"St. Louis president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said over the weekend that the team was open to adding a righty-hitting outfielder. Bloom's comments came in response to a fan question about Harrison Bader, yet Hays seems more in line with the kind of player the Cardinals would target. Bader should be able to command a multi-year deal on a team that'd play him every day in center field, where St. Louis probably wants to continue giving Victor Scott II a chance to develop offensively."
"The Cardinals have the lefty-hitting Scott in center field and another left-handed bat, Lars Nootbaar, lined up to play left field. Nootbaar could be traded this offseason and seems more likely than not to move by the deadline. Alec Burleson is another left-handed hitter with ample corner outfield experience, but he's expected to be the primary first baseman after the Willson Contreras trade."
The Cardinals have expressed interest in free agent outfielder Austin Hays and could view him as a one-year, low-cost rotational corner outfielder for platoon situations. Hays hits right-handed with strong career numbers versus left-handed pitching (.282/.340/.479 in ~800 plate appearances) but is below average versus righties (.253/.301/.416 in 1816 plate appearances). Last year showed extreme splits, with a .949 OPS against lefties and .708 against right-handers. St. Louis projects lefty Victor Scott II in center and has left-handed options like Lars Nootbaar and Alec Burleson, while right-handed prospects include Jordan Walker and Joshua Baez.
Read at MLB Trade Rumors
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