Matt Adams Is Gone For A While – What’s Next?

Matt Adams is out indefinitely with a torn quadricep and will not be back with the Cardinals for an estimated 3-4 months. Surgery is possible.

INJURY UPDATE: Matt Adams' injury of a strained right quadricep has his estimated return at 3 to 4 months.

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 28, 2015

#Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams out indefinitely with torn quadriceps, may need surgery http://t.co/7fpLnvD1kQ

— HardballTalk (@HardballTalk) May 27, 2015

No, Adams wasn’t lighting the world on fire through the first quarter of the 2015, but he was a threat to go deep on a team not bereft with home run power.

With the above timeline, the Cardinals are going to have to make moves and hope that Mr. Adams is back in time to add some power off the bench late in the season.

So what do they do?

Play Mark Reynolds.

Mark has been an adequate upgrade off the bench for the Cards in ’15. He’s got 25 hits and 10 walks in 109 ABs, driven in 13 runs and popped 3 home runs.

He’s also struck out 35 times and hasn’t hit over .236 for an entire season since 2009.

The Cardinals are going to get their 2M dollars worth from Reynolds in 2015. The fact that they have a MLB capable replacement to insert into the lineup right now helps stop the bleeding, but will the Cards roll with him long term?

Probably not.

I think they’ll at least prefer to acquire another 1B to platoon with Reynolds.

What about Memphis? Anyone down there to call up?

Xavier Scruggs is the Redbirds primary 1B in Memphis with Dan Johnson seeing some playing time as well.

Scruggs is struggling, batting .212 with 39 strikeouts in 137 ABs. He does lead the team, though, with 8 home runs.

Johnson has a slightly higher average (.256) and far fewer SOs (17) compared to Scruggs. However he’s only been able to muscle out 2 home runs so far in 2015.

Scruggs will get the first look, but as with other positions for the Cardinals in the past (like 2B), there doesn’t appear to be a AAA solution just biding time for a chance with the MLB team.

OK, how about a trade? Who’s out there?

Here are the names that keep surfacing in order of most likely:

• Travis Ishikawa
• Justin Morneau
• Adam Lind
• Ryan Howard

Let’s talk about Howard first, since it’s the most fun…

Philly is a dumpster fire this season with their GM Ruben Amaro going in on his own fans. So getting Howard isn’t totally off the table. But the Cardinals would have to either get him in a blockbuster trade that included Hamels and sees them give away significant talent or eat (a good portion) of roughly 40M that Howard is still owed on his contract (assuming he’ll be bought out for 10M in 2017).

Long story short – minimal chance Howard comes home to STL.

Ishikawa has been designated for assignment after coming off the DL with a back injury. Giants GM Bobby Evans has said they simply don’t have room for him on the 25 man roster. Ishikawa is on a no-risk 1.1M deal that is 1/4 paid off and wouldn’t take any premium prospects to land.

No word on how close he and Mike Wacha are.

Lind and Morneau are much more intriguing (read: possible) options with greater potential upside.

Lind is one the lone bright spots in the Brewers lineup in 2015. He’s got 7 HRs and 19 RBIs thus far and is slugging .471. The Cardinals can afford his 7.5M contract and would obtain and 8M option for 2016. However, he’s in the division… will the Brewers play ball with a trading partner in the NL Central?

Morneau had a killer 2014 season where he placed 23rd on the MVP voting. He’s not off to the best start this season and is currently concussed, but has proven himself to be a quality MLB hitter. Plus the Rockies are always looking to dump salary (6.75M for ’15).

Meh. I don’t really care for those guys. What else?

I guess you could move a position player there?

Yadi can play 1B, but then you lose his defense behind the plate. Also, he may never hit another HR ever again. Not exactly the ‘pop’ anyone is looking for, right?

Randal Grichuk seems to be someone that people have mentioned as an option, seemingly believing that playing 1B in the field is nothing more than putting on a funny looking mitt and trying hard. I guess anything’s possible, but having a guy change positions mid-season at the MLB level is quite the dice roll.

Same goes for Stephen Piscotty.

Sigh.

I feel you.

Matt Adams’ loss is looking more and more ominous as we tease out all the other options out there. Let’s hope the big guy gets healthy sooner than later.

Photo: Japan Times