The St. Louis Cardinals have a young core of position players and entered the offseason with the idea of improving the pitching staff as much as possible following a last-place finish in the National League Central last season.
While Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak should remain focused on pitching, it would not hurt to add an intriguing player after a dominant showing a season ago.
The Los Angeles Angels designated outfielder/first baseman Trey Cabbage for assignment on Saturday.
The 26-year-old with arguably the best name in professional baseball should have league-wide interest and could be a perfect depth option for St. Louis.
Cabbage hit .306 with 58 extra-base hits including 30 home runs, 89 RBIs and a .975 OPS in 107 games for Triple-A Salt Lake last season. He also stole 35 bases in 35 attempts.
His impressive Triple-A campaign warranted a big-league debut, which was not nearly as fruitful. Cabbage hit .208 (11-for-53) with a .553 OPS in a brief 22-game stint.
Strikeouts played a huge part in the Angels' willingness to lose Cabbage -- though they likely are hoping he can pass through waivers.
The rookie posted a 49% strikeout rate during his short big-league career and a more damning 34% strikeout rate across a much larger sample size at the Triple-A level across 418 at-bats.
That said, Cabbage is more than deserving of an opportunity to land a 40-man roster spot and St. Louis should be in the mix.
A simple waiver claim could get him in the organization free of cost -- or the Cardinals could trade a low-level asset to ensure they land him.
Cabbage in all likelihood will not determine who wins the World Series next season but he could be a strong addition to an already impressive outfield group.
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