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Mets Interested In Willson Contreras, Lars Nootbaar

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The Mets have grabbed headlines for the moves they haven’t made this offseason, namely watching Pete Alonso sign with Baltimore and Edwin Diaz head to Los Angeles. The club is actively working to add on the offensive side, though, with the Cardinals as a potential trade partner. Will Sammon of The Athletic reports the Mets have interest in outfielder Lars Nootbaar, while John Denton of MLB.com reports New York reached out about Willson Contreras.

Neither Contreras nor Nootbaar would replace the Alonso-sized void in the lineup, but both would fill holes in the roster. Contreras could slot right into Alonso’s vacated spot at first base, while Nootbaar would help cover the gap left by Brandon Nimmo, who was dealt to the Rangers.

Contreras and Nootbaar are just a couple of the many Cardinals popping up in trade conversations. Brendan Donovan is drawing widespread interest. JoJo Romero has intrigued several teams. Nolan Arenado has been a trade candidate for multiple seasons. Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson have been mentioned as possibly getting moved. Despite the interest around the league, nothing materialized during the Winter Meetings. “To some degree, it’s binary — either you have something or you don’t. Right now, we don’t,” president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom told reporters.

As Anthony Franco pointed out in this piece about replacing Alonso (Front Office subscription required), Contreras would be the most straightforward fit in the trade market. He has a no-trade clause, but is reportedly open to waiving it. Contreras is under contract for the next two seasons, with a club option for 2028. He’s slated to make $18MM next season and $18.5MM in 2027. The price tag isn’t exorbitant for his level of production, but it might be too costly for the rebuilding Cardinals to keep around.

Contreras has been a firmly above-average bat in his three seasons with St. Louis. He’s posted a wRC+ of at least 124 in each campaign. Contreras has a pair of 20-homer campaigns as a Cardinal, and the lone miss was his most productive year with the team. He hit 15 home runs in just 84 games in 2024, but a broken finger ended his season in late June.

The 33-year-old Contreras hasn’t missed a beat as he’s entered his 30s. His profile has arguably looked even better under the hood in recent years. Contreras posted a career-high 49% hard-hit rate this past season. He ranked 95th percentile in bat speed. Contreras has been one of the hardest swingers in the game since bat speed data became widely available.

The Nootbaar fit isn’t as seamless, largely due to availability. The outfielder had surgery on both heels in October and may miss the beginning of the 2026 season. The procedure may have already removed one team from contention for Nootbaar’s services. Replacing Nimmo’s strong on-base skills and steady all-around production will be difficult, but so will finding another option to match his durability. The former Met has topped 150 games in four straight seasons. The oft-injured Nootbaar has maxed out at 135 games in a season, and that came this past year, which ended with the double-heel surgery.

Nootbaar has generally been productive when available. He’s routinely posted well above-average walk rates and solid slugging numbers. Nootbaar is typically good for a dozen home runs, a handful of steals, and a respectable OBP. The 2025 season was a healthy one, but Nootbaar declined in production. He slashed just .234/.325/.361, recording his first sub-100 wRC+ since his rookie season in 2021.

Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images

2025 Rule 5 Draft Results

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The 2025 Rule 5 draft is taking place this afternoon at the Winter Meetings in Orlando. This post will be updated with the results as they come in.

As a refresher, the Rule 5 draft is a way for players potentially talented enough for the big leagues but blocked by their current clubs to find opportunities elsewhere. Any players that were 18 and under at the time of their original signing and went professional in 2021, and any players who turned pro at 19 years of age or older in 2022, are eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft if they are not on a 40-man roster.

Though the amateur (Rule 4) draft now has a lottery to determine the selection order, the Rule 5 draft still goes the old-fashioned way of reverse order of standings from the season that just ended. Clubs need to have an open 40-man roster spot in order to make a pick but aren’t obligated to make a selection on their turn. If they do make a pick, they will have to pay $100K to the team they select from. The selected players must stay on the active roster (or injured list) for the entire 2026 season or else be placed on waivers. If they clear waivers, they must be offered back to their original team. They cannot be optioned to the minors.

