Sep 24, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) delivers a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

Chaim Bloom's Trade Decisions Won't Be Easy With Cardinals

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Oct 27, 2025 7:08 PM ET

The Major League Baseball offseason is a difficult -- but exciting time.

It's exciting because of the fact that realistically every team could find a way to improve. The slate gets wiped clean for each organization whether you win the World Series or finish in last place. For the St. Louis Cardinals, they are coming off a fourth-place finish in the National League Central and a disappointing 78-84 record.

Mix that with the fact that the club has a brand new front office led by Chaim Bloom, and there are rumors and speculation running rampant because of the fact that there are so many unknowns. Which veterans will be traded? Will the Cardinals add pieces? How aggressive will this offseason end up being? Most of the noise around the team has to do with the futures of veterans Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, and Willson Contreras, among others. On Monday, Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch did a question-and-answer session with Cardinals fans and talked about the three veterans.

"When we talked to Nolan Arenado after the final home game of this past season, he was asked about being more flexible this offseason regarding a trade possibility," Guerrero said. "He acknowledged it as something to consider and a discussion to have with his family to “get it right by them, too,” he said.

Who will return?

Joe Puetz-Imagn Images

"With Gray, we’ve heard the Cardinals are going to explore trades with teams to see if there is some mutual interest and something mutually agreeable with Gray, but I don’t know how flexible the righty would be in terms of where he’d be open to going if a deal becomes a possibility. As for Contreras, he expressed he hopes to remain with the Cardinals amid this retooling phase."

Things aren't going to be easy for Bloom and company. All three of these guys have no-trade clauses. Contreras has been consistent in the fact that he wants to stay. It's nice to hear that it is still the case, per Guerrero. With Gray, he opened the door to waiving his no-trade clause at the end of the season for the first time.

On top of this, The Athletic's Jim Bowden called Gray the seventh most likely star who could be on the move this offseason.

Arenado also made it sound like he'd be open to more teams after giving the Cardinals a list of five teams last offseason.

There likely won't be much more until after the World Series, but at least somewhat of an update. At the end of the day, the thing that is clear is that the offseason isn't going to be easy for Bloom. He has to find a way to balance improving this organization in the long-term and managing high-impact no-trade clauses. Things are going to get even more difficult before they get better.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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