Bloom: Cardinals Still Seeking Outfield Addition

The Cardinals’ offseason has primarily focused on subtracting veterans from the big league roster as the club embarks on a rebuild, but with yesterday’s Brendan Donovan trade now complete, most of the heavy lifting on the sell side of things has been complete. And although the main goals for president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom have been to restock the farm and trim payroll, the Cards could still have a few smaller-scale acquisitions in them. Bloom indicated at today’s press conference regarding the Donovan trade that he’s still hoping to add to his outfield, be it via free agency or trade (via Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat).

It’s not the first time that Bloom has signaled a desire to add to his outfield. He voiced a desire to add a righty-swinging outfielder prior to the holidays, but those comments are now six weeks old, so it’s of at least some note that he’s still publicly stating that interest. Austin Hays, Harrison Bader, Rob Refsnyder, Willi Castro and Jorge Mateo have all signed elsewhere since Bloom’s past statements. St. Louis had some interest in Hays before he signed with the White Sox, and just this week they agreed to a minor league deal with righty-swinging Nelson Velazquez, who at least provides some righty-hitting depth.

Bloom didn’t specify the “right-handed” portion of that desire this time around, but with an outfield group including lefty swingers Lars Nootbaar, Victor Scott II and Nathan Church, it’d be a sensible pursuit. Right fielder Jordan Walker hits from the right side of the plate, as do infield/outfield options like Thomas Saggese and Jose Fermin, but the Cardinals don’t have any form of somewhat established right-handed-hitting presence in their outfield.

Options at this point are limited, regardless of handedness. If a right-handed bat remains the goal, then any of Miguel Andujar, Austin Slater or old friends Randal Grichuk and Tommy Pham remain available. Trade options are tougher to nail down, particularly with so many names off the board already, but the Cardinals aren’t likely to take on any notable veteran salaries (e.g. Nick Castellanos). Speculatively speaking, the Rays (Jonny DeLuca), Blue Jays (Jonatan Clase), Phillies (Johan Rojas) and Royals (Drew Waters) have some outfield options who have fallen down their depth charts this winter.

It’s still possible that any outfield needs in St. Louis could expand further, too. Nootbaar underwent surgery to remove bone spurs from both heels following the 2025 season and might not be ready for Opening Day, but he’s in the same service class as Donovan (two years of team control remaining) and has drawn interest not only this offseason but at the ’25 deadline and in the 2024-25 offseason. He could boost his stock with a big first half, thus making him a more desirable target for other teams at the ’26 deadline, but hanging onto him also inherently runs the risk of Nootbaar incurring another injury or simply struggling in the wake of that dual procedure on his heels.