Cardinals fans should hold onto this sign of hope during rebuild

Rebuilds are painful for any fanbase, and the Cardinals' rebuild will be no different in the eyes of the fanbase as far as pain is concerned. There's already been some pain. The Cardinals have traded Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan. That's all of their major trade chips entering the offseason, and while they got a few major league-ready pieces, most of what they got isn't going to be ready for another couple of years at least.

So, without four of their former All-Stars, things are going to be different for the Cardinals. We're probably going to see them struggle a bit in 2026, perhaps even to the level that they did in 2023, when they went 71-91 and finished in last place in the NL Central.

However, I've written countless times about why things could go better than expected. That's always a possibility. I'm in no way saying that this is a good team that is capable of making the postseason or doing any damage in October. That ship has already sailed.

But while things may be tough now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and Cardinals fans have a sign of hope they can cling to.

Cardinals can take a page out of Rays' book

Chaim Bloom knows this way of thinking all too well. He helped pioneer what is known as the "Rays Way." What the Rays have done in the past is being modeled by other organizations like the Brewers.

Now, I'm not saying that Bloom has to follow his Tampa Bay blueprint to a tee in St. Louis, but there are ways he can go about doing it in the future, and there are ways he has already done it with the Cardinals.

The Rays created a strategy in which they would trade stars near the end of their contracts in exchange for major league-ready talent that could help right away. We saw them do it with guys like Evan Longoria, David Price, Austin Meadows, Chris Archer and even Tyler Glasnow.

While the Rays have fallen on hard times lately, their strategy has been proven effective. They also don't spend big money in free agency, but find players that have value and can do what the big stars can do, but for essentially half the price.

We've seen the Cardinals dish out some big contracts in recent years, which wasn't really their M.O. for a long time. Players like Contreras, Gray, Dexter Fowler, and even Brett Cecil. It's safe to say that those didn't exactly pan out.

However, with Gray and Contreras near the end of their contracts, they brought back two MLB-ready pieces in exchange, pitchers Hunter Dobbins and Richard Fitts. Those two pitchers can compete for spots in the starting rotation. Meanwhile, the Cardinals also made a few value signings in free agency, landing Dustin May and Ryne Stanek.

Now, the pieces they got back for Donovan aren't MLB-ready just yet. The Rays have often acquired those types of top prospects. The Brewers just did it with the Freddy Peralta trade as well, landing Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams.

But the moves made by the Rays and Brewers have never completely sunk them. They in turn haven't made themselves much worse by doing this, if at all. Now, that's not to say the Cardinals are going to be a better team in 2026, but it's a strategy that works.

Bloom doesn't need to completely copy this strategy, but if he can even bring a semblance of it to St. Louis, we could see his plan work to perfection in a few short years. And when stars are near the end of their contracts, they can ship them out for top prospects that can help them in the near future.

At the same time, he can be smart with the payroll, still adding good players but not breaking the bank for a superstar. He's not going to give out a Juan Soto-type deal, and he shouldn't, especially not now. But if the Cardinals operate this way, they could set themselves up for future success.