The Cardinals are heading into a winter where the catching picture could get crowded fast, and Ivan Herrera stands out as the name with the biggest market appeal if St. Louis decides to move one of its backstops.
Leo Bernal looks positioned to open Spring Training as the favorite for the starting job in 2026, with manager Oli Marmol signaling that the spot is his to lose. But the depth chart behind him is where the squeeze starts.
Pedro Pages is still around, Herrera remains on the roster, and Jimmy Crooks is waiting in the minors. Rainiel Rodriguez is also in the minors, which only adds to the logjam.
That’s why a trade keeps making sense, and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Cardinals will at least test the waters on that front.
"The same can be said about trades involving catchers," Goold wrote. "The Cardinals will explore trades involving catchers Pedro Pages, Ivan Herrera, and Jimmy Crooks in the coming months.
That’s going to be part of their winter ahead of the CBA. That doesn’t necessarily mean they will pull off a trade, but expect them to at least engage in some discussions about those catchers.
They’ll want to see who is interested and what they can get in return."
Among that group, Herrera is the obvious headliner. He’s 26, just made his first All-Star team, and comes with three seasons of control remaining. His defense has not yet fully held up in the majors, but his bat gives him real pull.
Crooks is a different kind of trade chip. He’s 25 and under team control through the 2031 season.
Even though his major-league offense lagged in 2026, he hit well in Triple-A, and that kind of profile can still tempt a team looking for a long-term answer behind the plate. The Cardinals also know that not every club has their kind of catching depth, which is why Crooks could draw a more interesting return than his big-league numbers suggest.
Pages, meanwhile, looks like the most straightforward of the bunch. He’s a dependable backup and has handled pitchers well, but his offense in the majors hasn’t done enough to push his trade value very high.
If St. Louis is going to make a move from this group, Herrera would bring back the most. Crooks remains the most intriguing developmental bet.
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