The St. Louis Cardinals are set to enter a rebuild after going 83-79 and missing the postseason for the second straight year.
This means that there are some key players that may be shipped out of town this coming offseason. Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Ryan Helsley, and Nolan Arenado could all be gone.
However, Katie Woo of The Athletic noted that while St. Louis is rebuilding, they likely will not be engaging in a full teardown.
“[John] Mozeliak will take the rest of October to analyze which players he’d like to keep and which would be better served as trade pieces,” Woo wrote. “He’ll likely refrain from a fire sale, but significant movement is expected.”
This offseason will be an interesting one for St. Louis. The Cardinals have in recent years focused heavily on adding to the Major League roster and remaining relevant in the standings.
That won’t be the case this offseason. Contending appears to be on the backburner for now, as major additions are not expected.
Instead, St. Louis will be looking to operate on a smaller payroll and likely will be trading some key pieces. But as Woo notes, some are likely to stay while others will be on the move.