Quote:
Originally Posted by BigRedChief
As I'm sure you are aware, we do that a lot. Mo hangs on to young players until their value is "throw in" level way too many times.
Kelly is a good recent example. He hits near .300, getting all this good national press. Considered the best catching prospect in baseball. Going to be stuck behind Molina for 3 years. We have another catcher that also looks like he is a great candidate to replace Molina. Perfect storm to trade high.And Mo whiffs. Now, Kelly still has value but nothing close to 2 years ago.
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Eh, I don't agree with Kelly.
He's rehabbed his value by hitting very well in Memphis - he's effectively at the same level he's ever been. I think many have overrated his trade value because he simply hasn't ever shown that he's likely to be an offensive force. A Tucker Barnhart type player who's never shown the ability to perform at the MLB level is going to have a hard ceiling as a trade piece.
What the Cardinals needed him to do was come to the majors and
not suck. Sadly, he's sucked and has looked wildly overmatched every time he's been given a shot at the next level.
The Cards had a guy in AAA who'd shown he could be a good catch and throw guy. On a 1-10 scale he had a trade value of maybe 7. If you wanted a 9, you needed him to come to the show and perform. He didn't. And when he went back to Memphis he went back to hitting. He's still at maybe a 7.
Kelly's an asset that the Cardinals haven't necessarily mis-handled, he simply hasn't done his part to get his value to a point where he's worth trading.