6 ideal free agent fits for the St. Louis Cardinals that are somehow still available

Randal Grichuk

Randal Grichuk fits the mold of an old friend and is one that seems to fit seamlessly into what the Cardinals would desire from a right-handed bat in their price range at the moment.

Grichuk was acquired by the Cardinals back in 2013 along with Peter Bourjos for David Freese and Fernando Salas. Grichuk spent four seasons with the big league club from 2014-2017 before being dealt to the Blue Jays, and he was a pretty valuable player for St. Louis during his short career there.

Grichuk has had career highs of 3 fWAR in 2015 and 2018 in everyday roles but has mostly settled in as a part-time player over the last two years, making an impact as a right-handed bat who can do damage against left-handed pitching.

Grichuk posted a 139 wRC+ in 106 games last year but only had 279 plate appearances due to his platoon role. Against lefties specifically in 2024, Grichuk slashed .319/.386/.528 (.913 OPS), which resulted in a 151 wRC+. He was well above average against righties as well (116 wRC+) so his bat should be coveted.

The Cardinals struggled big time against left-handed pitching last year, ranking 22nd in baseball as a team with a 91 wRC+ against southpaws. Their center fielders were especially bad against left-handed pitching, with Michael Siani (53 wRC+) and Victor Scott II (45 wRC+) falling well below average in those situations.

Grichuk did not play center field in 2024, but the Diamondbacks had plenty of options to put out there so it was not needed. He posted 22 games in center field in 2023, 52 games in 2022, and 96 games out there in 2021. Grichuk is probably a below-average option out there defensively at this point, but given it would just be against left-handers, I think the Cardinals can manage that defense when they are getting 50% above-league-average offense from him in those spots.