The downside of Cardinals signing Albert Pujols
There is a possible downside for the St. Louis Cardinals signing Albert Pujols.
The St. Louis Cardinals have reportedly signed Albert Pujols to a one-year contract worth $2.5 million. He will provide impact with his very presence. So it’s hard to imagine there is a downside to the club signing him.
The bench is slated to include Andrew Knizner, Corey Dickerson, Eduardo Sosa, and now Albert Pujols. Lars Nootbaar and Juan Yepez would be working toward the final spot.
Fans of Juan Yepez, however, can very well see the problem. Nootbaar worked hard last season to fill in off the bench as an outfielder and pinch hitter, gaining almost legendary status in the process.
Cardinals: Signing Albert Pujols has a downside
Prior to Pujols signing, it was believed Yepez could join Nootbaar as a bench option, fighting for time to be a designated hitter or play at first base. The club does have high hopes for Yepez as a future star. And it seems the club is already working to find ways to keep him with the club.
According to John Denton of MLB.com:
An interesting shift for today: #STLCards rookie Juan Yepez will play LF and Tyler O’Neill will DH. The Cards are trying to find ways to keep Yepez at the big league level and muscle his big bat into the lineup as much as possible. Being able to play 1B and LF helps his chances.
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) March 28, 2022
New manager Oli Marmol is expected to be huge on using his entire squad-based on match-ups. If this expectation remains true and Yepez provides no way to leave him off the major league squad, the Cardinals will find a way to keep him on the bench.
Earlier Sunday, Denton tweeted this regarding the reasoning behind the renewed interest in Pujols:
#STLCards pres. John Mozeliak & manager Oli Marmol said repeatedly in the first 2 weeks of Spring Training they wanted internal candidates Juan Yepez, Lars Nootbaar or Nolan Gorman to win the DH job. All have struggled, & that assuredly played a role in the Albert Pujols signing.
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) March 28, 2022
During the month of April, clubs will be able to have 28-man rosters. Nootbaar and Yepez will work the remainder of spring, and probably the rest of April, to prove they deserve to stay with the big club once teams go back to 26-man rosters in May.
The Pujols signing does provide some back-up while Yepez and Nootbaar work to improve. That should be seen as a good thing. Whoever doesn’t make the cut will go to the Triple-A affiliate in Memphis and be the first to return once needed. While Marmol would like to use them based on situations, playing in Memphis would assure they get to play every day and that will be good for their development in the long run.
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