It may not be the best film of all time, but I have always really loved the movie Moneyball. I love the way it gives us a look behind the scenes at the inner workings of a baseball team. Brad Pitt’s portrayal of the energetic and innovative Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane is enjoyable, and we get a look at how the front office philosophy referenced in the title of the film came to be.
Every time I think about Moneyball, there’s one scene that sticks with me in particular. One of Beane’s antagonists in the movie is the wizened, old manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Beane’s philosophy of the team centers in part around playing Scott Hatteberg, a washed up, oft-injured catcher, at first base. Beane’s thinking was simple: though Hatteberg would be a defensive liability moving to first base, his career excellence at getting on base would more than make up for the defense, and, most importantly, he’d come cheap. Howe, on the other hand, was committed to playing Carlos Peña, a rookie of the year candidate and a traditional first baseman, and letting Hatteberg ride the pine. The two continually butted heads over this, until finally, one day, Beane made a bold decision. He walked into Howe’s office and began an old conversation:
“You can’t start Peña at first tonight. You’ll have to start Hatteberg.”
Howe: “Yeah, I don’t want to go fifteen rounds, Billy. The lineup card is mine, and that’s all.”
Beane: “That lineup card is definitely yours. I’m just saying you can’t start Peña at first.”
“Well, I am starting him at first.”
“I don’t think so. He plays for Detroit now.”
Howe: “You traded Peña? … You are outside your mind.”
Beane: “Yeah. Cuckoo.”
Howe: “… you’re killing this team.”
Beane’s decision was a controversial and unexpected one. He traded a rookie of the year candidate, just so that his manager would have to enact his vision.
Now, what does any of this have to do with Matt Adams? Quite a lot, actually. See, over the last season plus, it has become abundantly clear that in some ways, Cardinals’ GM John Mozeliak and Cards’ Manager Mike Matheny have a relationship a bit like that of Beane and Howe. Matheny is a traditional guy. He likes his veterans, and he likes guys who can hit. Mozeliak, on the other hand, takes a more holistic approach to the team. He would rather develop young players for the long term, even if it meant making a few sacrifices now, in order to grow the team for the future. And Mozeliak’s concerns are more holistic, too. For Mo, offense doesn’t always come first. I am not trying to say that one of these men is right and one is wrong, in fact, they are probably both right and both wrong at different times. But the fact that they see things differently can hardly be argued. Though the roles are reversed in some ways (with Matheny being willing to sacrifice defense and Mo pushing for more traditional defensive strengths), the dynamics are similar.
Last year, we saw this particularly with Kolten Wong and Randal Grichuk. It was clear that Mozeliak wanted both of these guys in the lineup day to day, partly because they added both speed and defense, and partly because they were young players who needed to grow. Matheny would not play either consistently, and so both spent time in the minor leagues, just so they could get playing time.
But in the offseason, Mozeliak dug his heels in. He insisted time and time again that this team needed to get faster, and that it needed to get more reliable defensively. The solution was straightforward: signing Dexter Fowler would strengthen two positions, by putting Fowler in Center, they would move Randal Grichuk to left, thereby making a weakness last year (an aging Matt Holliday who was never a sterling outfielder to begin with) into a strength. Moreover, Mo would let Brandon Moss walk, so that Matt Carpenter, an inconsistent player at third and second, could play first every day, and the aforementioned Wong could round out the defense as a plus-plus second baseman. The plan was simple, Mo just needed his general in the field to stick to it.
But Matheny hasn’t. We are six games into the season, and Matt Adams has started in left field in three of those games (counting today). Matt Adams, who had never caught a ball in the outfield before the last week of Spring Training, has been given just as many looks in left field as has Grichuk. Now, part of this may be the result of Stephen Piscotty’s comedic-but-painful trip around the bases in game two. Being hit by the ball three separate times may have left Piscotty a little more sore than we’ve been led to believe, and he may be missing time as a result. But even if that is the case, that does not explain why Matheny chooses to play Adams in left field, over, say, Jose Martinez, who is a career outfielder and who, to his credit, hit pretty well in Spring Training.
Now, I want to be clear, I have nothing against Matt Adams. I actually like Matt Adams a lot. He seems to be a really genuine, humble guy, and he is a great hitter and a plus first baseman. The problem is that Matt Adams does not have a place on this team. The team is not designed to include Matt Adams as a regular player in the lineup. But Matheny will not hear that. He thinks Adams is a hot bat, and Adams is guaranteed looks over a Martinez (or even a AAA player like Harrison Bader) because Adams is a veteran. So even when it threatens the team and compromises Mozeliak’s vision, Matheny is going to stick to his guns.
It’s time to “trade Peña.” If Matheny insists on playing Adams against all logic, Mozeliak needs to take away that option. He’s done it before, trading away Allen Craig as part of the deal to get John Lackey, a move that shocked Cards fans at the time. But clearly, part of the reason Craig was in that deal was because Matheny insisted on playing Craig, even though it hurt the team.
It’s time to take bold action with Matt Adams. Adams is a natural-born American Leaguer. He is a huge power bat, and can slot in well at DH and 1B. The right thing for Adams, rather than forcing him to struggle in left field or ask him to warm the bench, is to let him move to a team who needs him and has a space for him. In return, the Cardinals could get prospects, an established major leaguer who we have a spot for (perhaps a stronger option in the bullpen, a reliable fourth outfielder, or an extra arm for the rotation), or, Mozeliak could even package Adams as a big piece in a deal for a star player (perhaps that long-rumored trade for Jose Quintana). Whatever the case, Mo has not made a lot of truly bad trades, and I trust that he could get good value if he were to move Adams now.
Many in the media have said, and Mozeliak has even hinted, that the Cardinals’ manager works best when his options are limited. Trading Adams would be a step towards that goal. Adams deserves better, Piscotty deserves to start, and the Cardinals need to have stronger defense this year than they did last. Trading Adams would accomplish all three, and would add pieces to the Cardinals on top of that. It’s time to let Big City move on.
