The St. Louis Cardinals are preparing for a challenging and potentially lengthy rebuilding phase this offseason.
This rebuild is expected to kick off with some major roster changes. With Chaim Bloom taking over as the new president of baseball operations, the Cardinals may pursue several significant trades — including a potential blockbuster deal involving ace pitcher Sonny Gray, who has been a frequent subject of trade rumors in recent months.
Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer recently suggested a major trade scenario that would send Gray and top pitching prospect Tink Hence to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for promising young shortstop Marco Luciano.
Sonny Gray could be the perfect trade fit for the Giants
“Gray didn’t seem overly keen on waiving his no-trade clause last winter, but he’s already changed his tune ahead of the 2025-26 offseason.” Rymer wrote. “He’s a more valuable trade chip than Arenado on paper, but Gray signaling he wants out probably won’t do St. Louis’ bargaining power any favors.
“It feels a bit like the Minnesota Twins and Carlos Correa, who went back to the Houston Astros for basically nothing after making it clear he wanted out. This said, Luciano would not be a no-name return piece for the Cardinals. He was a top prospect as recently as last year, and he’s fresh off hitting 23 homers at the Triple-A level.”
This is a pretty even trade, all things considered.
The Cardinals might not want to part ways with Hence, but that’s the price they must pay in order to clear all of Gray’s contract off the books. This deal would save the team quite a bit of money in the shrot term. If Hence is the casualty to that idea, so be it.
But the Cardinals would also need to throw Hence in the deal to even the value and acquire a star infield prospect like Luciano.
The Giants don’t have a huge need for the young infielder, but St. Louis could use him, Masyn Winn, and JJ Wetherholt as their infield of the future. It would make the Cardinals a much better team in the long run, especially considering how Quinn Mathews, Liam Doyle, and Tekoah Roby could fill in for Hence.
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