The Cardinals confirm they didn't even try to trade struggling veteran this offseason

On September 30th, 2024, the St. Louis Cardinals brass sat before a room of reporters and media and announced the coming transition of leadership that was underway, as Chaim Bloom was set to take over as president of baseball operations following the 2025 season, and he would be focusing on player development investments over the next calendar year.

During that press conference, John Mozeliak and ownership made it clear that this would be a different offseason for the Cardinals, as they'd be decreasing spending on their major league roster and embracing a "reset" (or what Mozeliak now likes to call a "transition" year). This meant they would not be bringing back their impending free agents and the club would be exploring trades for players on their roster.

Mozeliak did address the fate of players with no-trade clauses, which included Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, and Miles Mikolas. He told media at that time that he would have conversations with each of them regarding the direction of the club, and if they wanted to see a trade elsewhere, the Cardinals would explore a move with them.

We all know that Arenado was open to a trade this offseason, and both Gray and Contreras have publicly stated they wanted to remain in St. Louis and be a part of what they were doing. But we never did hear about what the Cardinals' conversation with Mikolas went like, and according to Mozeliak this past week on 101 ESPN, they never even approached Mikolas about a deal.

"I didn't really go to Mikolas. He's in his final year, he lives here in Jupiter, I mean I think part of why he signed with the Cardinals was because of that, so I didn't feel like that was something that I had to go down that path."

The Cardinals did not approach Miles Mikolas about a potential trade this offseason

Look, Mozeliak stated the case for why Mikolas would likely want to stick around in St. Louis this year, and frankly, it sounds like he would have preferred to remain here if those preferences held true. But I do find it pretty crazy that the Cardinals apparently "didn't really" go to him with the idea of a trade this offseason.

No one was going to be dying to trade for Mikolas. If suitors were out there, they would have been asking the Cardinals to eat a lot of salary and would give up nothing in return. Honestly, it makes sense that they'd hold onto him given his non-existent trade value, but the fact they did not even see if he'd like to be dealt is just another example of how poorly I believe the Cardinals have handled the status of their veteran starters this offseason.

Erick Fedde held real value on the trade market this offseason and teams were interested in acquiring him. Steven Matz drew interest as well, and I am guessing would have netted more in return than Mikolas. But the Cardinals did not seriously explore deals for any of those three veterans it sounds like, meaning they missed out on an opportunity to add to their farm system and/or free up cash flow to add veteran replacements who could have been flipped during the trade deadline themselves.

I've talked about this at length, but the Cardinals are limiting the potential opportunities for young arms this year by holding onto their veterans. Names like Michael McGreevy and Quinn Mathews are knocking on the door for starts in St. Louis. Sem Robberse, Gordon Graceffo, Matthew Liberatore, and Zack Thompson are arms who have been in St. Louis and/or Memphis for multiple years now and need opportunities themselves. Oh, and guys like Tink Hence, Cooper Hjerpe, Tekoah Roby, and others want cracks at that mound as well.

Even though I believe it would have made much more sense to move Fedde and/or Matz, it doesn't make sense to me that they wouldn't at least approach Mikolas about a possible trade. But that's the theme of the offseason, isn't it? A whole lotta things that didn't make much sense.