Chaim Bloom Adds More Fuel To Sonny Gray Trade Rumors

Sonny Gray's future with the St. Louis Cardinals is completely up in the air right now, but it sounds like there has been some progress made behind the scenes.

Gray is one of the two most talked-about members of the Cardinals, along with Nolan Arenado. That's because there has been an avalanche of trade rumors centered around the three-time All-Star. But, he has a no-trade clause, so he has the control in this scenario.

The veteran starter opted to stick around when rumors were loud last offseason and ahead of the trade deadline, but this offseason could be different. Towards the end of the season, Gray sounded open to a trade in the right situation.

Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom spoke about Gray and the interest in him around the league right now, as shared by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"Gray has expressed an interest in going to a team more likely to contend, and the Cardinals see a chance where they could get a strong return for the right-hander who is two years removed from a runnerup finish for the American League Cy Young Award," Goold said. "And in those two years, Gray, now 36, has seen an uptick in his strikeout rate to career bests and a decline in his walk rate.

The Cardinals ace is getting plenty of trade buzz

Sep 24, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) delivers a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images | Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

"We’ve definitely been listening on him,” Bloom said to Goold. “And, definitely, as you would imagine, any time you have a good player, you’re probably going to get some attention and people who are interested. That’s not a surprise. He’s still one of the better pitchers in the league. We value him very highly. Just where we are and thinking long-term we’ve talked to him and we feel there might be something that makes sense. We’ll continue to explore that.”

Bloom was pretty candid with his response about Gray. From his comments, it's clear that they have been looking around for potential deals and there has been interest out there. The fact that he also said "we feel there might be something that makes sense" is a bit different from previous comments he's made about Gray.

Earlier in the offseason, he spoke about the trade talks centered around Gray and Arenado, but made it sound like there was at least a chance the starter could return. The fact that he's now saying he thinks there's potentially something there that makes sense is certainly a sign that a move could be on the way.

Again, this is all contingent on Gray's no-trade clause. Last year, the Cardinals had a deal with the Houston Astros before Arenado shut it down. But, Bloom being so open about the possibility of a deal is new.

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