Cardinals Could Pursue Korean Star Who's Reportedly Entering MLB Free Agency
The St. Louis Cardinals already are preparing for next season and a notable Korean star needs to be on their radar.
After spending most of the 2023 season at the bottom of the leaderboard, the Cardinals can safely start to forget about this season and look toward 2024.
With a few young pieces beginning to come together, Lars Nootbaar, Jordan Walker, and Nolan Gorman at the helm, there are a few faces that the club can build around. There could also be another young star headed to St. Louis this offseason, who could significantly improve the roster.
"Korean baseball star Jung Hoo Lee is still expected to sign with a Major League Baseball club this winter, despite a fractured left ankle that could end his season with the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO League," MLB.com's Jon Morosi wrote Thursday.
The 24-year-old is hitting .319 with 31 extra-base hits including six home runs, 45 RBIs and a .863 OPS in 85 games this season.
Last season Lee hit .349 with 69 extra-base hits including 23 home runs, 113 RBIs and a .996 OPS in 142 games on his way to winning the KBO MVP in his age-23 season.
The Cardinals would need to free up the current outfield logjam to sign Lee and as we saw at the deadline, Nootbaar and Walker would likely be untouchables in that situation.
Realistically, we could see a few outfielders traded to bolster the pitching staff, which would then free up space in the outfield for Lee.
There have been many reports that the Cardinals have attempted to move sluggers such as Tyler O'Neill, Dylan Carlson and even Alec Burleson in deals for controllable starting pitching -- adding Lee could be the perfect way to do so without losing any production from the outfield.
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