Gold Glover Kolten Wong joins Brewers after eight years with Cardinals

The Milwaukee Brewers have snagged former Cardinals infielder Kolten Wong, signing him to a two-year deal worth $18 million.

The Milwaukee Brewers have pried Gold Glove second baseman Kolten Wong away from their National League Central rival.

Wong has signed a two-year, $18 million deal with the Brewers after eight seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The deal includes a third-year option that can increase the guaranteed value to $26 million.

Free-agent second baseman Kolten Wong in agreement with Brewers on two-year, $18M contract with a third-year club option, pending physical, source tells @TheAthletic.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 3, 2021

If Brewers exercise Wong’s option, deal will grow to three years, $26M, source says. First with agreement: @JonMorosi.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 3, 2021

Wong became a free agent after the Cardinals surprisingly declined his $12.5 million club option for 2021. The Redbirds had still shown some interest in re-signing Wong, though that interest may have waned after St. Louis acquired star third baseman Nolan Arenado from the Colorado Rockies.

The Brewers have immediately improved its infield defense. Wong has won back-to-back Gold Golve Awards at the second base position. By comparison, Brewers second baseman Keston Hiura ranked in the 11th percentile in outs above average in 2020, per Baseball Savant. Hiura was the worst defensive second baseman in baseball by that same metric in 2019.

The Wong signing should allow Hiura to move over to first base, which figures to have a drastic impact on Milwaukee's defense. But Wong offers more than just defense.

The 30-year-old is a .261 career hitter who rarely strikes out and also draws the occasional walk. He even clubbed 11 homers and stole 24 bases in 2019.

Although the NL Central had been mostly dormant for the first few months of the offseason, the teams at the top of the division are beginning to make moves to bolster their rosters.

The Arenado acquisition could well make the Cardinals the favorite, but Wong supplies the Brewers with excellent defense and solid at-bats from the left side of the dish.