Cardinals Predicted To Trade 13-Year Veteran All-Star In Offseason

"St. Louis would no doubt love to put down Nolan Arenado's name here, but given the continued decline, increasingly lengthy injury history and hefty contract, I'm not sure what contender is taking him on even if the Cardinals agree to pay down all or most of the money left on his deal," Landers wrote. "There's still a good chance Arenado gets moved over the winter, but at this point I think it's more or less certain that Gray will. He might not be the pitcher he used to be, but the highs are still awfully high, and he comes with just one more guaranteed year left on his three-year, $75 million contract (with a team option for 2027 if the soon-to-be 36-year-old manages to age gracefully).

"There's an inexhaustible demand for starting pitching, and moving Gray now rather than losing him for nothing next offseason makes all the sense in the world for a Cardinals team that's about to embark on a major rebuild under Chaim Bloom."

Trading Gray would make sense for a few reasons. First of all, he could net a solid return of prospects, whether it be one good prospect or a handful of mid-level youngsters. The next reason this would help the Cardinals is the fact that it would clear a lot of money off the payroll. It would also clear room for top pitching prospects like Quinn Mathews, Liam Doyle, Tink Hence, and others to make their way to the big leagues.

But Gray has a no-trade clause, so it might be difficult for the Cardinals to move him. However, if they can find a suitor that he's willing to clear his no-trade clause for, the Cardinals need to pull the trigger on a deal.