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MLBTR Podcast: Three-Way Trade, Murakami’s Short-Term Deal, And Willson Contreras To Boston

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

  • The Mets Sign Jorge Polanco, And The Braves, Blue Jays And Royals Make Moves – listen here
  • Winter Meetings Recap – listen here
  • An Agent’s Perspective with B.B. Abbott – Also, Cease, Williams, Helsley, And Gray – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images

Cardinals Looking To Add Right-Handed Hitting Outfielder

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The Cardinals’ offseason is focused mostly on the players they’re trading away. Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras have already been shipped out, and it’s possible that each of Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado and JoJo Romero will also find themselves on the move. That doesn’t mean they won’t make some short-term pickups. They’ve added Dustin May on a $12.5MM deal in the rotation, and president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom identified a profile they’re pursuing on the position player side.

Bloom told reporters that the Cardinals would like to add an outfielder, ideally one who brings right-handed power (links via John Denton of MLB.com and Daniel Guerrero of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch). That’s an indirect consequence of the Contreras trade. Alec Burleson only made 38 starts at first base this past season. That’s likely to rise in 2026, as Bloom implied that Burleson could replace Contreras as the primary first baseman. Burleson made 72 starts in the corner outfield and 18 at designated hitter.

St. Louis has Lars Nootbaar and Jordan Walker as their projected corner outfield tandem. Nootbaar is down to two years of arbitration control and could be traded this offseason. Walker was a well below replacement level performer in 2025 and still has a minor league option remaining. A righty corner bat could also spell the lefty Burleson.

There aren’t a ton of options remaining in free agency. The Cards could kick the tires on a one-year deal for Miguel Andujar or Austin Hays, each of whom is coming off a big season with the platoon advantage. Old friend Tommy Pham is coming off a middling season against lefties but carries a .261/.368/.434 line in those situations over his career. Chas McCormick hasn’t hit in either of the past two years. He has a 20-homer season with a .273/.353/.489 showing in 2023 on his résumé.

The Cardinals could also look into a switch-hitting utility option like Willi Castro or Luis Rengifo. They’d have the added benefit of being able to fill in at second or third base if the Cardinals line up Donovan and/or Arenado trades. Nolan Gorman would be in line for the bulk of the third base playing time if Arenado is moved. Top prospect JJ Wetherholt should be up as the everyday second baseman at some point, assuming they trade Donovan, but the 23-year-old seems likely to open the season in Triple-A.

Cardinals, Jared Shuster Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals have agreed to a minor league contract with lefty Jared Shuster, reports MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. He’ll invited to major league camp next spring.

A first-round pick by Atlanta back in 2020, Shuster has pitched in parts of three big league seasons between the Braves and White Sox, combining to toss 141 2/3 frames. He’s been tagged for an ugly 5.27 ERA in that time. The 6’3″ southpaw has done a nice job avoiding hard contact to this point in his career (87.7 mph average exit velocity, 34% hard-hit rate) but doesn’t miss bats or limit walks at even average levels. He’s fanned only 15.5% of his opponents and issued walks at a 10.1% clip in the bigs.

Shuster, 27, sits 90-92 mph with his four-seamer as a starter and couples the pitch with a slider and changeup, both checking into the low 80s with their respective average velocities. He was averaging 92.6 mph on his fastball as a full-time reliever last year, but his results both in the majors and upper minors were rough.

The Cardinals have plenty of opportunity on the pitching staff, be it in the bullpen or the rotation. For now, the rotation figures to include Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Dustin May and Kyle Leahy. Andre Pallante will be a candidate to make starts but has also pitched in relief.

Trade acquisitions Richard Fitts (Sonny Gray) and Hunter Dobbins (Willson Contreras) join prospects Quinn Mathews, Brycen Mautz and Tink Hence as possible 2026 rotation candidates. In the bullpen, veteran JoJo Romero and 30-year-old rookie Nick Raquet (who tossed his first two MLB frames in 2025) are the only options on the 40-man roster — and Romero is very likely to be traded prior to spring training.

