The move came just a month after the Cardinals traded Sandy Alcantara, Daniel Castano, Zac Gallen, and Magneuris Sierra to the Marlins for Marcell Ozuna. With Ozuna penciled into left field beside Tommy Pham and Dexter Fowler, Grichuk was positioned for a fourth-outfielder role.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said Grichuk was a perfect fit for the job due to his ability to play all three outfield positions while providing power off the bench. However, he also pointed out that Harrison Bader and Tyler O’Neill offered similar versatility.[1]

Grichuk in St. Louis

Originally the Angels’ 24^th overall pick in 2009, Grichuk came to St. Louis alongside Peter Bourjos in the trade that sent David Freese and Fernando Salas to the Angels. Grichuk debuted in the majors as a 22-year-old in 2014 and enjoyed his best season in St. Louis in 2015, batting .276/.329/.548 with 17 homers and 47 RBIs in just 350 plate appearances.

In 2016 and 2017, Grichuk shuffled between St. Louis and Memphis. Though he hit 46 homers over those two years, he also struck out 174 times in 858 at-bats, a rate of over 20%. As a result, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Jeff Gordon described Grichuk’s tenure in St. Louis as “teasing Cardinal Nation for 3 ½ years by mixing supersonic homers with rally-killing strikeouts.”[2]

“There were just a lot of ups and downs during that time where I felt he struggled to find that traction,” Mozeliak said. “We always thought from a baseball tools set, he was quite gifted. But the game is based on performance.”[3]

The Cardinals’ outfield logjam also factored into the trade. In addition to Ozuna, Pham, and Fowler, prospects like Bader and O’Neill were emerging. Bader, a third-round draft pick in 2015, made his major-league debut in 2017 after hitting 20 homers in Memphis that season. O’Neill, acquired from the Mariners in a trade for left-handed starting pitcher Marco Gonzalez, blasted 31 home runs between Tacoma and Memphis in 2017.

Grichuk admitted the Cardinals’ crowded outfield situation made him uncertain about his role, which affected his confidence at the plate.

“That wasn’t good for anybody’s confidence or anybody’s state of mind stepping into the box,” he said.[4]

Grichuk in Toronto

Moving to Toronto gave Grichuk a fresh start as their expected starting right fielder, replacing departed free agent Jose Bautista.

“It’s sad leaving St. Louis, but for my career, it’s the best move,” Grichuk said. “We played in Toronto a few years back and I loved it. I loved playing indoors. The city seemed really nice and I enjoyed the few days I was there. I’m excited.”[5]

Gordon, however, questioned whether trading Grichuk was the right decision, suggesting the Cardinals could have kept him as a fourth outfielder while upgrading their bullpen through other means.

“Odds are, Grichuk would have gotten plenty of work for the Cardinals this season had he stayed put,” Gordon wrote. “He may never become more than a .240-type hitter, but he can be (an) asset hitting at that level. He is a strong defensive outfielder capable of playing all three spots. He can hit mistake pitches into the 618 area code and he runs well when he does reach base. … So what was the rush to move him? Sure, the Cardinals would love to get Jose Martinez some at-bats after his breakout season. But that breakout came after he spent a decade kicking around the minors, so he is not a sure thing to repeat his offensive heroics.”[6]

Mozeliak, though, felt the acquisition of Leone addressed a pressing need for bullpen depth.

“Randal Grichuk was somebody we always had a lot of hope for,” Mozeliak said. “(But) as we started to really think about 2018 and you realized with the acquisition of (Tyler) O’Neill and Harrison Bader doing what he did last year, we really felt like we had (the outfield) covered. And, of course, Jose Martinez can play the outfield. If we were looking for playing time for Grichuk, it just didn’t seem like it was going to be a great fit. Ultimately, we just decided that if we could move him, would we be able to acquire an arm that we felt could make a difference in our bullpen? Once we identified that (in Leone) and also getting someone we perceived as a prospect, we thought this made sense.”[7]

Leone and Greene

Both teams were dealing from a position of relative strength. Originally a 16^th-round draft pick by the Mariners in 2012, Leone went 8-2 with a 2.17 ERA as a 22-year-old rookie in 2014. He struggled in 2015 and 2016, as the Mariners dealt him to the Diamondbacks and the Blue Jays then claimed him off waivers ahead of the 2017 season.

