text: Should Cardinals check out Justin Smoak? | Belleville News-Democrat
  Should Cardinals check out Justin Smoak?
  I wonder if non-tendered first baseman Justin Smoak may be of interest to the St. Louis Cardinals.
  Smoak is only a .224 career hitter. But he's played almost all of his career at pitcher-friendly Safeco Field in Seattle. There he is a .205 hitter. But on the road Smoak is a .242 batter.
  A switch hitter, Smoak could fill in for first baseman Matt Adams against lefty starting pitchers or he could come off the bench in late innings as a pinch hitter. While his average hasn't been great, he's got some pop in his bat with 15 homers or more in three of his last four seasons.
  It would be something of a gamble. But Smoak, 27, was once a highly thought of prospect and he might benefit greatly from moving to the National League where the pitching is thought of as weaker than in the American League.