5 Cardinals players most likely to be traded at this year's Winter Meetings

The St. Louis Cardinals have been quiet so far this offseason, but most within the industry expect things to pick up for them on the trade market very soon, with the Winter Meetings possibly accelerating a number of trade scenarios for them.

While John Mozeliak is not expected to go out and make a splashy move in free agency or being "buyers" on the trade market, the Cardinals do have a number of players on their roster who they could shop for varying returns to help accelerate their reset. In the case of most of these names, it would be in the best interest of the club to pursue trades, as holding onto these names does not hold as much value as dealing them would.

Here are the five Cardinals who are most likely to be traded at this year's Winter Meetings

Steven Matz

The oft-injured lefty is being shopped by the Cardinals this offseason, and while Steven Matz's tenure in St. Louis has been a failure, the state of the pitching market still allows for him to be a trade piece with some value.

No, we aren't talking about a return that is going to blow you away, but with a salary of just $12.5 million in 2025, teams will be hard-pressed to find veteran starting pitchers who cost less than Matz or do not require them handing out multi-year deals to acquire.

Matthew Boyd, who has a very similar track record as Matz over the past few years, signed a two-year, $29 million deal with the Chicago Cubs this past week. Frankie Montas just got two years, $34 million from the New York Mets, and Yusei Kikuchi signed a three-year, $63 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels. Pitching is not cheap!

Matz really struggled in 2024 when he was healthy, and he was only able to cover 44.1 innings over the course of the season. While Matz had a very similar season back in 2022, his second season in St. Louis did show some encouraging signs. Matz started the year poorly and was sent to the bullpen as a result. After finding a ton of success there, Matz made seven starts in July and August, boasting a sub-2.00 ERA in his return to the rotation before a season-ending injury.

Overall, Matz finished the 2023 season with a 3.86 ERA in 105 innings pitched. The workload was not good enough, but production would be well worth $12.5 million if he can recapture that and stay on the mound.

A number of teams could find interest in Matz this offseason, depending on how free agency and the rest of the trade market shakes out. Contending teams with large payrolls could see Matz as a somewhat inexpensive addition to bolster their starting pitching or bullpen depth for the 2025 season. Teams who operate on smaller budgets and cannot get into bidding wars for free-agent starters could see Matz as an upside play as well.