Inside The Cardinals

Ridiculous Cardinals-Rays Trade Idea Sends Masyn Winn To Tampa Bay

Masyn Winn is not on the trade block.
Zach Pressnell|
May 9, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) and Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar (21) celebrate with teammates in the dugout after both score runs on a double by St. Louis Cardinals first base Willson Contreras (not pictured) against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
May 9, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) and Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar (21) celebrate with teammates in the dugout after both score runs on a double by St. Louis Cardinals first base Willson Contreras (not pictured) against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

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St. Louis CardinalsTampa Bay Rays

The St. Louis Cardinals don't have many players on their roster who would be truly untouchable at the trade deadline, but surging young shortstop Masyn Winn might be the most untouchable player within the organization.

Still, Zachary Howell of ClutchPoints recently suggested the Tampa Bay Rays could target Winn in a blockbuster trade that makes almost zero sense.

"Taylor Walls is off to a great start in the field for Tampa Bay, holding a DWAR of 1.3 as of May 15. However, his performance at the plate is underwhelming. He is batting .200 with just one home run so far this season," Howell wrote. "At a position as crucial as shortstop, the Rays need more contribution at the plate from that spot in their lineup. Come playoff time, Walls fits much better as a defensive replacement, not the everyday shortstop.

"Masyn Winn isn’t the fielder that Walls is, but he is a much better offensive player. The 23-year-old is batting .281 and has five homers so far in 2025. He is part of the youth movement for the St. Louis Cardinals along with Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar."

There's so much to dissect here.

First of all, to suggest that Winn is a much worse fielder than Walls is ridiculous. Winn leads Walls in outs above average, and they're tied in fielding run value, per Baseball Savant. The Cardinals' shortstop is one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball. If (and it's a big "if") Walls is the better defender, it's not by much.

Secondly, there's no way the Cardinals would ever entertain the idea of trading Winn this season.

If St. Louis is contending and opts to buy, Winn is obviously safe on the roster. If the Cardinals opt to sell and rebuild, Winn is going to be a huge piece of the future of the franchise.

It makes no sense to even listen to trade offers for the 23-year-old phenom shortstop.

More MLB: Cardinals Could Trade $81 Million Pitcher To Loaded NL Contender

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Zach Pressnell
ZACH PRESSNELL

Zach Pressnell has experience covering all major US sports at both the professional and collegiate levels. He’s produced content for FanSided, Blog Red Machine, The Game Haus, Bethany College Athletics and the Bethany College online newspaper, He graduated from Bethany College (WV) with a degree in Communications and Media Arts, specializing in Sports Journalism. Pressnell was also a four-year member of the baseball team where he earned himself All-PAC recognition as a pitcher (and a cool Tommy John surgery scar). Now, Pressnell specializes in NFL and MLB coverage for Sports Illustrated’s “On SI” network among others. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "St. Louis Cardinals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

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