Players like Anthony Santander and Ryan Pressly have been notable picks in other recent years while guys like George Bell and Roberto Clemente are found deeper in the history books. Last year, 15 players were selected. Only four of those remain with the club who selected them and only three of those have had their rights fully transferred to their new club. The White Sox took Shane Smith from the Brewers. The Marlins took Liam Hicks from the Tigers. Mike Vasil was taken by the Phillies from the Mets but was later traded to the Rays and then went to the White Sox via waivers.

The one other pick from last year’s draft which is still live is Angel Bastardo, who the Blue Jays took from the Red Sox. He was recovering from Tommy John surgery and spent the entire 2025 season on the injured list. He is still on Toronto’s 40-man but they don’t yet have his full rights, as a player needs at least 90 active days to remove the Rule 5 restrictions. If the Jays are willing to roster him for about three months during the 2026 season, they could then gain his full rights and option him to the minors. All other picks were eventually returned to their original organization and/or became free agents.

This year’s picks will be featured below as they come in…

  1. Rockies: RHP RJ Petit (from the Tigers) (Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs was on this before the official announcement)
  2. White Sox: RHP Jedixson Paez (Red Sox)
  3. Nationals: RHP Griff McGarry (Phillies)
  4. Twins: C Daniel Susac (Athletics) (Susac was then traded to the Giants, per Longenhagen. The Twins will get minor league catcher Miguel Caraballo in return, per Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star Tribune)
  5. Pirates: RHP Carter Baumler (Orioles) (The Pirates then traded Baumler to the Rangers for RHP Jaiker Garcia. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News previously suggested Texas would likely get Baumler)
  6. Angels: pass
  7. Orioles: pass
  8. Athletics: RHP Ryan Watson (Giants) (Will be traded to Red Sox, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. The A’s will get Justin Riemer in return, per Cotillo.)
  9. Braves: pass
  10. Rays: pass
  11. Cardinals: RHP Matt Pushard (Marlins)
  12. Marlins: pass
  13. Diamondbacks: pass
  14. Rangers: pass
  15. Giants: pass
  16. Royals: pass
  17. Reds: pass
  18. Mets: pass
  19. Tigers: pass
  20. Astros: RHP Roddery Muñoz (Reds)
  21. Guardians: RHP Peyton Pallette (White Sox)
  22. Red Sox: pass
  23. Mariners: pass
  24. Padres: pass
  25. Cubs: pass
  26. Dodgers: pass
  27. Blue Jays: RHP Spencer Miles (Giants)
  28. Yankees: RHP Cade Winquest (Cardinals)
  29. Phillies: RHP Zach McCambley (Marlins)
  30. Brewers: pass

Second round (all others passed)

Photo courtesy of Mike Watters, Imagn Images

Giants Have Shown Interest In Brendan Donovan

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Brendan Donovan has been one of the top trade targets for clubs seeking offensive help. The Royals, Mariners, Pirates, Guardians and Astros have all been tied to the lefty-hitting utilityman at points this offseason.

Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Giants have been in the mix for Donovan as well. Goold lists San Francisco alongside Seattle and Kansas City among the teams that have kept in touch with the Cardinals as they gauge the market. Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reports that the Red Sox have also talked with the Cards about Donovan, though he’s one of myriad star infielders whom Boston has considered.

The Giants are looking to add at second base. Casey Schmitt is the favorite to start there but probably fits better as a utility player. San Francisco had one of the least productive second base groups in MLB overall. Schmitt was a league average hitter, while Tyler Fitzgerald’s strikeout issues prevented him from building off an impressive 2024 rookie season. Donovan is coming off a .287/.353/.422 season and owns a very similar line in more than 2000 career plate appearances. He’d be a significant upgrade at second base and has the flexibility to help out in the corner outfield.

Kansas City surprisingly tendered a contract to Jonathan India. He’ll probably be back at second base, so Donovan might fit better for them in left field. They could also use India at designated hitter on days when Salvador Perez is behind the plate.

