The St. Louis Cardinals suffered a critical blow in their quest for another World Series title this week when they lost their first baseman, Matt Adams, to a torn quadriceps. Further, it appears that Adams will need surgery and the Cardinals will be without their first baseman for an extended period of time. The Cardinals have Mark Reynolds and Randal Grichuk on their roster, but would they look elsewhere?
John Stolnis of The Good Phight played matchmaker and has an interesting suggestion: send Ryan Howard home to St. Louis:
Surely, St. Louis will ride with Reynolds for a little while and see how it goes. And with the pixie dust that is usually sprinkled upon that organization, he'll probably become a 3-win player and hit 30 homers.
But just in case he doesn't, the Phillies have the perfect solution to their problem.
That would be St. Louis native Ryan Howard.
Stolnis cites two compelling reasons that the Cardinals might be interested:
But it makes sense for St. Louis for two reasons. One, the Cardinals have been devoid of power for the last two years, finishing 29th out of 30 teams in homers last year with just 105. Only the Royals had less. They're a bit better this year, tied for 22nd in homers.
Two, it likely wouldn't cost the Cardinals much in terms of money or prospects. The Phils would likely pick up the vast majority of the approximately $50 million left on Howard's deal, and the Phils likely wouldn't be requiring a top prospect, although it's reasonable to assume a B-level prospect would be expected.
For the Phillies, it means opening a position for a younger player. Should Chase Utley move to first base, the Phillies could use Cesar Hernandez or maybe even return Odubel Herrera to the infield and free up a spot for Cody Asche in the outfield.
Of course, much depends on whether or not the Cardinals could afford to carry Howard next year. I do not mean in the financial sense; would they want to carry bout Howard and Adams next year? They may wish to get Adams back at first base soon as possible.
Read the full piece by Stolnis here.
