Injury may force Cardinals' polarizing trade piece to stay in St. Louis

The St. Louis Cardinals have yet to determine which of their cost-controlled bats they are going to trade this offseason, but one such player may be out of the mix thanks to heel surgery. Lars Nootbaar underwent the procedure at the end of October and remains without a timeline to return to action.

The Cardinals are not actively shopping Lars Nootbaar but remain open to trade

Coming into the Winter Meetings, it was known that the Cardinals were looking to trade at least one of their left-handed bats to begin to thin out the 40-man roster clog. Brendan Donovan initially looked to be a guaranteed trade casualty, but Chaim Bloom is reportedly setting a high price on the Gold Glove utility man. If the Cardinals cannot find any takers for Donovan, they still have other options available, but apparently Lars Nootbaar is not a part of that group.

In late October, it was reported that four Cardinals underwent surgeries of some kind, and included on that list was Nootbaar. The heel surgery for Noot is one that has minimal research to support its success, but it was needed to address the constant aggravation the outfielder was feeling. Because of the cloudy timeline and Nootbaar's injury history, the Cardinals are planning to play it safe with the rehab process. The hope is that the outfielder will be ready for Spring Training, but that is far from a sure thing. The uncertainty in his situation will make it difficult for St. Louis to commit to Noot for an everyday outfield spot, but also makes it harder to sell him to rival GMs in potential trades.

According to Derrick Goold, sources say that the Cardinals are not actively shopping Nootbaar, even though he was seen as a likely trade candidate at the end of last season. The Cardinals are stuck in a tough place with Noot, as he has continued to show flashes of potential but gets hurt at the worst time. He set a career high in games played last season with 135, although it appears he played many of them while being hampered by his heels. The report also says that the Cardinals prefer to hold onto Nootbaar to receive any potential value from him on the field as opposed to undervaluing him while injured. The organization tends to have poor success when needing to choose between outfielders, but Chaim Bloom and his team can hopefully end that cycle.

If the Cardinals do end up holding onto Nootbaar through the offseason, then it makes sense to allow him time to get fully healthy before getting back on the field. The outfielder is not a free agent until the end of the 2027 season, so if it takes longer than anticipated to return to the lineup, the team can always revisit talks once he is 100%.

As the Winter Meetings continue, the Cardinals are expected to be active on the rumor mill as they look to maximize returns for their major league trade pieces. Who is traded remains to be decided, but it appears that Lars Nootbaar will remain a member of the Cardinals next year.