Seattle is hopeful of re-signing free agent second baseman Jorge Polanco. They’ve reportedly had a gap on the contract length, and president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto spoke yesterday of preparing for the possibility that Polanco signs elsewhere. There’s been some thought that he could sign before the Winter Meetings are out tomorrow.

A Donovan trade, if it happens at all, doesn’t appear to be imminent. Goold writes that president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom and his staff are taking their time to evaluate offers. Ryan Divish and Adam Jude of The Seattle Times write similarly that Donovan is not expected to be moved before the end of the week.

Donovan is under club control for another two seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $5.4MM salary. That’ll likely climb into the $8-10MM range in 2027. The Cardinals haven’t firmly committed to trading Donovan, but there’s been no indication that an extension is on the table. They’re entering a rebuild, so it’d be a surprise if he’s not in another uniform by Opening Day. The Cardinals are pursuing controllable starting pitching in their trade conversations.

Cardinals Notes: Nootbaar, Cameron, Pitching

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As one of the few teams in baseball in true rebuild mode, the Cardinals are open to offers on most players on their roster, yet some of the Cards’ most-cited trade candidates may be a little more available than others.  Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch hears from sources on rival teams that the Cardinals don’t seem to be “actively seeking to trade” outfielder Lars Nootbaar.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that Nootbaar won’t be dealt, of course, but there are also some obvious reasons why the Cardinals might want to wait until beyond this offseason to move the 28-year-old.

Injuries have been a subplot of Nootbaar’s career, and while he hit new career highs in games played (135) and plate appearances (583) in 2025, he underwent surgery in October on both of his heels.  The surgery was meant to address Haglund’s deformities, which are bone spurs that develop on the heel bone near the base of the Achilles tendon.  It seems likely that playing through this discomfort led to Nootbaar’s underwhelming numbers in 2025, and it isn’t yet known if the recovery from the procedure will allow Nootbaar to be ready for Opening Day.

Between the health question mark and Nootbaar’s 96 wRC+ (from 13 homers and a .234/.325/.361 slash line), St. Louis would probably be selling low if Nootbaar was traded this winter.  As such, it makes sense that the Cardinals would hang onto Nootbaar for now and see if he’s able to bounce back in the first half of the 2026 season, so a trade deadline move might be more realistic.

Trading Sonny Gray to the Red Sox cleared $20MM off of the Cardinals’ payroll ledger for 2026, and the team would also save a lot of money if Nolan Arenado or Willson Contreras were traded.  There isn’t any similar financial pressure involved with a potential Nootbaar trade, as he is projected to earn $5.7MM this winter in the second of three trips through the arbitration process.  That extra year of control gives the Cards more flexibility in allowing Nootbaar to get fully healthy before more properly shopping him to any interested teams.

President of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has been open about his team’s desire to add starting pitching, whether it’s younger arms or (likely on short-term deals) more experienced hurlers.  The Gray trade brought Richard Fitts and prospect Brandon Clarke into the fold, and St. Louis is expected to seek out more pitchers in other trades or in free agency.  Whether or not the Cards explore free agent pitchers will hinge on what they can land on the trade front, Goold writes, so it may be yet be a while before the Cardinals look too deeply at signings given how much interest they’re getting in their various trade chips.

Other teams’ trade endeavors could also delay matters.  For instance, Goold notes that some teams interested in Brendan Donovan for their second base vacancy also have interest in the Rays’ Brandon Lowe or even the Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte.  If one of those players is dealt elsewhere, that eliminates one Donovan suitor, but also puts more pressure on other interested teams to up their offers to St. Louis in order to land a second baseman (though Donovan’s versatility also doesn’t limit his market just to keystone-needy teams).

Perhaps related to both the Cardinals’ pitching search and the Royals’ known interest in Donovan, Goold reports that the Cards “have had interest before in” Kansas City’s Noah Cameron.  The 26-year-old southpaw is coming off an impressive debut season that saw Cameron finish fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting after posting a 2.99 ERA over 138 1/3 innings.

