Per ESPN Interview Mozeliak, We probably won't get to see JJ Wetherholt this season

[PadsFS07]

I wasn't in favor of any of those things, but surely you can see the difference between what JJ Wetherholt is doing, and who he is as a player, compared to those other guys and those situations.

I mean, you are right on him being different, but you never know with prospects. My feeling is that one of these options can hurt a players development, while the other option just delays it. If they were gonna be great anyway. Some of it has nothing to do with Wetherholt himself either.

[Ronnie Dobbs]

I mean, you are right on him being different, but you never know with prospects. My feeling is that one of these options can hurt a players development, while the other option just delays it. If they were gonna be great anyway. Some of it has nothing to do with Wetherholt himself either.

I know that there's no guarantees. I don't guarantee that Wetherholt will be great right away either. The reason I say he's different is because he came out of college a complete hitter, possible 1-1 draft pick. He started at AA this year and dominated. He got promoted to AAA and was even better after the power started to come.

But I could also make the argument that holding him back and delaying his development hurts both him and the team. If you call him up this September, maybe he struggles initially. But at least he gets that taste of baseball at this level and knows what he has to do to make himself ready for next year because, and I think we all know that barring injury, he's making the team out of the spring next year. Let's not kid ourselves.

So I would want my top prospect, one of the top prospects in the game, who is as close as you can get to the majors right now, to get a taste so that he can hopefully be at his best next year. And that's good for the team too. The team is basically done this year. But who knows next year? I'd rather him struggle now rather than later.

But yes, I do agree that some of it has nothing to do with him. And if someone makes the argument that there's just not the playing time for him right now, especially if Arenado comes back, I don't like it, but I can see the point. But with the other stuff, the guy has done nothing but dominate. He's right there. Call him up.

[Wattage]

I mean, you are right on him being different, but you never know with prospects. My feeling is that one of these options can hurt a players development, while the other option just delays it. If they were gonna be great anyway. Some of it has nothing to do with Wetherholt himself either.

I know that there's no guarantees. I don't guarantee that Wetherholt will be great right away either. The reason I say he's different is because he came out of college a complete hitter, possible 1-1 draft pick. He started at AA this year and dominated. He got promoted to AAA and was even better after the power started to come.

But I could also make the argument that holding him back and delaying his development hurts both him and the team. If you call him up this September, maybe he struggles initially. But at least he gets that taste of baseball at this level and knows what he has to do to make himself ready for next year because, and I think we all know that barring injury, he's making the team out of the spring next year. Let's not kid ourselves.

So I would want my top prospect, one of the top prospects in the game, who is as close as you can get to the majors right now, to get a taste so that he can hopefully be at his best next year. And that's good for the team too. The team is basically done this year. But who knows next year? I'd rather him struggle now rather than later.

But yes, I do agree that some of it has nothing to do with him. And if someone makes the argument that there's just not the playing time for him right now, especially if Arenado comes back, I don't like it, but I can see the point. But with the other stuff, the guy has done nothing but dominate. He's right there. Call him up.

I think him coming back does meddle with playing time. Saggese is lookjng like hes finally hitting again.

Im not sure its 100% wetherholt makes team next year at years beginning. Especially with how crowded 2b could be.

I think since church has to be added this offseason to be protected from 40 man he should come up in september since our outfield production is shaky

[blackinkbiz]

So is it 1 position player and 1 pitcher they're planning to call up this September because of that ridiculous rule change 5 years ago?

Church and Matthews? Didn't realize till just now Matthews turns 25 this October.

[tubastarr]

For the good of his growth and the team overall why wouldn't you want him to get a taste of the majors over the last 30 games or so. (Seems to help Winn). Only prepare him more for next year. Even if the Cards aren't in the WC hunt they'll be playing games that mean a lot to them and just adds that more to his acquired experience. Surely this is a troll job by Mo.

How does it help his growth to speed past AAA? Let him develop. We've rushed every top prospect over the past 10-15 years and all of them struggled with it.

Exactly

[Wattage]

So is it 1 position player and 1 pitcher they're planning to call up this September because of that ridiculous rule change 5 years ago?

Church and Matthews? Didn't realize till just now Matthews turns 25 this October.

Usually is 1 and 1. You arent allowed to have more pitchers than position players so it cant be 2 pitchers and i doubt its 2 position players.

Id have to imagine its church since he has to be added to 40 man anyway and not management doing something stupid and insulting like siani.

