When the 2025 season comes to an end, John Mozeliak will cede control of St. Louis Cardinals baseball operations to former Boston Red Sox executive Chaim Bloom. While Bloom's Boston tenure featured its ups and downs, there's no denying Bloom's ability to scout and build from within. He helped transform Boston's farm system, and can conceivably do the same in St. Louis if he decides to rebuild.
If he does go in the rebuild direction, St. Louis has a slew of players who'd figure to be available. Not only would the Cardinals presumably shop Nolan Arenado once again, but guys like Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbaar who might not be around when the Cardinals are ready to compete again could be made available as well.
The same could be said for Sonny Gray, the team's ace by default, who is under contract through the 2026 campaign. Gray's no-trade clause could limit the possibility of a trade, as could his recent struggles. He had another rough outing on Saturday against the New York Yankees, allowing six runs in five innings of work in the Cardinals' loss. The Cardinals lost the game 12-8, which stings even more after they had taken a 5-2 lead through three innings.
Gray blocking a trade is one thing, but how many teams will be eager to acquire the right-hander to begin with?
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Sonny Gray is making it harder for Cardinals to trade him
Gray is still a productive pitcher, but he'll turn 36 years old in November, is set to make $35 million in 2026, and, as mentioned above, has really struggled of late. Gray now has a 6.96 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break, and he has a 4.30 ERA in 25 starts this season. He's done a great job limiting walks and has an above-average strikeout rate, but his 3.3 percent home run rate is as high as it's been since 2016, and he ranks in the 25th percentile of barrel rate per Baseball Savant.
I'd say Gray's been quite unlucky, as evidenced by his 3.24 FIP and 3.84 xERA, but the way he's pitched lately certainly doesn't feel unlucky. He's been hit hard more often than not. Teams might be willing to buy low, but the $35 million price tag makes that difficult, especially for a Cardinals team that's shown little interest in spending much money.
Again, thanks to Gray's no-trade clause, he gets to handpick the teams he'd even be open to joining. The odds that the Cardinals find a suitor from that small list of suitors Gray would approve are probably slim.
Perhaps if Gray turns things around down the stretch that can change, but for now, while he's struggling like this, it'll be pretty tough for Bloom to trade Gray, putting a crimp in what should be a pretty full rebuild.