The Cardinals are expected to break up a key group of players this offseason

The Chaim Bloom era in St. Louis has officially begun.

John Mozeliak, who has been the organization's president of baseball operations since the end of the 2007 season, will have his contract expire on Halloween. At that point, Chaim Bloom will officially take over as the organization's president of baseball operations. He will be quite busy in his first offseason, and an organizational reset is on the horizon.

One problem that Bloom will have to solve is the positional logjam that is present in the outfield and among the club's left-handed hitters. Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson, and Nolan Gorman could all find themselves on the move this winter, and one particular Cardinals beat writer expects two of these players to be traded.

Katie Woo of The Athletic expects two left-handed position players to be traded this offseason by Chaim Bloom and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Trades are going to happen this offseason; that much is certain as we near Chaim Bloom's control of the roster. Players like Nolan Arenado and Sonny Gray, who have both expressed a willingness to waive their no-trade clauses in the right situation, are possible trade candidates, especially considering the financial commitments the team has to both.

Beyond those players, there are several players whom Chaim Bloom could move on from after observing the club for two years.

Four such players are Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan, and Alec Burleson. All four players are left-handed hitters. Two of them are power-first players (Gorman and Burleson). The other two focus primarily on getting on base. Two of them are true corner outfielders while the other two are infielders. Though, admittedly, Brendan Donovan is best served at second base.

There is a bit of redundancy with these four players, so it's clear that at least one needs to be traded, especially considering top prospect JJ Wetherholt and his rise in the minors this year. Space will have to be made at some point between now and next year's trade deadline for Wetherholt.

What's most interesting about each of these players is that they all present different reasons to be traded or to be kept. In a recent episode of Cardinals Territory, Woo discussed how this logjam can be cleared. "Of the four lefties that are kind of caught in this position logjam, two of those four lefties, in my opinion, are going to be traded over the offseason." She did not speculate which two would be traded, but that doesn't mean we can't make some guesses!

For Brendan Donovan, the conversation surrounding a trade for him has to start with his versatility and leadership. He can capably play five positions on the diamond, he's on average 17% better than the average hitter, and he's still relatively young — he'll play all of 2026 at 29 years old. What's difficult is that Brendan Donovan would likely fetch the largest return amongst all of these players for these exact reasons. Will Chaim Bloom be willing to sacrifice Donovan's tangibles and intangibles along with the hit to the fanbase that trading Donovan would cause for the betterment of the team? Is he more interested in keeping Donovan as a core player for the next crop of young players?

Lars Nootbaar was a valuable contributor to the team with strong underlying metrics. His issue had always been his health. Prior to 2025, Nootbaar exceeded 500 plate appearances only once during his four-year career. He was healthy this year (135 games, 583 plate appearances), but his production dropped off significantly. His .686 OPS was the lowest of his career, and he was a below-average hitter according to OPS+. Noot also saw his strikeout rate increase while his walk rate reached a career low, excluding 2021. He still has some "Statcast darling" allure to him, but Nootbaar has lost some of his appeal, and he's one year older this year.

Nolan Gorman started the year off as a player the front office wanted to get a complete look at. While he had already logged well over 1,000 plate appearances before the year, the jury was still out on whether Gorman could minimize his strikeouts while still boasting his power. For a time, Gorman had plus contact rates with a strikeout rate under 30%, but he sacrificed some power for this approach. He finished the year with a 33.8% K rate, an elevated 11.7% walk rate, but only 14 home runs in 402 plate appearances, five fewer long balls in just as many PAs as last year.

Alec Burleson had the strongest season of this quadrumvirate. He finished the year with a .290/.343/.459 slash line, all career highs. He had the sixth-best batting average in the National League this year, and he hit 18 home runs in 139 games. His strikeout rate rose slightly, but his ISO and walk rate were also career bests. Burleson showed some growth defensively in the corner outfield and first base, but he's still an average defender at best. He has a lot of value, but he was also one of the best hitters on the club this year.

Two of the four left-handed hitting position players for the St. Louis Cardinals will probably be dealt this winter by Chaim Bloom. Only time will tell who goes and who stays.