Alec Burleson’s name surfaced plenty as the trade deadline approached, and the Cardinals outfielder made it clear that the chatter hit home.
Burleson said Friday on Foul Territory that being mentioned in rumors was tough to hear, especially because of how strongly he feels about St. Louis and the group around him. He has spent his entire five-season career with the Cardinals after being drafted by the club in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft, and he sounded like someone who wants that run to keep going.
"I was thinking about that at the trade deadline this year, obviously we're building towards something that is going to look really good in the next couple of years," Burleson said on Friday. "In the off chance this trade deadline that I was traded, it would have kind of hurt a little bit just to leave that.
I love St. Louis, my family loves St.
Louis, obviously all of the guys here I've played with - either we played in the minors together or we've been with the Cardinals in the big leagues for a while."
"On the off chance that I was traded at the deadline, it would've hurt."@AlecBurleson9 wants to see it through with the Cardinals. pic.twitter.com/xURZs2Quop
That reaction comes after a season that has pushed Burleson into a much bigger spotlight. The 27-year-old has been one of the Cardinals’ most reliable bats, turning in the best year of his career and looking more and more like a core piece in the process.
He’s hitting .291/.356/.488 with 21 home runs and a career-high 96 RBIs, which ties him with teammate Jordan Walker for second in the league. Burleson also leads the league in doubles and has done real work on the other side of the ball, too, pacing the league with more than 1,000 defensive putouts.
With two more years of team control remaining, Burleson was one of the names that kept coming up ahead of the deadline, particularly as St. Louis chose to sell. In the end, the Cardinals held onto him, and that decision says plenty about how they view his value.
If the organization didn’t see Burleson as part of what comes next, he likely would have been moved while his stock was so high. Instead, he stays in St. Louis, where he has become one of the faces of the franchise.
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