Crooks blaze jordan and prieto also all have to be added so they are also possibilities.

Matthews is possible butbhe also doesnt have to be added to 40 man til after 2026 season so dont be surprised if they just call up a mopup roster filler arm.

[cardstatman]

Wetherholt has played 23 games in AAA so far and 114 minor league games in total.

Everyone can wait until Christmas to open their present. There is no need to open it on Thanksgiving.

Ideally, he gets his MLB debut around 01 May so the Cards can keep him from 2026-2032 instead of 2026-2031.

Assuming he's great, wouldn't you rather have him for all of 2032 instead of rushing him to MLB to mop up this lost season.

Promoting him now is equivalent to releasing him after 2031 for no good reason with a year of control left. That is a loser GM move.

[peterman'srealitytour]

Some of you just love the shiny new toy. Whether it’s requesting Gorman get called up immediately during the 2022 season, or Walker must make the roster out of spring training in 2023, or demanding victor scott be the starting CFer out of spring training this season following a brutal 2024 minor league season, you’re not recognizing patterns. There is no rush. Just let the kid be.
He’ll most certainly be in the 2026 OD lineup.

Oakland sure loves their shiny new toy Nick Kurtz, chosen just a few spots before JJ in last year’s draft. Our offense is dead last in runs scored since the All Star break. What’s to say that Wetherholt couldn’t have helped this offense in July and August? We were just 3 games back of the wild card as of Monday.

Sends an awful message to your fanbase when you don’t even try to put the best players already in your organization on the field in a pennant race.

[Melville]

So is it 1 position player and 1 pitcher they're planning to call up this September because of that ridiculous rule change 5 years ago?

Church and Matthews? Didn't realize till just now Matthews turns 25 this October.

Usually is 1 and 1. You arent allowed to have more pitchers than position players so it cant be 2 pitchers and i doubt its 2 position players.

Id have to imagine its church since he has to be added to 40 man anyway and not management doing something stupid and insulting like siani.

Crooks blaze jordan and prieto also all have to be added so they are also possibilities.

Matthews is possible butbhe also doesnt have to be added to 40 man til after 2026 season so dont be surprised if they just call up a mopup roster filler arm.

A valid argument could certainly be made for Crooks over Church.
Although, understandably I suspect people have more positive views in general of church than crooks.

[woofy25]

Some of you just love the shiny new toy. Whether it’s requesting Gorman get called up immediately during the 2022 season, or Walker must make the roster out of spring training in 2023, or demanding victor scott be the starting CFer out of spring training this season following a brutal 2024 minor league season, you’re not recognizing patterns. There is no rush. Just let the kid be.
He’ll most certainly be in the 2026 OD lineup.

Oakland sure loves their shiny new toy Nick Kurtz, chosen just a few spots before JJ in last year’s draft. Our offense is dead last in runs scored since the All Star break. What’s to say that Wetherholt couldn’t have helped this offense in July and August? We were just 3 games back of the wild card as of Monday.

Sends an awful message to your fanbase when you don’t even try to put the best players already in your organization on the field in a pennant race.

Oakland is 54-69. I don’t think this helps your case

[woofy25]

Some of you just love the shiny new toy. Whether it’s requesting Gorman get called up immediately during the 2022 season, or Walker must make the roster out of spring training in 2023, or demanding victor scott be the starting CFer out of spring training this season following a brutal 2024 minor league season, you’re not recognizing patterns. There is no rush. Just let the kid be.
He’ll most certainly be in the 2026 OD lineup.

Or saying Scott should skip AA to the majors based on 44 spring plate appearances. Although it was fine Scott making the team this season he’s doing what siani could have done but with more stolen bases

It wasn’t the right move for the player. Typically, you need to be good in the minors before you can be productive in the majors. Some people on here salivated over spring training way too much, and chose to ignore a major regression over a larger and more reliable sample size. And those same people will do it next year if Doyle or Crooks or Baez or Bernal has a good ST.

I really hope the new regime is able to recognize that a guy who goes from .290 to .212 in the minors needs to start the next season….in the minors.

While Nootbaar hasn’t done himself any favors this season, he should have been the starting CFer. Gorman would have a lot more ABs by now. He and Walker were the poster boys for the runway garbage.

