Last offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals made one addition to their Major League roster, signing reliever Phil Maton (who was pretty good!) on March 15. That was it.
Meanwhile, all of the buzz that the team might trade some of its veteran talent amounted to nothing. Even Nolan Arenado, who seemed like the most likely of those players to move, stayed put. (Not for lack of effort by the Cardinals, as Arenado used his no-trade clause to veto an agreement St. Louis had reached with Houston.) It turned out to be a very quiet winter.
That will very much not be the case this offseason. In fact, there may be no team more active than the Cardinals, led by new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom (who has had two seasons with the organization now to assess matters and start rebuilding the farm system). This is a team that has all sorts of roster redundancies to address and a multiyear plan to begin putting in place. The John Mozeliak era is over. Bloom is here. Big things are about to happen.
The immediate question remains, though: How many big things? The Cardinals have several veterans on their roster who seem like candidates to be shipped elsewhere, but they present different cases. Some have no-trade clauses that complicate the situation; some could still help next year’s roster compete in the NL Central; some could still be part of the next excellent Cardinals team, even if it’s beyond 2026.
With that in mind, here’s a look at five key Cardinals, and the case for Bloom trading each … or keeping each. (Players are listed in alphabetical order.)
3B Nolan Arenado
The case for trading: Considering the Cardinals spent most of last offseason trying to ship off Arenado, the case is rather self-evident here. Arenado is still splendid defensively, but his bat has regressed significantly. His 2025 numbers were the worst of his career, nearly across the board. The Cardinals still owe him $37 million over the next two seasons — that’s not counting the $5 million the Rockies still owe him — which is way too much for a 34-year-old guy coming off a season with an 87 OPS+.
The Cardinals also need an open spot on their infield, with top prospect (No. 5 overall) JJ Wetherholt primed to make a push for the Opening Day roster. Clearing room at third base also would give the Cardinals the option of installing Nolan Gorman there. And more to the point: Considering the Cardinals pulled Arenado in the final game of the year so he could get a goodbye ovation from the Busch Stadium crowd, it’s pretty clear that everybody is ready to move on. That goes for both Arenado waiving his no-trade clause and the Cardinals covering a significant chunk of his contract to make a deal happen. It’s time.
The case for keeping: Well, that is a lot of money to eat. And trading him reduces the likelihood of him wearing a Cardinals hat on his Hall of Fame plaque? But there isn’t much question here: If the Cardinals can find a taker — which, it should be said, is no certainty — they’ll send him off.
1B Willson Contreras
The case for trading: There are two more years left on Contreras’ deal, and the rate is reasonable, at $18 million/$18.5 million (plus a $17.5 million club option for 2028, with a $5 million buyout). Most importantly, the guy can still hit: He has put up a 127 OPS+ in his three years in a Cardinals uniform since leaving the Cubs. He has struggled with injuries, but that’s mostly because he was a catcher; he’s not anymore, with the Cardinals moving him off the position last year, when he played in 135 games (120 at first base, 15 at DH).
Contreras is not a bad first baseman — the 33-year-old certainly didn’t look like a guy playing there for the first time — and he hits well enough to hold down the position and make that salary a reasonable deal. That means the Cardinals might actually be able to get a helpful long-term piece for him. Also, trading Contreras would open first base for Alec Burleson or, potentially, Iván Herrera.
The case for keeping: Contreras is beloved by his teammates. He’s weathered all sorts of madness since getting to St. Louis, and it has not affected his play one bit. And he is on the record as saying he wants to remain a Cardinal. That’s not idle talk either: He does, after all, have a no-trade clause.
2B Brendan Donovan
The case for trading: The Cardinals have no better trade chip. Donovan was the Cardinals’ lone All-Star this year, and, despite nagging injuries, he was terrific. He has played just about anywhere on the diamond (mostly second base and left field), he’s under team control for two more seasons, and there is a sense that he’s this close to combining his on-base skills (.361 career OBP) with some burgeoning power entering his age-29 season.
He’s also — and this is one of those ineffable things — an undeniable “gamer,” someone who makes every team he’s on considerably better: Think of him like Tommy Edman, but a considerably better hitter and with a lot more upside. If the Cardinals are looking for a player who will bring back the most in a trade, it’s Donovan. He could fill many, many holes in that farm system. Per Mark Feinsand’s report from last week’s GM Meetings, Donovan is “drawing a lot of interest and seems likely to be traded.”
The case for keeping: He’s their best player, first off. He’s also probably their most popular, one who has come up in the Cardinals’ system and one Cardinals fans have come to love. Trading him is essentially an admission that the Cardinals aren’t trying that hard to contend for the next two years. Considering they already haven’t made the playoffs in three years, that might be a hard pill to swallow for the fan base.
SP Sonny Gray
The case for trading: Gray isn’t a Cy Young candidate anymore, but he’s still a reliable, effective starter with strikeout stuff: He has struck out more than 200 batters two years in a row. He also is a free agent after this season, meaning a team which needs a veteran starting pitcher but doesn’t want to commit for multiple years has an option right there, at a high but not absurd $35 million. He’s not a part of the Cardinals’ long-term plans, which means if they can get anything for the 36-year-old righty, they should. Bloom has said the team has “definitely been listening” on Gray.
The case for keeping: Gray also has a no-trade clause, but he has said he’d be willing to lift it for the right deal. But the larger question is: If the Cardinals trade Gray, how in the world are they going to fill out a rotation in 2026? The rest of the rotation is Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante, Michael McGreevy and (maybe) Kyle Leahy, all guys in their 20s who are far from proven. The Cardinals might not prioritize winning the World Series in 2026, but going into the season with a rotation of those guys is a recipe for last place … and an open question as to how they will even get through the season. Without Gray, the Cardinals have zero starters they can count on. And there’s 162 games to make it through.
OF Lars Nootbaar
The case for trading: It might be time for a change of scenery. After the last World Baseball Classic, in which Nootbaar became a folk hero in Japan for a terrific tournament, he came into the 2023 season looking like someone who could be a star in St. Louis. He got on base, he could run, he could play a terrific corner outfield and Statcast metrics argued there was a lot of power to be released in that bat. But it hasn’t really happened over the past three seasons, thanks mostly to injuries and a rapidly rising strikeout rate. Nootbaar is only 28 and has two years of team control remaining, so perhaps another team thinks it can unlock his potential.
The case for keeping: NOOOOOOT. Cardinals fans haven’t made a lot of noise the last couple of years, but they always belt out a NOOOOOT every time Nootbaar comes to the plate; he remains among the most popular players on the team. And with his injury issues, the Cardinals would definitely be selling low. Should they let him start the season hot and then revisit at the Trade Deadline?
The rest
There are other Cardinals who could theoretically be on the block, by the way. There doesn’t seem to be a position for Gorman, though it sure seems like the Cardinals would be selling low on him. The same goes for Jordan Walker, who had a nightmare 2025 but is still only 23 years old.
The Cardinals currently have a lot of catchers; Yohel Pozo and Pedro Pagés could be on the block, especially if they want to commit to Jimmy Crooks and/or give Herrera more starts behind the plate, as they claimed at the end of the season.
But again: It’s all up in the air. Anything could happen. The Cardinals are about to look extremely different, for the first time in a long time. Many Cardinals fans might argue it is long overdue.
