Former Vanderbilt Baseball Star Insists St. Louis Cardinals Don't Need Rebuild

A former Vanderbilt Commodores baseball star has been the center of trade talks all offseason, but doesn't believe he needs to switch MLB teams to win games.

Pitcher Sonny Gray signed a three-year, $75 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals last offseason. His first year there was successful personally, but the team itself missed the playoffs and rumors of a rebuild have been rampant since.

Of course, any rebuild would likely see Gray get traded away. The team has actively shopped and even found a trade for fellow veteran Nolan Arenado, before that fell apart with him enacting his no-trade clause.

If it were up to Gray, though, the Cardinals would stick together and try to win with their current group of players.

When speaking to Lynn Worthy of STL Today earlier this week, the ace seemed entrenched in his thoughts that the team did not need to rebuild.

"I meant it when I said it last year, or a year and a half ago at this point, about us wanting to be here," said Gray about his family, per Lynn. "We do still want to be here.' There’s a still a lot of really talented players on the team, on the current roster."

That certainly doesn't sound like a player itching to get moved this offseason. St. Louis has clearly made an impact on Gray in his short time there.

The now 35-year-old has been in MLB since 2013 and is still searching for his first ring. The fact that he would be content sticking with the Cardinals in the last few years of his career certainly says something.

Still, the closest that he has come to winning a championship was as a member of the Commodores. He was a part of Vanderbilt's first College World Series team in 2011, but they fell to the Florida Gators in the tournament.

He was also a Cy Young runner-up as recently as 2023, so there is still some gas left in the tank.

Gray posted a 3.84 ERA with a 1.088 WHIP and 11.0 K/9 in St. Louis last season. As long as he is playing above average baseball, he could be a part of a contending team. That is just a piece of the puzzle, though.

The Cardinals finished 2024 with a 83-79 record last year in their second-straight season missing the playoffs. Paul Goldschmidt is already gone and Arenado seems increasingly likely to get moved.

They have also not made any additions to the roster as of now. Still, they have a fairly young group of stars that should improve in the offseason.

Only time will tell if Gray will get his wish and stick around in St. Louis. If he does get traded, ideally it would be to a team that could give him a real chance to finally win that ring.