The Cardinals are still drawing calls on a handful of their young pieces, but at least two names appear to be off the table.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that clubs have shown interest in catcher Jimmy Crooks, catcher Pedro Pagés, shortstop Masyn Winn and first baseman Alec Burleson.
But when it came to Winn and Burleson, Goold says St. Louis quickly shut the door.
That stance fits the way the Cardinals have operated for a while now. They’ve been in seller mode, moving on from Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan last offseason to trim payroll and open up opportunities for younger players.
At this year’s deadline, they dealt Dustin May, JoJo Romero and Lars Nootbaar. Those pitchers were headed for free agency, while each position player was controlled through at least 2027.
So it makes sense that rival clubs would keep checking in. The Cardinals look like a team with an eye on 2027 as another evaluation year, which naturally puts impending free agents and other movable pieces on the radar.
Burleson is the more obvious sell-high candidate on paper. He’s under club control through 2028, and he just turned in a season with 26 home runs and a .279/.343/.473 line.
MLBTR ranked him No. 10 on its list of the Top 40 Trade Candidates entering the winter, and Matt Swartz projects him for an $8.3MM salary next year, with another raise coming for 2028. The longer St.
Louis waits, the more his control shrinks and the more his salary climbs. There’s also the usual risk that comes with any player: injury, regression, or both.
Right now, though, his stock is high.
Still, if the Cardinals are brushing off interest, that suggests they may want to see whether the 2027 club can actually contend before making a move. If Burleson stays healthy and productive and the team falls out of the race, the deadline next year or the following offseason could become a different conversation. A bigger offer later on could also change their thinking.
Winn is a different case. He’s under club control for three more years, which lines up better with a competitive window than a pure short-term flip.
Even so, there was a path here. JJ Wetherholt came through as a shortstop prospect and spent most of this season at second base because Winn was already in place.
He also had a strong year, pairing roughly league-average offense with solid defense and baserunning. In theory, St.
Louis could have moved Winn and shifted Wetherholt to short.
The market would have helped, too. This winter’s shortstop class is thin, with no everyday solution sitting in free agency.
If the Cardinals had made Winn available, they likely would have had plenty of suitors. They could then have filled second base from inside the organization or elsewhere.
But the way this is framed, that doesn’t sound like a route they’re eager to take unless a much better offer comes along.
The catching situation is where a deal feels far more plausible. St.
Louis has too many options there, and the organization seems to have Leo Bernal pegged as its top option for 2027. Rainiel Rodriguez, one of the system’s top prospects, is likely headed to Triple-A next year and could be closing in fast.
That leaves Iván Herrera, Crooks and Pagés as possible trade pieces.
Herrera’s value is trickier because he can hit, but he’s one of the worst catchers in the league at controlling the running game. He may wind up as more of a designated hitter who catches only occasionally.
Crooks and Pagés, by contrast, look like more traditional trade chips. Crooks has drawn Top 100 prospect attention and is viewed as a strong defender, though the bat comes with real swing-and-miss.
He has walked, hit for power and produced a .283/.371/.484 line with 29 home runs, an 11.3% walk rate and a 125 wRC+ in 666 Triple-A plate appearances, but he’s also struck out 27.2% of the time there. In 195 big league plate appearances, the strikeouts have been even more pronounced at 33.3%, and the line has been a rough .168/.231/.313.
Pagés profiles more as a glove-first backup. His defense grades well, but his career line sits at .229/.275/.354.
Goold also says the Cardinals are trying to gauge Nolan Gorman’s trade value before next week’s non-tender deadline. Gorman still has obvious power, but the strikeouts have become a major issue, and he’s coming off a .184/.272/.308 season.
He’s projected for a $3.4MM salary next year, which makes the price tag less appealing after that kind of year. There is some upside baked in, though, because he still has an extra year of club control and hit 27 home runs in 2023.
With the third base free-agent market looking thin, another club might take a shot, but a non-tender would not be a surprise.
On the pitching side, the Cardinals are also looking for veteran help. Goold mentions Tim Hill and Andrew Kittredge as names on their radar.
That fits the pattern St. Louis has followed during its rebuilding stretch, signing short-term veterans who can stabilize the staff and maybe turn into trade pieces later.
Dustin May, Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek are examples of that approach.
Hill just finished with a 4.60 ERA for the Yankees. He doesn’t miss a ton of bats, but he gets weak contact and plenty of grounders.
His 68.8% ground ball rate this season was the lowest among pitchers who threw at least four innings. Kittredge brings a more rounded mix, usually pairing ground balls with above-average strikeout rates.
His strikeouts dipped in 2026, but he still posted a 3.64 ERA. Both are nearing 37 and figure to come at a modest cost.
As for May, there has been some speculation about a return after the Cardinals signed him for $12.5MM, gave him a rotation spot and then flipped him and Romero to the Brewers for prospects. Goold says a reunion in 2027 is not expected, with St.
Louis likely to chase a similar type of outcome with another pitcher instead. Kris Bubic is mentioned as a speculative fit, with the same basic appeal: talent, but plenty of injury history.
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