The St. Louis Cardinals were relatively quiet over the off-season. They only made a few moves, but those they did make addressed some major needs. Their biggest moves, were trading third baseman David Freese to the Los Angeles Angels for center fielder Peter Bourjos, and signing of free agent shortstop Jhonny Peralta. In recent years, the Cardinals have never been a team to just go out into the free agent market and sign a “big name player.” The organization leans more toward molding the team that they have (including minor-league), into what they want their team to be. Matt Carpenter, Pete Kozma, Kolten Wong, Jon Jay, Yadier Molina, and a great number of the pitching staff have either been here from the beginning, or have worked their way up the minor leagues. Those players define the St. Louis Cardinals and the team they are today. Occasionally the club will also address some holes via trade.
Another Look at the Freese for Bourjos Trade
Now, David Freese. The man who was the key to the Cardinals the 2011 World Series win was traded to the Angels. At the time of the deal, there was a lot of anger among Cardinals fans, especially on Twitter. What those angry fans don’t understand is that David Freese, especially in the last year, has brought this team down. He looks tired, his stats are at an all-time low, and he just does not seem to be showing the same passion that he had during the 2011 post-season. His stats say everything about where he is heading in his career, and that is down-hill.
With the biggest move of the off-season being the Ian Kinsler and Prince Fielder trade, this trade (Freese – Bourjos) was clearly overshadowed. It really didn’t get talked about much in the baseball community, with the exception of the Angels and Cardinals’ media and fan bases obviously. The reality is that the Cardinals needed to trade Freese. He has seen his best days, at least for the red birds.
Peter Bourjos only played 55 games in the 2013 because of injuries (the biggest being his right wrist). The wrist was fractured and Bourjos had to undergo surgery which took him out of the majority of the season. It’s discouraging having to deal with injuries at such a young age (26), but because he’s still young, he should make a full recovery and his wrist shouldn’t be a problem going forward, (if he has appropriate healing and rehabilitation time). For the Cardinals, they now have an excellent defensive center-fielder who can also hit.
In those 55 games Bourjos played, he had 48 hits, 12 RBI, and a .274 AVG. Those are not terrible numbers, the are actually pretty good for a 55 game stretch. The most impressive number is Bourjos’ OBP which was .333. Freese had a .340 OBP and Jon Jay, the Cardinals starting center fielder last season put up a .351 OBP. Bourjos’ numbers are in the same range as Freese and Jay, but again, Bourjos only played 55 games (Freese – 138 Jay – 157). With Freese and Jay both being near the bottom of the lineup, getting on base was the most important thing they could have done in the World Series, and the two players just could not produce. The number of times Freese and Jay struck-out in the key moments was just way too high.
In my opinion, the Angels lose this trade. The Angels have a knack for signing players who have seen the better days of their career, and are now on the decline. (Hamilton, Pujols, and now possibly Freese). I have nothing against Freese, nor should any Cardinal fan. He won the team the 2011 World Series, and I wish him the best in LA.
As a sidenote, also included in this trade was the Angels acquiring reliever Fernando Salas, while the Cardinals picked up outfield prospect Randal Grichuk.
You’ll see many opinions out there about Grichuk, but at this point in his young career it is just too early to make too many judgements about him him. He has had injury problems in the past, like Bourjos. If he can get healthy and stay healthy, we will see what he can do.
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