Red Sox Acquire Willson Contreras

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Less than a month after landing Sonny Gray, the Red Sox have acquired another prominent veteran talent from St. Louis.  Boston has landed first baseman Willson Contreras and $8MM in cash considerations from the Cardinals in exchange for a package of three right-handed pitchers — Hunter Dobbins and prospects Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita.

Contreras and his agents at Octagon negotiated an extra $1MM bonus for Contreras to approve the trade, as the veteran’s contract includes a full no-trade clause.  The final two guaranteed seasons of Contreras’ contract and the club option on his services for 2028 have been slightly reworked, so he’ll now receive $18MM in 2026, $17MM in 2027, and the Red Sox hold a $20MM club option on his services in 2028, with a $7.5MM buyout.  (The previous terms included salaries of $18MM and $18.5MM in 2026-27, plus a $5MM buyout on a 2028 club option valued at$17.5MM.)

The final accounting works out to $42.5MM in guaranteed money for Contreras over the remainder of his deal.  Factoring in the Cardinals’ $8MM contribution, Boston’s commitment to Contreras is $34.5MM in salary, and his luxury tax number is $17.25MM.

When the Cards were first exploring a rebuild last winter, neither Contreras or Gray was open to waiving their no-trade protection.  After a lackluster 78-84 season sent the Cards more firmly looking towards the future, Gray, Contreras, and Nolan Arenado (who blocked a deal to the Astros last winter) all indicated in recent months that they were more open to accepting a trade.

In Contreras’ case, he cracked the door open at the end of season by saying that “if something comes up…and it makes sense for me and my future, how about we talk about that?” Contreras said.  The first baseman stressed that he was still eager to contribute as a veteran leader within the Cardinals’ rebuild, though reports emerged a few weeks ago that Contreras was showing an increased willingness to waive his no-trade clause and move on to a new challenge.

Contreras (who turns 34 in May) ends his St. Louis tenure with a .261/.358/.459 slash line and 55 home runs over 1416 plate appearances from 2023-25.  Signed to a five-year, $87.5MM free agent deal back in December 2022, the idea was that Contreras would take over from Yadier Molina as the team’s regular catcher, yet in somewhat awkward fashion, the Cardinals reduced Contreras’ playing time behind the plate and used him regularly as a DH.  Heading into the 2025 season, Contreras became a full-time first baseman, returning to a position he’d played only a handful of times earlier in his career with the Cubs.  The Outs Above Average metric gave Contreras a positive +6 grade for his first base work in 2025, but he also received -1 Defensive Runs Saved.

Regardless, it would seem like Contreras is at least a passable defender at the cold corner, and the Red Sox can live with only so-so defense as long as the former All-Star continues to hit.  Contreras batted .257/.344/.447 with 20 home runs over 563 PA in 2025, translating to a 124 wRC+.  A career-low 7.8% walk rate was a concern and Contreras has always been prone to strikeouts, but he continued to make consistently hard and productive contact.  Contreras is a right-handed batter, which helps balance out a Boston lineup that tilts to the left side.

Contreras’ final four seasons in Chicago overlapped with Craig Breslow’s time working in the Cubs’ front office, before Breslow was hired to take over Boston’s baseball operations department following the 2023 season.  Breslow’s tenure has thus far been defined by significant trades, ranging from the deals that brought Gray, Garrett Crochet, and now Contreras to Fenway Park, and last June’s surprising move that sent Rafael Devers to the Giants.

One of the many factors involved in the Devers trade was Devers’ displeasure over being asked to move to first base in the wake of Triston Casas’ season-ending knee surgery in early May.  While Romy Gonzalez and deadline pickup Nathaniel Lowe helped fill the first base void, there was little doubt the Sox were going to address the position in a larger fashion this winter.  Pete Alonso, Isaac Paredes, Kazuma Okamoto, Munetaka Murakami, and Bryce Eldridge were among the first base candidates on Boston’s radar on the free agent and trade fronts this winter, and Cotillo reported last week that Contreras was another name under consideration.

