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St. Louis Cardinals: Creating a 2021 All Ex-Cardinals Team

By Kyle Jasper

May 22, 2021; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers right fielder Adolis Garcia (53) celebrates hitting a home run against the Houston Astros during the fifth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
May 22, 2021; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers right fielder Adolis Garcia (53) celebrates hitting a home run against the Houston Astros during the fifth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 18, 2021; Dunedin, Florida, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Randal Grichuk (15) hits a two-run home run during the eighth inning against the Boston Red Sox during the eighth inning at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
May 18, 2021; Dunedin, Florida, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Randal Grichuk (15) hits a two-run home run during the eighth inning against the Boston Red Sox during the eighth inning at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Outfielders

Left Field:  Randy Arozarena

Yes, I know, this one stings.  Randy Arozarena has turned into one of the most premier threats in all of baseball and is probably the most loved man in all of Tampa right now because without him, they would not have reached the World Series last year.

Arozarena broke onto the scene with the Cardinals in the 2019 campaign and in limited chances, did very well.  He never seemed to get any real chance for continuous playing time, but when he did play he was quite successful.

After being shipped to Tampa, Arozarena quickly turned some heads and was subsequently thrown into the heart of the lineup for the playoff stretch and into the postseason.  While nobody likely could have predicted that Randy Arozarena would turn out to be this much of a superstar, it still stings all the same.

Reason for departure:  Traded to Tampa for Matthew Liberatore

Randy Arozarena 2021:  .254/.343/.397,  115 wRC+

Center Field:  Adolis Garcia

One of the biggest surprises of the 2021 season so far has been Adolis Garcia.  Not even in the talks to be one of the candidates for rookie of the year and not even two months in and he seems to be the front runner for the award.

Like Arozarena, Adolis Garcia only played sparingly for the Cardinals and did not make quite the impression that Arozarena did.  But he has really broken out for the Texas Rangers this year and is really enjoying himself in their brand-new ballpark.  To make matters even worse is what he was traded to Texas for.

Reason for departure:  Traded to Texas for CASH CONSIDERATIONS

Adolis Garcia 2021:  .283/.318/.567,  144 wRC+

Right Field:  Randal Grichuk

Had a hard time deciding my final outfielder here.  My choices came down to Tommy Pham, David Peralta, and Randal Grichuk.  While Peralta never played in the majors for the Cardinals and was actually a left-handed pitcher in the organization, I decided to use him off the bench.  Tommy Pham was a close second, but I had to give the honors to Randal Grichuk because he has really turned his career around for the better this year and has been on an absolute tear.

A tweet from High Heat Stats (@highheatstats) shows that in his last 162 games played, Grichuk has 38 homers, 112 RBIs, and 95 runs scored.  It is no denying that Grichuk has been a force in that lineup and has really taken advantage of the playing time he has been getting due to the injury of George Springer.

Reason for departure:  Traded to Toronto for Dominic Leone

Randal Grichuk 2021:  .286/.318/.515, 128 wRC+

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