The 2026 season has been a pleasant surprise for the St. Louis Cardinals and their fans. Even after entering a rebuild, they’ve stayed in the NL wild card race, and Chaim Bloom now faces some tough trade-deadline choices.
The Cardinals still seem more likely to sell than buy for a second straight year, but their strong start has made the plan less straightforward. With the deadline approaching, St. Louis has time to decide whether to keep pushing this group forward or continue prioritizing the long-term rebuild.
Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report predicts that the Cardinals will make a deal with the Boston Red Sox and bring back their former ace, Sonny Gray.
“Gray recently told Tim Healey of The Boston Globe that he’d be willing to discuss waiving his no-trade clause again. And to hear it from Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the veteran righty might ‘love’ to get traded back to St. Louis,” Rymer wrote.
“These would have been ridiculous notions a few months ago, but not now. The Cardinals are a genuine surprise even without a stable rotation, and they know Gray could stabilize it. And since the Cardinals are already paying $20 million for Gray, adding his $31 million salary wouldn’t be as huge a payroll hit as it seems.”
Because of Gray’s contract, he likely will not cost too much in a trade. Therefore, Gray could make sense for the Cardinals if they truly want to make a push towards the playoffs.
Gray would give them an ace and somebody that can be trusted to start Game 1 of a playoff series. But it really depends on what the Cardinals want to do. Bloom has been very clear that he does not want to change directions, which means he will likely stick with the Cardinals’ current plan.
Unfortunately for the fanbase, that means a trade to bring back Gray is unlikely. In addition, the Cardinals will likely trade players such as Dustin May and JoJo Romero.
However, selling doesn’t necessarily mean that the Cardinals will be giving up on the season. Perhaps spots will be cleared for younger players, including outfielder Joshua Baez, who has been raking down at Triple-A Memphis.
It will be interesting to see what Bloom decides to do, but the chances of a Gray trade, as much as the fanbase would like it, are very slim simply because of where the Cardinals are as an organization.
