The St. Louis Cardinals may be in the market for a third baseman, which would allow them to shift Matt Carpenter to first base on a permanent basis and move Jedd Gyorko into a heavy utility role.
The Cardinals have been linked to Josh Donaldson for some time, but on Monday he signed a one-year deal with the Braves. Plan B? Perhaps it's Mike Moustakas, as Jon Heyman reports ...
#STLCards have Mike Moustakas on radar. The difference this year: no draft choice attachment. Rival Brewers, Moose’s most recent team, among others with possible interest.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 27, 2018
Moustakas, who turned 30 in September, is coming off a 2018 season in which he batted .251/.315/.459 (108 OPS+) in a combined 152 games for the Royals and Brewers. For his career, Moustakas has an OPS+ of 98 with 147 home runs across parts of eight big-league seasons. Moustakas was not eligible for a qualifying offer this offseason, so he can be signed without his new team forfeiting a draft pick.
As for his merits, Moustakas certainly has power from the left side, as he's tallied 66 home runs over the past two seasons. However, he's also lugging around a career on-base percentage of .307, which isn't acceptable for a corner defender. That pop is good, but the Cardinals have to ask whether Moustakas going into his age-30 season is really an adequate solution for a team that aspires to contend in the same division as the Brewers and Cubs.
