St. Louis Cardinals Trade for Ryan Theriot

I am starting to believe the St. Louis Cardinals are trying to collect every mediocre middle infielder in baseball.

First, it was Skip Schumaker, then it was Brendan Ryan and now it’s Ryan Theriot.

Nick Punto, you’re next!

The Cardinals traded RHP Blake Hawksworth to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Theriot on Tuesday. I really don’t understand this trade from a Cardinals perspective.

I understand Theriot gives the Cardinals infield depth, but why trade for a guy who was most likely going to be non-tendered last week and who isn’t that much better than what they currently have?

This is where the Tony LaRussa moves into the “Bill Belichick stage of managing or coaching.” This is when a coach or manager has had tremendous success in the past, believes they are bigger than the team and that they can win with lesser talent because they are just that good.

Like other Cardinal players before him, Ryan fell out of favor with LaRussa last year. He slumped defensively at times and offensively—he was a disaster.

Ryan hit .223/.279/.294 with two HR and 11 SB for the Cardinals last year. He was worth one win in 2010.

On the flip side, Theriot hit only .270/.321/.312 with two HR and 20 SB for the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. He was zero wins in 2010.

On the surface, it doesn’t look like the Cardinals upgraded all that much, if any at shortstop.

Now, if the Cardinals are expecting Theriot to have a bounce-back season and repeat his 2009 season with the Cubs, I can understand that. Theriot hit .284/.343/.369 and was worth 2.3 wins that season.

However, who’s to say Ryan can’t bounce-back and repeat his 2009 season? Ryan hit .292/.340/.400 and was worth 2.7 wins for the Cardinals that season.

I am just having a hard time comprehending why the Cardinals would trade a 27-year-old arm that throws 93 mph for a guy who is no different than Theriot or even Schumaker—and on top of that, Theriot will probably make over $3 million in arbitration in 2011. That’s about $2.5 million more than what Ryan will make.

The Cardinals have three guys for two positions, all of which have the same mediocre skill set. My guess is that Ryan won’t be back with the Cardinals in 2011.

If that’s the case, then LaRussa moving into the “Bill Belichick stage of managing or coaching” hurt the Cardinals in this trade.

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