NL Central Notes: Saggese, Grichuk, Steele, Urias

The Cardinals are known to be looking for outfield help, and preferably a right-handed bat given previous statements from president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom.  Adding a free agent is still a possibility, though Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Cards “have not expressed much interest in” Randal Grichuk, and target Austin Hays chose the White Sox over the Cardinals in part because Chicago was offering more playing time.

Rather than bring in a new player, the Cards are also exploring internal options by using Thomas Saggese and Jose Fermin as outfielders this spring.  This isn’t anything new for Fermin, who has played six MLB games and 19 minor league games as an outfielder in addition to his larger amount of playing time at second, third and shortstop.  For career infielder Saggese, he told Goold that he hasn’t played in the outfield since he was 10 years old.

Nonetheless, adding to his defensive versatility should help Saggese in his bid for more playing time.  Saggese drew some top-100 prospect attention prior to his big league debut in 2024, though he has hit only .250/.292/.336 over the small sample size of 347 Major League plate appearances.  Sticking in the infield could be tricky with Masyn Winn at shortstop, top prospect JJ Wetherholt on the verge of his MLB debut (likely at second base), and Nolan Gorman penciled in for third base.  It could be that St. Louis is trying to mold Saggese into a right-handed hitting version of the now-traded Brendan Donovan, as a super-utility option who can be bounced around the diamond.

More from around the NL Central…

• Justin Steele told Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times that his rehab work has progressed to 30-pitch bullpen sessions, and he is planning to return to the Cubs rotation in May or June.  Steele underwent a UCL revision surgery last April that included the installation of an internal brace in his elbow, and “as I started throwing again, it felt the same.  There was no difference — whereas the first Tommy John I had [in 2017], it felt like I had a new arm, I had to re-learn how to use it.”  It remains to be seen if Steele can immediately recapture his old form once he returns, but having a former All-Star back should provide a nice boost for the Cubs in their request to return to the postseason.
• Before Luis Rengifo was signed to a one-year, $3.5MM guarantee on Friday, the Brewers also had interest in free agent infielder Ramon Urias, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.  Since Milwaukee apparently plans to use Rengifo primarily as a third baseman, Rosenthal notes that the signing was “somewhat curious” from a glovework perspective — Urias was the AL Gold Glove winner at third base in 2022, and his career defensive metrics at both second and third base are far superior to Rengifo’s numbers.  The Brewers are the first team known to have interest in Urias since the Astros non-tendered him in November rather than pay a projected $4.4MM in arbitration salary.  Urias had a 108 wRC+ (from a .262/.328/.408 slash line) over 1465 PA in part-time action with the Orioles from 2020-24, but he slumped to an 87 wRC+ and a .241/.292/.384 slash in 391 PA with Baltimore and Houston in 2025.