NY Mets: Five offseason Brandon Nimmo trade destinations

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals did make the playoffs this season, but they do have issues that must be resolved if they hope to remain contenders, and Nimmo can be of service.

The Cardinals have a bad outfield and a bad offense. Acquiring an outfielder externally might not make much sense because the Cardinals do have great depth in the outfield. However, waiting and hoping for these players to pan out really isn’t the route a playoff contender should take and acquiring an already-established effective outfielder is much more prudent.

Harrison Bader is arguably their best current outfielder, but that isn’t enough if St. Louis hopes to run with the big dogs.

The Cardinals were one of the worst offensive teams in the league in 2020, not generating many runs and hitting a league-low 51 home runs. Nimmo would absolutely change that for the better.

The Cardinals are blessed with great pitching, and will certainly be shopping several of their pitchers during the offseason. One that is repulsive to some but might benefit from a move to New York is Carlos Martinez. Martinez was supposed to be the next big name in pitching but has been hit hard by injuries lately.

The 29-year-old is set to make over $11 million next year and is coming off another bad, shortened season, but it might not be the worst thing in the world for the Mets to acquire him. After all, we know that when he’s on top of his game he’s as good as some of the best in the league and he’s versatile, able to start and come in as a reliever. He just has to stay healthy.

The Cardinals don’t have a great farm system and likely won’t be willing to give up one of their few top tier guys for Nimmo, so they’d have to part with players already on the roster. Austin Gomber and Daniel Ponce de Leon are other pitchers the Mets might be interested in.