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Cardinals slugger claimed off of waivers by Dodgers
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- Cardinals slugger claimed off of waivers by Dodgers
Cardinals slugger claimed off of waivers by Dodgers originally appeared on The Sporting News
After a rumor-filled couple of days leading up to the MLB trade deadline, the St. Louis Cardinals traded away top pitchers that included Ryan Helsley , Steven Matz , and Phil Maton in exchange for a group of young prospects that sets the team up for future success.
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The Cardinals weren't done making moves after the trade deadline, and designated 28-year-old slugger Luken Baker for assignment. The first baseman wasn't on waivers for long, as the Los Angeles Dodgers claimed Baker on Monday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported .
Baker has been in the Cardinals organization since 2018, after being drafted with the No. 75 overall pick in the MLB Draft. He's mostly played for the Cardinals' Triple-A affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds.
However, the 6-foot-4, 285-pound first baseman has a small amount of experience at the major league level. He was used mostly as a bench player for the Cardinals since 2023, coming in as a designated hitter or first baseman.
Baker has appeared in 72 games for the Cardinals since 2023, and in those games, he has a .201 batting average, .314 on-base percentage, .327 slugging percentage, and a .641 OPS while hitting four home runs and 22 RBI.
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St. Louis didn't have a spot for the prospect, with Alex Burleson having a career year at first base and Willson Contreras and Ivan Herrera taking most of the Cardinals' designated hitter at-bats.
The move clears another roster spot for the St. Louis Cardinals. Baker will likely report to the Los Angeles Dodgers' minor league system with a chance of getting spot starts if they continue to struggle with keeping players healthy.
