In a move that seemingly came out of nowhere, the St. Louis Cardinals have traded OF Dexter Fowler to the Los Angeles Angels for a PTBNL or cash considerations.  Fowler, who was in the last year of his 4 year deal with the Cardinals, will be reunited with his old manager Joe Maddon.  However, this trade isn’t about letting Dexter hook up with his manager who he won a World Series with, or even netting the Cardinals money or a future player.  

In my opinion, this trade is all about opening up a roster spot on the active roster for potentially another OF.  Could a reunion with Marcell Ozuna be the next move?  Time will tell.  However, we do know there is one less outfielder to get in the way of playing time for Dylan Carlson.  If no move is made the Cardinals could be looking at more playing time for Tyler O’Neil, Lane Thomas, or even Justin Williams who is most likely going to be out of options (John Mozeliak is hoping to get another year of control in regards to Williams).  

There are rumblings that this move could be to open up more playing time for Matt Carpenter at 2B, and move Tommy Edman into an outfield spot or super utility role; however I don’t see that being the reason to move on from Fowler.  While Fowler was ultimately a great teammate, he fell short of producing in the leadoff spot for St. Louis, which was one of the primary reasons the Cardinals signed Fowler. Dexter always seemed like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole in St. Louis. Now he’ll get to go out to the City of Angels where he just may become the Angels 3rd OF behind Mike Trout and Justin Upton.  

The weather in St. Louis is cooling off in St. Louis, but the Cardinals hot stove and rumor mill seem to really be heating up before the Cardinals migrate to Jupiter, FL for Spring Training 2021!