Cardinals Should Target Reds Former All-Star To Boost Outfield Production For 2026

The Cardinals need help offensively.

Jul 23, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; General view of Cincinnati Reds hat during the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images | Brad Mills-Imagn Images

After trading Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras, the St. Louis Cardinals may also be moving players such as Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado and JoJo Romero soon. The team is in the middle of a rebuild, so some subtractions might be coming.

That doesn’t mean they won’t add a few pieces here or there though. The team needs a little help from the right side of the plate and could use an outfield bat.

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report projects that both Arenado and Donovan will be gone by Opening Day. With that in mind, he floated an interesting free agent idea for St. Louis.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

The Cardinals Could Use A Bat

Sep 30, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Cincinnati Reds left fielder Austin Hays (12) advances to third base on a single from Cincinnati Reds first baseman Spencer Steer (7) (not pictured) during the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game one of the Wildcard round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

“This projected lineup assumes that both Nolan Arenado (Angels) and Brendan Donovan (Mariners) are traded, while outfielder Lars Nootbaar stays put for the time being. If that's how things play out, right-handed hitting Austin Hays could be a target to provide some balance to the outfield and give the team another potential trade chip,” Reuter writes.

Hays bounced back in 2025 after a difficult 2024 season, hitting .266/.315/.453 with 15 home runs, 64 RBI and a .768 OPS. If he can stay healthy, he could be a huge addition for a team like the Cardinals.

They haven’t gotten much out of Jordan Walker the past two years and Lars Nootbaar is injury-prone. He may be out for the early portion of 2026 after undergoing double heel surgery earlier in the offseason.

But Hays provides some power from the right side of the plate and can play all three outfield positions. He would be a good fourth outfielder for the Cardinals as they try and balance out their roster a little better after some of their trades.

He could be used against left-handed pitching a lot, which is something the Cardinals struggled with in 2025. And if they are out of contention at the trade deadline, he can be a solid trade chip on an expiring contract.

It will be interesting to see what the Cardinals decide to do as far as adding more free agents goes, but if they can move both Donovan and Arenado, they would have room to make at least one addition to their offense as they focus on 2026 and the future.

More MLB: Why The Cardinals May Be Stuck With Their $260 Million, 8-Time All-Star