This Cardinals trade would free up outfield and help struggling pitching staff

There was plenty of buzz in the offseason about the St. Louis Cardinals potentially trading Dylan Carlson. With some of the recent happenings in the Gateway City, is the writing on the wall that a trade could be coming?

A switch-hitter, one of the biggest knocks against Carlson right now is that he is struggling against right-handed pitchers, therefore limiting his opportunities to be inserted into the St. Louis Cardinals lineup with confidence. Heading into Wednesday’s action, Carlson was slashing just .182/.250/.242 in 36 plate appearances so far this season against righties. His numbers against southpaws are much better (.357/.400/.429 in 15 plate appearances), but if Carlson can’t produce from the left side of the plate, his usefulness is easily cut in half.

Our friends at Redbird Rants believe the right call is optioning Carlson and letting him work things out in the minors. However, with St. Louis looking for some kind of answers in pitching (the Cardinals are 28th in MLB in rotation bWAR at minus-1.6 and 25th in reliever bWAR at minus-0.6), something has to give if St. Louis is going to right the ship heading into May.

With that in mind, what team might be willing to take a chance on Carlson while also helping the Cardinals? How about looking across Interstate 70 to the Kansas City Royals?

A Cardinals-Royals trade for Dylan Carlson

Kansas City needs help in the outfield and, with Carlson under team control through the 2026 campaign, the 24-year-old outfielder could become a part of the core that is being put together for the future in Kansas City.

The Cardinals likely wouldn’t want anything to do with Aroldis Chapman, even though his current rebirth on the mound will entice some teams at the trade deadline who are willing to overlook some of his issues in the past. Being what could be the best trade chip for Kansas City as well, the price would likely be high for him (a one-for-one swap might not work here).

Perhaps a trade for Ryan Yarbrough could work. He put together decent numbers in Tampa Bay (4.33 ERA/4.15 FIP/1.202 WHIP) before signing with Kansas City this offseason. His numbers with the Royals have been higher this season, so perhaps a change to a National League team would do some good. He has experience as a starter and reliever and isn’t scheduled to become a free agent until the 2025 campaign, meaning St. Louis would have him for more than just this season.

Based on his current struggles, teams might try to lowball St. Louis in a Carlson trade. However, a deal with the Royals where Kansas City would also throw in a minor league arm (we’ll pick 23-year-old right-hander Steven Cruz, currently in Double-A and Kansas City’s 29th-ranked prospect by MLB.com) could be a swap that’s beneficial for both sides.

Could the Missouri teams help each other? They’ve worked deals before, so it’s not a foreign concept. It’s more a matter of just how ready the Cardinals are to part with Carlson.