Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Could Replenish Farm System By Shipping $87 Million All-Star To Rays

The St. Louis slugger is a perfect fit for Tampa Bay

Nate Hagerty

Aug 17, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Ryan Helsley (56) is congratulated by St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras (40) in the ninth inning after the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images
Aug 17, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Ryan Helsley (56) is congratulated by St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras (40) in the ninth inning after the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images / Tim Vizer-Imagn Images
In this story:

The St. Louis Cardinals are determined to revive their once-admired player development system this winter and key players could be traded to make that happen.

Resources will be allocated to fixing the farm system in 2025. Consequently, payroll on the big-league roster must be reduced and the easiest way to do that is by trading players with significant contracts.

One way the Cardinals can lower payroll for next season would be to trade a veteran slugger to the Tampa Bay Rays, who reportedly will be in the market for a catcher this winter.

"'We’ve got to find a way to get more output out of that position (catcher) than what we got this year,"' Tampa Bay Rays president of baseball operations Erick Neander stated Friday, as transcribed by Tampa Bay Times' Mark Topkin. "'We’ve got to find a way to be better back there, without question, and that’ll be a priority in terms of where our mental energy goes throughout this winter.'"

Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras has been mentioned as a possible offseason trade candidate for St. Louis with the franchise looking to reset.

The 32-year-old batted .262 with 32 extra-base hits including 15 home runs, 36 RBIs and a .848 OPS in 84 games played for St. Louis this season.

Contreras's backups, Iván Herrera and Pedro Pagés, exceeded expectations behind the plate in 2024 when the starting catcher was sidelined twice due to injury. Although they're not done developing, they showed enough potential for the organization to trust them.

The Rays don't have a franchise catcher but they have the prospect capital to trade for one. In this instance, Contreras is the perfect choice for Tampa Bay.

St. Louis could poach from the Rays' No. 1 ranked farm system in exchange for the three-time All-Star catcher. This trade would greatly benefit both parties, making it an ideal proposition.

More MLB: Blockbuster Proposal Lands Ex-Cardinals $121 Million Star With Red Sox Next Season

Published
Nate Hagerty
NATE HAGERTY

Nate Hagerty joined “Inside The Cardinals” as a content creator to spread knowledge about his favorite childhood team. A hometown native of Boston, Hagerty chose at an early age of six years old to follow the St. Louis Cardinals. The miraculous season of 04’ for the Red Sox did not deter Hagerty from rooting against his hometown team, nor did it in 2013 against the Red Birds. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu 

Home/St. Louis Cardinals News