The St. Louis Cardinals have a big offseason ahead of them, and not because they’re in the mix for any top free agents.
Instead, St. Louis will look to shed some payroll and possibly even kick off a rebuild. This means that they will likely trade a few players.
Closer Ryan Helsley is listed as one of the top trade chips by Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report, and the Baltimore Orioles are a team the Cardinals could link up with as part of a trade.
Strangely enough, however, Baltimore has a trade chip of their own in slugger Ryan Mountcastle. Perhaps he could be part of the return package for Helsley.
Paul Goldschmidt is set to become a free agent and is highly unlikely to return to St. Louis for 2025. This leaves an opening at first base for somebody like Mountcastle, who could be had in a trade.
Helsley is likely to bring back a very strong package for St. Louis. Mountcastle isn’t far removed from a 33-homer season in 2021. He hit .271 with 13 homers, 63 RBI and a .733 OPS in 2024.