MILWAUKEE — Kolten Wong said he was “a little surprised” that his $12.5 million option wasn’t picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals at the end of the 2020 season, but business is business.
Wong’s next order of business comes with the Milwaukee Brewers, and he’s ready to move full speed ahead.
“Being with the Cards so long and coming off my first Gold Glove and then my second, it was one of those things that caught me a little off guard,” he told an introductory Zoom conference Friday with the media. “But with COVID, you’ve got to expect a lot of things to kind of go that way.
“I understand this is a business at the end of the day and this is a business decision. I’m excited to be where I’m at and I’m excited with what I got.”
Wong and the Brewers finalized their $18 million, two-year contract, a deal that includes a 2023 club option. Milwaukee is making room for Wong in its infield by shifting Keston Hiura from second base to first base.
“It took me a little bit to kind of get my head around the whole thing,” Wong said. “Obviously being a Cardinal for as long as I’ve been, there’s a lot of memories, there’s a lot of good things I created there. But also seeing from across (the field) how the Brewers play, how they go about their business and the type of team this is, it just fits my mold really well. It’s a grinding team, a team that just goes out there and competes every single day.”
Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns called Wong “in our opinion, the best defensive second baseman in all of baseball.”
The 30-year-old owns a career .261 batting average with a .333 on-base percentage. Wong batted .265 with a .350 on-base percentage, one homer and 16 RBIs in 53 games last season.
He has traditionally hit well in Milwaukee. Wong’s career statistics at American Family Field, formerly known as Miller Park, include a .308 batting average, .373 on-base percentage and .482 slugging percentage in 57 games.
“That was kind of a big reason for me coming to Milwaukee,” Wong said. “I just knew that that was a field where I really saw the ball well at. I felt comfortable playing there. I have a lot of confidence playing in that field.”
Wong said he was somewhat surprised the Brewers showed interest in him because they already had the 24-year-old Hiura, who batted just .212 and had an NL-leading 85 strikeouts last season but hit .303 and posted a .938 OPS as a rookie in 2019.
“They made me feel at home,” Wong said.
Wong said he enjoyed what had been home for almost eight seasons and was excited that he will be on hand for the Cardinals’ home opener on April 8 at Busch Stadium.
“Still trying to wrap my head around it,” he said. “You see guys who have played in St. Louis a decent amount and how much they’re appreciated. It’s going to be a tough one. I know it’s going to be an emotional day.
“There’s a lot of memories. A lot of good things that I’ve created there.
“At the end of the day, we’re still going to be friends, regardless. I made so many good friends on that side.”
Wong, discussing what he can transfer from his Cardinal background to Milwaukee said, “My game is kind of that old-school game with a little new-school swag. I think that’s kind of the Brewers’ game and I’m excited to bring that over.”
On one of the two occasions the Cardinals were in Milwaukee last year, they had to be quarantined for six days in the venerable Pfister Hotel, fabled for having a ghost on the premises.
“I prayed every single night that I would not see the ghost,” said Wong. “‘Whoever’s in my room, I just want you to know I’m on good terms. I’m not trying to be here. They’re forcing us to be here,’ ” Wong would say.
“It was a long six days. I don’t think people realize the kind of stuff we were going through. When we got back to St. Louis on that seventh day, we were all like kids, running through the grass and rolling around. It was like we were out of jail.”
Hiura said he couldn’t remember ever playing first base in an official game at any level except “pickup games and some tournaments or whatever when I was a younger kid maybe.” Hiura says he’s ready to learn and is enthusiastic about having Wong at second base.
“It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m ready to take it on head-on and give my best effort toward it,” Hiura said. “When you put (Wong) in our lineup, automatically our team’s that much better. Gold Glove second baseman. You’ve seen his bat from the left side. He’s just a gamer in general as well. It’s going to be a lot of fun to play with him.”
Stearns believes the Brewers will upgrade their overall defense by shifting Hiura to first base and putting Wong at second while having 2019 Gold Glove-winning center fielder Lorenzo Cain for a full season. Cain opted out after playing just five games last season.