With Contreras now in the fold, a Casas trade now looks increasingly likely.  Casas has been floated in trade talks even dating back to last winter and prior to his knee surgery, and despite his injury-shortened season, rival clubs figure to have interest in the former top prospect.  Conversely, if the Sox could figure out a way to dump Masataka Yoshida’s contract, Casas could share first base/DH duties with Contreras.

Adding a first baseman solves another piece of Boston’s infield puzzle, and turns a position from a weak link into a strength.  The Red Sox remain linked to such other major infield names as Bo Bichette or old friend Alex Bregman, and Contreras’ $36MM price tag shouldn’t prevent the Sox from spending big on either of those names, even considering Boston’s recent wariness about major financial commitments.  Trading an outfielder could further shake up the position-player mix, and there have been consistent rumors about the possibility of the Sox moving an outfielder for pitching.

The Red Sox entered the winter with a lot of pitching depth in terms of young arms, yet were lacking proven frontline hurlers that could join Crochet and Brayan Bello in the rotation.  Gray was one answer, and fellow trade pickup Johan Oviedo could be another after Oviedo was acquired from the Pirates.  This has made Breslow more comfortable in trading from further down his pitching depth chart, and after moving Richard Fitts and prospect Brandon Clarke to St. Louis for Gray, Breslow has now parted ways with Dobbins, Fajardo, and Aida.

The equation has been pretty simple for Breslow.  The CBO has been willing to move some (i.e. Jhostynxon Garcia, Kyle Teel) of Boston’s more highly-touted prospects while hanging onto the likes of Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Kristian Campbell, and also moving some pitchers that no longer seem to be in Boston’s plans.  In Dobbins’ case, he isn’t even going to be available for the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster, as the righty tore his right ACL last July.  This was the second right ACL tear Dobbins has endured, plus he has a Tommy John surgery on his checkered health history.

Dobbins made his MLB debut in 2025, and posted a 4.13 ERA, 6.6% walk rate, and 17.6% strikeout rate over his first 61 innings in the Show.  An eighth round pick for the Sox in the 2021 draft, Dobbins is more of grounder-heavy pitcher than a big strikeout arm, but his slider and curveball have good whiff rates as complements to his 95.5mph fastball.  Significant questions remain about Dobbins’ durability, but the 26-year-old right-hander has less than a year of MLB service time and now projects to be a longer-term add to the St. Louis rotation.

Cardinals president of baseball ops Chaim Bloom is plenty familiar with Dobbins, as Bloom was running Boston’s front office when Dobbins came into the organization.  Interestingly, of the five pitchers obtained by the Cardinals in the Contreras and Gray trades, Dobbins is the only one who was part of Boston’s organization when Bloom was still there.

Fitts and (when healthy) Dobbins can factor in the Cardinals’ rotation picture as early as 2026.  Dobbins doesn’t at all fit Bloom’s desire to add another veteran arm to the rotation, yet finding an innings-eater is a short-term goal, whereas Dobbins is part of the bigger picture.  That has been the story of this offseason in St. Louis, as with Bloom now fully installed atop the decision-making pyramid, the Cardinals are embarking on the rebuild they considered but then backed away from last winter.

Trading Contreras removes another big chunk of salary from the Cards’ books.  An Arenado deal could be the next step, though that trade will be trickier due to both Arenado’s salary and the fact that (unlike Contreras or Gray) Arenado is coming off a rough 2025 season.  Other players like Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero have also been regularly mentioned in trade rumors.  One player St. Louis wasn’t very willing to move is Alec Burleson, who now looks to step right into the everyday first base role with Contreras gone.

Fajardo was an international signing for the White Sox in 2024, and he has now been traded twice before his 20th birthday.  Fajardo changed his Sox when Chicago sent him Boston a year ago in the Cam Booser trade, and the righty had a 2.25 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, and a 9.4% walk rate over 72 innings in rookie ball and with A-level Salem in 2025.  MLB Pipeline ranked Fajardo 23rd on their ranking of the top 30 Red Sox prospects, describing the teenager as “a potential mid-rotation starter” whose four-seam fastball can hit 97mph.

