St. Louis Cardinals: Way too early Trade Deadline Wish List

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Apr 2, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick (22) waits for the pitch in the second inning against the San Francisco Giants at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kenny Karst-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 2, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick (22) waits for the pitch in the second inning against the San Francisco Giants at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kenny Karst-USA TODAY Sports /

Josh Reddick, Outfielder, Oakland

Well, I guess we can take a break from gutting Toronto (not intentional) and see if Billy Beane will do something silly for us.

Josh Reddick isn’t a superstar talent in right field for Oakland. He wouldn’t have near the offensive impact that an Edwin Encarnacion undoubtedly would.

In the 29-year-old’s peak season with Oakland in 2012, Reddick slugged 32 long balls, 11 more than former teammate and current Cardinal Brandon Moss.

The problem: he struck out 151 times that season.

Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ HBP
2009 22 BOS 27 62 59 5 10 4 0 2 4 0 2 17 .169 .210 .339 .549 38 1
2010 23 BOS 29 63 62 5 12 3 1 1 5 1 1 15 .194 .206 .323 .529 39 0
2011 24 BOS 87 278 254 41 71 18 3 7 28 1 19 50 .280 .327 .457 .784 109 1
2012 25 OAK 156 673 611 85 148 29 5 32 85 11 55 151 .242 .305 .463 .768 112 2
2013 26 OAK 114 441 385 54 87 19 2 12 56 9 46 86 .226 .307 .379 .686 91 2
2014 27 OAK 109 396 363 53 96 16 7 12 54 1 28 63 .264 .316 .446 .763 116 1
2015 28 OAK 149 582 526 67 143 25 4 20 77 10 49 65 .272 .333 .449 .781 113 0
2016 29 OAK 18 74 64 8 16 3 0 4 11 1 9 11 .250 .338 .484 .822 132 0
8 Yrs 689 2569 2324 318 583 117 22 90 320 34 209 458 .251 .312 .436 .748 106 7

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Reddick’s offensive numbers are eerily similar to Moss’ in his career in terms of slash numbers as well as walk and strikeout rates.

He does provide gold glove defensive potential, though, something that Moss certainly does not.

I look at Reddick more as a “first choice if needed” option as opposed to somebody that the Cardinals should go after if things stay as they are with the offense.

I don’t see Reddick as a better option to Tommy Pham or Jeremy Hazelbaker in the Cardinal outfield, as things stand today.

But what if, say, Moss and Matt Adams go back into “flail and miss” mode together, and the club has no option but to move Matt Holliday to first base. An outfield of Reddick, Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty with Hazelbaker/Pham off the bench and Holliday at first would be an intriguing possibility.

Likewise, there’s no health guarantees for Pham, Adams, Moss, Holliday, Grichuk, etc. That alone could be reason for St. Louis to show interest in the Oakland outfielder.

If Reddick has a big summer and the A’s tank as they did in 2015, I’m willing to bet that Billy Beane would be more than willing to entertain offers for his free-agent-to-be right fielder.

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