You make valid points and I agree with all of them but Scott. I like Scott. I wanted to see progression from him and he has progressed not as drastically as some who wanted him to hit .300 and steal 100 this season but he went from .179 to .219 raised his OBP from .221 to .309 because he’s walking more and raised his OPS from .502 to .618 and is also hitting .273 with a .376 OBP and .792 OPS with runners in scoring position and .241 .339 .737 with men on. On top of that he’s elite on defense and on the bases. I have no problem with him playing center and batting ninth next season. A lot of teams would love to have Scott batting ninth for them

If they’re going to have to glove first guys in Winn and Scott, then it’s all good if they have legitimate middle of the order bats.
I don’t know how many sub 100 ops+ players you can really have but I’d say two is close to the limit.

[woofy25]

Some of you just love the shiny new toy. Whether it’s requesting Gorman get called up immediately during the 2022 season, or Walker must make the roster out of spring training in 2023, or demanding victor scott be the starting CFer out of spring training this season following a brutal 2024 minor league season, you’re not recognizing patterns. There is no rush. Just let the kid be.
He’ll most certainly be in the 2026 OD lineup.

I wasn't in favor of any of those things, but surely you can see the difference between what JJ Wetherholt is doing, and who he is as a player, compared to those other guys and those situations.

Walker was a top 5 prospect, so no, I don’t see much of a difference. Now, jj and Walker are pretty much the same age so there is that. If they bring him up in September then I’m fine with it but it’s not a hill I’d die on. Again, fully expect him in the OD lineup next season. Would be great if they could land on a position for him around the winter meetings.

[Ozziesfan41]

Some of you just love the shiny new toy. Whether it’s requesting Gorman get called up immediately during the 2022 season, or Walker must make the roster out of spring training in 2023, or demanding victor scott be the starting CFer out of spring training this season following a brutal 2024 minor league season, you’re not recognizing patterns. There is no rush. Just let the kid be.
He’ll most certainly be in the 2026 OD lineup.

Or saying Scott should skip AA to the majors based on 44 spring plate appearances. Although it was fine Scott making the team this season he’s doing what siani could have done but with more stolen bases

It wasn’t the right move for the player. Typically, you need to be good in the minors before you can be productive in the majors. Some people on here salivated over spring training way too much, and chose to ignore a major regression over a larger and more reliable sample size. And those same people will do it next year if Doyle or Crooks or Baez or Bernal has a good ST.

I really hope the new regime is able to recognize that a guy who goes from .290 to .212 in the minors needs to start the next season….in the minors.

While Nootbaar hasn’t done himself any favors this season, he should have been the starting CFer. Gorman would have a lot more ABs by now. He and Walker were the poster boys for the runway garbage.

You make valid points and I agree with all of them but Scott. I like Scott. I wanted to see progression from him and he has progressed not as drastically as some who wanted him to hit .300 and steal 100 this season but he went from .179 to .219 raised his OBP from .221 to .309 because he’s walking more and raised his OPS from .502 to .618 and is also hitting .273 with a .376 OBP and .792 OPS with runners in scoring position and .241 .339 .737 with men on. On top of that he’s elite on defense and on the bases. I have no problem with him playing center and batting ninth next season. A lot of teams would love to have Scott batting ninth for them

If they’re going to have to glove first guys in Winn and Scott, then it’s all good if they have legitimate middle of the order bats.
I don’t know how many sub 100 ops+ players you can really have but I’d say two is close to the limit.

Well Gorman and walker can’t field or hit I would complain about them before I complain about elite defensive guys

[Melville]

Some of you just love the shiny new toy. Whether it’s requesting Gorman get called up immediately during the 2022 season, or Walker must make the roster out of spring training in 2023, or demanding victor scott be the starting CFer out of spring training this season following a brutal 2024 minor league season, you’re not recognizing patterns. There is no rush. Just let the kid be.
He’ll most certainly be in the 2026 OD lineup.

I wasn't in favor of any of those things, but surely you can see the difference between what JJ Wetherholt is doing, and who he is as a player, compared to those other guys and those situations.

Walker was a top 5 prospect, so no, I don’t see much of a difference. Now, jj and Walker are pretty much the same age so there is that. If they bring him up in September then I’m fine with it but it’s not a hill I’d die on. Again, fully expect him in the OD lineup next season. Would be great if they could land on a position for him around the winter meetings.

Correct.
Betting on one specific minor league prospect to turn around an organization's trajectory is a fool's errand.
As I have correctly and consistency explained to all, a winning roster is created by assembling pieces which result in the sum being greater than the combined parts.
And that begins by not making foolish 40 man roster decisions unnecessarily.
Wetherholt is not the picture, he is one piece of the puzzle.