Aita was a sixth-round pick for the Red Sox in the 2024 draft.  His first pro season saw the 22-year-old right-hander post a 3.98 ERA in 115 1/3 combined innings in Salem and at high-A Greenville, with a 21.4% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate.  As per Geoff Pontes of Baseball America, Aita technically has a five-pitch arsenal but he rarely throws his slider.  Aita’s fastball is in the 92-93mph range but with plenty of movement, and there’s also a lot of movement and spin on his sweeper and cutter.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan (multiple links) was the first to report that Contreras was going to Boston for Dobbins and multiple minor league pitchers, with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal later identifying Fajardo and Aita.  ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported the detail of Contreras’ $1MM bonus for waiving his no-trade clause.  MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported the $8MM heading from St. Louis to Boston, and Cotillo and The Athletic’s Katie Woo had the details on the reworked money in Contreras’ contract. 

Inset picture courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing — Imagn Images

Details On Ketel Marte’s No-Trade Protection

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The seven-year contract extension Ketel Marte signed with the Diamondbacks last April included a five-team no-trade clause, which adds an interesting wrinkle to the trade rumors that have swirled around the former NLCS MVP in recent weeks.  As reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Athletics, Cardinals, Giants, Pirates, and Yankees are the five teams included on Marte’s current list, which can be updated every offseason.

There are any number of reasons why a player may include a particular team on a no-trade list, and it is worth noting that Marte could still ultimately approve a deal to any of these clubs.  There is no obvious geographic link between the five teams, and while the Yankees were the only member of the group to reach the 2025 playoffs, the Giants, Pirates, and even the A’s are all looking to compete in 2026.  The Cardinals are in rebuild mode, so it is safe to say they weren’t in the running to acquire Marte anyway.

Interestingly, the Pirates and Giants have been linked to Marte’s trade market.  Now that Pittsburgh has landed Brandon Lowe from the Rays in yesterday’s big three-team swap, the Bucs may feel their second base needs have been addressed, though there is a world where Lowe could be a primary DH and Marte could still be brought aboard.  Still, there’s such a hefty amount of money remaining on Marte’s contract that a trade to the budget-conscious Pirates always seemed like an imperfect fit, and Marte’s no-trade list might well underline his own reservations about joining a team with just one winning season in the last decade.

San Francisco has also topped the .500 mark only once in the last nine seasons, but the Giants have been much more willing to spend in their bid to return to consistent contention.  While ownership is wary about making another long-term financial commitment, Marte’s deal could be viewed as a relative bargain, since he would land way more than $102.5MM on a six-year deal if he was a free agent this winter.

Second base is a need position for the Giants, though perhaps not as pressing as the club’s need for more rotation help.  Making a big splash in acquiring Marte might not be as big a priority, in that case, plus there are the added obstacles of Marte’s no-trade protection and the Diamondbacks’ probable reluctance to move the All-Star to a division rival.  San Francisco is considered to be one of the favorites to pry Brendan Donovan away from the Cardinals, so that might end up being the Giants’ big move to address the keystone.

The Giants and Pirates each play in pitcher-friendly ballparks, which might factor into Marte’s reasoning for including the teams on his list.  Sutter Health Park is extremely hitter-friendly, yet it is fair to wonder if Marte just doesn’t want to play in a minor league stadium for at least the next two seasons while the A’s await the construction of their new ballpark in Las Vegas.

The A’s have a big hole at second base, and acquiring Marte would add another top-tier bat to a lineup that already includes Nick Kurtz, Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom, Jacob Wilson, and Shea Langeliers.  While the A’s have been a bit more willing to spend over the last year, Marte’s remaining salary would represent a new spending frontier for the traditionally low-payroll team.  Hypothetically, Luis Severino could be included in a Marte trade as salary offset, but that assumes Arizona (who needs rotation help) has any interest in Severino in the wake of his uninspiring 2025 season.

