For the last few seasons, the St. Louis Cardinals have been painfully mediocre. While teams in the NL Central like the Cincinnati Reds and definitely the Pittsburgh Pirates cannot get their act together, St. Louis has not taken advantage of the division being relatively down. It has often been who wants it more between the Milwaukee Brewers and occasionally the Chicago Cubs. Something has to change for one of the sport's most storied franchises.
We thought that something might come over the winter, but John Mozeliak opted to stand pat (well, one aborted Nolan Arenado trade notwithstanding). Amid another poor start to 2025, though — St. Louis enters play on Tuesday night with a 17-19 record, putting them a full five games back of the Cubs in the NL Central — it might finally be time to pull the plug in a significant way.
So: How about trading away Sonny Gray? I would not rule that out. Gray is my peer on the wrong side of 35; while he is 3-1 on the season in seven starts, his ERA is not in a great spot at 4.12. He may be striking out a batter per inning, but we have to wonder if he will play out the final two years of his contract he signed with the Cardinals in St. Louis.
Keep in mind, St. Louis is the fifth MLB franchise Gray has played for since coming out of Vanderbilt.
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Why the St. Louis Cardinals may entertain the idea of trading Sonny Gray
Not only would Gray command some prospects of note should he be shopped to a contender, but there is more than meets the eye than the two years currently left on his Cardinals deal. That contract comes with a team option for 2027, meaning St. Louis or anyone else could retain him for one more season at $30 million a pop if he has a dominant campaign either this year or next.
For so many reasons, a team option is a far better trade asset than a player option because the team is obviously more in control. In short, a contending team potentially dealing for Gray would be getting for the rest of 2026, all of 2027, and maybe even potentially all of 2028. A player of Gray's caliber could drastically improve a contending team's rotation, and St. Louis is not one.
Gray still knows how to get outs and eat innings, and while he does hold a no-trade clause, he might be open to waiving it if the Cardinals make clear things will get worse before they get better.
“Winning is still the reason I play this game, but I’m still not 100 percent sold that we can’t win here,” Gray told reporters this offseason, which doesn't exactly sound like someone who's tied to St. Louis for the long haul no matter what.
Truth be told, we still have so far to go before we will reach a definitive decision on whether St. Louis will be a buyer or a seller at this year's MLB trade deadline. There are six available playoff spots to be had in the National League, but what are the chances the Cardinals end up with one of them? This is why there needs to be an increased importance of cutting into the five-game lead the Cubs already have.
If the Cardinals do make any of their players available, I would venture to guess Gray will field calls.