St. Louis president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said this weekend that the team was open to adding a righty outfielder. Bloom’s comments came in response to a question from fans about Harrison Baderstill, Hays seems more in line with the type of player the Cardinals would target. Bader should be able to get a multi-year contract with a team that plays him every day in midfield, where St. Louis will likely want to keep giving Victor Scott II an opportunity to develop offensively.
Hays will likely sign a much cheaper one-year contract. He would be more of a rotational corner piece in the outfield, ideally used most as a platoon bat on the short side. He is a career .282/.340/.479 hitter in just over 800 plate appearances versus left-handed pitching. The 30-year-old owns a slightly below-average .253/.301/.416 line in 1,816 trips to the plate against right-handers. Last year’s splits were even more extreme, as Hays had a .949 OPS against lefties and a .708 without the platoon advantage.
The Cardinals have the left-handed Scott in center field and another left-handed bat. Lars Nootbaardrafted to play in left field. Nootbaar could be traded this offseason and it seems more likely he will move before the deadline. Alec Burleson is also a left-handed hitter with extensive corner outfield experience, but is expected to be the first baseman after the Willson Contreras trade.
Right-swinging Jordan Walker will likely get another shot at right field, but he has one minor league option left and hasn’t found any sustained MLB success. Expectation Joshua Baezanother right bat and depth options for left shots Nathan Church And Bryan Torres are also on the 40-man roster. Hays has played exclusively in left field in recent seasons. The Cardinals are also among the teams watching Miguel Andujarwhich offers similar skills but will likely be slightly more expensive after an excellent finish to the 2025 season with Cincinnati.
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