The Yankees are the most interesting inclusion on Marte’s list, as one would think he would welcome a chance to join a perennial contender.  Jazz Chisholm Jr. is already playing second base in the Bronx, but Chisholm is a free agent next winter, so Marte would represent a longer-term answer at the position.  Purely speculatively, any kind of Diamondbacks/Yankees trade involving Marte could see Chisholm going the other way, to give Arizona a one-year stopgap at second or third base.

Re-signing Cody Bellinger is thought be the Yankees’ top offseason priority, though New York might pivot to other backup plans should Bellinger sign elsewhere.  Landing Marte would certainly qualify as a substantial Plan B, yet his no-trade clause might make any potential trade a moot point.

Amidst all of the reports and speculation, it remains unclear if the Diamondbacks actually will trade away a star player who received such a lengthy contract extension less than a year ago.  With Lowe now in Pittsburgh, however, one big second-base trade chip has been removed from the board, leaving other teams in need of keystone help perhaps more open to meeting Arizona’s demands for Marte.  Beyond the Pirates and Giants, such teams as the Mariners, Rays, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Phillies, and Tigers have all reportedly shown some degree of interest in a Marte trade this winter.

Cardinals Outright Matt Koperniak

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December 19th: The Cards announced that Koperniak has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Memphis.

December 17th: The Cardinals announced that outfielder Matt Koperniak has been designated for assignment. That’s the corresponding 40-man move for right-hander Dustin May, whose signing is now official.

Koperniak, 28 in February, has been with the Cards since signing with them as an undrafted free agent in 2020. From 2021 to 2023, he produced pretty solid results as he climbed the minor league ladder. Across those three seasons, he stepped to the plate 1,399 times. His 10.1% walk rate and 16.1% strikeout rate were both solid figures. He produced a combined line of .293/.375/.441, which translated to a wRC of 112, indicating he was 12% better than league average at the plate.

He seemed to find a new gear in 2024, his first full season at Triple-A. He hit 20 homers and slashed .309/.370/.512 for a 128 wRC+. That may have been a bit fluky, as he got some help from a .351 batting average on balls in play, but the Cards seemed to believe in him. They added him to the 40-man roster in November of that year to keep Koperniak out of the Rule 5 draft.

He spent 2025 back at Triple-A on optional assignment and his results backed up. His home run tally dropped to 14, despite taking 23 extra plate appearances. His BABIP dropped to a more average-ish .283. He finished the season with a .246/.317/.382 line and 85 wRC+.

The Cards are rebuilding and will be giving playing time to younger players in 2026 but Koperniak wouldn’t have been at the front of the line after that performance. He’s instead been bumped off the roster and into DFA limbo. The Cards will now see if there’s any trade interest in him. If not, he’ll be put on waivers. He does still have a couple of options remaining and is considered a strong defensive outfielder, with experience at all three spots. If some club out there likes him, they could acquire him and keep in Triple-A as depth as they hope for a bounceback at the plate.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Orioles Interested In JoJo Romero

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The Orioles have shown interest in Cardinals left-hander JoJo Romero, reports Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The O’s join the Yankees and Mariners as club connected to Romero this month.

Romero, 29, is one of the most straightforward trade candidates of the offseason. He is slated for free agency after the upcoming campaign. With the Cardinals rebuilding, there’s little sense in hanging onto him. They could wait to trade him at the deadline but that path carries risks, as the Cards know. They held onto Erick Fedde and Ryan Helsley going into 2025 and saw both pitchers decrease their respective trade values with poor performances. Even if Romero keeps performing, any pitcher can get hurt at any time, which is another reason to cash him in now.

Since being acquired from the Phillies in 2022, Romero has tossed 171 innings for the Cards, allowing exactly three earned runs per nine. His 23.4% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate in that time are both pretty close to typical league averages but his 53.7% ground ball rate is quite strong. He averages around 94 miles per hour with his four-seamer and sinker while also mixing in a slider, cutter, curveball and changeup. He has recorded 12 saves and 64 holds.

Romero isn’t an overpowering bullpen arm by today’s standards but his results have been consistently solid. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $4.4MM salary next year, very affordable in the current landscape.

