Tough love: Contreras gets ‘timeout’ behind plate
Wilson Contreras was the talk of major-league baseball Monday as he returned to Wrigley Field with the St. Louis Cardinals.
But instead of returning as the conquering hero who got the long-term deal he craved, Contreras was already the subject of trade talk on MLB Network, which spent part of the morning speculating where the former Cubs catcher would go only five weeks into the first season of his five-year, $87.5 million contract.
Cubs fans gave Contreras
a warm welcome Monday, though the marquee at Murphy’s Bleachers threw a little shade on him:
“Hey Willson, How are things goin’ in St. Louis?”
Everyone knew, of course.
The decision by Cardinals management to take the catcher’s glove away from Contreras for the time being and make him a designated hitter and left fielder was widely seen as an indication they already had soured on the veteran.
Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said that isn’t the case and the decision was being “proactive” instead of reactive.
They knew how people would react to the news, which came with the Cardinals off to an abysmal start and the pitching staff putting up numbers one might
expect from an expansion team.
“I honestly feel like we could’ve potentially ended up in a worse situation long term than what we’re experiencing today,” Marmol said. “This is just noise. This goes away.”
That’s wishful thinking, but when you’re 11-24 you have to dream big.
The Cubs probably should’ve installed a psychiatrist’s couch in the visiting manager’s office for Marmol, who tried his best to explain his feelings of love for Contreras without explaining the reason he doesn’t want him catching his pitchers.
Marmol on Sunday called together Contreras and starters Adam Wainwright and Jack Flaherty to talk about the decision and let Contreras know they still believed in his catching ability.
He called it a “huge step” in making Contreras feel loved and appreciated.
“At the end of the day, optically, people are going to run in a lot of different directions with it,” Marmol said, adding they feel “pretty damn good” about the results.
Wainwright said they “poured into” Contreras that they “love this guy, we’re glad he’s here, we want him to be our guy” for the long haul.
“No one has given up hope on Willie,” he said. “That was the main message that we wanted to share with him, and I think he took it well. Honestly, I don’t know if anyone has ever told him that.”
Well, Joe Maddon certainly