Cardinals Expected To Make Big Offseason Moves As Trade Rumors Swirl

The Cardinals could make a few big moves in the offseason...

Sep 19, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) celebrates with first baseman Alec Burleson (41) after the Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals are headed for a rebuild this offseason. They seemingly took the first few steps toward this rebuild at the trade deadline. They made a few trades to ship off expiring veterans in exchange for some prospects.

This offseason, there are a few players on the Cardinals who could wind up on the trade block.

Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller recently suggested the Cardinals would be very active on the trade market this offseason, with a lot of players potentially being moved during the winter months.

Cardinals could be very active on the trade market in the offseason

Sep 19, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

"Likewise, the Cardinals find themselves in no man's land after back-to-back years of doing next to nothing to pick a lane," Miller wrote. "They could put Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado, Lars Nootbaar and others on the trade block in the name of starting over under new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom. Or they could keep that core in place while making a run at, say, Cody Bellinger and Michael King to help get them out of this .500-ish rut and back to the top of the NL Central.

"Since the name of the game here is making predictions, my guess is that both teams do more selling than buying, but neither quite approaches completely throwing in the towel like the A's did in March 2022. But if either team decides to go for it—particularly Minnesota, as the AL Central looks wide open again for 2026—we wouldn't be terribly surprised."

Sonny Gray makes a lot of sense as a trade candidate. Moving him would clear some money for the Cardinals while also opening a spot in the big leagues for a much younger prospect pitcher.

Nolan Arenado is in a similar boat to Gray. Trading him would be tough because of his no-trade clause and large contract, but it would be best for St. Louis. Getting rid of Arenado would clear some money and allow a prospect like Thomas Saggese or JJ Wetherholt to take over.

Players like Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbaar could make sense, too.

Either way, making some big trades would make a lot of sense for the Cardinals. It's going to be much better for the team in the long run.

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