Cardinals Rumor Mill Shifts to 6-Year Veteran After Brendan Donovan

Do the St. Louis Cardinals have one more move up their sleeve this offseason?

With the way president of baseball operations, Chaim Bloom, and the rest of the front office have operated, nothing can be ruled out. It's been a long offseason, but the Cardinals have accomplished most of their goals already with roughly one week to go until Spring Training. Trading Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras has re-stocked the farm system, saved cash in the long run and opened up pathways to playing time for young guys, like JJ Wetherholt.

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With the offseason winding down, the Cardinals could enter camp with the roster as is and feel confident that they are trending in the right direction. If St. Louis wants to get another deal done, though, there are pieces to watch out for. MLB.com's Will Leitch shared a story breaking down the Cardinals' offseason moves and threw JoJo Romero's name out there as another guy who could be on the move.

Who is next for St. Louis?

Sep 16, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher JoJo Romero (59) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the eighth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | Joe Puetz-Imagn Images

"After 30 years of successful baseball in St. Louis, Cardinals fans certainly aren’t used to trading away players of Donovan’s caliber, not to mention Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado," Leitch wrote. "But unlike the last time Bloom was in charge of an organization -- when he had the unenviable task of trading Mookie Betts away from the Red Sox -- these moves are all logical and part of the larger plan. This is Bloom’s chance to get it right this time, and to do it his way.

"There may be another smaller trade or two coming -- JoJo Romero is a bullpen arm that many teams would love -- but the heavy lifting of the deconstruction process is now complete. The Cardinals have only two players (Romero and Lars Nootbaar) left over from last year’s team who aren’t under team control through the 2028 season. Everyone else is now part of the plan moving forward, or at least will have a chance to play their way into those plans."

Romero got a lot of buzz early in the offseason, but the rumors seemingly dried up as the club traded Arenado, Contreras, Gray and Donovan away. With the band-aid already ripped clean off, the Cardinals absolutely should consider trading the lefty. He had the best season of his career in 2025 and will be a free agent after the 2026 season. Romero's a six-year veteran with a 3.55 ERA. Someone surely will want that. If there was a time to cash in, it would be right now.

More MLB: Grading Each Cardinals Trade After Franchise-Altering Offseason