[woofy25]

Some of you just love the shiny new toy. Whether it’s requesting Gorman get called up immediately during the 2022 season, or Walker must make the roster out of spring training in 2023, or demanding victor scott be the starting CFer out of spring training this season following a brutal 2024 minor league season, you’re not recognizing patterns. There is no rush. Just let the kid be.
He’ll most certainly be in the 2026 OD lineup.

Or saying Scott should skip AA to the majors based on 44 spring plate appearances. Although it was fine Scott making the team this season he’s doing what siani could have done but with more stolen bases

It wasn’t the right move for the player. Typically, you need to be good in the minors before you can be productive in the majors. Some people on here salivated over spring training way too much, and chose to ignore a major regression over a larger and more reliable sample size. And those same people will do it next year if Doyle or Crooks or Baez or Bernal has a good ST.

I really hope the new regime is able to recognize that a guy who goes from .290 to .212 in the minors needs to start the next season….in the minors.

While Nootbaar hasn’t done himself any favors this season, he should have been the starting CFer. Gorman would have a lot more ABs by now. He and Walker were the poster boys for the runway garbage.

You make valid points and I agree with all of them but Scott. I like Scott. I wanted to see progression from him and he has progressed not as drastically as some who wanted him to hit .300 and steal 100 this season but he went from .179 to .219 raised his OBP from .221 to .309 because he’s walking more and raised his OPS from .502 to .618 and is also hitting .273 with a .376 OBP and .792 OPS with runners in scoring position and .241 .339 .737 with men on. On top of that he’s elite on defense and on the bases. I have no problem with him playing center and batting ninth next season. A lot of teams would love to have Scott batting ninth for them

If they’re going to have to glove first guys in Winn and Scott, then it’s all good if they have legitimate middle of the order bats.
I don’t know how many sub 100 ops+ players you can really have but I’d say two is close to the limit.

Well Gorman and walker can’t field or hit I would complain about them before I complain about elite defensive guys

Yes. Gorman and Walker are supposed to be middle of the order bats that would help make Winn and Scott acceptable. I, for one, still would not give up on either.

[Ozziesfan41]

Some of you just love the shiny new toy. Whether it’s requesting Gorman get called up immediately during the 2022 season, or Walker must make the roster out of spring training in 2023, or demanding victor scott be the starting CFer out of spring training this season following a brutal 2024 minor league season, you’re not recognizing patterns. There is no rush. Just let the kid be.
He’ll most certainly be in the 2026 OD lineup.

Or saying Scott should skip AA to the majors based on 44 spring plate appearances. Although it was fine Scott making the team this season he’s doing what siani could have done but with more stolen bases

It wasn’t the right move for the player. Typically, you need to be good in the minors before you can be productive in the majors. Some people on here salivated over spring training way too much, and chose to ignore a major regression over a larger and more reliable sample size. And those same people will do it next year if Doyle or Crooks or Baez or Bernal has a good ST.

I really hope the new regime is able to recognize that a guy who goes from .290 to .212 in the minors needs to start the next season….in the minors.

While Nootbaar hasn’t done himself any favors this season, he should have been the starting CFer. Gorman would have a lot more ABs by now. He and Walker were the poster boys for the runway garbage.

You make valid points and I agree with all of them but Scott. I like Scott. I wanted to see progression from him and he has progressed not as drastically as some who wanted him to hit .300 and steal 100 this season but he went from .179 to .219 raised his OBP from .221 to .309 because he’s walking more and raised his OPS from .502 to .618 and is also hitting .273 with a .376 OBP and .792 OPS with runners in scoring position and .241 .339 .737 with men on. On top of that he’s elite on defense and on the bases. I have no problem with him playing center and batting ninth next season. A lot of teams would love to have Scott batting ninth for them

If they’re going to have to glove first guys in Winn and Scott, then it’s all good if they have legitimate middle of the order bats.
I don’t know how many sub 100 ops+ players you can really have but I’d say two is close to the limit.

Well Gorman and walker can’t field or hit I would complain about them before I complain about elite defensive guys

Yes. Gorman and Walker are supposed to be middle of the order bats that would help make Winn and Scott acceptable. I, for one, still would not give up on either.

Well you like players who can’t hit or field I would prefer players who are elite defensively who can’t hit so I guess I will just agree to disagree