The St. Louis Cardinals have made several trades this offseason, dumping veterans Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado and capitalizing on a chance to bring back a huge haul for All-Star Brendan Donovan. The plan for the future is finally in motion, and the Cardinals are set to continue their rebuild for the next few years.
There is still a chance that other trades could happen between now and the deadline, but the Cardinals might be wise to try and accomplish that before the season begins. On “Cardinal Territory”, franchise legends Matt Holliday and Lance Lynn shared that they believe more trades are coming.
If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.
What moves will Cardinals make next?
Sep 14, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher JoJo Romero (59) throws against the Milwaukee Brewers in the eighth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
The most obvious trade candidate is left-hander JoJo Romero. Holliday believes now is a good time to capitalize on his value.
“With relievers, it’s best to strike and optimize value coming off their best season,” Holliday said.
Lynn echoed the sentiments of his former teammate and also threw in another name that could make sense to trade.
“I mean it’s pretty obvious it’s a rebuild,” Lynn said. “There’s really no other way to say it. I think you’re just waiting for Lars [Nootbaar] and JoJo to be sent off, and I think if Lars didn’t have the surgery this offseason, he would already be gone, so maybe those are two pieces that you could package together this year during the trade deadline.
Romero is in the final year of his contract. Nootbaar still has two years left. But both players are near the end of their deals and could be trade candidates soon. It’s safe to assume that the Cardinals may not be done making moves just yet, and if the two are packaged together at the deadline, they could bring back a solid prospect or two.
However, if Romero is traded now, like Holliday suggested, the Cardinals could capitalize on his value at the best possible time, so there are options at Chaim Bloom’s disposal.
It will be interesting to see what St. Louis decides to do with these two players in the coming weeks. They could trade Romero now, but Nootbaar’s value could go up at the trade deadline, so there are a number of possible outcomes for this team.
More MLB: The Best and Worst-Case Scenarios Facing the 2026 Cardinals