Cardinals Insider Drops Trade Update After Willson Contreras Swap

The St. Louis Cardinals have plenty of firepower at their disposal on the trade market, despite dealing Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras away already.

Brendan Donovan remains among the most popular trade candidates in baseball. JoJo Romero is a high-end reliever on the trade block. Nolan Arenado, even coming off a tough season, is an eight-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove Award winner and should have a market.

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With Contreras out the door, MLB.com's John Denton shed some light on the Cardinals' trade market and reported that a "double-digit" number of teams have called about Donovan and Romero. Denton also noted that the team currently is listening on outfielder Lars Nootbaar as well.

The Cardinals have already made two big trades

Sep 19, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Lars Nootbaar (21) hits a one run single against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

"The Cardinals, who have missed the playoffs each of the past three seasons, continue to hold trade talks surrounding All-Star second baseman Brendan Donovan, lefty relief specialist JoJo Romero, 10-time Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado and veteran outfielder Lars Nootbaar," Denton wrote. "A double-digit number of teams have inquired about Donovan and Romero, per a source, and those potential trades could net St. Louis a higher grade of prospects in return to fuel its rebuilding process."

The fact that Denton brought up Nootbaar is interesting, especially after Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom noted that the team is looking for some righty pop, potentially for the outfield.

If you don't include Donovan -- who can play all over the place -- the Cardinals' outfield currently includes Nootbaar, Victor Scott II, and Jordan Walker, with Nathan Church as a depth option. Alec Burleson can also play in the outfield, but he will get a lot of time at first base in 2026 with Contreras gone. Even if the Cardinals don't trade Nootbaar, adding another depth outfielder would make sense.

If the Cardinals do flip Nootbaar, then that idea becomes a necessity.

Nootbaar had surgery on both of his heels this offseason to help fix Haglund's deformities. Arguably, it would make sense to keep him into the 2026 season as his trade value isn't at its peak right now and he won't be a free agent until after the 2027 season, so there isn't necessarily a rush right now.

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