Transaction Analysis 7/16: Cards Assign 4 from Camp to the ATS

The Cardinals announced the following transaction this morning:

7/16/20: Re-assigned RHP Seth Elledge, C Ivan Herrera, LHP Rob Kaminsky and LHP Zack Thompson to the Alternate Training Site.

The Summer Camp Roster started with 48. Jordan Hicks being place on the restricted list knocked it down to 47, and these 4 players being re-assigned puts the roster at 43. Of the 43 players, 37 are 40-man roster players, and there are 6 remaining NRIs: Johan Oviedo, Kodi Whitley, Jose Godoy, John Nogowski, Max Schrock and Dylan Carlson. There are now 16 players assigned to the Alternate Training Site in Springfield. Alvaro Seijas is the only 40-man roster player at that location. The placement of Hicks on the restricted list after his opt-out leaves one additional spot on the 60-man Club Player Pool should the club desire to fill it.

Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch noted an interesting feature of Kaminsky’s minor-league deal. Although he would not have an automatic right to it, Kaminsky has negotiated the right to opt out of his minor league deal with the Cards if he is not added to the roster by opening day. I’m not sure whether he’s a credible threat to opt out or whether, even if he did opt out, another club would be interested. The fact that the club left Oviedo and Whitley in camp and assigned Kaminsky to the ATS would suggest that even if the Cards used an available 40-man spot on opening day for one or more pitchers, Kaminsky is not in the mix for one of those spots at the moment.

There seems to be some confusion about how many players the Cards currently have on their 40-man roster. The answer is 38. The Cards started spring training in February with a full 40-man roster. Jordan Hicks was placed on the 60-day IL on the first reporting date to make room for the club’s signing of Brad Miller. Yairo Munoz was released during camp, which knocked the 40-man down to 39. And John Brebbia was placed on the 60-day IL on June 27th, the day before the Cards announced their initial Club Player Pool. That list included Hicks even though he was not on the 40-man roster. Once Hicks decided to opt out of the 2020 season, he was placed on the restricted list, but that did not change the 40-man roster count, because he wasn’t on the 40-man roster to begin with.

The various 40-man roster pages on the websites of the clubs are not reliable right now. Some clubs are listing all of the players invited to camp on that list. Typically, players on the 60-day IL are listed on the 40-man roster page with an asterisk that notes that they are on the 60-day IL and not part of the 40-man roster. Those notations are missing for every club that I’ve looked at, including the Cardinals. Although the 40-man roster tab on the Cards’ website might indicated that Brebbia is on the 40-man, he is not on it.

The Cards have one week to whittle down their opening day roster to 30. While Mozeliak said during the recent intrasquad game broadcast that he would be surprised if the club didn’t carry 3 catchers, Goold reported today that the club still has not made up its mind. Either way, there will be a lot to argue about over the next week.