By Chris Brown / STL Baseball Today | @cbrown_STLBBT | Dec. 9, 2015, 5:52 pm CT
By Keith Allison / CC Image / No changes made
Just hours after he was traded to the San Diego Padres in exchange for infielder Jedd Gyorko and cash on Tuesday, long-time Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay took to Instagram to express his gratitude to the Cardinals organization and its fans:
“Cardinal Nation, what a run its been! Thank you St Louis for the past 6 years. To the St Louis Cardinals Organization- Thank you for giving a kid from Miami a chance to pursue his dreams. They say you are who you surround yourself with and so much of who I have become is because of the players, coaches, and people that I have had the pleasure to be around since 2006. I will be forever grateful for the friendships and relationships that I have developed over the years. Thank You to the FANS for all of your love and support. I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my life and career in San Diego.”
Jay also talked about reflecting on his time wearing the birds on the bat with MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch:
“Today, I just started to think about the guys I was able to play with and learn from — from Tony La Russa to Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltran and Rafael Furcal and Chris Carpenter, guys that I got to learn the game from and all this tradition,” Jay said. “That’s the sad part. But the positive part is I now have a good opportunity in San Diego. Going into the winter, I knew this was a possibility.”
Drafted in the second round of the 2006 Amateur Draft by St. Louis, Jay was one of the longest tenured Cardinals, making his major league debut in 2010. The 30-year-old outfielder, a popular figure among fans, hit .297 from 2011-2014, spending much of that time as the club’s starting center fielder, before a rough 2015 season in which he lost playing time to rookies Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty.
Read more on the trade here.
More from STL Baseball Today:
Cardinals trade Jon Jay to San Diego for infielder Jedd Gyorko
Report: Cardinals “looking closely” at free agent starter Mike Leake
