The Cardinals' plethora of trade chips will determine their destiny

Chaim Bloom has been here before. As the former head of the Boston Red Sox, Bloom tore the team down and traded for prospects to build it back up. How well that worked is up for debate, but now the St. Louis Cardinals are looking for him to embark on a similar mission to fix what's gone sour in the Gateway City.

The Cardinals are expected to be active sellers this offseason, and they own several pieces that could be of value to teams around the league. MLB Trade Rumors put out a piece that named the top 40 trade candidates of the offseason, and the Cardinals led the pack, with six players on the list. Those names include Brendan Donovan, Sonny Gray, JoJo Romero, Nolan Gorman, Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras.

The team was in a rough spot in 2025 regarding its roster, as a few players opted to exercise their no-trade clauses, forcing the Cardinals to keep them with the club instead of flipping them at the trade deadline. Arenado, Gray and Contreras all preferred to stay in St. Louis rather than go out into potentially greener pastures. But now, Arenado's and Gray's attitudes appear to have changed, with them both being more open to a deal to a contender as their careers wind down. Contreras, on the other hand, seems committed to sticking with the Cardinals through the rebuild.

Bloom's acquisitions from this sell-off will have far-reaching effects.

Bloom's decisions on which players to trade some of the Cardinals' assets for will have a profound impact on the Cardinals' future. With Arenado and Gray now potentially willing to go elsewhere and the team owning several pieces that other clubs would benefit from, Bloom has plenty of flexibility with the roster to build it for the future as he sees fit.

The Cardinals began their rebuild at the trade deadline last season, when they flipped Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, Steven Matz and Erick Fedde for various prospects. Although former Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak was nominally in charge of the deadline, it would make no sense for Bloom not to have had a large hand in orchestrating the return for the Cardinals. Now in full control of the team, Bloom will likely have several suitors lining up for Donovan, and he will have his pick of the litter on whom he deems most valuable in a return. With Donovan and several others potentially ditching the birds on the bat, the Cardinals may eventually be sitting on a treasure trove of prospects, providing a boost to what FanGraphs already named the top farm system in baseball.

Mozeliak was not used to selling off assets in the offseason or at the trade deadline, and his hesitance to part with many players was one of many factors that led to the Cardinals' downfall. But unlike Mozeliak, who acquired many of the names on the list through trade or free agency, Bloom has no connections to these players and should therefore have a more objective and analytical viewpoint of who should stay and who should go.

Bloom will be placing the stones for the Cardinals' future with all of the players he is set to jettison for young talent. If all goes well, the team may be back in contention more quickly than anyone expected. If he bungles the trades, the Cardinals' rebuild could be a long and painful one.