The St. Louis Cardinals finished their season with an 83-79 record, but still fell short of the postseason for the fifth time in the last nine seasons.
As a result, St. Louis looks prepared to kickstart a rebuild and might be willing to ship off some of their high-priced veteran such as Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado.
Contreras could net them a very strong return with plenty of young talent coming back to St. Louis. Josh Jacobs of FanSided listed the Houston Astros as a possible trade partner.
"The Astros stand out here again as well, as if they want to continue to compete at a high level next year, their lineup likely needs a new right-handed presence in it. They had interest in trading for Contreras at the 2023 trade deadline but balked due to him needing to learn their pitching staff."
While the Astros have Yainer Diaz behind the plate, they could still find a spot for Contreras, possibly as the designated hitter. Alex Bregman is also likely to depart, so they'll need a bat.
As for St. Louis, they could bring back some very strong young talent, especially on the pitching side. Hunter Brown is somebody that could instantly help the St. Louis rotation. Forrest Whitley is another arm that could help and could do so in the bullpen.
With Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, Keynan Middleton and Andrew Kittredge free agents and Ryan Helsley also a trade candidate, St. Louis could use all the help they can get on the pitching side that could bring them back to contention by 2026.
It's clear that 2025 is going to be a transitional year for the Cardinals and not one in which contending is at the forefront. It would be best to maximize their returns for players such as Contreras.
We'll see how they attack their rebuild.
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