St. Louis Cardinals’ fans must accept that Randy Arozarena isn’t coming back
I’m as miffed as anyone about having to watch former St. Louis Cardinals prospect Randy Arozarena tear up the playoffs for another team, leading the Tampa Bay Rays to a World Series berth.
But let’s not pretend it was that one bad roster move keeping the Cardinals from being the best team in the National League or even the NL Central. Even with the speedy yet powerful young outfielder, the home team still has plenty of gaping holes to fill. While Arozarena might have done a better job as a supporting player in place of Harrison Bader or Tyler O’Neill in the bottom of the batting order, I don’t think we’ve seen enough of the kid to conclude that he’s a legitimate big league cleanup hitter. A barrage of home runs over the course of one playoff run is a considerable accomplishment. But it doesn’t mean a guy who has never hit more than 12 homers in a professional season is the next Hank Aaron.
Even if the Cardinals would have been inclined to keep Arozarena, who supposedly was let go at least as much for his lack of discretion in live broadcasting a profane pep talk from Cardinals manager Mike Shildt than a lack of faith of his ability on the field, they STILL needed to go find an established hitter in the middle of the order. To count on a kid to come up and in his first full season carry the offense isn’t good for the team’s chances nor is it good for the development of the player, himself. Maybe that’s why Arozarena and others like him have blossomed only after leaving St. Louis.
The Cardinals’ lack talent evaluation and retention issues run much deeper than one player. Much, much deeper. A review of the players the Cardinals have signed to free-agent contracts over the past five years ought to come with a bottle of anti-acid and a shot of bourbon.
I don’t believe for a minute that the Cardinals leadership didn’t think Arozarena was capable of playing ball. But the question is where would the Cardinals put him if he had been retained? Left field? Nope. That spot is earmarked for Dylan Carlson. Center field? Nope. He’s not really cut out for that role and is better suited for a corner. So, right? Don’t forget at the time he left town that Dexter Fowler still was signed up for two more years in that spot. So, St. Louis didn’t exactly chose Bader or Tyler O’Neill over Arozarena as much as they chose Carlson over him and were compelled to use Fowler instead.
But REALLY, the Cardinals didn’t chose any outfielders instead of the young Rays slugger. They chose left-handed pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore over Arozarena, literally.
In case you’ve forgotten about Liberatore, and that’s entirely possible since the pandemic shut down the minor leagues all season, he’s 20 years old and is the number two prospect in the Cardinals system behind Nolan Gorman now that Carlson is in the big leagues. So, we’re a long way off from determining who the winner of this trade will be when it’s all said and done. I liked Arozarena from the first time I saw him play in spring training and thought he had a chance to be a very good major league player. A guy who might hit 25 doubles, 25 home runs and steal 25 bases. He is a guy who can do a lot of things on the field to put pressure on the defense and he doesn’t seem to get rattled easily. But you have to give up something good to get something good.
I’m less concerned about the individual pieces than I am about the big picture you get when you put the roster puzzle together. The Cardinals can’t say “Aw, shucks, we missed this one” and pout. The front office needs to find a way to improve the outfield this winter because, as much as they would like to hold the line on costs in the middle of a pandemic, they also need to put a team on the field that is going to actually entice fans to separate themselves from their hard-earned money.
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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.
