Williams traded, but path to MLB remains about the same

Houma native Justin Williams has seen every side of life as a professional athlete — the good, the bad and the business side.

And that’s all in just the past 3 weeks.

Williams was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals last week on the day of Major League Baseball’s trading deadline — part of a multi-player deal, which was reported on the morning of July 31.

In exchange for Williams and two other prospects, the Tampa Bay Rays received outfielder Tommy Pham — a proven commodity at the highest level.

Williams, a Terrebonne High School graduate, was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013. He was later traded to the Rays’ organization where he’s played for the past several seasons.

In that time, Williams has ascended. He was an All-Star in the past two seasons — last year at the Double-A level and this past season in Triple-A with the Durham Bulls.

A week before Williams was traded, he made his MLB debut with the Rays, playing in one game and getting an at-bat as a late-game substitution. The next day, he was optioned back to Durham, where he continued to play for about a week before the trade.

Williams posted a message on his social media account earlier this week, thanking the Rays for investing so much time in him throughout the past several seasons.

He then made his debut with the Memphis Redbirds, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cardinals, on Friday night, playing with the team throughout the rest of the weekend.

Williams is listed as the No. 9 prospect in the Cardinals’ system. He hovered from No. 8-No. 11 in Tampa throughout the past year.

“We’re trying to make some drastic changes,” Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said. “It felt like we need to do something. … Justin is a good, young, talented player. He fits what we’re looking for in a lot of ways. We’re excited to have him. We have high hopes for his future.”

“Thank you for the memories,” Williams added in his post, which was photos of him as a Ray. He then said “#newbeginnings” to indicate his excitement for the change.

Now, for the stuff everyone locally wants to know.

What is Williams’ path to the Big Leagues and is it realistic to expect that he will be a St. Louis Cardinal sometime before the season ends?

In short, yes.

Williams’ path to the Big Leagues in St. Louis is almost identical to the challenges he faced in Tampa — in terms of the makeup of the roster and also the position of the team in the standings.

In Tampa, Williams was on the 40-man roster, but the team’s farm system is loaded — ranked No. 4 in the MLB before the start of the season.

But Williams was the No. 2 outfielder in the system, behind just Jesus Sanchez, who is ranked No. 3, but who is still in just Double-A.

In St. Louis, Williams’ path is a little more congested, but not by much. At the time of the trade, two outfielders were rated higher than Williams in the farm system — Tyler O’Neill and Randy Arozarena.

But O’Neill has since been called up to the Big League club and which means that if a spot comes open, it will likely be a chase between Williams and Arozarena to see who gets it.

On paper, that favors Williams.

Arozarena started the season in Double-A and hit the cover off the ball, hitting .396 with 7 home runs and 21 RBI in 24 games at that level.

But since being called up to Triple-A, the 23-year-old outfielder has struggled. With Memphis, he has hit .229 with 4 home runs and 23 RBI in 69 games.

Those numbers don’t pale in comparison to Williams, who has hit .258 with 8 home runs and 46 RBI in 94 games this season — all in Triple A.

At the Major League level, St. Louis is secure on paper with Jose Martinez, Harrison Bader, Marcell Ozuna and O’Neill on the club, but as is common knowledge in pro sports, injuries happen.

The Cardinals know this more than ever. One outfielder in the Cardinals’ organization, veteran Dexter Fowler, was with the Major League team, but got hurt this past week with a broken foot — an ailment which will likely sideline him for the rest of the season.

That injury could mean that Williams is just one mishap away from being in St. Louis for his second cup of tea in the Big Leagues.

If that doesn’t happen, Williams is also a strong candidate to be called up to St. Louis when the Triple-A season ends and rosters expand at the Major League level.

Justin Williams

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