The St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees continue to be mentioned as possible offseason trade partners.
St. Louis has a surplus of young outfielders with upside and the Yankees desperately need help in the outfield. New York has a strong farm system and some intriguing young starting pitchers in the minor leagues who could help out at the big league level in the future.
While Tyler O'Neill still is the most likely Cardinals outfielder to be traded this offseason, the Yankees continue to be linked to Dylan Carlson, according to the New York Post's Jon Heyman.
"(Cody Bellinger), only 28, is the obvious Yankees target, but while there aren’t a ton of free-agent outfielders (Jung-Hoo Lee and Kevin Kiermaier may be next best among desired lefty hitters), there may be a few who’d fit on the trade market, including Trent Grisham, Alex Verdugo, and switch-hitter Dylan Carlson," Heyman said.
Carlson may end up being the odd man out for the Cardinals. He has shown some flashes at the big-league level, but he may not see much time unless the Cardinals make other trades. Lars Nootbaar and Jordan Walker currently are expected to see the most time in the outfield. Brendan Donovan will see time in the outfield if he isn't traded as well as O'Neill, and likely Tommy Edman.
There's always a chance the Cardinals trade O'Neill and prefer to hang on to Carlson, but it also wouldn't be surprising to see him traded away. He is just 25 years old and clubbed 18 home runs in 2021 to go along with 65 RBIs. He has dealt with a plethora of injuries ever since but has plenty of upside.
At this point, it's more likely that Carlson is traded to someone like the Yankees rather than taking the field with the Cardinals in 2024, but there's no way to know for sure. The only thing that is certain is the Cardinals need to add starting pitching this offseason.
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