Report: St. Louis Cardinals Sign Free Agent Utility Man Ty Wigginton

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports has tweeted that the St. Louis Cardinals have signed veteran Ty Wigginton to a two-year contract.

Source: Wigginton agrees to two-year contract with #STLCards. Total will be in $5M range. Gives team RH bat, versatility.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 14, 2012

An offseason that began with the Cardinals discussing middle-infield upgrades via trade and free agency has taken a step back and to the margins. At the winter meetings, St. Louis filled one of its self-professed needs with lefthanded reliever Randy Choate. After Skip Schumaker's representation approached the Cardinals and requested a trade, the team obliged this week, sending the veteran infielder/outfielder to the Dodgers in return for Double-A shortstop Jake Lemmerman. Today, the club filled the void left by Schumaker on the 25-man roster and the bench by signing Wigginton.

Wigginton has had a long big-league career with many stops. He broke into the majors at age 24 with the Mets in 2002. In 2004, New York dealt him to the Pirates. After the 2005 season, Wigginton signed as a free agent with the Devil Rays, who traded him during the 2007 season to the Astros. After the 2008 season, Wigginton signed as a free agent with the Orioles. He signed with the Rockies for the 2010 season. Last year, he played for the Phillies.

The move is one with versatility ostensibly in mind, as Wigginton is a classic dull utility knife--the sort favored by retired Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. While it is true that Wigginton has played third base, first base, second base, the corner outfield positions, and even a smidgeon of shortstop over the course of his career, he is little more than a corner infielder nowadays. The following chart shows Wigginton's innings played by defensive position throughout his career.

WIGGINTON DEFENSIVE INNINGS LOG (CAREER)

For his career, Wigginton has hit for a respectable slash line of .263/.324/.438/.762. The veteran's career .330 wOBA is healthy, too. Wigginton's .762 career OPS equates to a 99 OPS+. His offensive production, including baserunning, gives him a career wRC+ of 99 as well. In recent seasons, his batting has not been anywhere near what his career numbers have been.

WIGGINTON BATTING STATS (CAREER)

As the chart shows, Wigginton's careers numbers are bolstered by his younger years. Wigginton hasn't had an above-average offensive season since 2008, when he was 30 years old. While posting below-average batting seasons each of the last four seasons, Wigginton has played his home games in hitter-friendly ballparks. Now, he will call pitcher-friendly Busch Stadium home, which makes the likelihood of him hitting well all the lesser.

Wigginton does have a platoon split of the type the Cardinals were seemingly after in targeting a righthanded bench bat. Just as Schumaker should never have been used against a lefty, manager Mike Matheny should attempt to avoid having Wigginton face righthanded pitchers whenever possible.

WIGGINTON BATTING SPLITS (CAREER)

The Cardinals wanted a righthanded bench bat. They got one. Wigginton isn't a good bet to hit above .250, post an OBP above .320, or slug for more than .420. Bill James projects a .241/.314/.379 season from Wigginton, which would work out to a .307 wOBA. In addition to his offensive shortcomings, Wigginton should also probably not play a position other than first base or third base, which means he probably shouldn't ever play over Matt Carpenter. Nonetheless, Wigginton fills a perceived need that the farm system could not: righthanded bench bat. Hopefully, fortune smiles on the Cardinals and that is all Wigginton is. Ideally, Wigginton will primarily pinch-hit against lefthanded relievers and rarely play in the field. If this is how he is used, this move will not help or hurt the club very much.