The Baltimore bullpen has changed a lot in the past six months. They fell out of contention this year and went into seller mode at the deadline. They flipped Gregory Soto, Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge to other clubs. In August, Félix Bautista required shoulder surgery, a procedure with an estimated recovery time of 12 months. This offseason, they have re-acquired Kittredge from the Cubs and signed Helsley.

They currently have four lefty relievers on the 40-man roster, in Keegan Akin, Dietrich Enns, Grant Wolfram and Josh Walker. Akin has had some solid years with the Orioles but had an uncharacteristic 12.3% walk rate this year. Enns is about to turn 35 and worked as a swingman in 2025 after a few years pitching in Asia. Wolfram and Walker each have fewer than 30 big league innings pitched. Romero would immediately jump to the top of that group if the O’s were able to acquire him.

The lefty relief market has been surging a bit lately. In the past two weeks, Soto, Hoby Milner, Tyler Alexander, Drew Pomeranz, Caleb Ferguson and Caleb Thielbar have signed free agent deals. On the trade market, Jose A. Ferrer, Ángel Zerpa and Matt Strahm have been flipped. Free agency still features guys like Sean Newcomb, Justin Wilson, Danny Coulombe, Andrew Chafin, Brent Suter and others. There are many theoretical trade candidates but Romero is the most obvious one.

Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images

Cardinals Still Interested In Rotation Addition

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The Cardinals added a fresh arm to their rotation this week by signing Dustin May. Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Cards are still interested in adding another starter, but it would likely be more of an innings-eating veteran type to provide stability.

May doesn’t fit the bill of a veteran innings eater. He’s had notable injury problems in his career. From 2019 to 2024, he never topped 56 innings in any individual season and also missed the entirety of the 2024 campaign. He was healthy-ish in 2025, getting to 132 1/3 innings, but finished the season on the injured list due to right elbow neuritis.

The St. Louis rotation is lacking in certainty overall at the moment. Erick Fedde was traded to Atlanta in July. Miles Mikolas became a free agent at season’s end. Sonny Gray was recently traded to the Red Sox. That means they’ve lost three of the five guys who gave them 100 innings or more in 2025.

The other two were Matthew Liberatore and Andre Pallante. Liberatore had a decent 4.21 earned run average in his first full season in the majors. Pallante had a decent first half but then faded and ended the season with a 5.31 ERA.

Michael McGreevy will probably get a rotation spot after he posted a 4.42 ERA in 95 2/3 innings this year but his 14.5% strikeout rate was quite low. Richard Fitts, acquired in the Gray deal, has some okay numbers so far but in just 65 2/3 big league innings. Kyle Leahy may get a rotation audition but he has been a reliever to this point in his big league career. Tink Hence and Brycen Mautz are on the 40-man but haven’t made major league debuts yet. Prospect Quinn Mathews has reached Triple-A but walked 17.5% of batters he faced at that level this year.

Mathews isn’t on the 40-man yet. Of everyone else mentioned, May and Leahy are the only two who can’t be optioned to the minors. As of right now, three spots would probably go to May, Liberatore and Pallante. If they make an external addition, that would leave one spot available for McGreevy, Leahy, Fitts, Hence, Mautz or Mathews. If Leahy doesn’t win a job out of camp, he can be in the bullpen. Anyone else who doesn’t get a job can go to the Triple-A rotation.

This is all theoretical and assuming everyone is healthy. These days, no team makes it through a season with just five starters. Injuries are inevitable and will open up further opportunities for anyone who doesn’t have a rotation spot initially. May is on a one-year deal and will likely be traded this summer if he’s pitching well. The same could be true of whichever veteran is added in the coming months. That would leave more starts for the unproven guys in the final months of the 2026 season.

As for who the Cards add, there are many possibilities. Guys like Jose Quintana, Patrick Corbin, Tyler Anderson, Tomoyuki Sugano, Nick Martinez, Martín Pérez, Andrew Heaney, Michael Lorenzen and many others are free agents.

