Cards need to make trade with Glaus unlikely back
Hey, all is well in St. Louis right now, as the Cardinals are leading the NL Central and just got back outfielders Ryan Ludwick and Rick Ankiel from the disabled list. But that first-place standing might be a little tenuous with the state of the Cards’ offense and the news that slugging third baseman Troy Glaus, who has yet to play this season, is maybe 50-50 to return at all.
Glaus has been rehabilitating in Arizona since early April, trying to recuperate from offseason right shoulder surgery. Initial expectations were for a May return, but that’s not happening. Now, maybe, right after the All-Star break.
But even St. Louis GM John Mozeliak knows he can’t really count on the 2008 Gold Glover: “I don’t know the answer yet, but my feeling is that it’s probably less than 50-50 he’s going to play. If things were really getting better or improving to where he’ll be able to do baseball activities, it just seems like we’d be getting more feedback. And I’m not hearing that.”
An official word is likely to come in as little as a week on Glaus, who hit 27 homers with 99 RBIs to go along with that Gold Glove in 2008. He was the main protection behind Albert Pujols in the lineup.
St. Louis tried to make do with Brian Barden and Joe Thurston at the hot corner, and Barden was great in April, even being named Rookie of the Month in the NL. But those two are a combined 19-for-106 (.179) in May (the team is last in the NL in average, RBIs and total bases from third basemen in May), and the Cards are struggling against lefties without Glaus’ big right-handed bat.
In addition, two guys who were thought to be Glaus’ main replacements, David Freese and Joe Mather are both hurt, with Freese out a few months. Mather has missed about a month and may return soon, but he’s nothing more than a stop-gap either.
Thus expect St. Louis to hit the trade market, with most reports saying the Indians’ Mark DeRosa and Rockies’ Garrett Atkins are available. DeRosa might make the most sense since he knows the division well, having played for the Cubs the past few seasons before being dealt to Cleveland this offseason.
“In early June we’ll get an idea of whether Troy is cleared to resume baseball activities,” Mozeliak said.
“Ideally, that will happen. We have to hold that position open for him. If we do have to go in another direction, we’ll first try to address it internally. If not, that’s when we can start looking outside the organization.”
During the past 10 games, the Cards have scored only 28 runs and have only 81 runs in May, the fewest in the National League. That problem won’t be solved alone by Ludwick, and Ankiel has been scuffling all season as it is. So St. Louis must address third base soon.
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