Cardinals Should Keep $75 Million Ace This Winter Despite Entering Rebuild

The Cardinals should keep their big money starter around this winter.

Sep 18, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the second inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals are set to have a much different offseason than in years past. They likely won't make any moves to significantly upgrade their roster.

Instead, they'll be trading certain players away, especially those on big contracts. This includes Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado. Ryan Helsley, who is on an expiring deal, will also likely be gone.

St. Louis is expected to enter a rebuild of sorts. It may not be a complete teardown, but they likely won't be strong contenders in 2025.

However, despite their rebuild, there is one player St. Louis should keep around, that being right-hander Sonny Gray.

Gray joined the Cardinals last offseason on a three-year, $75 million contract. In his first year with the team, he won 13 games and posted a 3.84 ERA while striking out 203 batters.

The 34-year-old signed with St. Louis thanks in large part to it being close to his Nashville home. Having just signed in St. Louis due to that reason, he may invoke his no-trade clause to stay a Cardinal.

John Denton of MLB.com even noted that this is a strong possibility.

"I know Sonny Gray wants to be in St. Louis because it's close to Nashville." Denton said.

Even if the Cardinals are rebuilding, they should at least try to avoid another season like 2023. They also have plenty of young pitchers that are ready to make an impact, and having a veteran voice like Gray around to serve as a mentor would be beneficial for these young hurlers.

It will be interesting to see what St. Louis does, but they should keep Gray around. They need somebody to lead the pitching staff and at least keep them from losing 90 games again.

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