The trade market has fewer of these types. The Cubs may look to move a back-end guy if they sign a front-end type but intra-divisional trades are always tricky to pull off. The Red Sox may be looking to flip Patrick Sandoval but he’s not exactly stable as he missed all of 2025 recovering from surgery. The Jays may be looking to get out from under the José Berríos deal but the Cards don’t make sense as a landing spot for that contract unless the Jays are willing to give up meaningful prospect talent just to make the deal go away. The Rockies may be willing to trade Kyle Freeland but they need innings themselves.

Time will tell how it pans out but it’s a sensible goal for the Cards. Their offseason to-do list is mostly about subtracting, having already traded Gray and with potential deals for Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, Lars Nootbaar, JoJo Romero and others still possible. But they do need to get through the 2026 and have a lot of question marks in their rotation mix. They will want to have chances available for their in-house guys but having a sturdy veteran presence to keep things steady is logical.

Photo courtesy of Paul Rutherford, Imagn Images

Cardinals Sign Dustin May

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December 17th: The Cards officially announced May’s signing today. May will make $12.5MM in 2026 and the mutual option is worth $20MM, per Passan. It’s a $12MM salary and a $500K buyout on the option, per Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat.

December 13th: The Cardinals are expected to sign right-hander Dustin May, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. It’s a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2027. May spent last season split between the Dodgers and Red Sox.

May was sent to Boston at the trade deadline for James Tibbs and Zach Ehrhard. After scuffling through 19 appearances with L.A., he battled injuries and poor performance with the Red Sox. May set career highs in innings (132 1/3) and games (25) last season, but posted an unsightly 4.96 ERA with an xFIP and SIERA in the mid-4.00s.

St. Louis was in desperate need of rotation depth after trading Sonny Gray to Boston and watching Miles Mikolas hit free agency. The club also lost swingman Steven Matz, who signed with Tampa Bay. May is set to join holdovers Andre Pallante and Michael McGreevy in the rotation. May’s former teammate on the Red Sox, Richard Fitts, will likely be in the mix after coming over in the Gray trade. The Cardinals are considering converting Kyle Leahy into a starter to round out the staff.

The Dodgers spent a third-round pick on May in 2016. He emerged as one of the top pitching prospects in a system typically stocked with elite arms. May made his MLB debut in 2019, working largely out of the bullpen. He spent the majority of the shortened 2020 campaign in the rotation, making 10 starts. It would be the only time he would reach double-digit starts until this past season. Injuries capped May to just 20 games from 2021 to 2023. He missed all of 2024 due to flexor tendon surgery.

May stayed healthy for the first time in 2025, making 19 appearances for the Dodgers. He stumbled to a 4.85 ERA over 104 innings. Despite the performance, May still netted LA an intriguing prospect in Tibbs, a first-round pick in 2024 (by San Francisco). The veteran righty made just six appearances with the Red Sox before right elbow neuritis cut his season short.

The Cardinals are betting on May pairing the flashes of solid production he’s shown in prior seasons with the improved health from 2025. The 28-year-old recorded a sub-3.00 ERA in 2020, 2022, and 2023, albeit in abbreviated campaigns. While he did go down with the elbow issue in September, he still destroyed his previous career bests in terms of workload. May had totaled 101 innings over four seasons before putting up 132 1/3 frames last year. It was the first time in his six-year career that May showed the ability to stay on the mound for any kind of extended stretch.

May has a perplexing pitching profile. He has a GIF-worthy arsenal headlined by a high-spin sweeper and a fastball in the mid to upper-90s. Oddly, the repertoire hasn’t generated whiffs or strikeouts for much of his career. May spiked a 37.6% strikeout rate over five games in 2021, but he’s been at best an average strikeout pitcher in every other season. He posted a middling 21.1% mark between L.A. and Boston last year. May has a modest 8.8% swinging-strike rate for his career. None of his five pitches has a standout whiff rate.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post was first to report that the contract was for one year. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo was first to note the deal included a club option for 2027.

