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The St. Louis Cardinals trading third baseman Nolan Arenado has felt inevitable since the offseason began a little over three months ago. The organization nearly accomplished the feat in mid-December, agreeing to a trade that would have sent the 33-year-old to the Houston Astros. However, he invoked his no-trade clause, blocking what would have been a blockbuster transaction out of a desire to steer himself to a different destination. Now, Arenado is still a Cardinal, and the probability of him donning their red, white, yellow, and navy blue threads as the 2025 MLB regular season begins is steadily increasing.
On the most recent episode of Seeing Red (a St. Louis Cardinals podcast), co-hosts Bernie Miklasz and Will Leitch dissected the difficult decisions President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak and the Cardinals front office brass would need to steer through if Arenado stayed in St. Louis. In the episode, Miklasz discussed the implications of Arenado potentially staying put, proclaiming, "It means that maybe Thomas Saggese won't make the club out of spring training or would not have much of a role if he does." He continued, "Sure, it means maybe Brendan Donovan will be in left field a lot more than we thought, which means (Lars) Nootbar in center, who knows, more than we thought.
"If anybody, if it hurts anybody, so to speak, with Arenado staying, the guy that affects the most, I think might be (Alec) Burleson, because there goes left field at-bats, there goes a ton of DH at-bats, and, you know, would he be around the club just to kind of back up (Willson) Contreras at first base?" Miklasz cotinued. "I don't know. I think it probably impacts him more than anyone." Evidently, the odd player out of a potential roster crunch in St. Louis could be Alec Burleson. If that becomes the case, the Twins should be proactive in trying to acquire him.
Burleson, 26, jumped onto the scene in 2024 after struggling in his first two seasons with St. Louis, hitting .269/.314/420 with 147 hits, 35 walks, 20 doubles, 21 home runs, and a 104 OPS+ over 595 plate appearances. The left-handed hitter demonstrated a contact-skilled profile, posting a very low 12.8% strikeout rate while hitting the ball hard and spraying it around the field. Burleson did struggle with chasing pitches outside the zone, evidenced by a 34.5% chase rate. However, he broke out with St. Louis last season, blossoming into a more complete hitter with plus power. (Just don't think too much about his home run celebration. HE WAS A DJ IN COLLEGE, OKAY!?)
Like most left-handed batters, Burleson struggled against same-handed pitching, slashing a neasky .195/.229/.286 over 142 plate appearances. That said, he excelled against right-handed pitching, hitting .292/.341/.464 with 18 home runs over 453 plate appearances. The power-hitting lefty also possesses defensive flexibility, playing the following positions last season:
- Right field - 324 innings
- Left field - 230 1/3 innings
- First base - 117 innings
Interestingly, these three positions are where Minnesota is lacking depth, making a move for Burleson even more enticing. The idea of acquiring another left-handed bat could be perceived as redundant, if you get too hung up on imagining him as an outfielder. That said, the Twins would be wise to use their limited roster flexibility on a position player who excels at hitting, regardless of handedness. Burleson's value resides in the fact that he could become Minnesota's primary designated hitter or first baseman against righty starters.
The club's front office finds themselves caught between a rock and a hard place, needing to improve the roster while adhering to strict payroll limitations. That's no problem here, as Burleson is yet to reach arbitration eligibility and will make only $800,000 next season. He's under team control until the end of the 2028 regular season. Minnesota prides itself on finding creative solutions to improve the team. Again, acquiring Burleson is seemingly contingent on Arenado staying in St. Louis. Still, the Twins would be wise to make a concerted effort to land the cost-controlled, power-hitting left-handed bat.
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