Outcome of Edman’s mysterious wrist injury may determine Cardinals’ next roster move

The loudest whispered question at St. Louis Cardinals spring training concerns Tommy Edman and whether the super utility-turned-centerfielder lineup fixture will be ready for opening day.

Unable yet to make contact with a pitched ball as he goes through the progression of his rehabilitation, his uncertain readiness stands as the first real potential turning point for a roster which is otherwise fairly straightforward to predict.

Soreness lingered in Edman’s wrist throughout last season until a sharp pain felt during batting practice in Miami saw him placed on the injured list on July 7. He would return to action on August 1 but was clearly encumbered as the season wore on; in 111 plate appearances over the season’s last month, he managed only one home run and four doubles.

Edman then sought surgery soon after the conclusion of the season, though the team did not acknowledge the procedure until January and has not yet clarified precisely what kind of surgery was conducted. At Winter Warm-Up, prior to signing a contract extension which avoided arbitration this year and next, Edman said he “didn’t want to get too much into the specifics of” the surgery, but that it was designed to remedy “damage to the cartilage and the wrist bones.”

President of baseball operations John Mozeliak called the surgery “pretty benign,” but several months later, Edman is sporting an angry red scar which runs roughly from his wrist to the midpoint of his forearm and is limited to hitting off a tee, sometimes only with one hand, on alternating days.

“We’ll see how he progresses,” manager Oliver Marmol said Thursday. “I mean, we’ve yet to play games. We’re just getting started. We’ll see how he reacts to the next couple weeks of his progression that [head trainer Adam Olsen] and the guys have for him, and then we’ll see where we’re at at that point.”

With a position player group that remains largely unchanged from 2023, save for the departure of Andrew Knizner and the return of Matt Carpenter, Edman’s readiness is in many ways the fulcrum around which the lineup rotates. The team has determined that Lars Nootbaar’s strongest defensive position is left field and has simultaneously cooled on Dylan Carlson as an everyday player, making Edman’s presence in centerfield essential.

He’s also, still, the primary backup shortstop. Whatever pretense of competition may have otherwise existed around Masyn Winn’s seizure of the starting role has fully gone by the wayside, but the addition of Carpenter and presence of Alec Burleson does create a roster squeeze which would force a healthy Edman into that role.

Brendan Donovan, recovering from his own elbow surgery, has taken limited reps at shortstop this spring, and Marmol said he’s fully cleared for game action at that spot. José Fermín is also on the 40-man roster, but questions persist regarding his arm strength and ability to handle the position defensively, which would be the primary requirement for anyone filling in in Edman’s stead.

The free agent market may yet offer a solution. The Cardinals do not discuss free agents on the record, but a source familiar with their thinking acknowledged that a reliable veteran infielder, in particular one who hits right-handed, could fill an important role as a bench presence.

Two-time Gold Glove winner Nick Ahmed, released by the National League Champion Arizona Diamondbacks on the doorstep of the postseason last fall, is a free agent seeking work who has obvious connections to the Cardinals. He was a teammate of Paul Goldschmidt’s in Arizona, and the two currently are represented by the same agency. Goldschmidt said earlier this week that he would “love” if Ahmed joined him in St. Louis, praising his skill as a defender and his influence as a teammate.

Ahmed was also teammates for two seasons with new bench coach Daniel Descalso, and the Cardinals have prioritized the return to a clubhouse culture they feel has slipped in recent years. Their broad familiarity with Ahmed – and his limited remaining options given the recent run on veteran free agent infielders – could make him a natural fit.

A source with familiarity with the free agent market predicted that Ahmed could wait until deeper in spring to sign a deal, waiting to see if injury or poor performance elsewhere opened up a larger opportunity. The Cardinals, though, could be in a position to short circuit that wait, especially if they find themselves willing to offer a guaranteed Major League deal as opposed to a minor league deal with a non-roster invite to spring.

Veterans Amed Rosario (Tampa Bay) and Gio Urshela (Detroit) signed one-year contracts worth $1.5 million each in recent days, suggesting only a moderate cost for a great deal of certainty. Ahmed has never finished a season as even a league average hitter as measured by OPS+, but is a superlative defender who undoubtedly can handle shortstop; indeed, of his 7068 career innings in the field, all but 11 (at second base) have been at short.

In recent years, the Cardinals have not shied away from adding veteran position players in spring after the market moved in their direction. Both Corey Dickerson and Albert Pujols were signed during camp in 2022, and both to more significant financial commitments.

Once Edman is healthy, or should Edman indeed be ready for opening day, the Cardinals would then have flexibility regarding the makeup of their bench. Burleson, coming off an underwhelming rookie season, can be freely optioned to the minor leagues, and there remain questions around whether Carpenter can provide enough with his bat to allow his leadership qualities to take hold.

When operating at their best, the Cardinals trend toward the predictable. Given the uncertainty around Edman – and given their reluctance to acknowledge it – it could scarcely be called a surprise to see one more roster piece fitted to a puzzle with a potentially obvious gap.