Cardinals trade Grichuk to Blue Jays for Leone, Greene

For the second time this offseason, the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals have made a trade.

The Cardinals dealt outfielder Randal Grichuk to the Blue Jays on Friday in exchange for right-handed reliever Dominic Leone and right-handed pitching prospect Conner Greene.

Grichuk is coming off a down season in which he hit .238/.285/.473 with 133 strikeouts in 122 games, but still hit 22 home runs and 25 doubles, while also stealing six bases. The 26-year-old fell down the Cardinals' depth chart this winter following the acquisition of Marcell Ozuna, and was disappointed to head into the spring as the club's fourth outfielder.

He's capable of playing all three outfield positions and is set to earn $2.8 million in 2018. He's under team control through the 2020 season.

"Athleticism, youth, control, plays multiple positions, power - actually, our objective and subjective information is very, very good on him defensively," Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said, according to Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet. "There's a lot to like."

Leone is coming off the best season of his brief four-year career, having posted a 2.56 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 81 strikeouts in 70 1/3 innings. The 26-year-old is on track to earn $1.085 million in 2018 and isn't set to hit free agency until 2022. The Cardinals were in need of a late-inning reliever with Seung-Hwan Oh and Trevor Rosenthal hitting free agency.

Greene was ranked No. 11 in Toronto's system by MLB Pipeline. The 22-year-old is coming off a poor season with Double-A New Hampshire after going 5-10 with a 5.29 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, and 92 strikeouts in 132 2/3 innings (25 starts).

The Cardinals traded infielder Aledmys Diaz to the Blue Jays in December for outfield prospect J.B. Woodman.