5 potential trade destinations for Cardinals Dylan Carlson

3. San Francisco Giants

The remaining teams on this list have not been reported to be interested in Carlson, but they could very possibly be a fit. The Giants will most likely be looking for an offensive player as they were one of the worst-hitting teams in the league in 2023 (24th in the league in runs per game), but they will be in severe need of defensive improvement too.

Last season the Giants committed 117 errors, the most in the league. So surely they will be looking to make defensive upgrades anywhere on the field for next season. The Giants also do not have a primary center fielder, last season the player who had the most starts at center field was Luis Matos, who made his major league debut back in June with 48 starts. But the Giants had 6 players last year make at least 10 starts in center and 10 different players total, granted that the then manager Gabe Kapler liked using multiple platoons to get the best match-up at the plate, under new manager Bob Melvin you might see a more traditional approach, which could make Carlson a fit.

When Matos was in center field he had a -9 DRS ( Defensive Runs Saved on average), while Carlson has a career DRS of +7 in center, which is why I think the Giants will be an intriguing team in the coming days/weeks to see if their name comes up in the Carlson trade rumors.

4. Boston Red Sox

In some ways, the Red Sox and Giants are similar in how their seasons went in 2023 and how they are expected to approach the offseason, and in some ways, they are not so similar.

Both the Red Sox and Giants are coming off their second consecutive disappointing season, which led to firings and dismissals, for the Giants it was manager Gabe Kapler, and for the Red Sox, it was Chief Baseball Officer and President Chaim Bloom. Like the Giants the Red Sox struggled defensively, they were tied with the A's for the second most errors in baseball, but most of that came from Rafael Devers who committed 19 errors last season. The Red Sox actually look steady in the outfield as it stands right now.

For most of the season, the Red Sox had Masatka Yoshida, Jarren Duran, and Alex Verdugo manning their outfield, so Carlson would likely fit best as a complimentary fourth outfielder. But if the Alex Verdugo trade rumors are true, then Carlson would theoretically be competing for a starting spot with rookies Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu.

And despite having what seems to be three close-to-everyday players in the outfield, outside of Verdugo the Red Sox could use an upgrade defensively in their outfield, primarily at center field as their center fielders had a -9 DRS last season. So whether that means being the fourth outfielder or a late-game defensive replacement, it's possible that Carlson would fit with Boston in 2024.