Wilson Contreras was the speak of major-league baseball Monday as he returned to Wrigley Field with the St. Louis Cardinals.
But as a substitute of returning because the conquering hero who bought the long-term deal he craved, Contreras was already the topic of commerce speak on MLB Network, which spent a part of the morning speculating the place the previous Chicago Cubs catcher would go solely 5 weeks into the primary season of his five-year, $87.5 million contract.
Cubs followers gave Contreras a heat welcome Monday, although the marquee at Murphy’s Bleachers threw a bit of shade on him:
“Hey Willson, How are things goin’ in St. Louis?”
Everyone knew, after all.
The choice by Cardinals administration to take the catcher’s glove away from Contreras in the intervening time and make him a delegated hitter and left fielder was extensively seen as a sign they already had soured on the veteran.
Cardinals supervisor Oli Marmol mentioned that isn’t the case and the choice was being “proactive” as a substitute of reactive.
They knew how individuals would react to the information, which got here with the Cardinals off to an abysmal begin and the pitching employees placing up numbers one may count on from an enlargement group.
“I honestly feel like we could’ve potentially ended up in a worse situation long term than what we’re experiencing today,” Marmol mentioned. “This is just noise. This goes away.”
That’s wishful pondering, however whenever you’re 11-24 it’s important to dream large.
The Cubs in all probability ought to’ve put in a psychiatrist’s sofa within the visiting supervisor’s workplace for Marmol, who tried his finest to clarify his emotions of affection for Contreras with out explaining the rationale he doesn’t need him catching his pitchers.
Marmol on Sunday referred to as collectively Contreras and starters Adam Wainwright and Jack Flaherty to speak in regards to the choice and let Contreras know they nonetheless believed in his catching potential. He referred to as it a “huge step” in making Contreras really feel cherished and appreciated.
“At the end of the day, optically, people are going to run in a lot of different directions with it,” Marmol mentioned, including they really feel “pretty damn good” in regards to the outcomes.
Wainwright mentioned they “poured into” Contreras that they “love this guy, we’re glad he’s here, we want him to be our guy” for the lengthy haul.
“No one has given up hope on Willie,” he mentioned. “That was the main message that we wanted to share with him, and I think he took it well. Honestly, I don’t know if anyone has ever told him that.”
Well, Joe Maddon actually did when he managed the Cubs, serving to Contreras mature from an emotional hothead to a three-time All-Star who was instrumental of their 2016 championship. Their relationship was so sturdy, some gamers referred to Maddon as “Willson’s dad.”
Whether this methodology works received’t be identified till Contreras returns behind the plate, at any time when which may be. As his penance, Contreras has to sit down or stand subsequent to Marmol throughout video games and observe issues. That feels like a timeout for speaking out loud at school.
So it’s not Contreras’ fault, Marmol reiterated. But they only felt one thing needed to be carried out, and so they determined to do it now whereas letting him realize it’s non permanent.
“The timing of it sucks, where we’re at,” Marmol mentioned. “But it’s a small blip within the story over the subsequent 5 years in the event you simply consider a three-week mark in April, or a two-week mark in May, or no matter month we’re in. Thank God it’s not April.
“At the end of the day, he needed to hear from some meaningful guys that: ‘You are our guy. We love you. We trust you. And the only way we get to where we want to get to is with you helping us behind the plate. And here’s how we’re going to do that.’”
The optics of the choice couldn’t be worse.
Former Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter texted Wainwright asking “what in the world” was happening.
Wainwright responded: “Just relax. It’s going to be a couple days.”
Cubs administration spent two years refusing to increase Contreras’ contract regardless of his strong efficiency on the sphere and the unconditional love of Cubs followers. President Jed Hoyer by no means had a foul factor to say about Contreras however clearly didn’t really feel he was worthy of an extension for causes Hoyer by no means defined.
The Cardinals jumped on the likelihood to signal Contreras to exchange franchise legend Yadier Molina, however then they put him in a timeout, catching-wise, making it seem like purchaser’s regret.
“When you think about the investment over the next five years, I feel really good about what we have in place,” Marmol mentioned. “It may not make sense to many people at the moment. I promise you it will.”
Replacing Molina by no means was going to be straightforward, however the collapse of the Cardinals employees on Contreras’ watch couldn’t be ignored.
“Yadi’s presence here has been documented, and he’s certainly hard to replace,” Wainwright mentioned. “But it certainly doesn’t speak to being 14 games under .500 going into (Sunday). Yadi is the greatest catcher that ever lived in my opinion, but does he make us go from 10 over to 14 games under? That’s on us.”
Wainwright, who returned from a groin harm Saturday to make his first begin, mentioned this yr’s group is essentially the identical as final yr’s, although he additionally identified that he and different pitchers had been on the World Baseball Classic as a substitute of getting acclimated with Contreras in spring coaching.
“This month is a perfect storm of badness for this team,” he mentioned. “We didn’t lose all those games because of one player. We lost a lot of games for a different reason seemingly every day.”
Cardinals followers haven’t needed to cope with this type of begin since 1973, after they went 8-23 earlier than rebounding to complete 81-81 and one sport out of first within the mediocre National League East. Marmol and the teaching employees have gotten loads of warmth from the self-described “world’s greatest fans.”
“We didn’t make it easy,” Wainwright mentioned. “The history there speaks to winning baseball games, and they’re not used to (this). … I don’t know if we’ve been 10 games back the entire time I’ve been here.”
Cubs followers know that feeling, however watching their rivals undergo this was a sense of schadenfreude they appeared to take pleasure in.
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com