Cardinals Winter Meetings Preview: What to expect from Chaim Bloom's busy week

The Major League Baseball Winter Meetings start on Sunday, December 7th, and run through December 10th, and the St. Louis Cardinals have a busy week ahead of them.

Chaim Bloom has been active in his efforts to jump-start the Cardinals' rebuild already this offseason, but the Winter Meetings tend to be the catalyst for most of the major movement that happens during an offseason.

The Cardinals already made a big move this winter, sending starting pitcher Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox, but that is likely just the first of many trades they'll make this offseason. The Winter Meetings could be the place where more of those deals go down, and there are a few other events that are set to happen this week that will have a huge impact on the Cardinals' offseason.

Will the Cardinals make another massive trade this week?

Over 20 teams are in the market for Cardinals' All-Star Brendan Donovan, and I wouldn't be surprised to see that market heat up in a big way this week. With every high-ranking baseball executive in one building, that seems like the place to get a deal done. The Cardinals have a high asking price for Donovan in a trade, and sound like they want to acquire high-upside pitching in a deal.

On top of Donovan, guys like Nolan Arenado, Lars Nootbaar, Willson Contreras, JoJo Romero, and Nolan Gorman could all be on the move this offseason, and it would not be surprising to see the Cardinals make a move on one of those fronts as well.

MLB Draft Lottery

On Tuesday at 4:30pm CT, the MLB Draft Lottery will take place, and the Cardinals currently have the eighth-best odds at the number one overall pick. UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky is the prize of the class, and names like Grady Emerson, Justin Lebron, and others could help transform the Cardinals' farm system.

There's a very interesting storyline to watch when it comes to the Cardinals' draft position: If St. Louis jumps into the top six, they'll be ineligible for the draft lottery again in 2027. Unless they luck into a top-three pick, it would likely be advantageous long-term for the Cardinals to avoid getting a top-six pick this year so that they can have a top-ten pick again in 2027.

Rule 5 Draft

While not a flashy event, the Rule 5 Draft presents teams with the opportunity to add more talent to their roster. A few years ago, the Cardinals ended up with a high-leverage reliever in Ryan Fernandez, and they could take a similar swing this year.

The Cardinals have the 11th pick in the draft, so while some of the most intriguing options could be off the board, there will hopefully still be some impactful options on the board.