Willson Contreras Cardinals disgust could come back to haunt him this winter

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras made it clear that he expected John Mozeliak and the front office to make vital changes this winter. While Contreras wasn't necessarily wrong in his assessment, he did not expect to be part of those changes.

"There's some areas that need to be addressed," Willson Contreras said. "I don't know if the front office is going to, but...we didn't come together as an offense at all, during the whole year. There's a lot of holes throughout the lineup as well, from 1 to 9..."

St. Louis will likely be without the services of Paul Goldschmidt, for one. However, with Chaim Bloom taking on a bigger role in the front office a year early, Nolan Arenado and Contreras could also be on the move. That was not what Contreras had in mind.

"The only thing we can control is show up next year and keep working. But as an organization, I think the Cardinals are one of the biggest organizations in baseball, and if I was them, if I was the front office, I'd have to be hungry to own this division," Contreras continued at the time.

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Willson Contreras could be on the trade block for the St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis could look to move off higher salaries like Sonny Gray, Contreras and Arenado. Rather than add around their veteran core, Bloom and Mozeliak aim to start over, building around a young group of players that includes Masyn Winn and Jordan Walker.

"Contreras, coming off perhaps his best offensive season, but limited by freak injuries, and Arenado, coming off definitely his worst offensive season but still a stalwart at third, both present intriguing possibilities," Cardinals insider Jeff Jones wrote. "Both also have no-trade clauses, though as with [Sonny] Gray, might be more likely to use that as leverage as a pass to a preferred destination rather than an all-encompassing desire to remain in St. Louis."

While stars like Arenado and Contreras have no-trade clauses, they'd prefer to play for a contender. If St. Louis isn't committed to winning, then what is the point? Arenado's power was down this year, but he's still a force at the hot corner. Contreras is one of the better catchers in the National League, even though a position change could be looming down the road.

When Contreras left Chicago for the rival Cardinals, who would've thought he'd be on the block just a few years later?