Photo courtesy of Paul Rutherford, Imagn Images

Mariners, Giants “Front-Runners” For Brendan Donovan

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The Mariners and Giants have emerged as front-runners in the sweepstakes for super-utility man Brendan Donovan, according to a report from Katie Woo of The Athletic. Woo added that both clubs are also engaged with the Diamondbacks on Ketel Marte.

Both Seattle and San Francisco have previously been reported to have interest in Donovan’s services, which Woo notes the Cardinals are seeking multiple top prospects in exchange for. With that being said, they were often mentioned as just two of many teams interested in the versatile infielder; Donovan’s market has been said to encompass more than half the league, with the Pirates, Royals, Guardians, and Astros standing among the other teams that have been connected to him this winter.

That makes the Mariners’ and Giants’ “front-runner” status a notable shift in the status quo, and Woo goes as far as to mention specific prospect names being discussed with both clubs. In talks with Seattle, Woo reports that the Cardinals have discussed top pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje and outfielder Lazaro Montes. The pair are Seattle’s #7 and #3 prospects, respectively, according to MLB Pipeline. In talks with the Giants, Woo writes that the names of infielder Gavin Kilen and southpaw Carson Whisenhunt have come up. Kilen is San Francisco’s #2 prospect per Pipeline, while Whisenhunt ranks #7.

Cijntje has garnered some buzz around the baseball industry due to his status as a switch pitcher who throws from both the right and left sides. He’s a more well-regarded pitcher from the right-hand side, touching the upper 90s with his right arm but being relegated to the low 90s with his left. In his pro debut in 2025, Cijntje pitched to a 3.99 ERA overall across the High-A and Double-A levels but actually got better after his promotion. In seven starts at Double-A, Cijntje turned in a 2.67 ERA across 33 2/3 innings of work with a 25.5% strikeout rate and an 11.0% walk rate.

Montes entered the 2025 season as a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport but scuffled a bit after being promoted to the Double-A level. He hit a solid but unspectacular .213/.319/.433 in 64 games at the level with a 30.5% strikeout rate. That’s hardly exciting production, but some of those struggles can be forgiven considering he was one of just four hitters under the age of 21 to reach 200 plate appearances in the Texas League last year, joined by Sebastian Walcott, Walker Jenkins, and teammate Michael Arroyo.

Kilen was San Francisco’s first-round pick in the 2025 draft. As a result, he has just ten professional games under his belt where he hit a lackluster .205/.279/.282. With that said, the University of Tennessee product hit an incredible .357/.441/.671 in his final collegiate season and was roundly viewed as a plus contact hitter despite questions about his power potential and ability to handle shortstop at the big league level.

As for Whisenhunt, the 25-year-old already made his big league debut earlier this year with a 5.01 ERA across five starts. While it was hardly an exciting pro debut, Whisenhunt did manage to post a 4.41 ERA in 21 starts in Triple-A’s Pacific Coast League despite the extremely unfriendly environment for pitchers at that level. He profiles as a possible mid-rotation arm with a profile carried by a plus-plus changeup.

Of course, it’s possible that these are only a handful of prospects St. Louis is discussing with the two suitors. It should also be noted that Donovan is far from the only avenue either club is pursuing for their vacancy at second base. The Mariners had been in rather public pursuit of a reunion with Jorge Polanco until he signed with the Mets yesterday, but they’ve still be connected to Marte in addition to Donovan. Woo suggests that Polanco’s departure could leave the Mariners more motivated to make a deal in the coming days, and perhaps that could indicate that Seattle is the more aggressive suitor of the two.

Woo describes the Giants, by contrast, as “exploring all options” as they look to upgrade over Casey Schmitt and Tyler Fitzgerald at second base. In addition to Marte, Brandon Lowe is also known to be available on the trade market while teams have also inquired after Cubs infielder Nico Hoerner. The infield market in free agency is tilted more towards the left side, but Alex Bregman has expressed a willingness to play second base in the past, shortstop Ha-Seong Kim has experience at the position, and Bo Bichette has long been viewed as a potential candidate to move off shortstop at some point. San Francisco hasn’t been directly tied to any of those players, of course, but all stand out as at least plausible acquisitions to be made by a team searching for second base help.

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