mention the cost of the eventual contract it would take to keep Conforto in the fold. But it could be a transformational move, allowing St. Louis to make other internal maneuvers to improve on its two-games-over-.500 finish in 2020. As ugly as it’s going to be on the payroll balance sheet, the Cardinals are likely going to have to eat Carpenter’s contract, at the very least, turning him into an $18.5-million pinch hitter. If Kolton Wong remains on the club in 2021, he’d be the second baseman and Edman could man third for a season until Nolan Gorman is ready to take over at the hot corner. Then Edman could move over to play second.
Goldschmidt and Conforto would protect each other in the third and fourth spots in the batting order while a more experienced Carlson would be a lot better offensive producer than Bader. He and Paul Dejong could fill the fifth and six spots in the batting order with Yadier Molina and Fowler contributing from the bottom of the lineup.
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Scott Wuerz is a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan. The Cheap Seats blog is written from his perspective as a fan and is designed to spark discussion among fans of the Cardinals and other MLB teams. Sources supporting his views and opinions are linked. If you’re looking for Cardinals news and features, check out the BND’s Cardinals section.
