The Winter Meetings have arrived, and activity could pick up across the league at any moment.
Executives from around baseball have gathered in Orlando, Florida, for a week filled with discussions, rumors, and—hopefully—significant moves. For St. Louis Cardinals fans, this could be an especially important stretch. With Sonny Gray already traded, the organization may see this as the perfect opportunity to pull off its next major deal.
Whether the Cardinals are able to get a trade — or two — done this week, we should at least hear more information. Back during the General Manager Meetings, Chaim Bloom spoke publicly about the team’s intentions. Throughout the week, we should also see things like that, as well as hopefully some deals.
The guys to watch this week shouldn’t shock Cardinals fans. Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, Nolan Gorman, JoJo Romero, Lars Nootbaar, etc. The list goes on. There isn’t a team in baseball that has been in trade rumors more than St. Louis. When it comes to Contreras specifically, Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller floated an intriguing prediction of the slugger to the New York Yankees.
“Both veterans have no-trade clauses, but The Athletic’s Katie Woo—who has also left the Cardinals for the Dodgers beat—previously reported that both Arenado and Contreras are much more open to waiving those clauses than they were a year ago,” Miller wrote. “The big question is which teams are most interested in acquiring them.
“For Contreras, certainly Boston would be interested, but the Yankees almost make too much sense, given their affinity in recent years for bringing in first basemen who are already into their mid-30s. The Bronx Bombers also have a stockpile of pitching prospects, which the Cardinals need badly enough to potentially retain a significant chunk of the $41.5M remaining on his deal.”
New York signed one first baseman from the Cardinals last offseason. Imagine back-to-back years? Paul Goldschmidt signed with the Yankees last offseason and had a solid, bounce-back season. Contreras is significantly better offensively at this point in his career and showed that he can play steady defense at the position in 2025.
Contreras signed a five-year, $87.5 million deal with St. Louis that has two seasons left, plus a club option in 2028. If the Cardinals could unload Contreras, that would go a very long way in trimming the payroll.
This is the type of hypothetical prediction the Cardinals should consider trying to make into reality.
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