NL West Contender Called Trade Fit for Cardinals' Lars Nootbaar

Will the Cardinals find a new home for the fan-favorite?

Sep 7, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar (21) watches his hit against the San Francisco Giants at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images | Tim Vizer-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals will likely begin the season without veteran outfielder Lars Nootbaar. The 28-year-old had surgery on both of his heels at the end of the 2025 season.

Now, there is competition for who will win the starting left field job for Opening Day. Options include Nelson Velazquez, Thomas Saggese, Jose Fermin and Nathan Church.

Nootbaar was being floated in trade rumors last offseason as the Cardinals began their rebuild under Chaim Bloom, but his injuries ultimately lowered his value. However, Mike Axisa of CBS Sports listed Nootbaar as somebody who could be a trade candidate when the deadline comes around and had the Arizona Diamondbacks as a possible suitor.

Will Nootbaar be traded?

Sep 6, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar (21) digs for second base in a game against the San Francisco Giants at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images | Tim Vizer-Imagn Images

"He has never fully launched and lived up to the terrific contact quality numbers (exit velocity, etc.), though Nootbaar is a very good and very valuable player, one who is under team control for two seasons," Axisa wrote. "He can hit leadoff and play center field in a pinch, and you needn't try hard to convince yourself there's upside beyond the near .800 OPS he's posted throughout his career. As with most players in this post, the question is not will Nootbaar get traded, but when."

Nootbaar spent time on the injured list last season and ultimately struggled at the plate, slashing just .234/.325./.361 with 13 home runs, 48 RBI and a .686 OPS. However, if he can get healthy and stay off the injured list, he can still be a very solid player.

The Cardinals have a lot of left-handed bats, even after trading Brendan Donovan to the Seattle Mariners, so it would make sense for them to trade from their supply and balance out their roster a little bit.

The fan-favorite outfielder will be a free agent after 2027, so if he can get healthy and produce before the deadline, it would be a good idea for the Cardinals to at least see what kind of interest they can generate for him.

As of now, trading him isn't the best idea because his value is so low, but if he can boost his value, then the Cardinals will have another opportunity to continue refreshing their roster with more youth as opposed to holding onto veteran players.

If Nootbaar were to be traded to Arizona, he would reunite with former Cardinals slugger Nolan Arenado, who was traded over the winter.

It will be interesting to see if Nootbaar can work his way back to the team and increase his trade value before the deadline comes around.