The St. Louis Cardinals are under the .500 mark and are unlikely to make the postseason. At 63-64, they are five games out in the National League Wild Card race. They have several players with no-trade clauses as they begin their rebuild. Chaim Bloom will take over for John Mozeliak when the offseason begins, and St. Louis will have a clearer picture of how things will look going forward.
Sonny Gray is one player that has enjoyed his time in St. Louis and does have a no-trade clause in his three-year, $75 million contract. However, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, while Gray has been reluctant to let the Cardinals shop him, his stance could change if they embrace a full rebuild.
Rosenthal even listed a team that could be an ideal fit for him.
“To this point, St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray has been unwilling to waive his no-trade clause. But this offseason, his stance might change,” Rosenthal wrote on Wednesday.
“If Gray allows the Cardinals to shop him, his no-trade protection would give him the ability to effectively choose his next club. One team to watch: the Atlanta Braves, who play even closer to Gray’s Nashville home than the Cardinals.”
Cardinals could trade Sonny Gray to Braves if approved
The Braves make sense for Gray because of the close proximity to his offseason home.
But they also have a better outlook than the Cardinals despite what has been a down year.
Atlanta is further out of contention than St. Louis, but it’s more likely that 2025 is a blip on the radar screen, especially with all the talent on Atlanta’s roster, while St. Louis doesn’t have much.
The Cardinals likely won’t contend in 2026 and it’s going to take a couple of years before they get back to prominence. So, it would make sense to trade Gray.
Atlanta didn’t sell at the trade deadline, likely hoping to remain competitive this year.
“I do want those moments more,” said Gray about big-game moments. “It’s just more fun for me.” There is a much higher propensity of those moments happening in Atlanta next year than in St. Louis, even with Mozeliak on the way out.
So, it will be interesting to see just how things shake out in the offseason, but if the Cardinals are fully embracing the rebuild, expect Gray to at least be shopped this winter.