Leone, a 2012 Mariners draft pick, bounced back in 2017 after struggling through 2015 and 2016. He became one of the American League’s most reliable set-up men with a 2.56 ERA over 70 1/3 innings. For the Cardinals, who had just lost Seung-hwan Oh and Trevor Rosenthal, Leone offered a potential solution for the back end of their bullpen.

“We hear very good things about his makeup,” Mozeliak said. “We hear he’s very competitive. He should be a high-leverage pitcher.”[8]

Though the Jays didn’t want to part with Leone, they had the bullpen depth to overcome his departure. Toronto Star columnist Richard Griffin suggested that Joe Biagini, Al Alburquerque, and Carlos Ramirez could fill the role Leone had been projected to play in 2018.[9]

“We were definitely working from a position of depth and we had multiple teams contact us about that,” Atkins said. “Now we’ll have to look and backfill for Dominic. He had an incredible year for us. We expect him to have another incredible year and it will be for another team. It was a very tough loss for us. It’s the overall depth and guys that are in our system that we feel strong about that can help – then some of the players that are in the market as well.”[10]

Meanwhile, the 22-year-old Greene represented a project for the Cardinals’ development staff. A seventh-round pick in 2013 out of Santa Monica (Calif.) High School, Greene posted a 5.29 ERA over 132 2/3 innings for Double-A New Hampshire and was named to the Eastern League all-star team in 2017. Baseball America ranked him as Toronto’s seventh-best prospect.

“When you look at him, you’re not going to like his numbers, but he’s a legit 95 to 98 (mph) type,” Mozeliak said. “He could give us some versatility as a starter or reliever.”[11]

Greene was primarily held back by his lack of control. In 501 1/3 minor-league innings, he had walked 226 batters while striking out 377. However, his arm strength led Mozeliak to compare Green to Alcantara, whom the Cardinals had just traded as one of the key pieces in the deal for Ozuna.

“Same sort of arm strength,” Mozeliak said. “When you look at their stats, Sandy’s been a little better. But too high a walk rate and too low of a strikeout rate – odd for someone who throws hard.”[12]

How the Trade Worked Out

The Cardinals never did solve the Greene puzzle. In 2018, he posted a 4.09 ERA between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis. That November, the Royals selected him off of waivers. In 2021, Greene made 24 combined appearances for the Orioles and Dodgers, posting a 7.11 ERA over 25 1/3 innings.

Greene started the 2022 season in the Orioles’ minor league system before he was released in June. He pitched for Caneros de Los Mochis in the Mexican League in 2023 and for the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate in 2024.

Leone pitched two seasons for the Cardinals, posting a 4.50 ERA over 24 innings in 2018 and a 5.53 ERA in 40 2/3 innings in 2019. In November 2019, the Cardinals released him. Since then, he has pitched for the Indians, Giants, Mets, Angels, Mariners, and White Sox.

Grichuk spent four years with the Blue Jays, batting .243 with 90 homers and 257 RBIs over that span. He posted career highs with 31 homers and 80 RBIs in 2019, though he hit just .232/.280/.457 that season. In March 2022, the Blue Jays traded him to the Rockies, and at the 2023 trading deadline the Rockies traded him and C.J. Cron to the Angels for two prospects.

Grichuk played the 2024 season with the Diamondbacks, where he hit .291/.348/.875 while playing primarily against left-handed pitching. In 279 plate appearances, he hit 12 homers and drove in 46 runs.

[1] Todd Eschman, “Cardinals deal Grichuk to Toronto in effort to bolster the bullpen,” Belleville News-Democrat, January 20, 2018.

