The St. Louis Cardinals were looking to upgrade at shortstop, but the Chicago White Sox turned down one of their top prospects, preferring to keep Alexei Ramirez. The question is, should the Cardinals up their deal in order to acquire the desired shortstop? Here are the pros and cons.
Ramirez is an automatic upgrade over Pete Kozma. In 97 games this season, Ramirez is hitting .281 with a .307 on-base percentage, one home run and 23 RBI, along with 20 stolen bases. Ramirez does a good job making contact as he's only struck out 49 times in 412 plate appearances.
In just about 100 fewer plate appearances, Kozma has a .241 batting average and .283 OBP. He also only has one home run, but has 30 RBI. Kozma doesn't provide as much speed as Ramirez, swiping only two bases in 2013. Kozma's 62 strikeouts rank him eight in baseball among shortstops. The upside about keeping Kozma is his defense. In 396 chances, Kozma has only committed four errors. Meanwhile, Ramirez has four times as many error, committing 16 boots in 409 opportunities. Kozma is also saving the Cardinals 10 runs during the season, while Ramirez has only saved six with his glove.
Would Ramirez's batting average make up for the errors he causes at short?
The Cardinals have the third highest OBP (.338) in baseball, meaning a guy like Ramirez could take advantage of runners being on base. Ramirez would be a great boost to the offense. However, when looking at the pitching stats, the Cardinals' pitching staff has forced the eighth most groundouts in baseball. So in a way, the White Sox might have done the Cardinals a favor.
St. Louis will be able to keep their No. 3 ranked prospect, Carlos Martinez, a 21-year-old right-hander who has crazy stuff. As MLB Trade Rumors points out, Martinez has a crisp curveball and a fastball that can touch triple digits. Not that the Cardinals need any more great pitching, but the White Sox, who are rumored to possibly trading a few of their relief pitchers, could have added a young arm to their bullpen.
Should the Cardinals add another piece to improve the trade for Ramirez? I think not. The Cardinals already have a potent lineup. Allen Craig and Carlos Beltran have proven consistent in the heart of the order, while Yadier Molina continues to impress with his bat. The Cardinals have more than enough offensive components. They should focus on keeping guys that can provide a steady glove, whereas the acquisition of a clumsy shortstop like Ramirez would cost them a couple of runs.