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There’s a logjam in the Cardinals infield. And Saggese’s potential offensive numbers might be good enough in LF. Kind of like they did with Walker in RF. The Cardinals may need Saggese bat in the lineup fairly soon.
That would be an interesting thing to try out in Triple-A this season. That second base log jam isn’t going to improve and the OF is a bit thin at Triple-A. Right now, it looks to be Koperniak, Scott, Gomez and maybe Antico (assuming Siani and Burly are with StL). They also have Young and Rivas who will be in the 1B, OF and DH mix. With Baker back, one of those spots is filled.
Prieto is also quietly having a nice spring with the bat, though I imagine they will play him at third base in Triple-A. They also have Dunn for 2B depth.
I suggest first seeing how his bat holds up in AAA. Lots of guys look good in the Texas League. As Blake put it, “lack of high-end Statcast data”. Also, IIRC, a faction within analytics wonkdom thinks his deep metrics are concerning.
No reason they should need to be in sequence rather than trying them in parallel. To reach MLB and stick, Saggese needs to be as versatile as possible, ala Donovan. It isn’t like he is going to push both Gorman and Donovan aside at 2B. And if both Winn and Scott take off in 2024, Edman could be back at 2B in 2025 also.
Saggese is lean. And only 21. He has some muscular growth potential. Which should enhance his power potential.
I like your idea regarding seeing how Saggese hits at AAA. If he does hit extremely well, the likely move would be to left field. Actually, he may end up hitting in this spring training comparable to Walker last ST. And they decided to go with Walker on the big club. Obviously, they wouldn’t consider that with Saggese, out of ST, unless he could could be a regular.
I understand the urge to get Saggese’s bat into the MLB lineup in a timely manner, but I really, really wish the club would stop playing guys out of position and instead trade from positional redundancies to address their rather glaring weaknesses.
Speaking of weaknesses, the ancient & rickety 5-man rotation currently has an injured “ace” and a trio with double-digit ERAs. We know the Sox are entertaining offers for Dylan Cease and we also know that Cease will make a relative pittance over the next two seasons.
Trade, Mo. Trade.
By the way, Saggese (just 20 years old on Opening Day last year) won the Texas League batting title while also placing in the league top 5 in doubles and triples and homers. If he were a 6′ 2″ outfielder drafted in the first round, he’d be a consensus top 30-40 prospect right now instead of barely top 100. He’s got a bright future.
Mo won’t do it Bob. He won’t trade the proven guy because he doesn’t know if the unproven guy will be good. He won’t trade the unproven guy because he doesn’t know if he’ll be great. Its what happens when you’ve made countless mistakes.
From the obvious hitting ability Saggese has shown. Should Mo be floating around Donovan’s name in a trade? Mo has Gorman, Donovan and, now, Saggese and even Prieto, at 2B.
It is far easier to suggest a trade than to agree on who should be traded. And any trade is about impossible to assess until a couple of years later.
Not a lot of trades are made during spring training. Not unheard of but not likely either.
Personally, I wouldn’t trade a proven major leaguer just because a prospect with a month of Triple-A experience under his belt had two good weeks of spring training. With the Cardinals two outfielders down and little depth at the position, it would be an especially terrible time to trade Donovan, IMO.
Shady asked:
Could Saggese and Scott Make the Cardinals Better this Season?
They would both need to be regulars. Scott in CF and Saggese at 2B. If they could, it would sure open up some interesting trade possibilities for needed starting pitching help. Ex. Donovan, Nootbaar and even Edman, as trade chips. You say, they have Gorman at 2B, too. Yes, they do. It would be a good problem to have. If Donovan were traded, play the better defensive 2B at 2B, the other a lot at DH.
IMO, the timing is not great for major trades to rework the roster. This feels more like a mid-season or off-season discussion.
My off the cuff take is that both Saggese and Scott would benefit by spending much of 2024 at Triple-A.
Actually, both Scott and Saggese do have some proving to do at AAA as productive hitters. But what fine insurance they give the Cardinals.
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