5 Cardinals who should be traded to rebuild and their ideal trade suitor

After losing their third straight game against the Milwaukee Brewers, the St. Louis Cardinals now sit at 15-24 on the year. They're last in the National League Central, and are nine games out of the division lead. They're one of just six teams with a sub-.400 winning percentage.

This kind of start after last season's miserable 71-91 record was not what Cardinals fans were hoping for. Not only is the starting rotation still incredibly underwhelming, but their lineup has been one of, if not the worst in baseball all season long. That was supposed to be their strength.

It's simply not working. The roster that the Cardinals have is not clicking. It's time for the organization to do the right thing and begin a rebuild. If they do head in that direction, these five players should be on the chopping block.

5) Kyle Gibson has been a surprising positive for the Cardinals

In an effort to revamp the rotation, John Mozeliak signed three free agent starters. Fans expected Sonny Gray to be the elite starter that he's been, but it seemed unreasonable to expect much from aging veterans Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson.

Well, Gibson has been rock solid to begin this season. The right-hander has a 3.67 ERA in eight starts and 49 innings of work. He's gone at least six innings in all but one of his starts and has allowed three runs or fewer in six of his eight outings. In other words, he has been giving the Cardinals a chance to win each and every time out.

Gibson led the league in hits allowed last season and has now allowed ten fewer hits than innings pitched. How long he can keep being effective remains to be seen, but he's making a very reasonable $12 million this season with a club option worth another $12 million for 2025. If he continues to pitch well, the 36-year-old might even be able to net something decent for St. Louis which, again, not many would've predicted entering the season.

If they're still in the postseason race, a team like the Milwaukee Brewers could really use an innings-eating starter like Gibson considering they rank second-to-last in the majors in innings pitched from their

Kyle Gibson Ideal Trade Suitor: Milwaukee Brewers

4) The Cardinals should trade Sonny Gray while his value is at its peak

The Cardinals gave Sonny Gray a three-year deal worth $75 million to lead their rotation and boy, has he done that. The right-hander came in with lofty expectations after finishing as the AL Cy Young runner-up last season and he's met if not exceeded them so far.

A hamstring injury caused him to miss a couple of starts to begin the season, but since returning, he's been nothing short of dominant. Gray's ERA ballooned to 2.29 after a rough outing against the Brewers on Thursday. Yes, it ballooned to that elite number. He had a 0.89 ERA in his first five starts, allowing just three earned runs in 30.1 innings.

It'd be nice for St. Louis to keep Gray, but what they have to keep in mind is that he's 34 years old. His value very well might be at its peak. He's making just $10 million this season which is obviously a steal, but is making $25 million in 2025 and $35 million in 2026 with a $30 million club option in 2027.

The Cardinals can get a haul for Gray now to help them for the future while not worrying about paying a starting pitcher into his age 36 or 37 season with an underwhelming team. It'd be unfortunate since they just signed him, but a trade is for the best.

A team like the Atlanta Braves could use Gray for this season with Spencer Strider out, and can use him in the future with Max Fried likely to sign elsewhere in free agency.

Sonny Gray Ideal Trade Suitor: Atlanta Braves

3) Ryan Helsley can command a nice return for the Cardinals

Since being inserted as the team's closer in 2022, Ryan Helsley has been among the best relievers in all of baseball. It hasn't shown in the save figures since he's missed some time due to injury, but he has a 1.66 ERA in 105 appearances since the start of 2022 which is second to Evan Phillips among qualified relievers.

Helsley has been healthy this season and has been dominant, posting a 1.50 ERA in 18 appearances and 18 innings of work. He has 19 strikeouts compared to just two walks (one of them was intentional) and has allowed just one home run. He has 11 saves in 12 tries and leads the National League with 16 games finished.

The Cardinals have been a mess this season, but their bullpen has actually exceeded expectations, particularly late in games. Helsley has been the focal point with that. He comes with one more year of team control, so the Cardinals can get a really strong return for him if they choose to deal him. Keeping an elite closer around on what is a bad team with minimal club control and with an injury history would be a poor decision. Cash in now.

While it might be unfortunate to send him to a division rival, a team like the Chicago Cubs could really use a closer and might be willing to pay a premium for it. They have a strong farm system and some MLB-ready pieces that the Cardinals can ask for.

Ryan Helsley Ideal Trade Suitor: Chicago Cubs

2) The Cardinals should trade Nolan Arenado while he might have value

The main reason that the Cardinals have struggled so mightily offensively is that everyone they expected to be productive, except for the recently injured Willson Contreras, has underperformed. Nolan Arenado is included in that group of underperforming Cardinals, but he's been better than most in this lineup.

Arenado enters play on Sunday slashing .270/.331/.372 with two home runs and 20 RBI. He's been hitting for average and is one of the very few Cardinals doing damage with runners in scoring position, but his power has seemingly disappeared.

Arenado has two home runs in 39 games and 166 plate appearances so far, after having just seven in 58 games and 248 plate appearances in the second half of last season. This is a guy who had hit at least 30 home runs in seven consecutive full seasons (excluding 2020), and he now has half the home runs that Brendan Donovan has this season.

The 33-year-old still has three more years of team control after this one, but he's set to make a manageable $52 million total over those three seasons. He's still an elite defender, is hitting for contact, and you have to think some power will come eventually, right?

This wouldn't be fair, but what if those rumors with the Los Angeles Dodgers finally came to fruition? Just a thought.

Nolan Arenado Ideal Trade Suitor: Los Angeles Dodgers

1) The Cardinals would be lucky to get anything for Paul Goldschmidt at this point

Man, what happened to Paul Goldschmidt? Two seasons ago he won the NL MVP Award and now looks completely lost offensively. It's hard to fathom just how bad he's been.

The 36-year-old enters Sunday's action slashing .190/.277/.254 with two home runs and 11 RBI in 37 games played and 161 plate appearances. Yes, Paul Goldschmidt, a player who entered this season with a .293 lifetime batting average and a .908 career OPS in 13 seasons is now a sub-.200 hitter with a .530 OPS.

What makes Goldschmidt's struggles that much more concerning is that things seem to only be getting worse before they get better. Look at this swing! His single in his last at-bat in Saturday's game snapped an 0-for-32 stretch at the plate with 14 strikeouts. He hadn't recorded a single hit in his first seven games in the month of May.

Goldschmidt is set to hit free agency at the end of this season making his Cardinals future bleaker than ever. Perhaps a team like the Houston Astros can trade for him if they find their way back into the race with their need at first base. I mean, he can't be worse than Jose Abreu, right?

Paul Goldschmidt Ideal Trade Suitor: Houston Astros