Yankees Reportedly Targeting Cardinals Sluggers In Potential Blockbuster Trade
St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak talked about the possibility of using the organization's deep group of position players to trade for pitching while at the GM meetings.
The New York Yankees reportedly are interested in doing business with him to make that happen, and are after some big bats.
"The Yankees see the Cardinals as a team they could line up with for a trade, according to multiple sources," St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold wrote Wednesday. "It is not clear if the Yankees’ interest in (Dylan) Carlson has followed them into the offseason -- Carlson is in the Phoenix area recovering from foot surgery -- but, according to sources, two left-handed-hitting Cardinals have at least been discussed by the Yankees as potential targets: Brendan Donovan and Alec Burleson, both of whom are pre-arbitration players and both of whom are coming off injuries."
The Cardinals and Yankees reportedly discussed a trade at the previous trade deadline centered around Carlson. St. Louis had interest in some of the Yankees Triple-A starting pitchers and big-league reliever Ron Marinaccio.
Donovan would be the most notable name of interest mentioned. The 26-year-old has hit .283 with 49 extra-base hits including 16 home runs, 79 RBIs and a .779 OPS (120 OPS+) in 221 games since he debuted in 2022.
He also claimed the first-ever National League Gold Glove award for utility players in his rookie season, needing just 126 games to earn the recognition.
Donovan is under team control through 2027, is a plus offensive player, a Gold Glove defender who can play every position except pitcher, catcher and centerfield. It would be absolutely insane for the Cardinals to trade him.
Burleson on the other hand would make sense. The 24-year-old hit .244 with 29 extra-base hits including eight home runs, 36 RBIs and a .691 OPS (87 OPS+). The Yankees need left-handed hitting and Burleson has a real shot to develop into a plus offensive contributor.
He currently is limited by St. Louis' logjam in the outfield that includes Lars Nootbaar, Tyler O'Neill, Jordan Walker, Dylan Carlson, Richie Palacios and Juan Yepez. The Cardinals also deploy Tommy Edman and Donovan in the outfield when needed.
St. Louis almost certainly will trade from their outfield depth to acquire pitching this winter. O'Neill, Carlson and Burleson are the most logical trade candidates.
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