Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals' $113 Million Star Linked To Blockbuster Trade With Braves

Could the Cardinals trade Lars Nootbaar?
Zach Pressnell|
Mar 31, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Lars Nootbaar (21) celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images
Mar 31, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Lars Nootbaar (21) celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | Joe Puetz-Imagn Images

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St. Louis CardinalsAtlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves were recently dealt a huge blow to their roster. Offseason acquisition Jurickson Profar was suspended for 80 games as well as the postseason after failing a drug test for PEDs. The Braves need to replace Profar before their season completely falls apart.

How is this related to the Cardinals, you may ask? Well, FanSided's Jacob Mountz recently suggested the Braves should trade for St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar to replace Profar.

"Nootbaar is off to a red-hot start this season, hitting .421 with two home runs in his first 19 at-bats. His .560 on-base percentage places him fifth overall in OBP," Mountz wrote. "It is still early, but all signs are pointing to a breakout year for Nootbaar.

"The Cardinals have made no secret about their attempted rebuild. GM John Moleziak tried and failed to unload a single player this past offseason or shed payroll in the process. Instead, the Cardinals engaged in an arbitration battle against Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan. Nootbaar won his $2.95 million asking price while Donovan lost. This might prove to be a motive in moving Nootbaar this season."

Nootbaar is under team control for this season as well as 2026 and 2027. Once he hits free agency, Spotrac projects him to sign a massive $113 million deal, but there's a chance the Cardinals look to sign him to a contract extension before he gets there.

Either way, it wouldn't make much sense for St. Louis to trade him right now unless the Braves are willing to overpay by a lot to land him. St. Louis isn't far off from being a contender, so trading franchise pieces like Nootbaar just wouldn't make much sense.

More MLB: Cardinals' Controversial Offseason Decision Aging Like Fine Wine

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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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