Last winter, the St. Louis Cardinals made a series of moves that shows just how nimble an organization can be when it comes to shifting around assets. Even with a glut of major league outfielders, the team saw an opportunity in the trade market to obtain Marlins breakout outfielder Marcell Ozuna, then let the dominoes fall with their talented but still developing flychasers in Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty. It’s the type of shakeup many teams are afraid to make, often either clinging to fading windows of opportunity or the promise of young prospects to come — or not.
Of course, every move has risks, and after a slow start in St. Louis, Ozuna has looked the part of the slugger we saw break out in Miami last year. Here’s the stat line since June 1: .303/.339/.513, 7 home runs, 21 RBI and 13 runs. Cool player, two more years of control. No regrets there. So the Cardinals are happy with their end of the deal, but it turns out the teams that took a shot on the outfielders St. Louis sold a bit low on are feeling pretty good about their returns as well.
Let’s start with Grichuk, who checks in as the 43rd overall player in Yahoo 5×5 over the past 30 days, with a line of .284/15/7/17/1. The former first-rounder got off to a slow start in Toronto but picked up the pace in June with a .988 OPS over 25 games. He put up eight of his nine home runs within those 85 at bats while tallying 20 RBI. The production hasn’t bumped him into the top half of the Blue Jays’ lineup yet, but there are trade candidates above him — plus, he’s the 26-year-old long-term asset here. Grichuk is just 12 percent owned in Yahoo. Grichuk’s former teammate Piscotty comes in at 86th over the same time period. The 27-year-old is making the most of his everyday at bats in an underrated A’s lineup, sitting on a .317 average with four homers, 15 RBI and 14 runs over the past 30 days. It’s easy to forget that Piscotty just two seasons ago played 153 games in St. Louis, putting up 22 homers, 85 RBI and 86 runs with a .273 average and .800 OPS. Strangely, Piscotty has dramatic reverse splits so far this season, with a .297/.348/.824 line against righties but just .167/.271/.557 against southpaws (over 84 at bats). The right-handed hitter has historically skewed slightly the other way, though, which is normal, and we’re looking at a relatively small sample size here. He’s trending at 15 percent on Yahoo.
While we’re talking about former Cardinals, Jason Heyward appears to be turning back the clock to the exceptional 2015 season in St. Louis that helped land him his long-term deal in Chicago. A huge disappointment his first two years on the North Side, the former first-rounder has a .323/20/3/17 line over the past month, ranking him at 45th overall in Yahoo, and his excellent work with the bat actually dates back to early May. The big contract and two down years on the North Side make him a trade candidate, but we’ve got two months of production to go on, plus the .298/.352/.813 line against righties for those in daily transactions leagues. He’s the most-owned at Yahoo out of these three, at 22 percent.
If injuries have you down, or you’re playing in a more shallow league, maybe Jesse Winker is more to your liking. The Reds rookie finally broke out for some power over the last month, with five of his six dingers coming during June. “Votto Jr.” has a remarkable 43:40 BB:K ratio, and he’s knocked in 22 over the past 30 days. Perhaps Jurickson Profar is Winker’s foil — a long-touted prospect taking years to break through. Still just 25, the Rangers infielder has filled the stat sheet over the past month with four homers, 17 RBI, five steals and 25 runs scored with a .281 average and .840 OPS over that span is seriously enticing. He’s up to 52 percent ownership but worth a quick check in your league — Profar is eligible at 2B, 3B, SS and OF in Yahoo.
Follow Danny @_dannycross_.
