If this offseason has taught us anything, it’s that the Orlando Devil Rays have finally accepted reality.
Reality, in this case, being that paying large sums of money to aging veterans on a roster isn’t good.
First it was Jeff Bagwell.
Now it’s Andy Benes.
The Devil Rays have sent Benes to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for a 1997 fourth-round pick, continuing what has become the defining theme of Orlando’s winter: converting bad long-term contracts into financial flexibility.
And honestly, it’s hard to argue with the strategy.
The problem for Orlando wasn’t necessarily Benes the pitcher.
It was Benes the contract.
Because Benes, now 30 years old, is coming off a season that can only be described as a disaster. He made 12 starts, posted a 1-4 record with a 6.86 ERA, and then did what struggling pitchers often do when things are going poorly: his shoulder exploded.
Maybe “exploded” is dramatic.
His shoulder certainly stopped cooperating.
And when a pitcher enters his thirties with declining performance and shoulder issues, alarm bells tend to go off.
Yet somehow, despite all of that, you can still understand why St. Louis made the move.
Because Benes wasn’t always this version of himself.
Just one season ago, he looked like a legitimate rotation stabilizer, going 16-9 with a 3.93 ERA and logging the kind of innings every manager craves. The Cardinals are betting that 1997 was an injury-driven aberration rather than evidence of permanent decline.
It’s a reasonable theory.
It’s also an incredibly risky one.
Benes has always been a bit of a baseball Rorschach test. Depending on which numbers you value, you either see a dependable veteran starter or a pitcher who has spent most of his career flirting with mediocrity. He’s only posted an ERA+ above league average four times in his career. More often than not, he’s been exactly what teams spend years trying to upgrade from: average.
Sometimes slightly above.
Sometimes slightly below.
Rarely special.
Which brings us to the real story.
The contract.
Benes is owed $288,750 in both 1998 and 1999, followed by $202,125 in both 2000 and 2001.
Woof.
Those numbers aren’t impossible to carry if Benes returns to form.
If he gives the Cardinals 200 innings of league-average baseball, nobody will complain.
If the shoulder issues linger and the performance continues to slide, however, St. Louis could find itself paying starter money for a pitcher who no longer resembles one.
That’s why this trade is so difficult to evaluate.
On paper, a fourth-round pick for a veteran starter feels like theft.
Then you look at the contract.
Then you look at the injury.
Then you look at the fact that nobody really knows which version of Andy Benes is showing up in 1998.
Suddenly it makes a lot more sense.
For St. Louis, though, this is exactly the type of gamble they needed to make.
The Cardinals were two completely different teams last season.
The bullpen was absurd. Second-best bullpen ERA in the Federal League. Reliable, dominant, deep. No notes.
The rotation, meanwhile, was a five-month crime scene.
St. Louis starters posted a league-worst 5.30 ERA, and outside of Miguel Batista — acquired from Arizona at the deadline — there were precious few signs of life. Every contender needs innings. Every contender needs veteran starters. The Cardinals desperately needed both.
Whether Benes can still provide them is another question entirely.
As for Orlando, this move is less about baseball and more about breathing room.
The Devil Rays entered the offseason with roughly $81,000 in available cap space. That’s not roster flexibility. That’s financial claustrophobia.
By moving both Bagwell and Benes, Orlando has dramatically changed its outlook.
Now they can realistically focus on retaining veterans acquired last season, including Randy Tomlin and Eric King. More importantly, they can focus on keeping franchise cornerstone Brian Jordan in town.
And if you’re choosing between paying for future Brian Jordan seasons or future Andy Benes seasons, that’s not much of a debate.
The Cardinals bought upside.
The Devil Rays bought flexibility.
One side knows exactly what it got.
The other won’t know for at least a year.
Trade Grades
- Orlando Devil Rays: A
Clears a burdensome contract, creates meaningful cap flexibility, and deals from a position of pitching depth. - St. Louis Cardinals: Incomplete
This could be an A+ if Benes rediscovers his 1996 form. It could be an F if the shoulder is cooked. Few trades this offseason have a wider range of outcomes.