St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak announced Thursday that shortstop Jhonny Peralta underwent thumb surgery and will be out until the middle of the 2016 MLB season. It's another big blow for the Cards, who will now need to find a replacement for the All-Star.
Mozeliak said that the team will search for internal options even after multiple MLB clubs contacted him in regards to filling that void with a trade. However, the current choices include second baseman Jedd Gyorko, prospect Aledmys Diaz and utilityman Greg Garcia.
Here's a quick rundown as to why neither of those three will be sufficient:
Gyorko, 27, has logged just 29 out of his 364 career games at shortstop, and the San Diego Padres, before trading him to St. Louis, reportedly didn't view him as a viable option to take over as their everyday shortstop.
Diaz, 25, has played in just 163 career minor league games, and including his performance in foreign league play, he has 39 errors in 193 games as a shortstop (Marcus Semien, who led the MLB in errors last season, recorded 35 in 152 games). He also has yet to make his MLB debut.
Garcia, 26, is batting just .225 with a .696 OPS in 63 career MLB games, so his offensive production wouldn't come close to Peralta's.
As a result, we've come up with three possible trade targets for the Cardinals.
Erick Aybar, SS, Atlanta Braves
This seemed like a reasonable scenario until Braves general manager John Coppolella said Wednesday that the team does not want to move Aybar because he was a "big part of the Andrelton Simmons trade." It's now assumed that there would be a high asking price for the veteran, so it's unknown if St. Louis would be willing to surrender a lot for an impending free agent.
However, if they get desperate enough, there's no telling what Mozeliak might do.
The Braves also have shortstop prospects Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies emerging very quickly.
Ruben Tejada, SS, New York Mets
The Cardinals have reportedly expressed interest in Tejada, but the Mets are dealing with an injury to Asdrubal Cabrera, which is expected to keep him out for two weeks. He may also start the season on the disabled list. New York may not be inclined to move Tejada now that their depth has taken a hit.
Then again, Dilson Herrera can play some shortstop, and that could give the Mets a good opportunity to provide the young prospect with ample time at the MLB level to start the season as they wait for Cabrera to return. If they feel like Herrera can undertake such a role, trading Tejada could be a sensible move for both teams.
Nick Ahmed/Chris Owings, SS/2B, Arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks acquired Jean Segura from the Milwaukee Brewers earlier this offseason, which displaced Ahmed as the team's starting shortstop. Both Ahmed and Owings (who is the team's starting second baseman) are regarded as good defenders, but their bats simply didn't get the job done last year.
The emergence of prospect Brandon Drury could further add to that middle infield logjam, so it probably wouldn't hurt the D-Backs to get some value for Ahmed or Owings. The Cardinals are unlikely to replace the balance of Peralta's game, but it'd probably be best if they acquired a capable defensive option since that's arguably more valuable.
The Cardinals have some time to evaluate, but Opening Day is less than a month away. After losing a number of players in free agency, the team can't afford to lose more integral figures without replacing them, so keep an eye on their endeavors on the trade market in the coming weeks.
