MLB rumors: 5 favorites to trade for Xander Bogaerts

1) MLB rumors: St. Louis Cardinals are the favorites to trade for Xander Bogaerts

The St. Louis Cardinals never did get involved in the big free agent market for shortstops and instead put a lot of trust into Paul DeJong. After hitting just .130 in his first 86 trips to the plate, St. Louis demoted him to the minors and are now seeing what else they can do.

Bogaerts would make a ton of sense for the Cardinals. He would not only fill a major need at shortstop but he would also give them possibly the best infield in baseball. Along with Paul Goldschmidt, Tommy Edman, and Nolan Arenado, they might be able to outlast anyone solely based on the four infielders they have leading the way.

The Cardinals had a productive yet light offseason where a main goal appeared to be filling out the bullpen. They have pretty much met expectations and are currently in a two-team race in the National League Central along with the Milwaukee Brewers.

As good as the Cardinals are each year, they haven’t gone very far in the playoffs recently. They lost two straight wild card series and in 2019 got swept in the NLCS. A trade for Bogaerts guarantees them nothing. It does, however, put them in a great position to capture the division and go deeper into the postseason than they have in a long time.