The St. Louis Cardinals brass has made it clear all offseason long that their goal is to get younger entering the 2025 season, as they believe as though their veteran core has plateaued and that a soft reset is in order to get the proud franchise back to its usual level. To that end, the Cardinals have been making their veteran players available on the trade market — including two starting pitchers in Erick Fedde and Steven Matz.

While Fedde and Matz are far from the flashiest starting pitchers to add to rotation, they should still command some interest on the trade market as veterans that won't cost much in terms of salary as well as prospect capital. In fact, two playoff teams in 2024, the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers, have reportedly expressed trade interest in the two Cardinals starters, as per MLB.com.

The Guardians and Tigers managed to make it to the postseason in 2024 despite operating on a shoestring budget relative to other contending teams. Last season, the Tigers ranked 26th in payroll while the Guardians ranked 23rd — all while combining for 178 wins.

Thus, their interest in both Fedde and Matz is understandable. The former, in particular, has managed to revive his career upon his MLB return in 2024, and the Cardinals brought him in via trade in their attempt to fight for a playoff spot. He is only making $7.5 million in 2025, and he should be well worth the price for both of the AL Central teams that have expressed interest.

Matz, however, is a bigger question mark. He only pitched 44.1 innings in 2024, tallying a 5.08 ERA in the process. And to top it all off, he's set to make $12.5 million in 2025 — making it more difficult for the Cardinals to trade him away. But the silver lining is that he's in the final year of his deal, so acquiring him wouldn't require too much of a financial commitment moving forward.

Cardinals expected to be sellers on the trade market this offseason

St. Louis Cardinals third base Nolan Arenado (28) reacts in the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

In addition to the availability of those two aforementioned starting pitchers, the Cardinals have also made it no secret that they would prefer to find a new home for Nolan Arenado in 2025 — shedding his huge salary in the process while opening up more playing time for their younger players.

The Cardinals, however, would not want to take on additional salary in any Arenado trade, as evidenced by their reported decision to decline an offer from the New York Yankees that would have sent Arenado to the Bronx in exchange for Marcus Stroman, who has two years left on his contract.