2026 trade deadline may be best time to trade Nootbaar

[ramfandan]

From article :

Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar could become one of the most wanted players at the 2026 trade deadline.
Let's pretend for a moment that this surgery does indeed "fix" Lars Nootbaar. Let's take his best offensive season, 2023, and amplify that over a nearly-healthy season like he had this past year when he made 583 plate appearances across 135 games, both career highs by a long stretch.


He hit 14 home runs in 2023 in only 117 games. Amplify that out to 135 games and you get 18 home runs from a left-handed hitting corner outfielder who can play center field. He slugged 111 hits in 2023. Multiply that out and you get 128 hits, which would have finished 21st among all National League outfielders just behind Kyle Tucker. He walked 72 times in 2023, and if he would've played 135 games, he would've finished with 83 walks, a figure that would have placed him sixth among all National League outfielders last year.

What I'm getting at is that this surgery could actually fix Lars Nootbaar, and he could quickly become one of the best outfielders in the National League by the time the trade deadline rolls around. A left-handed hitting outfielder who can capably play all three positions and get on base at one of the best clips in the sport AND has an additional year of control following the 2026 season? Sign me up!

The article does have some validity . Once Noot is fully recovered and shows the rest of MLB he is healthy again, he may have a market at the trade deadline .

[Absolut]

If if if if if if and if.

[cardstatman]

Hopefully his performance does not suffer from an inability to work out during the offseason.

Not sure how much he will be able to stay in shape or improve his strength.

[BrockFloodMaris]

If if if if if if and if.

You are correct, the writer’s premise is one large IF. However, each season some MLB players get worse, some get better, and some stay about the same. Predicting which players fit into each of those three buckets is the most fun part of running a team, especially when you guess correctly. Let’s hope this writer is correct, and that Bloom holds and sells at the right time.

[Hoosier59]

The best time to trade him was right after the 2023 season!

[Talkin' Baseball]

If you can get an offer for him now, trade him now.

[Cusecards]

Noot is recovering from injury which typifies his career.
Don’t want to bash him but to me he is a platoon 4th OF on a good team.
Probably have no choice but to hang unto him until he is healthy(trade deadline?).
Hopefully he gets healthy and builds some value.
Fingers crossed.

[ScotchMIrish]

From article :

Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar could become one of the most wanted players at the 2026 trade deadline.
Let's pretend for a moment that this surgery does indeed "fix" Lars Nootbaar. Let's take his best offensive season, 2023, and amplify that over a nearly-healthy season like he had this past year when he made 583 plate appearances across 135 games, both career highs by a long stretch.


He hit 14 home runs in 2023 in only 117 games. Amplify that out to 135 games and you get 18 home runs from a left-handed hitting corner outfielder who can play center field. He slugged 111 hits in 2023. Multiply that out and you get 128 hits, which would have finished 21st among all National League outfielders just behind Kyle Tucker. He walked 72 times in 2023, and if he would've played 135 games, he would've finished with 83 walks, a figure that would have placed him sixth among all National League outfielders last year.

What I'm getting at is that this surgery could actually fix Lars Nootbaar, and he could quickly become one of the best outfielders in the National League by the time the trade deadline rolls around. A left-handed hitting outfielder who can capably play all three positions and get on base at one of the best clips in the sport AND has an additional year of control following the 2026 season? Sign me up!

The article does have some validity . Once Noot is fully recovered and shows the rest of MLB he is healthy again, he may have a market at the trade deadline .

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/11/ ... ching.html

This article says if Bloom can't trade Donovan he will look to deal either Nootbar or Gorman. I assume that means prior to the season.

[82birds]

If you can get an offer for him now, trade him now.

doubtful, due to the surgeries

[Cardinals4Life]

Hopefully his performance does not suffer from an inability to work out during the offseason.

Not sure how much he will be able to stay in shape or improve his strength.

You mean no shirtless cage bombs this offseason? Dang!

[Jatalk]

He is just one of those guys that has talent but can’t stay in the field. Counting on guys like him or Walker as productive outfielders is just dumb.

[HorseTrader]

Noot is recovering from injury which typifies his career.
Don’t want to bash him but to me he is a platoon 4th OF on a good team.
Probably have no choice but to hang unto him until he is healthy(trade deadline?).
Hopefully he gets healthy and builds some value.
Fingers crossed.

But could the heels be the root cause of his past injuries? Pain in one area can cause you to adjust resulting in an injury in another area, Right?

[PadsFS07]

I still don’t think he will be worth much then due to his history so I’d rather trade him now and get something of value. Also we can move on from him for the 2026 season. There’s a real risk he regresses even further due to missing the offseason and spring training.

If that means Herrera or Burleson in LF, so be it. Nootbaar isn’t part of the future so I’d like them to free up the outfield reps so the guys can be ready to go in 2027.

[Cusecards]

Noot is recovering from injury which typifies his career.
Don’t want to bash him but to me he is a platoon 4th OF on a good team.
Probably have no choice but to hang unto him until he is healthy(trade deadline?).
Hopefully he gets healthy and builds some value.
Fingers crossed.

But could the heels be the root cause of his past injuries? Pain in one area can cause you to adjust resulting in an injury in another area, Right?

Could be.
But he really needs to step up if he is going to be a core player.
His defense is better than Donovan and Burleson but his bat is not.
With 2026 clearly being a “prove it” season for many just add him to the list. Fortunately none of those guys make big $$.

[Melville]

From article :

Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar could become one of the most wanted players at the 2026 trade deadline.
Let's pretend for a moment that this surgery does indeed "fix" Lars Nootbaar. Let's take his best offensive season, 2023, and amplify that over a nearly-healthy season like he had this past year when he made 583 plate appearances across 135 games, both career highs by a long stretch.


He hit 14 home runs in 2023 in only 117 games. Amplify that out to 135 games and you get 18 home runs from a left-handed hitting corner outfielder who can play center field. He slugged 111 hits in 2023. Multiply that out and you get 128 hits, which would have finished 21st among all National League outfielders just behind Kyle Tucker. He walked 72 times in 2023, and if he would've played 135 games, he would've finished with 83 walks, a figure that would have placed him sixth among all National League outfielders last year.

What I'm getting at is that this surgery could actually fix Lars Nootbaar, and he could quickly become one of the best outfielders in the National League by the time the trade deadline rolls around. A left-handed hitting outfielder who can capably play all three positions and get on base at one of the best clips in the sport AND has an additional year of control following the 2026 season? Sign me up!

The article does have some validity . Once Noot is fully recovered and shows the rest of MLB he is healthy again, he may have a market at the trade deadline .

The best time to trade Lars The Human Sushi-baar was 4 years ago - and 3 years ago, and 2 years ago, and one year ago - when I was the only person on the planet to correctly understanding and advise doing so each and every time.
Regrettably, the best option now is to trade him as quickly as possible for whatever return is available.
Delaying yet again would be a mistake - just has been true for the past 4 years.

[HorseTrader]

Noot is recovering from injury which typifies his career.
Don’t want to bash him but to me he is a platoon 4th OF on a good team.
Probably have no choice but to hang unto him until he is healthy(trade deadline?).
Hopefully he gets healthy and builds some value.
Fingers crossed.

But could the heels be the root cause of his past injuries? Pain in one area can cause you to adjust resulting in an injury in another area, Right?

Could be.
But he really needs to step up if he is going to be a core player.
His defense is better than Donovan and Burleson but his bat is not.
With 2026 clearly being a “prove it” season for many just add him to the list. Fortunately none of those guys make big $$.

For certain, he and others need to step up this year IF they are on the team.