Between Cameron’s ability and multiple remaining years of team control, it would take a whole lot to pry the left-hander away from the Royals.  While K.C. president of baseball operations J.J. Picollo has discussed his team’s openness to trading from its pitching depth for much-needed outfield help, Cameron would likely be one of the last arms the Royals would prefer to move.  That said, adding a real impact bat to the lineup might require an impact pitcher in return, and Donovan’s market has been so crowded that the Royals might make to make a special offer to break away from the pack.

Cardinals Claim Zak Kent

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The Cardinals announced Friday that they’ve claimed right-hander Zak Kent off waivers from the Guardians. The Cards already had a pair of 40-man vacancies and are now up to 39 players on the roster.

Kent, 28 in February, made his big league debut in Cleveland this past season. He tossed 17 2/3 innings out of the Guards’ bullpen and yielded nine earned runs (4.58 ERA) with a 21.1% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate. Kent averaged 92.6 mph on his four-seamer and 93.6 mph on a sparsely used sinker. His breaking offerings include a mid-80s slider and a low-80s curveball.

Though Kent didn’t show much in his relatively limited run at the MLB level, he turned in a sharp 2.84 ERA in 38 Triple-A frames last year. Command issues still plagued him, evidenced by 13.2% walk rate, but he also set down more than 31% of his opponents on strikes. He’s long been credited as having a pair of plus breaking pitches, but his sub-par fastball velocity and poor command have undercut the quality of both those breaking pitches.

Kent is out of minor league options, so the Cardinals can’t send him to Triple-A Memphis next season without first passing him through waivers. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Kent is eligible for a fourth option, so perhaps the Cards will apply for that and be granted another option for Kent. There’s no guarantee he makes it to spring training on the 40-man roster, but if he does stick on the roster all winter, Kent should have an opportunity to win a job in what should be a wide-open competition for at least four bullpen spots (five, if the Cardinals trade JoJo Romero, as expected).

Latest On Mariners’ Bullpen Targets

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Mariners general manager Justin Hollander publicly admitted a few weeks back that the club would be looking for bullpen upgrades. Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reports that Seattle plans to add two relievers and hopes to have one locked down by the end of the Winter Meetings next week. Adding a lefty is a priority and Jude lists five names they are considering, with four of them being southpaws. They are Matt Strahm of the Phillies, JoJo Romero of the Cardinals, Jose A. Ferrer of the Nationals, as well as free agents Tyler Rogers and Hoby Milner. Rogers is the lone right-hander in that group. Jude also mentions that the Mariners had interest in right-hander Phil Maton before he signed with the Cubs.

Seattle had a decent bullpen group in 2025. Their relievers had a collective 3.72 earned run average, which was ninth in the majors. Andrés Muñoz is one of the better closers in the game. But just about any club can add an extra leverage arm or two and bump other guys down a peg. That’s particularly true for the Mariners from the left side, as Gabe Speier is their only established southpaw reliever at the moment. Robinson Ortiz is the other lefty reliever on the 40-man but he hasn’t yet made his major league debut.

It’s unlikely that the club will spend a lot on the relief group. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto suggested that the M’s will likely begin 2026 with a similar payroll to where they were at the end of 2025. RosterResource estimates that they are currently about $15MM shy of that target. They already re-signed Josh Naylor but could look to further bolster the infield by re-signing Jorge Polanco or Eugenio Suárez. Jude unsurprisingly suggests the M’s aren’t likely to go after a big name reliever like Edwin Díaz or Robert Suarez.

Strahm, 34, is the most established of the bunch. He now has ten big league seasons under his belt. Though he has pushed into his mid-30s, he has remained effective. He just tossed 62 1/3 innings for the Phils this year, allowing 2.74 earned runs per nine. His 7.8% walk rate was a bit better than average and his 27.3% strikeout rate was quite strong. He triggered a vesting option in his contract and will make $7.5MM next year.

