Hunter Renfroe would be a terrible addition to the St. Louis Cardinals’ roster
The Tampa Bay Rays have set slugging outfielder Hunter Renfroe free, and he’s got the St. Louis Cardinals written all over him for all the right reasons -- and a lot of wrong ones, too.
One the plus side, Renfroe has the sort of power the Cardinals so sorely lack, swatting 26, 26 and 32 home runs in each of the past three complete Major League Baseball seasons. As a released player, he’s probably going to be cheap which would seem to tick the most important box on John Mozeliak’s off-season checklist. Finally, the Cardinals have tons of opportunities for playing time in the outfield, so he’s a fit from that standpoint.
But, while he hits a lot of home runs, Renfroe doesn’t do much else. He’s has a horrific .290 career on-base percentage over 1,445 at-bats to go with a .228 batting average. Meanwhile, he strikes out about three times as often as he walks, setting an average of 167 whiffs over the course of the 162 games that would make up a pre-pandemic season. Though he is an outfielder by trade, Renfroe is not a very good one. Maybe the Cardinal can afford a weak fielder in an outfield that includes Dylan Carlson in one outfield spot and either Gold Glover (ahem) Tyler O’Neill or Harrison Bader in the other.
Still, I’m afraid a buy-low acquisition of Renfroe is going to be more of what Dexter Fowler and Matt Carpenter bring to the team: Too little production taking up a valuable roster spot that could have otherwise gone to a higher-end player that might actually make a difference in games or the standings.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Renfroe signed, especially if the National League is cursed with the designated hitter in 2021 and beyond. But not if it means the front office is going to put down its pen and declare the offense is fixed. Renfroe is too similar to what the team already has too much of: guys who strike out too often, get on base too little, are one-dimensional with the bat and basically, just too average.
Joc Pederson, recently of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is at least marginally better and seems like he has more potential than Renfroe. ZIPS projects that over the next two seasons, Pederson would be a .248 hitter who would hit 25-26 homers a season with a .340 on-base percentage. It pegs Renfroe as a .234 hitter with 26 homers and a .289 on-base percentage.
His .230 career batting average is only two points better, but Pederson gets on at a more respectable — if not spectacular — .336 pace. Over the course of an imaginary 162-game season, Pederson would strike out a bit less, 132 times. Dismissed by some as a glorified platoon player, Pederson definitely looks like the best player between the two and a significantly better choice as an offensive addition than Renfroe.
Cardinals fans have grown to expect “that’s all we’re going to get” when it comes to free agent acquisitions. George Springer is, hands down, the best offensive player on the market and would make the Cardinals an instantly better team. Will St. Louis go after him? Nah. Get real. The Cardinals don’t fish in the deep end of the talent pond. They dumpster dive. That worked a time or two a decade ago. So we’re going to do it again, and again, and again in hopes to find the next Ryan Ludwick. Renfroe ain’t Ryan Ludwick.
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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.
