The St. Louis Cardinals will be making noise this offseason. Several players are likely to be traded.
This includes Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan. Gray and Donovan could bring back solid returns for St. Louis as they try to reset their roster for the future and build a younger team. It won’t be a complete teardown, but the Cardinals will be going in a different direction.
Will Leitch of MLB.com recently made a case for and against trading several Cardinals veterans. For Gray, Leitch had a very interesting case to keep him rather than trade him away.
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Cardinals Likely To Trade Sonny Gray, But Is It The Right Move?
Aug 10, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
“The larger question is: If the Cardinals trade Gray, how in the world are they going to fill out a rotation in 2026? The rest of the rotation is Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante, Michael McGreevy and (maybe) Kyle Leahy, all guys in their 20s who are far from proven. The Cardinals might not prioritize winning the World Series in 2026, but going into the season with a rotation of those guys is a recipe for last place,” Leitch wrote.
Without Gray, the Cardinals could be in trouble. Even though they are rebuilding, it would make sense to keep Gray around to have not only a veteran leader in the clubhouse, but an established pitcher to lead the rotation.
The Cardinals will likely look to add a starter in free agency if Gray goes and are expected to look into young, controllable options in trades. But neither would come close to replicating what Gray brings to the table, and they aren’t going to be big players for arms such as Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease and Ranger Suarez unless their markets stall.
So, instead of trading their ace and hoping to find another one, St. Louis might be best off simply keeping Gray as the leader of their rotation for 2026.
He does have a no-trade clause and did express a willingness to waive it for the right team at the end of the season, but the Cardinals do need someone proven in their mix, or it will spell disaster for 2026.
Gray will be an interesting case this offseason, but there is certainly a lot of sense in keeping him for one more year.
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