TAMPA, Fla. — From behind a pair of pastel-colored sunglass lenses only he could pull off, Harrison Bader said there are some emotions he prefers to keep to himself for now.
He had just strolled into the Yankees’ clubhouse at George M. Steinbrenner Field for a spring training baseball reunion that would stir all sorts of feelings. Most were warm. Some, bittersweet.
Just 11 months ago, Bader stood outside of the Cardinals’ spring clubhouse at Roger Dean Stadium nearly 200 miles west of here and said he hoped a newly signed two-year extension with the Cardinals was just the start. The New York native had become smitten with St. Louis since debuting as a 23-year-old pro in 2017. Cardinals fans returned the love. Bader said that day he hoped to spend his whole career in red.
Baseball, like life, can change fast. On Wednesday, Bader wore pinstriped pants and hit sixth in a Yankees lineup that looked similar to what manager Aaron Boone will write down on opening day. Bader is Boone’s center-field starter. His elite defense is now used to cover the green space between giant Giancarlo Stanton and near-Giant Aaron Judge. Great spot. But for the first time Wednesday, it was a spot that looked across the way at his old team.
“I’ve never been on this side of it,” Bader said.
In a world of premature and over-caffeinated trade grades, a deal like the one that sent Bader to the Yankees is an outlier. "Unique," described Cardinals general manager Michael Girsch, who led the Cardinals' side of the trade-deadline transaction. This was not a buyer-seller swap. Both teams were headed to the postseason and looking to be more dangerous there. And neither one was very interested in getting fleeced by true sellers for prized prospects. Two strong teams found a way to get better. No one saw it coming until it was done. And so far, both teams like the results.
“When you are a winning team trying to compete, no one asks which of your big league players are you going to trade away for another player,” said Girsch, who accompanied the Cardinals to Tampa. "It’s not the normal course. It just worked out that we had excess and needs that lined up and made sense. We weren’t running around shopping guys."
The Cardinals continue to be thrilled with Jordan Montgomery since the left-hander arrived from the Yankees and instantly upgraded the rotation. He went 6-3 with a 3.11 ERA in 11 starts (63.2) innings, then delivered 2.2 scoreless innings in the team’s brief postseason. The pending free agent has millions of reasons to do everything in his power to provide an encore performance.
"We needed Jordan Montgomery,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Wednesday. “And we are counting on him big this year."
"There are times," Marmol added, "that you give away a good player that you like for another good player that you like."
While the Yankees probably regret making Montgomery expendable so they could add Frankie Montas and his injury issues, they are benefitting from what Bader brings. His speed and defense, when healthy, are elite. And his bat can boom at times, which is a plus but not a demand in a thunderous Yankees lineup. The plantar fasciitis that shelved him and restarted the Cardinals outfield churn anew is no longer holding him back. He cranked five home runs in nine postseason games for the Yankees before they were knocked out by Houston in the ALCS.
“It was definitely a waiting game, and in this game, you don’t want to wait around,” Bader said. “If there is a game being played, I want in it. Tough pill to swallow. But I trusted the staff I was surrounded by. They did an incredible job managing my expectations, and I was excited to go out there and show my new team what I was made of. Again, it really comes down to getting healthy. I’ve never dealt with something so intense that was so debilitating. I don’t feel it at all anymore. It’s completely gone away."
Had Bader’s foot not barked and stalled his center-field starts in St. Louis, who knows what would have happened. He doesn’t regret what he said about hoping to be a Cardinal for life, even while acknowledging this new experience is pretty special, too. He studied Cardinals history and made a point to know its legends. He didn’t have to study Yankees history. He absorbed it growing up.
“You really become attached to an organization and a city,” Bader said. “I made those remarks because I saw what the league was like, and the tradition and history in the organization and city, and everything just felt really, really good. I was really grateful for an opportunity to be part of such a powerful, positive organization. And now, I’m really grateful to be a part of two organizations that have such a winning past, a winning mentality that carries through the present day and the future.”
Bader shared a long hug with his beloved Cardinals outfield coach Willie McGee as the two teams crossed paths during batting practice. He and old teammate Dylan Carlson talked bats. There were handshakes with many, including Marmol, and he offered a word of advice for the next Cardinals outfielder to make center field his home.
“Tell him to get on his horse,” he said.
Bader and Girsch got a chance to catch up. No hard feelings. Just warm wishes.
“Such a good kid,” Girsch said. “So beloved in the organization. I want him to do well.”
Agreed.