[2] Jeff Gordon, “Rush to make this deal seems a little puzzling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[3] Rick Hummel, “Grichuk Traded To Jays,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[4] Laura Armstrong, “Outfield pieces fall into place,” Toronto Star, January 24, 2018.

[5] Rick Hummel, “Grichuk Traded To Jays,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[6] Jeff Gordon, “Rush to make this deal seems a little puzzling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[7] Rick Hummel, “Grichuk Traded To Jays,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[8] Rick Hummel, “Grichuk Traded To Jays,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[9] Richard Griffin, “Deeper but no closer with Grichuk,” Toronto Star, January 20, 2018.

[10] Richard Griffin, “Deeper but no closer with Grichuk,” Toronto Star, January 20, 2018.

[11] Rick Hummel, “Grichuk Traded To Jays,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

[12] Rick Hummel, “Grichuk Traded To Jays,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 2018.

The post Why Randal Grichuk was traded to the Blue Jays in 2018 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

On November 22, 2013, the Cardinals traded Freese and relief pitcher Fernando Salas to the Angels for outfielders Peter Bourjos and Randal Grichuk.

“It’s bittersweet in a sense – closing this chapter on my hometown,” Freese said.^[1]

The Cardinals and Angels had been discussing the deal for several weeks before it was finalized. While the deal always included Freese and Bourjos, at times the negotiations included Angels shortstop Erick Aybar, who would have replaced the light-hitting Pete Kozma in the Cardinals’ lineup. The Cardinals, however, were unwilling to include the pitchers the Angels sought in exchange. ^[2]

By moving Freese, who had made $3.15 million in 2013 and was projected to make $4.4 million through arbitration in 2014,^[3] the Cardinals freed up third base for Matt Carpenter, who had hit .318 with 78 RBIs as an all-star second baseman that season. Carpenter’s shift, in turn, opened second base for rookie Kolten Wong, who had hit .303 in Memphis and represented a defensive upgrade over Carpenter at second base.

The addition of Bourjos in center field also improved the Cardinals’ outfield defense.

“It appears that we improved at three positions,” Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said. “What the makeup of this club is offensively, I don’t know what we’ve given up yet or what we’re gaining. We haven’t finished putting this roster together yet. … Peter Bourjos has a unique skill set. He’s probably one of the faster guys in the league. He can steal bases. Didn’t get a lot of opportunities in Anaheim. Different league, different place.”^[4]

The 26-year-old Bourjos had played in 354 games for the Angels over four seasons with mixed results. In 2011, he enjoyed a breakthrough, batting .271/.327/.438 with 26 doubles, a league-high 11 triples, and 12 homers. In 2012, however, he hit just .167 in March and April and lost his job to Mike Trout.

“In the end, it’s probably better to get a fresh start somewhere else,” Bourjos said. “I had a good year in 2011, but things didn’t work out after that.”^[5]

Even after Bourjos struggled in 2012, Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto continued to believe in him, so much so that he allowed Torii Hunter to leave as a free agent. Reinserted into the starting lineup, Bourjos hit .313/.392/.457 in April 2013 before he strained his hamstring and missed seven weeks. When he returned, he hit .370/.431/.457 in 18 games before he was hit by a pitch that broke his wrist. He missed a month and a half, and when he returned in August, he hit just .109 in 15 games before he required surgery to insert a pin in his wrist.^[6]

“It didn’t play out the way we or Peter hoped,” Dipoto said. “This gives him a chance to play.”^[7]

At the time of the trade, Bourjos was still a few weeks away from swinging a bat as he recovered from wrist surgery.

“From where I was at the end of the season to where I am right now, it’s night and day,” he said. “I was in a lot of pain swinging a bat. … When I came back I felt like I had to cheat to catch up to anything. I was in pain when I checked my swing. Even when I made contact, it didn’t feel right.”^[8]

In analyzing the trade, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz focused on Bourjos’s elite defensive skill.

