The St. Louis Cardinals missed the postseason in 2025. St. Louis struggled through a good part of the year, and finished the campaign with a disappointing 78-84 record. Due to that frustrating year, the Redbirds are expected to be active in trade talks this offseason around Major League Baseball.
“I believe the Cardinals are open for business in terms of potentially moving some of their more veteran players,” MLB insider Jon Morosi said on MLB Network. “…They look at the landscape. They realize in the National League there are these super teams, of which they are not one of them.”
This NL Central team could be active in the trade market at the GM Meetings this week, per @jonmorosi on #MLBNHotStove. pic.twitter.com/T5shj8VJVD
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 11, 2025
Morosi believes some of the players who could be moving include veteran starting pitcher Sonny Gray, as well as utility man Alec Burleson.
St. Louis finished the season in fourth in the National League Central, ahead of only the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds all made the National League Playoffs from that division.
Cardinals hope to return to prominence in the National League
While the Cardinals were a power in the National League with Tony La Russa as manager, times have been tough in recent years. The Redbirds haven't made the MLB Playoffs since the 2022 campaign.
Morosi believes the franchise is going to rally around its young players.
“Pivoting a little bit, getting a little bit younger, and seeing what you might be able to get in the marketplace for someone especially like (Nolan) Arenado. It's a very strong likelihood that he's going to be gone,” Morosi added. “This is much more of a future looking Cardinals team than what we are used to seeing.”
St. Louis has a new president of baseball operations this upcoming season, in Chaim Bloom. Bloom is known for wanting to invest in player development. He spent the last year as an advisor to the previous president of baseball operations.
“One of the things that my last role allowed me to do — because my phone wasn’t always ringing with the day-to-day [responsibilities] — I had the opportunity to sit down with a lot of people, get to know them and see the organization through their eyes,” Bloom said after taking his new job, per MLB.com. “There will be a learning curve even now, but to be able to shorten that and people can understand me a little more and I can understand them — I understand some of the dynamics of this organization and the people, and that would normally take a year or two. To be able to have those conversations, it’s been enjoyable, but I also think it’s going to be valuable.”
Time will tell if the Cardinals can return to the MLB Playoffs in 2026.
