Seattle Mariners: 5 Best Trade Spots for Outfielder Mitch Haniger

3. St. Louis Cardinals

After the White Sox and Braves, there are a handful of teams who are all bunched together in terms of fit for Haniger. One of these teams is the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards have already added Paul Goldschmidt this off-season, and with Harrison Bader and Marcel Ozuna entrenched in CF and LF, the opening in RF remains to be filled.

They will not be involved in the Harper sweepstakes, leaving Haniger as the best available option. Signing a player like Nick Markakis might make more sense, but if the Cards want cheap, club-control in RF, they have the pieces to make it happen.

Obviously, with prospects and young MLB talents like Alex Reyes, Nolan Gorman, Dakota Hudson, Tyler O’Neill, and Jack Flaherty, the Cardinals could make a compelling match for the Mariners.

In addition, Jose Martinez could be involved in such a deal and makes more sense for the Mariners than the Cardinals. Martinez can hit, but has no home defensively, and would greatly benefit from being the DH for an AL team.

While the possibility of a 3 team deal still exists, the Cardinals do have the necessary ammo to make a deal happen, despite sending some nice pieces to the Diamondbacks for Goldschmidt.

Haniger would give St. Louis an elite right fielder for 4 years, the first 2 being almost free. The Mariners could recoup a good young arm like Reyes or Hudson, plus a veteran like Martinez, and a bat, possibly Tyler O’Neill or Nolan Gorman.

The fit is the biggest check mark for the Cardinals. Their farm system is still good, but not in the same realm as Chicago and/or Atlanta. St. Louis may need to provide Dipoto a young MLB player to get a Haniger deal done, but is still too obvious of a fit to ignore.