The St. Louis Cardinals finished the 2024 season 83-79, six games back of the third and final National League Wild Card spot.
The team hoped to bounce back into contention after going 71-91 in 2023, but their attempt was not successful.
Now, the Cardinals look prepared to start a rebuild and put contending in 2025 on the backburner. This could mean they’ll trade high-priced veterans such as Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray and Nolan Arenado.
Josh Jacobs of FanSided listed the Seattle Mariners as a team the Cardinals could link up with in a potential Contreras deal.
“Seattle feels like such an obvious fit to me,” Jacobs wrote. “They have young pitching that would be of interest to St. Louis, and they badly need bats for their lineup to get them over the hump.”
In order for the Cardinals to expedite their rebuild and get back into contention as soon as possible, perhaps by 2026, they are going to need Major League ready players that can help them right away.
Seattle certainly has the pitching to help them accomplish that. St. Louis won’t be able to pick up Logan Gilbert, but could be able to make a move for pitchers such as Bryce Miller, Bryan Woo or Emerson Hancock.