{"id":30588,"date":"2022-12-08T01:41:48","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T01:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/08\/willson-contreras-is-a-cardinal-and-the-cubs-let-it-happen\/"},"modified":"2022-12-08T01:41:49","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T01:41:49","slug":"willson-contreras-is-a-cardinal-and-the-cubs-let-it-occur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/08\/willson-contreras-is-a-cardinal-and-the-cubs-let-it-occur\/","title":{"rendered":"Willson Contreras is a Cardinal, and the Cubs let it occur"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Wilson Contreras<\/figcaption>
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The St. Louis Cardinals discovered their alternative for now-retired catcher Yadier Molina, agreeing to phrases with Willson Contreras on a five-year, $87 million deal<\/a><\/span>. After refusing to maneuver Contreras on the commerce deadline, or pay him, the final remaining place participant from the Chicago Cubs World Series crew will now don the birds on bats and Cardinal crimson. <\/p>\n

The transfer is an enormous get for the Cardinals, who had been content material with Molina\u2019s offense-behind-the-plate tradeoff, regardless of the crew\u2019s bats offering three runs in two postseason video games \u2014 each losses to Philadelphia. Albert Pujols\u2019 swan track actually is what received them the NL Central, and so they\u2019ll have to switch his manufacturing, as nicely. <\/p>\n

Considering Contreras\u2019 finest 12 months was barely higher than Pujols\u2019 ultimate marketing campaign, one other bat \u2014 ideally a DH \u2014 would go a great distance. The farm system continues to place guys within the lineup who seem like potential all-stars, solely to hit nothing however a wall as soon as opposing pitching staffs get a scouting report. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s one other issue on this. Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt have been far and away the crew\u2019s finest place gamers since arriving in St. Louis, and it continues the pattern of the farm system failing to develop constant supporting gamers. Save for the pandemic season, some mixture of Arenado, Goldschmidt, or Marcel Ozuna have been prime two on the crew in RBI. <\/p>\n

The failures of Tyler O\u2019Neill, Dylan Carlson, Paul DeJong, and others don\u2019t give St. Louis followers a number of hope for Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman ever reaching their potential. <\/p>\n

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Poor development also might be why hitting coach Jeff Albert stepped down after the season. Well, that and Harrison Bader smacking a bajillion postseason home runs after being traded to the Yankees, and Kolten Wong finding some semblance of consistency in Milwaukee. <\/p>\n

Contreras is a proven contributor who will come into a clubhouse with solid leadership at the top, and should be able to continue his form regardless of hitting coach, as was the case for Arenado or Goldschmidt. <\/p>\n

The fact that he comes over from the Cardinals\u2019 most hated rival is just an added bonus. In 95 career games against St. Louis, Contreras slashed .249\/.368\/.441, with 74 hits, 15 of them homers, and 47 RBI. Those numbers aren\u2019t mind blowing, but every big home run feels like five against a loathsome rival. <\/p>\n

I\u2019d say it makes up for Jason Heyward jumping ship from St. Louis to Chicago in 2016, but Jason Heyward and his contract made up for Jason Heyward jumping ship. For the Cubs, $87 million doesn\u2019t seem like much, seeing as they just paid $68 million for Jameson Taillon, a backend starting pitcher in an already crowded rotation. <\/p>\n

Chicago did land Cody Bellinger on a one-year, free-demo deal, though, and is rumored to be medium-sized game hunting with sights set on Carlos Correa or Dansby Swanson. Who knows how the Contreras saga would\u2019ve fallen if the Cubs moved him at the deadline, as rumor had it, but inaction and tight pockets from the front office led to this regrettable outcome. They didn\u2019t even appease the prospect perverts by moving him for scraps. <\/p>\n

Contreras could\u2019ve still ended up in the shadow of the Arch by way of another club, and Chicago could\u2019ve avoided culpability, yet here we are.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n