All that makes him attractive for the Mariners but also valuable for the Phillies. It’s possible the Phils may be willing to move a lefty due to a relative surplus. They have reportedly received some trade interest since they have Strahm, José Alvarado and Tanner Banks. The Phils have a lot they want to accomplish this winter, including re-signing Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto while also remaking their outfield and perhaps bolstering the rotation. They have some money to spend but perhaps trading one of their lefties could leave them less reliant on spending their cash.

Romero, 29, is a much more straightforward trade candidate. The Cardinals are rebuilding and he is just one year away from free agency. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a salary of $4.4MM next year. Over the past three years, he has tossed 156 2/3 innings for the Cards with a 2.93 ERA, 22.9% strikeout rate, 8.5% walk rate and 53.3% ground ball rate.

Ferrer, 26 in March, is also on a rebuilding club. However, he’s under club control for four more years and hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration, so the Nats don’t really need to trade him anytime soon. They are surely hoping to return to contention within his window of control but they may be open to a trade anyway, given that a pitcher can get hurt at any time and reliever performance tends to be volatile.

In Ferrer’s career, he has an unimpressive 4.36 ERA but that might mask his true skills. He is a ground ball guy and the Nats have been one of the worst defensive clubs in recent years, so perhaps a change of scenery would help him unlock a new gear in terms of run prevention. In 76 1/3 innings for the Nats this year, his 21.9% strikeout rate was just shy of league average. His 4.9% walk rate and 62.6% ground ball rate were both excellent. His 4.48 ERA doesn’t look great but his 3.03 FIP and 2.85 SIERA provide more optimism about him thriving in a different environment.

Milner, 35 in January, has a somewhat similar grounder-heavy profile to Ferrer. He has logged at least 64 innings in four straight seasons now. Over that 2022-25 span, he has thrown 264 frames with a 3.55 ERA, 22.6% strikeout rate, 5.8% walk rate and 51.1% ground ball rate. Despite the solid track record, he was only able to secure a one-year, $2.5MM deal from Texas last winter. Perhaps he’ll have some extra earning power after finishing another solid season but he’s also a year older.

Rogers, 35 this month, is one of the most unique pitchers in the game. Not to be confused with his lefty brother Taylor, Tyler is the submarining righty. He doesn’t rack up strikeouts but he is one of the best in the game when it comes to staying healthy, avoiding walks and inducing grounders as well as soft contact. He has logged at least 70 innings in five straight campaigns. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has 378 1/3 innings with a 2.71 ERA, 17% strikeout rate, 4.4% walk rate, 56.3% ground ball rate and consistently strong numbers in terms of exit velocity allowed. He is a free agent for the first time and should be in high demand but some teams may be scared off by his age and lack of velocity, as he can barely even get into the 80s with his fastballs.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin, Oncea-Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: An Agent’s Perspective with B.B. Abbott – Also, Cease, Williams, Helsley, And Gray

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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 B.B. Abbott of Wasserman Baseball to discuss…

  • Abbott’s approach to free agency (3:30)
  • The impact of the media on free agency (10:00)
  • The different levels of player involvement in free agency (17:00)
  • The decision to sign an extension instead of going to free agency (20:15)
  • Chris Sale and his extensions with the White Sox, Red Sox and Braves (23:00)
  • Byron Buxton and his extension with the Twins (28:50)
  • Representing young players going into the draft (32:10)
  • The general state of baseball (35:50)

Plus, Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors joins the show to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

  • Some “Classic Baseball Trades,” Nimmo For Semien, And Ward For Rodriguez – listen here
  • Offseason Preview Megapod: Top 50 Free Agents – listen here
  • Surprising Option Decisions, Qualifying Offers, And Paul DePodesta – 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 Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Mariners Among Teams Interested In Brendan Donovan

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As the Cardinals navigate the early stages of a rebuild under new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan stands as perhaps the most appealing trade commodity on the St. Louis roster. The Mariners spent much of last offseason trying to pry Donovan loose from the Cardinals (under then-president of baseball ops John Mozeliak), and they’ve once again approached the Cards to express interest in coming together on a trade involving Donovan, per Adam Jude of the Seattle Times.

