When my wife and I searched for our current house, we struggled mightily to make a selection from a wide variety of homes, after seeing over 60 of them. As we listed pros and cons of each, they all fell short of our ideal in various ways.
Out of time and forced to make a decision, we reluctantly put three on our short list, but couldn’t choose. I suggested a compromise to make our pick. We would each eliminate one from the list and the final one left standing would become our new dwelling. It was agreed.
The house that I liked best, she hated. I too was against her favorite. The one for which we both had the fewest serious objections became the winner by survival.
I wonder if the selection process the St. Louis Cardinals follow for their utility infielder to replace injured Nick Punto could take a similar path. Perhaps manager Tony La Russa and general manager John Mozeliak will play the roles of the opposing decision-makers.
Let’s look at the three combatants.
Matt Carpenter has yet to play a game above Double-A, yet was the organization’s Player of the Year in 2010. The third baseman has been very effective in the first two weeks of spring training.
Ramon Vazquez is an older, well-traveled veteran who does not hit much, but can play major league-quality defense at three positions. The latter virtues are much like Punto.
Daniel Descalso is in between. He has a little MLB experience, can play two of the three positions adequately and is likely a better hitter than Vazquez.
Here is a summary of some of the key factors.
| Hitting | Spring | MLB | Minors |
| Carpenter | Excellent | No experience | Good |
| Descalso | Good | Limited good | Good |
| Vazquez | Poor | Below average | Fair |
| LH/RH | |||
| Carpenter | LHH | ||
| Descalso | LHH | ||
| Vazquez | LHH | ||
| Defense | 2B | SS | 3B |
| Carpenter | No | No | Yes |
| Descalso | Yes | No | Yes |
| Vazquez | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Roster | 40-man | ||
| Carpenter | No | ||
| Descalso | Yes | ||
| Vazquez | No |
All three are left-handed hitters, so there is no benefit to any one of the three.
While La Russa’s glowing comments about Carpenter on Saturday were widely reported, he also said about Carpenter, “If he gets sent out, he has still had a great camp.” The manager also noted, “He may be ready and doesn’t fit our club,” a reference to multi-positional needs.
In the same conversation, I asked the manager what Vazquez would have to do to make the team. La Russa said they know what the “solid player” can do. He noted that when others go to the minors, the vets get their at-bats over the final ten days of camp, perhaps said as a reminder that it is still early.
Descalso? No one said anything. Daniel is quietly hitting .304 with a .385 on-base percentage and added a pair of stolen bases.
Descalso has one advantage in that he is the only one to have a place on the organization’s 40-man roster. This is a potential issue for the other two, but not an insurmountable problem.
Descalso has option years remaining as well so could easily be moved back and forth between St. Louis and Memphis as necessary. What to do with Vazquez when Punto returns could be an issue. Starting Carpenter’s option years one season earlier than planned could be a minor concern, coupled to the 40-man issue noted above.
While there is a lot of baseball to be played, could Descalso end up being the easiest alternative, just as was my house selection? As La Russa noted, it may be just a one-month decision.
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It does seem like the tumblers are falling into place for DD to make the roster. I, for one, am pleased about that. I thought that, when Punto was signed, that DD was doomed to another year at Memphis but now I think he’ll get his shot until Punto is ready. My suspicion is that he’ll do well and prove that he can make it as a utility man or even the ongoing 2b.
Carpenter (I know you mean Matt not David, Brian) needs at least a half a year at AAA and Vasquez’ only advantages are that he can play short and he’s over the requisite 30 years old to whet TLR’s whistle.
Anyway, I’m hoping for the quickest return possible for Nick but that Descalso makes his mark in the interim.
Thanks for the embarrassing correction. It was necessary. To tell you how badly that particular switch is flipped in my brain, when I met Matt’s fiance over the winter, I called him David. No wonder she looked at me funny. Not cool at all.
I used to get them mixed up too, back when we had them both.
