Cardinals Urged To Cut Ties With $87 Million Slugger In Blockbuster Deal

St. Louis could look very different in 2025

Aug 22, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras (40) tosses his bat after drawing a walk with the bases loaded against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals have hinted that they at least will be open to considering trades involving some of their best players.

St. Louis did a good job fighting down the stretch in the 2024 Major League Baseball regular season and ended up finishing above .500. The Cardinals took a big step forward in 2024 after a disastrous 2023 season.

Clearly, it wasn't enough, though. Changes are coming in St. Louis. This much, at least, is true. The postseason still is going on at this point, so there's no way to predict exactly what will happen. The Cardinals are in unfamiliar territory after being among the top contenders in the National League for years.

Now the Cardinals likely will rebuild and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Benjamin Hochman urged the team to consider a trade involving star catcher Willson Contreras.

"But because the Cardinals are trying to build for the future, here come some bizarre words published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: It makes sense for them to trade their best hitter from the past two years," Hochman said. "And, frankly, Willson Contreras doesn’t deserve to have to suffer through the 2025 St. Louis Cardinals’ season.

"This is a man who devoted his body and heart to play for the organization — and he did so resiliently and resplendently. He tallied a .826 OPS in 2023, followed by a .848 OPS in 2024. So, trade the man. Get prospects and lower your payroll. He deserves to play in the playoffs. And, as we’ll get into here, the Cardinals are set up at his position to, as they say, 'let the kids play.'"

Unfortunately, we are now in this position. Two straight seasons significantly below the Cardinals' standards have led to a changing of the guard. Chaim Bloom will be the team's president of baseball operations once the 2025 season ends. There is a new era coming to the Cardinals, and changes are imminent. Contreas still has three seasons left on a five-year, $87.5 million deal and could have his days with the team numbered.

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