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Ty Wigginton a poor fit in St. Louis Cardinals' crowded corners

The St. Louis Cardinals signed Ty Wigginton, and unless it's the precursor to a trade he's an awkward fit on their bench.

By Dan Moore
Because coverage shouldn't be entirely negative, here's a cool picture of Ty Wigginton.
Because coverage shouldn't be entirely negative, here's a cool picture of Ty Wigginton.
Drew Hallowell

If the St. Louis Cardinals' Skip Schumaker trade was easy to predict, their next move came as a bit of a shock: They signed Ty Wigginton to a two-year, $5 million deal, despite the way he's slipped under replacement level over since his last solid season in 2008. Wigginton was once--like Schumaker--an interesting, non-standard utility-man, able to play a bad second base and hit like a pretty-good third baseman. Now he can't play third base, and his hitting has mostly dipped below league-average.

Which would be fine on a minor league deal--but even then, few would expect him to make the team with Matt Carpenter, a better hitter and fielder, covering all four corners from the bench. With Matt Adams in AAA Memphis, even first base is covered for any medium-to-long-term injuries.

So what does Ty Wigginton do on these Cardinals then, assuming Carpenter isn't traded? Well, I guess he just hits left-handers. If nothing else he's retained the ability to do that; despite being sub-replacement-level against righties in 2011 and 2012, he's managed to get on base and provide a little pop against lefties both years.

Is that worthwhile? Well, I'm not sure. It might be worth a roster spot, but it's not worth $2.5 million a year.