2 teams have emerged as trade suitors for Cardinals' Lars Nootbaar

In what is expected to be an active offseason for the St. Louis Cardinals, Lars Nootbaar has turned into a peculiar trade candidate.

Two years away from free agency and a subject of trade interest from teams around the league in prior years, the combination of his worst year as a big leaguer and surprise offseason surgery has complicated his perceived value around the industry.

Even so, the Cardinals are expected to continue to listen to potential trades when it comes to Nootbaar, and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has now named at least two teams that have already expressed interest in the Cardinals' outfielder.

The Texas Rangers and another American League team have expressed interest in Cardinals' Lars Nootbaar

When discussing where the Cardinals stand heading into the GM meetings this week, Goold wrote that both Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan have drawn interest from multiple teams, and he got more specific with those suitors when addressing Nootbaar.

"Before he had surgery on both feet to address painful growths on his heels, Nootbaar had been the subject of initial interest from the Texas Rangers and at least one other American League team."

It's important to note that Goold said that the Rangers and this other American League team expressed interest in Nootbaar prior to his offseason surgery, so it is unclear how much that news and his uncertain recovery timeline will impact both their interest as well as what they'd be willing to offer to go after Nootbaar.

The Rangers and Cardinals have experience making deals together over the last few seasons, as St. Louis sent Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton to Texas in 2023 and Phil Maton at the 2025 trade deadline. Skip Schumaker is taking over as the club's manager in 2026, and he was Nootbaar's bench coach in 2022 when he had his breakout campaign.

Texas missed the playoffs in 2025 but would love to get back into the mix next season, and Nootbaar could be a key piece to them rebuilding their offense.

There are a host of other teams from the American League that could be a fit for Nootbaar as well. Both the Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics asked for Nootbaar in trades back during the 2022-2023 offseason, and other contenders like the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, or others could find Nootbaar to be an upgrade for them as well. There will likely be teams in the National League who line up as suitors as well.

I think the biggest question that Chaim Bloom will have to answer this offseason is not whether teams are interested in Nootbaar, but rather what he believes he needs in return for Nootbaar to part ways with him. It's clear that St. Louis would be selling "low" on Nootbaar right now, and there's a good argument for holding onto him, letting him rebuild value in 2026, and either flipping him at the deadline or next offseason. But the Cardinals have also been burned by holding onto guys like Tyler O'Neill and Dylan Carlson at similar inflection points, and just seeing their value plummet even further.