Cardinals, Padres agree to swap for Jon Jay, Jedd Gyorko

The Padres and Cardinals have agreed on a trade at MLB Winter Meetings.

The San Diego Padres have agreed to send infielder Jedd Gyorko to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for outfielder Jon Jay. Cash will also move from San Diego to the Cardinals in order to offset the contract differences between the two players.

It is a solid match of needs between the two clubs, as the Padres have been looking shed salary and the Cardinals had a crowded outfield and were in need of infield reinforcements.

Jay was the opening day starter in center field for the Cardinals in 2015, a role that he had carried since 2012. However his year never got far off the ground, as a wrist injury that plagued him since late in 2014 limited his spring training availability and reoccurred multiple times during the season as well. A pair of rookies in Randall Grichuk and Tommy Pham largely displaced him in the everyday lineup by late in the year, and he finished the season hitting .210 in 245 plate appearances.

Jay, who will turn 31 just before the 2016 season, is due $6 million in the final year of his contract which the Padres inherited. He is a .287 career hitter in six seasons, all spent in St. Louis.

The 27-year-old Gyorko heads to a more uncertain role as a Cardinal than he carried in San Diego. Once touted as the Padres second baseman of the future, struggles with making contact limited his impact since a 23 home run debut in 2013. In 2015, he hit for a .247 average, along with 16 home runs and 57 RBI.

With incumbent second baseman Kolten Wong in place in St. Louis, Gyorko will likely become a super utility man in St. Louis, having spent time at second and third base, as well as shortstop in his career. He is signed through 2020.