Former Cardinals dynamo rumored to latch on with Cubs in effort to keep career afloat

In an attempt to resuscitate a faltering career, a former top prospect for the St. Louis Cardinals may have turned to a team of contempt. Dylan Carlson, a Cardinals outfielder from 2020 through the first half of 2024, was spotted at camp for the Chicago Cubs on Jan. 22 and has now agreed to a contract with the North Siders, according to Greg Zumach, the co-host of "Cubs on Deck."

Carlson was reported to be signing a minor league contract with a Cubs and received an invite to spring training.

It's been a precipitous drop for the prospect whom former president of baseball operations John Mozeliak once said a team could "pry from his cold, dead hands." During his early days in St. Louis, the world looked to be Carlson's oyster. His first full season in 2021 saw him hit .266 with a .780 OPS and a 115 OPS+ while finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting. It appeared that he would be entrenched in the lineup as a solidly above-average outfielder for years to come. That never materialized, as Carlson regressed with each passing year, holding an OPS of .695 in 2022, .651 in 2023 and .515 prior to the trade deadline in 2024, by which point he had been banished to a part-time role with the Cardinals.

St. Louis flipped Carlson to the Tampa Bay Rays at the 2024 deadline for pittance in the form of reliever Shawn Armstrong. Through 14 games in his new digs, Carlson looked to have found his stroke again, hitting .293 with three home runs and leading many Cardinals fans to declare it as another mistake from Mozeliak. But in his remaining 23 games, Carlson hit just .178 with nary a long ball, and he signed with the Baltimore Orioles prior to the 2025 season, with whom he hit .203 with a .614 OPS.

The Cubs have been stockpiling potential reserve outfielders through the winter, as they have also signed Chas McCormick and claimed Justin Dean off of waivers. If the Carlson signing is finalized, he is expected to compete with them as well as with Kevin Alcantara, the Cubs' seventh-ranked prospect according to Baseball America. A switch-hitter who performs better against left-handers (he holds a .274 average and a .757 OPS against right-handers but just .217 and a .655 OPS against southpaws), Carlson will have his work cut out for him in his attempt to make the roster against two right-handed hitters in McCormick and Dean.

Carlson would be a low-risk signing for the Cubs as they hope to squeeze some long-dormant value out of the formerly lauded outfielder. At age 27, Carlson still has time to turn his career around and upset Cardinals fans all over again.