Donovan, 29 in January, turned in a sharp .287/.353/.422 batting line in 2025 — about 19% better than league-average performance, by measure of wRC+. He popped 10 homers in 515 plate appearances, piled up 32 doubles, walked at an 8.2% clip and struck out in only 13% of his plate appearances. It’s the fourth straight year of comparable hit-over-power and OBP-fueled offense for Donovan, who’s a lifetime .282/.361/.411 hitter in the majors. He’s walked at a 9.1% clip and fanned in just 13.5% of his 2006 MLB plate appearances dating back to 2022.

On top of Donovan’s generally strong output and impeccable bat-to-ball skills, he’s a gifted defender who can handle just about any position on the diamond. He’s played primarily second base and left field but has some decent experience at shortstop (106 innings), third base (270 innings), first base (151 innings) and in right field (205 innings).

For the Mariners, Donovan is an ideal fit. He can handle second base, third base or an outfield corner — all currently unsettled in Seattle at the moment. Prospects Cole Young and Colt Emerson are highly touted young players who could step up and solidify second base and/or third base, but Young struggled in his first 77 MLB games last year and Emerson is a 20-year-old who’s played all of six games at the Triple-A level thus far. Victor Robles is penciled into right field alongside Randy Arozarena and Julio Rodriguez, but Robles and Dominic Canzone could fill more part-time roles if Donovan is brought in and gets occasional work on the outfield grass.

Donovan also embodies the type of high-contact bat the Mariners have hoped to add in recent offseasons. The M’s had the second-highest strikeout rate of any MLB team in both 2023 and 2024. They dropped to seventh last year. Over the past five seasons, only the Angels (24.9%) have a higher team strikeout rate than the Mariners (24.7%). A full season of Josh Naylor helps to combat that, but 500-plus plate appearances from Donovan would give them a pair of premium contact bats at or near the top of the lineup.

Of course, Donovan’s versatility, production and affordability make him an ideal fit for the majority of contending teams seeking to upgrade their lineup this offseason. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects a $5.4MM salary for Donovan next year. He’ll be owed a raise on that heading into 2027 — his final season of club control (barring an extension between now and then). Any team acquiring Donovan would do so knowing that they can have him for something in the rough vicinity of $15MM total through 2027. It’s an unmitigated bargain, but that also means he’ll come with a lofty asking price. The Mariners, with one of MLB’s top farm systems, are well-equipped to make a compelling offer.

Katie Woo of The Athletic wrote this week that the Cardinals are only inclined to trade Donovan if they’re blown away by an offer they don’t think they can refuse. Interest in Donovan is so high, however, that Woo suggests such an offer is likely to materialize. Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN offered similar sentiments yesterday, writing that while the Cards “are not eager” to make the move, Donovan’s market is “percolating” and an eventual trade seems likelier than not.

In addition to the Mariners, Donovan is known to have drawn interest from the Pirates, Astros, Guardians and Royals. That’s surely just a fraction of the clubs to have reached out to the Cardinals regarding Donovan. The Dodgers, Yankees and Blue Jays were all tied to Donovan last offseason and/or at this past summer’s trade deadline.

Willson Contreras Becoming More Open To Waiving No-Trade Clause

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Entering the offseason, two of the Cardinals’ three pricey veterans — Sonny Gray and Nolan Arenado — made clear that they were more willing to waive their no-trade clause this winter than they were last. Gray said he’d “definitely” consider the possibility after chatting with new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom about the team’s direction. He’s already been shipped to the Red Sox. Arenado said he’d consider a broader range of teams this winter than last. He remains with St. Louis and will be extremely challenging to trade given his multiyear decline at the plate and the two expensive years left on his contract.

The Cardinals’ third spendy veteran, first baseman Willson Contreras, said on the final weekend of the season that he’d be open to trade scenarios if they made sense for both the organization and his own personal future but emphasized that his preference was to remain in St. Louis. Now, however, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports that Contreras has become increasingly open to waiving his no-trade protection to greenlight a deal if he deems the new club to be a good fit.

