JUPITER, Fla. — The trucks freighting the Cardinals’ gear from Busch Stadium arrived and were unpacked Wednesday, and at the same time the club continued another spring training tradition.
The load up on lefties continues, annually.
To jump the line and avoid the uncertainty of a waiver claim, the Cardinals sent cash to the Kansas City Royals and acquired left-handed reliever Anthony Misiewicz on Wednesday. Misiewicz, 28, split this past season with Seattle, Kansas City, and both club’s Class AAA affiliates, and he’ll come to Cardinals spring training with a chance to elbow his way into the bullpen. The Cardinals signed lefty Andrew Suarez to a minor-league deal a week ago and added him to the non-roster invites to spring, bringing the total of lefties in camp to eight, not including starters Jordan Montgomery and Steven Matz.
“Never a bad thing,” manager Oliver Marmol said of having lefty depth as he stood outside of the team’s facility at Roger Dean Stadium. “You can’t have enough. I love having the options of another lefty that we can look at during spring and see how he fits in.”
The timing of the addition was unfortunate for the potential subtraction from the Cardinals’ roster: James Naile turned 30 on Wednesday, the same day he was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Misiewicz. A Missouri native and right-handed reliever, Naile spent time at the facility a few hours before the trade Wednesday, talked about he worked to goose his fastball this offseason, described the fine-tuning of his breaking, and signed autographs for a handful of fans.
The Cardinals have time to trade him or attempt to pass him through waivers to the Class AAA Memphis roster. If he clears, he’ll be a non-roster invite to big-league camp.
Misiewicz became available to the Cardinals when the Royals signed Zack Greinke and had to remove a player from their 40-man roster to make room for the former Cy Young Award winner. Misiewicz joined Kansas City midway throughout the season and overall went 1-2 with a 4.34 ERA in 29 innings in the majors. He struck out 27 of the 121 batters he faced for the Mariners and Royals, and that strikeout rate is appealing for the Cardinals, who continue to try and improve upon the pitching staff’s ability to miss bats.
In 119 big-league appearances spread over the past three seasons, Misiewicz has 105 strikeouts and 31 walks in 103 2/3 innings.
The move from the Cardinals comes at a time when several notable left-handed free agents remain available. Matt Moore and Andrew Chafin, two lefties who excelled in relief roles this past season, are still available – at a free-agent price and a roster spot. By trading for Misiewicz, the Cardinals gave up the roster spot and some cash, but in exchange got a lefty reliever with options and also several years of control.
With Misiewicz, the Cardinals continued to line up candidates for one of the most competitive corners on the opening day roster. The club’s hope is that lefty Genesis Cabrera roars back from his struggles this past season to establish himself as the late-inning reliever from the left side. The Cardinals describe the factor that Zack Thompson, a former first-round pick and second-year big leaguer, could yet play in the late innings or as a swingman for the bullpen. The team also acquired JoJo Romero from the Phillies this past year in a trade, and Packy Naughton returns to the team as a swingman or high-leverage reliever option.
Although official workouts do not begin until Monday at the Cardinals’ spring complex, informal workouts have been happening for several weeks with at least a dozen players already in the area and some using the facility.
Marmol watched bullpen sessions for Naughton and Thompson on Tuesday. Lars Nootbaar, Tommy Edman, Dakota Hudson, Paul DeJong, Tyler O’Neill, and Andrew Knizner were among the players who came through the complex for some activity on Wednesday.
All-Star Ryan Helsley also stopped by.
He and Cabrera have pending arbitration hearings with the Cardinals to determine their 2023 salaries. Those hearings are expected to be held and decided in the days leading up to the official opening of camp.
On Wednesday, a large, temporary tent was being constructed outside the Cardinals’ clubhouse – a sign of the team’s need to expand beyond the footprint of its building and also a hint at the future. John Mozeliak, Cardinals president of baseball operations, attended a breakfast Wednesday morning that is hosted annually by a local chamber of commerce to celebrate the start of spring training. At it, he discussed the forthcoming renovations coming to Roger Dean Stadium and the spring complex shared by the Marlins and Cardinals.
The $100-million overhaul of the complex will begin at the completion of this spring and construction will continue through next spring training. The clubhouses are set to be demolished and rebuilt as part of an upgrade to the facility that has been the Cardinals’ spring home since 1998.
On the backside of the building that now has an expiration date parked the semitrucks to deliver all the gear packed up earlier this week at Busch Stadium.
Marmol said his baseball clothes arrived.
And not a moment too soon with so many baseball players around.
“There’s excitement about getting this going,” Marmol said. “There’s that energy.”
