3 Cardinals who won't be back despite surviving the MLB Winter Meetings
By Curt Bishop
3. Luken Baker
Luken Baker is an intriguing piece for the Cardinals. He possesses incredible power from the right side of the plate.
Unfortunately, he's a first baseman, and the Cardinals already have Paul Goldschmidt manning that position. This means that Baker is essentially blocked. In addition to their outfield logjam, St. Louis has some players blocked in the infield and as well.
Baker could be used in a trade for either starter or a reliever, most likely a reliever given the current state of the Cardinals rotation. But if the Cardinals do decide to add a pitcher via trade, Baker is somebody that teams may have interest in.
Goldschmidt's contract is up after the 2024 season, but the Cardinals may want to try and extend him. This would further complicate things for Baker if he remains in the Cardinals organization.
A fresh start somewhere else might be exactly what Baker needs in order to blossom into a star at the Major League level. He likely won't ever get that opportunity in St. Louis.
The time has come for the Cardinals to move certain players who may be blocked in order to clear out any positional logjams.
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