The St. Louis Cardinals are actively fielding trade calls across much of their roster as the offseason ramps up, but president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom’s front office is drawing firm lines around key pieces.
According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals have received interest in catchers Jimmy Crooks and Pedro Pagés, shortstop Masyn Winn, and first baseman Alec Burleson. The club quickly turned away inquiries on both Winn and Burleson.
The decision on Burleson stands out. The soon to be 28-year-old left-handed hitter just completed a career year in 2026, slashing .279/.343/.473 with 26 home runs and a major-league-leading 116 RBIs over 160 games (670 plate appearances) and a .816 OPS. He is under club control through 2028, with MLB Trade Rumors contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for an $8.3 million arbitration salary in 2027. MLBTR ranked him No. 10 among the Top 40 Trade Candidates entering the winter, citing the potential to sell high after a strong season. St. Louis, however, appears intent on retaining him while assessing its competitive window.
Winn drew similar interest that was promptly rejected. The 24-year-old shortstop, a 2025 Gold Glove winner and 2026 finalist (he finished second to Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo), remains an elite defender with outstanding range and arm strength. He is under control for three more seasons. While JJ Wetherholt has established himself at second base—creating a theoretical path to move Winn and shift the young infielder to shortstop—the Cardinals have shown no appetite for that scenario. A thin free-agent shortstop market would have generated plenty of interest had St. Louis shopped him, but that is not the plan.
Catching depth makes trades more plausible there. The Cardinals expect Leo Bernal to serve as the primary catcher in 2027, with top prospect Rainiel Rodriguez knocking on the door from the upper minors. That leaves Crooks and Pagés (and possibly Iván Herrera), as the most realistic trade chips.
Crooks, a former Top 100 prospect known for strong defensive tools, has yet to prove himself at the major-league level. In 195 big-league plate appearances he has hit just .168 with a high strikeout rate, though he posted a .283/.371/.484 line with 29 home runs and a 125 wRC+ across 666 Triple-A plate appearances (while striking out 27.2% of the time). Pagés profiles as a straightforward glove-first backup with solid defensive grades but a career slash line of only .229/.275/.354.
Goold further reported that the Cardinals are gauging the trade market for infielder Nolan Gorman ahead of next week’s non-tender deadline. Gorman possesses clear power (he hit 27 home runs in 2023) and an extra year of control, but he has been plagued by strikeouts and inconsistency. He hit just .184/.272/.308 in 2026 and is projected for roughly $3.4 million in arbitration next season. A weak free-agent third-base market could produce a buyer, but a non-tender remains a realistic outcome.
After dealing veterans such as Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, and Brendan Donovan last offseason, and moving Dustin May, JoJo Romero, and Lars Nootbaar at the 2026 trade deadline, St. Louis continues to listen on surplus pieces while protecting foundational young talent. The club is also reportedly exploring veteran pitching additions—names such as Tim Hill and Andrew Kittredge have surfaced as short-term fits that could potentially be flipped later.
As the hot stove intensifies, the Cardinals’ willingness to take calls while firmly rejecting interest in Winn and Burleson signals a front office open to deals but unwilling to part with its most valuable controllable contributors at this stage.
