Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Likely To Hold Onto Two Rumored Trade Chips

The Cardinals have a few intriguing trade chips to look into.
Zach Pressnell|
May 2, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) waits on the mound as manager Oliver Marmol (37) walks out to remove him from the game against the New York Mets during the fifth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
May 2, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) waits on the mound as manager Oliver Marmol (37) walks out to remove him from the game against the New York Mets during the fifth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have a few intriguing trade chips on their roster including a trio of starting pitchers: Erick Fedde, Sonny Gray, and Miles Mikolas.

While Fedde makes a lot of sense as a potential trade chip, it's not as likely the Cardinals will trade Gray or Mikolas. The duo of Gray and Mikolas both have no-trade clauses on their respective contracts, which makes the idea of trading them a bit more difficult.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today recently reported Mikolas and Gray wouldn't waive their no-trade clauses this season, which would indicate both starting pitchers will remain on the roster for the rest of the season.

"Rival teams would love to get their hands on Cardinals starters Sonny Gray and Miles Mikolas, but they have full no-trade clauses, and have no interest in waiving them," Nightengale wrote.

While both pitchers make sense as trade pieces for the Cardinals, if they're unwilling to waive their no-trade clauses, there's no reason to talk about the idea any further. This duo will likely remain with St. Louis for the rest of the season unless something drastically changes in the coming weeks.

Still, the Cardinals could look to trade Fedde among other top players. Fedde will likely net a decent return for St. Louis, but the star of the show could be closer Ryan Helsley, who's expected to be dealt this season, too.

If the Cardinals can find the right package for their flame throwing closer, they should be able to land multiple top prospects to boost their farm system. They're going to need to get creative if they can't trade Gray or Mikolas.

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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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