St. Louis Cardinals: A hard farewell to Randal Grichuk

The St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays made another deal. This time the Cardinals moved from their outfield surplus.

Today the St. Louis Cardinals did something expected for weeks. Honestly, it was a shock it didn’t happen earlier. The Cardinals and Blue Jays struck a deal Friday afternoon sending Randal Grichuk to, as Drake calls it, “The 6”. In return, the Cardinals seemingly bolstered their bullpen and added to their depth at pitching, which this team can’t seem to get enough of now.

The move divides fans, no question. Grichuk was either loved or hated in Cardinal Nation. There really was no in between. For me, this hurts. I had high hopes for him and still do. Going to Toronto might be what his career needs. I think a new hitting coach will be a huge benefit to Grichuk’s success and, of course, more opportunity to play every day can’t hurt.

More from Redbird Rants

• Cardinals Rumors: 3 pros and cons of signing Carlos Rodon
• What’s next for the St. Louis Cardinals after Contreras signing?
• Report: Cardinals Emerge As Mystery Team for Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Trade targets after signing Willson Contreras
• Reflecting on the 2013 Cardinals’ top 30 prospects

Toronto has been a great place for guys with intense power. Grichuk as we have seen has that. As for the Cardinals this opens up an interesting question.

Is Harrison Bader the guy? Or is it Tyler O’Neill? It’s too soon to tell, though Bader definitely has the upper hand in that battle right now.

Grichuk became a punching bag for the section of fans that didn’t like him.

Before him, Matt Holiday had his detractors and before him Pete Kozma was vilified by a fraction of the fan base.

For me though, I thought he had promise. I was committed to seeing him become the player we all hoped he would be, maybe to a fault. I’ll still hold out hope, no matter the situation, believe that.

I will be rooting for Randal during his time in Toronto. I hope he can be the player we all hoped he would be, so I can rub it in the face of a certain editor and his lackeys here at Redbird Rants, but I’m petty.

Next: Grichuk heads to Toronto

Good luck Grich, I hope you can succeed in Toronto, until then it looks like I need a new favorite Redbird.