Ranking the Cardinals 8 most valuable trade candidates to jumpstart their rebuild

With the MLB GM Meetings this past week, the hot stove has begun cranking up, and the rumor mill is turning, with the St. Louis Cardinals finding themselves at the center of the action.

Yes, in this first offseason under Chaim Bloom's leadership, the Cardinals find themselves at the center of this offseason's trade speculation due to the variety of trade chips and kinds of deals they can make this offseason. Whether it be veterans looking for a chance at contending for a World Series, young players with a ton of upside that could fetch a haul, or change-of-scenery candidates, St. Louis seems to have something, and in most cases, multiple things, that almost every team is in the market for.

While this time of the offseason is mostly talk, many expect those rumors and discussions to turn into action over the coming months. Chaim Bloom has a lot on his to-do list, and maximizing the return he can get on every talent they are willing to dangle is of the utmost importance.

With plenty of rumors swirling regarding interest in the Cardinals' trade assets, I wanted to rank the eight trade pieces we are most likely to see moved this offseason by the value I believe they have in the market. The Cardinals have a wide range of value to offer opposing teams, meaning we could see various levels of deals go down this winter.

Note: Players like Ivan Herrera and Masyn Winn were not included on this list due to the extreme unlikelihood that the Cardinals would trade them this offseason

#8 - Nolan Arenado

At this point in his career, Nolan Arenado is a negative asset on the trade market, and for the Cardinals to move him, it will require eating a large chunk of his remaining salary and likely getting very little in return.

After failing to find a trade that Arenado would agree to last offseason, the now 34-year-old third baseman slashed .237/.289/.377 with just 12 home runs and 52 RBI in 107 games for the Cardinals this year. His 84 wRC+ was by far the worst in a full season of his career since his rookie campaign, and while his defense was pretty good in 2025, it is far from what it used to be.

To make matters worse, Arenado has two years, $42 million remaining on his contract, and the Cardinals are on the hook for $37 million of it. Based on his fWAR output in 2025, Arenado was worth just under $7 million last season, so in order to move him to a contending team, the Cardinals are going to have to eat a large portion of the deal.

And even if the Cardinals find a team that wants to acquire Arenado and they agree on a dollar figure that the Cardinals will retain in the deal, it likely won't result in any kind of substantial return for the club. Bloom is likely looking at a lottery ticket in return for Arenado, or perhaps some kind of deal where they swap bad contracts and get a pitcher they can use in 2026 in return for Arenado.

I think the most realistic way for the Cardinals to get value out of Arenado in a trade, although I don't think this is likely to happen, would be if the Cardinals take on a contract from another team that is bad enough to warrant them attaching a prospect to that deal, or the Cardinals eat money on Arenado, while acquiring another contract, in order to get a nice prospect in return. I would be very surprised if that happened.