St. Louis Cardinals: Five Corner Infield Options
By Jason Evans
1B/OF – Mark Trumbo
If the Cardinals don’t want to go after EE, they can target Mark Trumbo instead. Trumbo can play first and even play a bit of corner outfield if the Cardinals want to throw him out there in a pinch.
Like Encarnacion, Trumbo comes with draft pick compensation, so the Cardinals would have to forfeit their second round pick for him.
Trumbo will turn 31 in January and is coming off an absolute monster campaign for the Orioles. He led the majors with 47 homers, drove in a career high 108 runs and had a career high OPS of .850. He also made his second All-Star Game appearance.
You could make the case that Camden Yards was just the perfect place for Trumbo to be in a lineup with guys like Chris Davis, Manny Machado and Adam Jones around him. Trumbo’s best place defensively is first, but the flexibility can help the Cardinals.
This is also a player who was on the fourth team of his career, struck out 170 times and is coming off a career year. Can Trumbo put up those kinds of numbers again, or will he go back to hitting 22 homers and driving in 64 runs like he did in 2015?