St. Louis Cardinals’ Lars Nootbaar (28) has been mentioned as one of the trade candidates, making his participation in next year’s WBC (World Baseball Classic) uncertain.
U.S. outlet MLB Trade Rumors reported on the 28th (Korea time), “Brendan Donovan is a left-handed hitter who can play multiple defensive positions, so he is one of the players drawing a lot of trade interest this winter. But if the price is not high, the team could instead pivot to trading either Lars Nootbaar or Nolan Gorman.”
Nootbaar is an outfielder who has appeared in 527 major league games with a .242 batting average (1,682 at-bats, 407 hits), 58 home runs, 194 RBIs, 249 runs and 28 stolen bases, with an OPS of .747. He has been a core outfielder for St. Louis, and this year he played in 135 games with a .234 batting average (509 at-bats, 119 hits), 13 home runs, 48 RBIs, 68 runs, 4 stolen bases and an OPS of .686.
Nootbaar, whose mother is Japanese, played for Japan at the 2023 WBC and experienced a WBC championship. He could be selected again for the Japanese national team at the WBC to be held in March next year. However, Nootbaar’s standing within his team has narrowed compared with before.
Entering his fifth major league season this year, Nootbaar will be eligible for free agency after two seasons. Because his performance has been somewhat stagnant over the past two years, St. Louis may trade Nootbaar to find new talent.
MLB Trade Rumors wrote, “The Cardinals’ position seems clear. Donovan and Alec Burleson had far more productive seasons in 2025 than Gorman and Nootbaar, so naturally the latter two appear to have diminished roles in the team’s future plans,” and noted, “Nootbaar had been a consistent performer until before, but his performance plunged in 2025 as he struggled with injuries.”
Because of his uncertain role on the team and his injuries, Nootbaar’s participation on Japan’s WBC roster next year is uncertain. Japan has its top star Shohei Ohtani committed to the team, but it cannot be guaranteed that key pitchers such as Yamamoto Yoshinobu and Sasaki Roki (both Dodgers) will participate. Attention will be focused on whether the Japanese team, which won the 2006, 2009 and 2023 tournaments, can assemble a roster capable of contending for the title again next year.
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