St. Louis Cardinals: 3 soon-to-be free agent outfielders to keep an eye on

Why the St Louis Cardinals should keep an eye on Eddie Rosario

Eddie Rosario is a 29-year old left fielder with the Cleveland Indians, who also could be another complimentary hitter to match up with Arenado and Goldschmidt. His left-handed bat has career slash line .276/.308/.476 with an OPS+ of 109.

In Rosario’s six years in Minnesota, he grew into a steady clean-up hitter against both right-handed (.277)  and left-handed pitching (.272). In 2017 he hit 27 homers, 78 RBI, with an OPS of .836 in 151 games; 24 homers, 77 RBI with an OPS of .803 in 138 games during 2018; and 32 homers,109 RBI, with an OPS of .800 in just 137 games during 2019.  During the pandemic year of 2020, he slugged 13 homers with 42 RBI in 57 games with a 118 OPS+.

In a move likely to avoid losing an arbitration case, the Twins non-tendered Rosario after the 2020 season. On February 4, 2021, the Puerto Rican native signed a one-year $8 million contract with the Cleveland Indians, making him a free agent during the offseason.

In a recent piece at SB Nation, Cleveland Indians writer Chris D. Davies, makes the case why he thinks Rosario is a great signing for the Indians. In his article Davies says, “I probably don’t have to remind anyone that Rosario easily would have been the best outfielder in Cleveland last year.”