Following Sonny Gray, there's 1 obvious trade the Cardinals must make this offseason

Following the retirement of Yadier Molina, there were abundant questions about how the St. Louis Cardinals planned to fill the crater-sized hole behind the plate.

The answer? Throw as many bodies at the position as possible and see what sticks.

Willson Contreras was originally the answer to the post-Molina question, but his defensive struggles and aging body weren't long for the catcher position. Now, after re-signing Yohel Pozo immediately after non-tendering him, the Cardinals have three catchers on the major-league roster: Pozo, Pedro Pagés, and Iván Herrera.

Herrera remains the highest-upside option, having just hit .284/.373/.464 with 19 home runs (137 wRC+) at 25 years old. Meanwhile, Pagés is an elite defensive backstop (87th-percentile framer) and Pozo possesses an intriguing contact-first approach. All three deserve places on the major-league roster, difficult as that might be to account for on a 26-man roster.

The problem? The Cardinals also count two top catching prospects on their 40-man roster (who are also Top-100 prospects, per FanGraphs) in Leonardo Bernal and Jimmy Crooks. Considering both were added to the roster to protect them from Rule-5 consideration, odds are the team envisions an immediate MLB future for both. And that doesn't even mention the presence of top catching prospect Rainiel Rodriguez, who is currently in High-A.

The Sonny Gray trade greased the rebuilding wheels for this offseason, and this roster glut makes it clear: The Cardinals need to trade a catcher (or two) this offseason.

Cardinals' extreme catching depth is a blessing and a curse

Unlike Gray (or Nolan Arenado or Willson Contreras), none of the Cardinals' catchers are old or expensive. Pozo is the eldest of the bunch at 28, and both top prospects on the 40-man roster are younger than 25.

Trading any of the five (not including Rodriguez) would be a difficult task, especially since their potential far outstrips their actual production in the big leagues thus far. Still, most teams keep three, and at most four, catchers on their 40-man roster at any given time. Having five (with another top prospect on the way) is simply untenable for most franchises, even in a rebuilding phase.

Now, Herrera has started to alleviate some of this by stepping into a full-time designated hitter role in 2025, but that's not a spot you want to tie up in a 25-year-old unless you really have to. It's valuable to keep the DH spot fluid to give other guys a rest, and the front office has made it clear he'll return to catching this offseason.

Pages is probably too valuable defensively to trade despite a career 79 wRC+, and it's unlikely the team re-signed Pozo to just to turn around and trade him.

That leaves Bernal and Crooks, but the Cardinals are in the business of acquiring prospects, not trading them.

So, what's the solution? It is feasible that the Cardinals try to convince one of them to learn first base to replace Contreras, or they could consolidate some prospect depth and ship one of Bernal or Crooks for a young pitcher.

No matter what the solution is, Rodriguez is too good to be kept down for long, and yet he has five players on the depth chart to leap over. Something will need to be done about the catcher glut in St. Louis, be it this offseason or down the road.