5 teams who could entice Cardinals' Willson Contreras to waive his no-trade clause

Texas Rangers

While the Seattle Mariners are an aspiring championship-caliber team, the Texas Rangers reached the ultimate goal just a few years ago in 2023, and Contreras could be a part of helping them get back to World Series contention.

Although the Rangers missed the postseason the last two years, they still have a ton of talent on their roster. Their position player group is led by studs like Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, and they have a young core around those two building in Josh Jung, Wyatt Langford, and Evan Carter. On the pitching side of things, Jacob deGrom, Jack Leiter, and Nathan Eovaldi lead their staff under contract for next season, and we all know that Texas isn't afraid to spend money to upgrade their roster.

The Rangers' main issue in 2025 was health. Seager, who was excellent this year, played in just 102 games. Carter, Sam Haggerty, and Joc Pederson missed significant time as well. Other bats just underperformed on the year, and the pitching staff was rarely near full strength either. As a whole unit, the Rangers ranked 22nd in runs scored in 2025 and 25th in wRC+, which are not great markers at all for a team looking to go deep into October.

While the offense as a whole needs a facelift, the Rangers' first base production was especially dreadful last year, ranking 26th in wRC+, and their right-handed hitters collectively posted an 89 wRC+. Willson Contreras' 124 wRC+ would be a huge boost to their unit, which is also hoping for rebound seasons from other bats in 2026.

On top of that, Contreras showed this year that his position change kept him in the lineup. He posted a career high in plate appearances (563) and only really missed time once the Cardinals were officially knocked out of the playoff race.

Skip Schumaker is set to take over managing the club now, and I think he would love to have a fiery competitor like Contreras on his roster to help push this team back toward their championship DNA that they established recently. They have most of the pieces in place already to be that team, so perhaps adding Contreras to the mix could be the boost that they need.