As long as we are talking hypothetical situations, assuming Holliday walks, what I wouldn’t mind seeing done is for the Cardinals to sign Chone Figgins for 3b and Derosa for the outfield.

-Offense-Figgins walked in over 14% of his plate appearances this year and had a .395 obp and is a switch hitter. Derosa we all know suffered from a wrist injury this season and managed a .752 ops.

-Defense-using UZR(Ultimate Zone Rating), Figgins saved an outstanding 14.5 runs at third base, meaning it would be like having another Brendan Ryan in the infield. Derosa meanwhile, would also benefit from a move to the outfield, specifically RF where he has saved 20 runs over 160 games in his career. Ludwick is a good LF and RF so the Cardinals could move Ludwick to LF or put Derosa in Left, where he has been average in his career but in much smaller sample size.

-Conclusion-In terms of Wins Above Replacement, or WAR, Figgins was a 5.9 win player last year, or .3 wins better than Holliday, but we all know Holliday will be the one pulling in a 5-6 year deal worth around 85-105 million, not Figgins. Compared to Holliday, Figgins could be an undervalued bargain at something like a 3-4 year deal worth 10-12 million annually. Derosa could be a 2-3 win player when his defense gets a boost from the outfield and his wrist recovers.

Bottom line is the Cardinals would get a leadoff or a two-hole hitter in Figgins to combine with Schumaker to have more runners on base when Albert hits, and also have a very solid LF in Derosa. Although this approach wouldn’t be as sexy as adding Holliday, the combined salaries of Figgins and Derosa would be about equal to Holliday and Freese and likely to outproduce or equal them in terms of WAR while taking less years of commitment to save money in the future for a Pujols extension.

 

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