Kozma should win out over Descalso, who shouldn't even be allowed to look at shortstop, but I suspect he'll be optioned. Regardless, I really like the way this team is shaking out. Ellis is a perfect fit and if everything breaks right, they should repeat as division champions. 

The cards have a glaring whole at ss if peralta goes down.  Neither descalso or kozma are players you want to see play much time there.  The crappy thing is kozma would fill in for peralta in a full time role better.  Like if peralta goes down with a long injury.  That makes you want to keep kozma.  On the other hand descalso is a better player to have on the 25 man roster if peralta is healthy because he can play 3 infield positions.  It seems the best thing to do is keep kozma stashed in memphis as an insurance policy with delscalso taking the utility role. 

I love the mark ellis move.  He is a legit full time second baseman.  If wong needs more time in memphis the 25 man roster remains strong.  Bernie talked about him as a platoon player and he might be best suited for that.  However giving him 500ish at bats and him reproducing his 2013 numbers wouldnt hurt the cardinals.  There is more to gain from wong but as far as back up plans go this is steller.  Im suprised he was willing to be reduced to that role.  The only thing i dislike about the move is that he doesnt replace the need for either delscalso or kozma.  He really only provides an option and protection at 2nd.  That is very one dimensional for a bench player.

artie_fufkin wrote:

"if peralta goes down"

... or gets suspended for 100 games for a second positive test for PEDs.

The suspension may be the greater risk.  Peralta has actually had a decent record of staying healthy.  He's played at least 141 games every year in which he wasn't serving a PED suspension.

Given the way MLB is going after A-Rod, I would assume they could attempt to discipline Peralta for any act (other than Biogenesis) since the current disciplinary policy was put into place.  But I'm not sure MLB will go digging for dirt on Peralta like they have with A-Rod.

Maybe I'm naive, but I don't see Peralta messing up again. 

Alz, i agree on descalso.  He is much more valuable the kozma off the bench.  He isnt a good ss but he isnt completely lost either.  Playing 3 infield positions is huge.  He falls someplace inbetween mark derosa and arron miles.  I think we all remember the days of miles needing a cutoff man to get the ball to first.  I think with ellis on the team his role is going to decrease even more, as it should.  He was over exposed last year.

I less worried about peralta and ped.  1. He has to make the same mistake twice.  I hope he learned.  2. He has to get caught.  Not that it isnt a possiblity but i think it is less of one then him getting hurt.  I know he is generally healthy but that means very little.  Everyone can get hurt.  In the case of injury you simply can have descalso being ur everyday ss.  Kozma is a better option even if he cant hit a lick.

I love the ellis signing.  Great solid move.  I counted him out as i didnt think the cards could offer him enough of a role.  It would be nice if he could play other infield positions beside 2nd.  I believe the mlb network stated his purpose as wongs backup and a right handed option at 3rd.  That made me pause.  He has played little to none outside of second.  I dont think at 36 years of age he needs to be playing out of position.

tkihshbt wrote:

I'm not sure you guys were watching Descalso enough at shortstop if you think he can play there. He was wretched defensively. Kozma is a zero with the bat. Atrocious. But if I had to choose between the guy who could capably play three infield positions over the guy who can mimic the motions of a shortstop and get a few more hits in 250 plate appearances, I'm going with the defensive option. A bench that will have some combination of Jay, Bourjos, Craig, Adams and Ellis isn't crying out for Descalso.

Descalso made 14 errors in 382 chances over three positions. This is roughly a 3.7% chance of error per chance. He also had a .290 OBP

Kozma made 9 errors in 563 chances over two positions (561 of those chances coming to Shortstop). This is a 1.5% chance. He had a .275 OBP. He's played 1 game in the OF, 11 games at 2B, and 1 game at 3B in his career. This doesn't tell me he can effectively play three infield positions. It tells me he's a shortstop..... Descalso has played 186 games at 3B, 153 at 2B, 95 at SS. That's a much more comforting sample size.

Also just to note. We're talking about more value from a bench. Kozma can't hit.... That's much more important when talking about a bench player. I'll take Descalso and hopefully not watch Kozma kick a ball all over the infield in another world series....
 

"I'm not sure you guys were watching Descalso enough at shortstop if you think he can play there."

I don't disagree, but if you've just added a guy who has averaged 140 games at year at short, the choice between Descalso and Kozma becomes easy. You can get by with Descalso for those other 20 games, and he gives you the benefit of being able to play third and second. I'm reasonably certain Koz could also fill in second, but we don't know if he can play third. 
And that's without factoring in the offensive component, which Descalso obviously wins easily.

"The good news is I don't think it's going to make a huge difference over the long run."

Excellent point. It's not 2009 and we're having a discussion about Khalil Greene batting cleanup on opening day. We're arguing over who should be the backup shortstop. We could be Phillies' fans wondering how many of their 8-figure salaries are going to actually get onto the field this season.

"A bench that will have some combination of Jay, Bourjos, Craig, Adams and Ellis isn't crying out for Descalso."

Of the 5 names you listed, shouldn't 3 of those guys be on the field as starters, at least on Opening Day?"

I'm picturing the bench as Jay/Bourjos, Robinson, Ellis, Desclaso and Cruz which still isn't all that impressive.  It will get better once Taveras makes the team, but I'm not sure he does so out of Spring Training.

It's all relative to who's better starting or off the bench. If I need a starter, I'd keep Kozma. Since we're talking about the bench, I'll take Descalso who's already a proven bench player, instead of rolling the dice that the starting shortstop I just demoted (who couldn't hit worth a damn anyway) will be effective in any type of bench role.

"Don't you think that the signing of Ellis suggests a possibility, if not a likelihood of a platoon at second base?"

I think it's more likely they don't want to be in a position where they'll have to trade one of their prospects for a second baseman in July in case Wong shits the bed.
Reading TK's post, it seems Jackson would have been just as good a fit as Kozma or Descalso. It's no doubt a dead issue at this point because Jackson is no longer with the organization, but some day I'd like to see some enterprising journalist dig into why he fell out of favor. He's supposed to be a better defensive shortstop than Kozma, and its hard to imagine he would have been worse offensively. Twenty-five plate appearances in two years under Matheny is hardly a tryout. There had to be some sort of issue that kept him languishing on the bench or in Memphis while Koz was fighting to stay above the Mendoza line during the second half of the season.