Missing the playoffs, firing a manager and extending the interim manager was all that pressed the St. Louis Cardinals during their 2018 campaign, resulting in being in the Wild Card hunt but bowing out towards the end of the season. The team just seemed to run out of gas, something that needs to be addressed for 2019 under former interim and now full-time manager Mike Shildt.
Finishing four games over .500 at 83-79 was a small bow on what was labeled as a trying season by most. Injuries, inconsistencies and managerial issues all plagued the franchise, placing the team in third behind both the Wild Card host Chicago Cubs and division winner and NLDS attendee Milwaukee Brewers.
The National League Central division will be one of the toughest to win this season, as all teams have made additions to their squads, either at last year’s trade deadline or at some point this offseason.
For the Cardinals, trading for dessert slugger Paul Goldschmidt was only their first step, as they also signed perennial powerhouse southpaw reliever Andrew Miller to head up their bullpen, alongside flamethrower Jordan Hicks.
Goldschmidt will slot in as the team’s best power hitter and the starting first baseman, which will move Matt Carpenter over to third base full time while forcing Jose Martinez to eradicate the infield all together and fight for playing time in the outfield. Martinez has been rumored to be in trade discussions, as his playing time will be drastically changed in 2019 after he mostly spent time at first base if he was not in the outfield.
Their division rival Brewers have a nasty lefty of their own, as Josh Hader burst onto the scene and solidified himself as one of the best southpaws in the league. Following their rivals plan for usage of a power lefty is something that Shildt should employ next season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxDuzIN6EQA
As a combining factor, the Brewers also had other left-handed specialists, also known as a ‘Loogy, who would be a one or two batter pitcher every time he was called upon. Both Dan Jennings and Xavier Cedeno were both utilized in that role more often than not last season, saving Hader for longer inning instances were the team needed two-plus innings.’
Both Jennings and Cedeno are free agents at the moment, at with the slow market not truly developing yet, the Cardinals would be smart to jump on one of them. While Jennings is more well-known, he showed why he was not brought back, as his inconsistencies handling lefties was not beneficial.
Cedeno, whom the Brewers acquired from the White Sox before last season’s trade deadline, makes more sense for St. Louis here, mostly due to his ground-ball numbers.
Cedeno debuted in the majors in 2011 with the Houston Astros, making his way through five teams in his major league career. He has a career-high of innings pitched in a year with 46, and his most appearances occurred in the same season with Washington and Toronto with 66.
For Milwaukee, Cedeno pitched in 15 games, earning a 1.13 ERA on seven hits, one earned run, six strikeouts and three walks. While a small sample size, his consistency was evident, and he was overall undervalued coming out of the pen.
Being a ground-ball specialist, he threw a cutter the majority of the time, as 86.6 percent of his pitches were cutters, opposed to 31.1 percent being a curveball, according to FanGraphs.
Mixing his offspeed mixture of pitches with Miller’s heat is a great way to keep the batters on their toes, and don’t forget about fireballer Hicks who will most likely anchor the closer spot again this season. Carlos Martinez was also the closer for a bit of time, and he could see time in a setup role for the Cards in 2019.
While the payroll doesn’t present any immediate issues for the team, as they currently sit at almost $148 million, Cedeno should come cheap, somewhere in the range of a one year deal at an AAV of $1.5 million with a team option for 2020 would do the trick.
Signing Cedeno does not necessarily push the needle on St. Louis’ chances of winning the Central division, but it definitely makes it tougher for opponents to want to get to their bullpen. Combining a softer throwing lefty who is known for getting ground balls, with a fire-throwing lefty who knows how to act in the moment, with a young arm in Hicks makes for a dangerous way to close out a game for Shildt and company.
St. Louis may be one or two more modest moves away from making more noise in their division, but the addition of Cedeno would at minimum help stabilize the team during the season, setting themselves up to pounce if either the Cubs or Brewers falls behind or is plagued by injuries.
Follow Us
Subscribe