“Bourjos is among the best center fielders in baseball,” he wrote. “As Dave Cameron pointed out at FanGraphs, Bourjos is the majors’ highest-rated center fielder (defensively) since 2010. The Cardinals’ outfield defense was horrendous in 2013 – analyst Bill James estimates that poor outfield defense cost the pitchers 27 runs last season – and Bourjos can go get the ball as well, if not better, than anyone.”^[9]

In Grichuk, the Cardinals obtained a power-hitting outfielder who won a minor league Gold Glove at Class AA Arkansas the previous year. Grichuk famously was selected 24^th overall – one position ahead of Trout – in the 2009 draft. He was coming off a .256/.306/.474 season with 22 homers and 64 RBIs in Class AA after batting .298/.335/.488 in High-A Inland Empire in 2012.

Ultimately, however, the trade was largely about Freese. Mozeliak had brought the Lafayette High School grad back to St. Louis in his first trade as the Cardinals’ general manager, sending Jim Edmonds to the Padres in exchange.

After winning the NLCS and World Series MVP awards in 2011, Freese followed up with an all-star 2012 campaign, batting .293/.372/.467 with 20 homers and 79 RBIs. In 2013, however, Freese was limited by a back injury.^[10] His batting line dropped to .262/.340/.381 with nine homers and 60 RBIs, and though the Cardinals returned to the World Series, Freese was unable to replicate his 2011 postseason magic, batting .188 in the NLDS, .190 in the NLCS, and .158 in the World Series.

“You think back to ’11 and our memory of David gets captured in a four-week period when he was just one of the hottest hitters on earth,” Mozeliak said. “Our expectations rose. What we wanted to keep seeing and believed we could see – at some point it’s hard to live up to those expectations. David growing up in St. Louis, this could not have been the easiest place for him to play given those circumstances.”^[11]

Miklasz wrote that during the 2013 World Series, he thought Freese looked dejected, though the hometown hero insisted he was having the time of his life.^[12] To Miklasz, the trade was not only good for the Cardinals – it was also good for Freese.

“I truly believe this trade is the best thing for Freese now,” Miklasz wrote. “It wasn’t always easy being David Freese in St. Louis. … In a roundabout way, the fame came to work against him. You can’t be Mr. October in every game. The goodwill evaporates during slumps. The home-run bat goes cold. Then the backlash kicks up.”^[13]

In 2019, Freese, who had undergone two reconstructive surgeries on his ankles in 2010,^[14] told St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Derrick Goold that his foot injuries made it impossible for the Cardinals to give him the long-term security he wanted.

“I think two things were inevitable,” he said. “Getting traded and never getting a multi-year deal from St. Louis because of my feet. I think that was a crushing thing for me. Especially after 2011, 2012, and 2013. I had a rough year (in) ’13. But in the back of my mind (I was) assuming that this was all going to come to an end when no one else really understood that. I know my chronic (injury was) going on. So did the Cardinals. I was seeing ahead of where I probably should have been, and should have taken it as it was coming. And really embrace it and enjoy it more, instead of understanding what’s probably coming. I wanted the storybook ending. I wanted 10 years in St. Louis. Hell yeah. That just was never going to happen.”^[15]

In Los Angeles, the trade allowed Trout to take over center field, Kole Calhoun to take over the everyday job in right, and Josh Hamilton to man left field. Meanwhile, Freese took over a third base position that previously had been filled by Alberto Callaspo.

“Third base was a question mark and this provides a more than acceptable solution,” Dipoto said. “David knows how to drive in the important runs. That’s something that really fits our lineup.”^[16]

In Los Angeles, Freese and Salas were reunited with another member of the Cardinals’ 2011 world championship team – Albert Pujols.^[17]

“He welcomed me to the Angels family and I said, ‘Remember what we did the last time we played together? Let’s try to do that again,’” Freese said. “It’s going to be good to get back with him and the rest of the guys. They’re going to want to rebound and get after it from day one.”^[18]

Salas had enjoyed his best season with the Cardinals as a rookie in 2011. Saving 24 games before Jason Motte emerged to claim the closer’s role, Salas posted a 3.16 ERA and struck out 75 batters over 75 innings. In 2012, he posted a 3.59 ERA over 58 2/3 innings, then pitched just 28 innings in 2013.

