Mets 'Could Be' Where Ex-Yankees Hurler Is Traded If Cardinals Become Sellers

The St. Louis Cardinals have begun the second half of their 2025 season with a 1-4 record and could be headed to complete a blockbuster trade with the New York Mets.

The Cardinals have nine games left to play before the July 31 trade deadline and must soon conclude whether they'll buy, sell or do a bit of both before it's too late.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals odds of making the playoffs this fall aren't high. If the organization's front office decides to throw in the towel for this season and sell before the trade deadline, a St. Louis fan favorite could be shipped back to New York -- with the Mets this time around.

"If the Cardinals are sellers, Ryan Helsley, Erick Fedde, Steven Matz, Phil Maton and Miles Mikolas are the expiring contracts to unload, while Sonny Gray could be the aforementioned ace the Mets target," Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller wrote Monday when outlining his perspective of each team's top priority at the 2025 trade deadline.

Gray has logged a 9-4 record with a 4.04 ERA, 123-to-19 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .255 batting average against and a 1.15 WHIP in 111 1/3 innings pitched for the Cardinals this season.

The 35-year-old hasn't pitched as well as he did last year with St. Louis after signing a backloaded three-year, $75 million deal, which includes a $30 million club option for 2027.

Although the Cardinals would likely prefer to offload Gray's expensive salary from the payroll, as it would tremendously help their rebuilding journey, the three-time All-Star has a full no-trade in his contract that could interfere with sending him to the Mets.

The Tennessee native prefers playing in St. Louis and might invoke his full no-trade clause, as he did over the offseason, if the Cardinals try to move Gray to the Mets.

It's worth noting that Gray pitched in New York with the Yankees from the second half of the 2017 season through all of 2018. However, the 13-year veteran struggled under the bright lights of Yankee Stadium, so perhaps pitching in the Big Apple at Citi Field with the Mets wouldn't be plausible.