3 Cardinals whose trade value has risen, 2 who've seen it plummet to start the season

Phil Maton's trade value has risen

The Cardinals' only free agent signing of the winter is already subject to trade rumors, and while he might not be very happy about it, it's the right posture for the Cardinals to have as the season goes on.

When it comes to the Cardinals' frozen offseason, there were only two things that really upset me. First was their unwillingness to move pieces from the roster. Arenado, Contreras, and Gray were all in their own unique situations because of their no-trade clauses, but Fedde, Helsley, and others could have easily been moved. They chose not to.

I was not upset that the Cardinals were not aggressive in adding to their roster for 2025, except for the bullpen. Their unwillingness to add relievers to that mix was malpractice on multiple fronts.

First, even though I disagree with their desire to "surprise" people this year and try to win more games than most fans expect them to, they needed to fortify the bullpen in order to do that. They were blessed with an incredible group last year, but if we know one thing about bullpens, it is that they are not reliable year over year. They are easily the most volatile group in baseball, and so trusting mostly the same group to get the job done again was a mistake.

Second, one of the easiest ways to build value for the future as a rebuilding or resetting club is by adding low-cost relievers in hopes of flipping them at the trade deadline. Sometimes, teams will strike gold and flip a one-year, low-cost reliever and get a core piece for their future in return (like when the Royals got Cole Ragans for Aroldis Chapman). Most of the time, clubs don't get a star like that in return, but any prospects or value for a future year they can receieve is a major win.

So far in 2025, Maton has been a steal for the price they signed him for during spring training. In 15 appearances (12.2 innings of work), Maton has a 2.47 ERA and 1.47 FIP, boasting a 30.4 K% and posting a 0.95 WHIP in the process. He's been one of the best relievers in all of baseball, and he'll be someone a ton of contenders are coveting come the trade deadline (or even before that).

Maton has been pretty vocal about the chip he has on his shoulder from teams not being interested in him this offseason, and that is working out in the Cardinals' favor in a big way. All 29 other teams have to be shaking their heads at the miss it was not to sign him, and there'll likely be 10+ teams who are looking to add him to their bullpen via trade as the season moves along.

If Maton sees regression, he'll still be a trade chip for the Cardinals. But as of right now, he has raised his stock by a lot, and that is good news for this Cardinals organization.