2B: an unavailable “ouchie” to tyler or theriot, could possibly match skip, daniel or vazquez vs a lhp, today and until punto returns. if there were a 15 day DL to either, it becomes a two week matchup disadvantage at the mercy of the opponents next day SP.
matt doesn’t address this, as a 3B only. vazquez hasn’t hit lhp’s well, no help really. daniel i don’t know. anyone have his minors splits vs lhp’s?
we can look at the punto DL and choose to say he’ll be back shortly, or, maybe not if we include the worst case scenario. if there’s an out of options RHB 2B / middle infielder available (tyler as an example), when rosters start to set, an acquisition just might happen. someone the FO could prefer over solano / in-house.
a best case would be to learn that daniel hammered lhp’s in the minors = fixed. vazquez becomes gotay at aaa?, matt starts in aaa instead of a parent club bench role while freese remains available.
You are comparing TLR to you and your wife? Don’t be so hard on yourself Brian.
It will be Vasquez.
Albert sure is choking so far in ST. Contract distraction?
Danny Descalso could be a great addition to the bench this year, he can field decent at 2 positions and he can hit a little.
Bet we see Matt Carpenter in St. Louis at some point this season, he can hit and has a good glove there plus a good attitude apparently. If Freese stays healthy 3b is a strength and if he doesn’t Carpenter looks like he could keep it strong by himself.
One other thing that may come up early on is whether Theriot cuts it as an everyday SS.
Perhaps that will come up down the road, but this particular discussion is about season-opening roster composition. Or perhaps I missed your reference point.
My thought was it might hurt Descalso since he doesn’t cover SS. But, if Greene is a bench guy I guess that would be less a factor.
I mentioned the leadoff question because if you also factor in that Tony seems to be giving up, for the time being, on Colby as a #2, and Craig/Jay should be part time, there is a top of the order problem. This could factor in, possibly in Descalso’s favor.
The biggest thing against Descalso is Tony does not want to see Craig or Greene or Dan as starting third baseman relieving Freese for ten games until Punto comes back.
Descalso has started nine games at third base as a major leaguer. The Cards went 6-3. What more do you want?
I take it the scenario would be Anderson ships out, say Monday, and we start seeing whoever is going to be Freese’s relief getting some 3B reps.
Burning an Anderson option year would be bad, especially just for a month or so of fill in duty. But there is the chance he will end up here later anyway. And then there is the bat. Tony likes the bat. We need the bat.
Anderson = Carpenter?
Oops again.
Whether or not Theriot can serve as leadoff hitter is another question.
If Freese were healthy, then Descalso could get the job and sit on the bench.
If Freese is part-time, however, as he is, then Carpenter is a better defender at 3B and a better hitter, so Matt will get the job.
You are very confident the Cardinals can afford to dedicate two roster spots to players that can handle no other position than 3B. I am not that sure, nor are 73 percent of the voters…
I lack confidence in Freese staying healthy enough to play many games, yes. Maybe Freese can begin the season on the DL, Carpenter get the starting job, with Descalso as a role player until Punto returns.
Just as likely would be Lance starting on the DL. Carpenter could get that roster spot.
It has been pointed out that Berkman knows how to play OF so doesn’t need much time out there in ST. On the other hand, opening day is not the time to find out if he can physically do it. He is scheduled to play RF Thursday I hear.
Sorry guys. Carpenter officially optioned out today….
No surprise, didn’t think he would make the team. Did they keep Augenstein?
So far. Here is the article.
There was never much reason to think Carpenter would be kept. He had know more chance of continuing to hit near .400 than Albert had of continuing to hit in the low .200′s.
But as I said all along, the roster spot and the arbitration clock were too strong of negatives for him to be kept no matter what he did.
know = no
You and your arbitration clock are right, twice per day!
Arbitration scarcely enters the picture of the situation for Matt Carpenter. The Cards just want someone to play 3B. We have been horrible at 3B for a couple of years. Freese has had a hard time staying on the field. If Freese goes down, again, during 2011, staying true to form, Matt Carpenter will likely get the call.
For now, Carpenter can play everyday at Memphis.
That’s 730 times a year Jumbo! You could only dream of such accuracy!