Perhaps seeing Gray moved and witnessing a deluge of rumors about teammates like Arenado, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, JoJo Romero, Nolan Gorman and others has proven eye-opening for Contreras. Maybe watching the 2025 postseason simply reignited his aspirations to return to the playoffs. Whatever the reason, it’s notable that Contreras is now signaling a greater willingness to approve a deal.

That doesn’t make it a foregone conclusion that he’ll be traded. Contreras’ contract isn’t as complicated as that of Gray or Arenado, but it’s not exactly a raucous bargain in its own right. He’s guaranteed $36.5MM over the next two seasons, plus a $5MM buyout on a club option for the 2028 season. That’s $41.5MM still guaranteed to him overall. Would a 33-year-old Contreras (34 in May) command that type of contract in free agency right now? It’s possible, but he likely wouldn’t earn much beyond that.

Contreras is coming off a strong overall season. He hit .257/.344/.447 with 20 home runs, 31 doubles, a triple, five steals, a 25.2% strikeout rate and a 7.8% walk rate. By measure of wRC+, he was 24% better than league-average at the plate. His defense at first base — his first year at the new position — drew strong marks from Statcast (6 Outs Above Average) and a roughly average grade from Defensive Runs Saved (-1). It’s not far-fetched to think his glove will improve as he gains more seasoning at his new defensive home.

The Astros signed Christian Walker for three years and $60MM last offseason, a contract that began with his age-34 season. In that sense, one could argue that Contreras’ contract is about market value from an AAV vantage point ($20.75MM AAV on the remaining guarantee) but is more appealing in that it’s a year shorter. Then again, Walker was an elite defensive first baseman who’d his 95 home runs across the three prior seasons; Contreras was a good-not-great defender in ’25 and has hit 55 home runs over the three prior seasons.

The Cards were willing to pay down around half the money remaining on Gray’s contract to get a decent return. They wouldn’t need to eat as much of the Contreras deal to move him, but the more money they absorb, the better the return they can seek. Trading him without paying down any of the remaining salary likely wouldn’t net much of a return at all.

If the Cardinals are willing to eat some of that cash, there should be no shortage of interest in the three-time All-Star. Clubs like the Red Sox (again!), Rangers, Orioles, Guardians, Mets, Marlins and Padres are lacking certainty at first base and/or designated hitter. The Cardinals appear willing to deal within the division, too, which could make Cincinnati or Pittsburgh viable on-paper fits. Could a catching-needy team go outside the box and acquire Contreras with an eye toward putting him back behind the plate? That might be a reach, but it’s a very thin market for catching both in free agency and trade this offseason.

For the Cards, the benefit of trading Contreras is straightforward. Obviously, trimming payroll ahead of a season (likely multiple seasons) where the team doesn’t expect to compete for a World Series would be preferable for ownership. Moving Contreras and including cash in the deal could also net prospect talent of some note, furthering the clear rebuilding efforts.

Trading Contreras would also open first base full-time for Alec Burleson, thereby creating more room in the outfield for players like Joshua Baez, Nathan Church and the seemingly stalled out Jordan Walker (among others). They could also continue giving Burleson some occasional reps in left field and at DH, thus opening more first base reps for Gorman, whose playing time elsewhere in the infield is going to be cut into by top prospect JJ Wetherholt. Then again, Gorman himself could be traded this winter.

Contreras is just one of many Cardinals who could find himself on the move before too long this winter. Bloom & Co. are known to be working to trade Arenado while listening to offers on Donovan, Romero, Nootbaar, Gorman and others. At this point, Contreras and Arenado are the only two Cardinals who are guaranteed any money beyond the current season.

Cardinals Notes: Donovan, Gorman, Nootbaar, Burleson, Pirates, Pitching

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Brendan Donovan has been drawing as much trade interest as any player in baseball, owing both to Donovan’s value as a left-handed hitter with defensive versatility and to the Cardinals’ rebuilding status.  The Astros, Pirates, Royals, and Guardians have been publicly linked to Donovan’s trade market, and with these and more clubs in pursuit of the All-Star, the timing seems right for the Cards to cash in while Donovan’s value is at its peak.

