John Mozeliak’s Cardinals ‘reset’ theory didn’t take one player into account
After a second straight season of no postseason baseball, John Mozeliak made it clear that the St. Louis Cardinals were going to enter a ‘reset.’ For the first time in seemingly forever, the main focus in St. Louis would be on younger players and not wins. While this might’ve been a frustrating shift for Cardinals fans, it made a lot of sense for the organization.
With the reset in mind, the Cardinals let veterans Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, and Paul Goldschmidt go in free agency. They also attempted to trade Nolan Arenado, but failed to do so. That failure is highlighted very clearly with Thomas Saggese, a former top prospect acquired in the trade that sent Jordan Montgomery to the Texas Rangers at the 2023 trade deadline.
Saggese was seemingly a player ready to contribute at the MLB level, but Arenado’s presence made it so that he’d have nowhere to play. Given that, he began the season at Triple-A Memphis. Nolan Gorman’s injury created a roster spot for Saggese to fill in early April, and the young infielder has taken full advantage of his opportunity to play.
The 23-year-old has eight hits in 17 MLB at-bats this season (.471 BA) while seeing time at three different infield positions in his six appearances. Small sample, sure, but Saggese looks like a player who belongs and should receive more playing time. Mozeliak’s botched reset will prevent that from happening, though, unfortunately.
Saggese only got his MLB shot due to Gorman’s injury, and is only sticking around because Masyn Winn landed on the IL right when Gorman was activated. This buys Saggese more time, but Winn’s injury is not considered serious. When Wynn comes back, there’s a good chance Saggese will either get sent back down to Triple-A or get relegated to the bench – neither of which should be happening.
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