“Mozeliak traded expendable talent to freshen his roster with more youth, speed, and increased range on defense,” Miklasz wrote. “He reduced payroll and maintained flexibility for future moves. And he likely lowered his pitching staff’s ERA by tightening a defense that won’t give away so many runs in 2014.”^[19]

Bourjos spent two seasons in St. Louis, batting .231/.294/.348 in 264 at-bats in 2014, then hitting just .200/.290/.333 in 2015. After the season, the Phillies signed him off waivers. He played for the Phillies, Rays, and Braves before playing his final major-league season with the Angels in 2019.

Grichuk played four seasons in St. Louis, batting .249/.297/.488 with 66 homers and 182 RBIs. After posting a career-high .877 OPS in 2015, he hit 24 homers and drove in 68 RBIs in 2016. In January 2018, the Cardinals traded Grichuk to the Blue Jays for Dominic Leone and Conner Greene. In Toronto, he hit a career-high 31 homers in 2019.

Salas pitched four seasons with the Angels, posting a 3.93 ERA over 192 1/3 innings. He pitched for the Mets, Diamondbacks, and Phillies, making his most recent big-league appearance in 2019.

Freese played two seasons in Los Angeles, batting .258/.322/.401 with 24 homers and 111 RBIs over that span. In 2016, he signed with the Pirates and made his return to the National League. With each return to St. Louis, he was greeted by standing ovations and warm welcomes.

In 2018, the Pirates traded him to the Dodgers. He played his final season with the Dodgers in 2019. He retired after 11 major-league seasons, totaling 113 homers, 535 RBIs, and a storied place in Cardinals lore.

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[1] Derrick Goold, “Freese Gone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 23, 2013.

[2] Derrick Goold, “Freese Gone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 23, 2013.

[3] Mike DiGiovanna, “Angels trade Bourjos, ease logjam,” Los Angeles Times, November 23, 2013.

[4] Derrick Goold, “Freese Gone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 23, 2013.

[5] Mike DiGiovanna, “Angels trade Bourjos, ease logjam,” Los Angeles Times, November 23, 2013.

[6] Mike DiGiovanna, “Angels trade Bourjos, ease logjam,” Los Angeles Times, November 23, 2013.

[7] Mike DiGiovanna, “Angels trade Bourjos, ease logjam,” Los Angeles Times, November 23, 2013.

[8] Derrick Goold, “Freese Gone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 23, 2013.

[9] Bernie Miklasz, “Redbirds look like big winners with this deal,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 23, 2013.

[10] Derrick Goold, “Freese Gone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 23, 2013.

[11] Bernie Miklasz, “For Freese, Game 6 was mixed blessing,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 24, 2013.

[12] Bernie Miklasz, “For Freese, Game 6 was mixed blessing,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 24, 2013.

[13] Bernie Miklasz, “For Freese, Game 6 was mixed blessing,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 24, 2013.

[14] Rick Hummel, “David Freese undergoes reconstructive surgery on ankle,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 7, 2010.

[15] Derrick Goold, “Freese frames his career,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 11, 2019.

[16] Mike DiGiovanna, “Angels trade Bourjos, ease logjam,” Los Angeles Times, November 23, 2013.

[17] Derrick Goold, “Freese Gone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 23, 2013.

[18] Mike DiGiovanna, “Angels trade Bourjos, ease logjam,” Los Angeles Times, November 23, 2013.

[19] Bernie Miklasz, “Redbirds look like big winners with this deal,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 23, 2013.

The post Why David Freese was traded to the Angels first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.