That said, St. Louis isn’t required to move Donovan this offseason, since he still has two seasons remaining of arbitration eligibility.  As The Athletic’s Katie Woo frames the situation, if the Cards can’t find the big return they want for Donovan, the team “will pivot to moving at least one of” Lars Nootbaar or Nolan Gorman.  In another piece from Woo, Will Sammon, and Ken Rosenthal, Alec Burleson is another player the Cardinals won’t move “unless…blown away by an offer.”

All four of these hitters mentioned are lefty-swingers, so trading any of them would help balance out the St. Louis lineup and perhaps clear some room for another left-handed hitter in shortstop prospect JJ Wetherholt.  Since Masyn Winn is an elite defensive shortstop, the Cardinals’ plan for Wetherholt seems to be to break him into the big leagues as a second or third baseman, so moving Donovan or Gorman in particular would clear a path in that regard.  Trading Nolan Arenado would obviously also open up third base, though Arenado’s contract and no-trade protection makes moving him a trickier proposition than any of these other players, even though Arenado has expressed more of an openness to be dealt than he did last winter.

On the surface, the Cardinals’ stance is obvious.  Donovan and Burleson were both much more productive than Gorman or Nootbaar in 2025, so naturally the latter two players seem to have less of a role in the Cards’ future plans.  Formerly a top prospect in his own right, Gorman seemed to be figuring things out with a 27-homer season in 2023, but he has hit just .204/.284/.385 with 33 homers in 804 plate appearances over the last two seasons, with a whopping 287 strikeouts underlying Gorman’s contact problems.  Nootbaar had been a more consistent performer before his numbers fell off during an injury-plagued 2025 campaign.  The biggest obstacle to a Nootbaar trade seems to be his health, as he may not be ready for Opening Day following surgery to correct Haglund’s deformities on both his heels.

Moving Gorman or Nootbaar would obviously bring back less of a trade return than Donovan or Burleson.  The Rangers were one team known to have interest in Nootbaar before word of his surgery became public, and the club’s subsequent trade for Brandon Nimmo would seemingly indicate that Texas has moved on from Nootbaar.  The Pirates have shown interest in all of Nootbaar, Gorman, and Donovan, and Woo reports that Pittsburgh has also asked the team about Burleson.

Donovan and Nootbaar are controlled through the 2027 season, while Gorman and Burleson are arbitration-eligible for just the first time this winter and won’t be eligible free agency until the 2028-29 offseason.  Burleson is coming off the best of his four MLB seasons, as he won Silver Slugger honors (from the NL utility position) after hitting .290/.343/.459 with 18 home runs over 546 PA in 2025.  Burleson split his time between first base and both corner outfield slots this year, and while he is only passable defensively, his ability to play multiple positions gives the Cardinals some lineup flexibility.  The appeal is obvious for a Pirates team looking for help all over the diamond, and for offensive help in general.

While the two NL Central rivals have rarely lined up on trades over the last few decades, the Pirates’ young pitching depth carries obvious trade appeal to a St. Louis team looking to restock their system with such arms.  This week’s trade of Sonny Gray to the Red Sox not only cleared $20M off the Cardinals’ books, but it brought back pitchers who can help the Cards in 2026 (Richard Fitts) and further in the future (prospect Brandon Clarke).

Speaking with Woo, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold and other reporters after the trade, Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said his team is aiming to add more pitching over the course of its offseason moves.  This could include more experienced arms to eat innings and act as mentors to the younger hurlers, though Bloom indicated that such veterans might be more shorter-term additions.

“Not to put them in the way of any of our youth, but to make sure we have the right insulation up and down that rotation,” Bloom said. “We want to create some competition.  We want to make sure we have options.  And that we allow our young guys to flourish while making sure that next wave that we hope is coming doesn’t get pressed into service before it’s their time.  We want to make sure they’re ready for the highest level of baseball before we throw them into the fire.  So we will look to add to our rotation — whether it’s more youth or a veteran — as the winter goes on.”

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