Cardinals Rumors: St. Louis still expected to be major players on trade market

The St. Louis Cardinals remain quiet on the trade market, but that is not due to a lack of suitors. With the team armed with what appears to be some of the most valuable (and available) trade pieces in the league, it may not be long before we see some action involving the Cardinals.

Multiple Cardinals players could see their trade market heat up.

Outside of trading Sonny Gray, the Cardinals have spent the majority of the offseason on the outskirts of the player market, on both the trade and free agent fronts. Despite the near-daily rumors surrounding St. Louis, it has been nothing but chatter for Chaim Bloom, as he seemingly has not received an attractive offer for any of his players. Even with the inactivity, MLB experts and manager Oli Marmol expect at least one trade to happen before Spring Training. However, many teams around the league are starting to make their moves, so the Cardinals may need to act soon if they really want to get this rebuild going.

Who is involved in whatever these deals are going to be is anyone's guess. The rumors surrounding St. Louis have been mostly talk without a lot of concrete information, so predicting the next move is difficult. MLB insider Ken Rosenthal just posted an article about the rumblings he has been hearing around the league that there is still plenty of interest in Cardinals players, and there could be some action relatively soon.

Rosenthal called St. Louis "the most active seller" on the market this offseason and noted that Bloom continues to take calls on many different players in the organization. While we have speculated suitors for Nolan Arenado, Rosenthal points to the Los Angeles Angels as candidates for the veteran due to Anthony Rendon's expected retirement and expects the Arenado market to heat up when big names like Alex Bregman and Eugenio Suarez sign their next deal. As has been pointed out multiple times this offseason, Bloom is unwilling to release Arenado if a trade cannot be agreed upon.

As we move around the diamond to utilityman Brendan Donovan, he still remains the most valuable trade piece the Cardinals have. Recently, the Giants and Mariners were seen as frontrunners to trade for Donnie, but Rosenthal only notes Seattle as favorites in his piece. In the same line, he mentioned outfielder Lars Nootbaar, whom we have not heard much about since the beginning of the offseason. He was initially seen as likely to be dealt, but offseason heel surgeries could have hindered his market thus far. Even with the health question, Rosenthal says the Dodgers have expressed interest in the lefty.

Finally, two players who have generated some interest but may be teetering on the 50/50 point of being traded or remaining are reliever JoJo Romero and first baseman Willson Contreras. Like Nootbaar, Romero was viewed as a guaranteed trade, but rival teams have more recently tapped into the free agent market rather than call St. Louis for their closer. Now that some arms are off the board, though, the Cardinals could be receiving more calls on Romero in the very near future. Rosenthal does not note any teams specifically for the lefty, nor does he for Contreras. The first baseman initially said he planned to stay in St. Louis, being unwilling to waive his no-trade clause, but his tone has changed in recent weeks, and he now seems more open to leaving the Cardinals. When the Mets missed out on Pete Alonso, there was chatter around Contreras being a fit for that new vacancy, but nothing has been finalized yet.