Yankees Reportedly Targeting Switch-Hitting Cardinals Outfielder
It's no secret that the St. Louis Cardinals will be shipping off some impending free agents at the upcoming trade deadline, but how about some younger, more controllable pieces?
The Cardinals' front office has said that they are going to keep their core together. Players such as Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman, Tommy Edman and obviously Jordan Walker appear to be safe. However, one young slugger could be on the move, with an increased likelihood of heading to the Bronx.
"Per source, another outfielder has surfaced as a potential (New York) Yankees trade target: Dylan Carlson," MLB.com's Mark Feinsand tweeted Monday. "The Cardinals announced earlier today that Tyler O’Neill would take over the left field job upon his return from the injured list, so a trade of the switch-hitting Carlson wouldn’t be surprising."
Carlson is hitting .241 with 12 extra-base hits, 21 RBIs and a .725 OPS in 59 games this season. Paired with his outfield defense, the 24-year-old has racked up 1.1 bWAR in limited time. If the Yankees were to invest in Carlson, they'd have him under team control through the 2026 season. One thing appears clear, the Yankees are in the market for a corner outfielder and have been linked to a few to date, namely Colorado Rockies' Randal Grichuk.
As for the Cardinals, they have a logjam in the outfield that features Lars Nootbar, Alec Burleson, Walker and Carlson on the active roster plus Tyler O'Neill (injured list), Moisés Gómez and Juan Yepez on the 40-man roster. Not to mention, they've been giving outfield reps to Tommy Edman and Donovan as well.
It would be easy for St. Louis to offload an outfielder or two, and Carlson appears to be in consideration as an odd-man out.
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