The Cardinals are in the middle of their offseason

The Cardinals made zero trades this offseason. Two months ago, this would have been a huge surprise. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak announced at the end of the season that the team would cut MLB payroll and provide consistent reps to young players. Seven of MLBTR’s top 35 trade candidates entering the winter are with the Cardinals.

All of them will still be Cardinals before pitchers and catchers report for duty, which is less than a month away. They are not all similar situations. There are at least three situations where the cards themselves can surprise. Wilson Contreras Telling teams he has no interest in waiving his no-trade clause. sonny gray It also expressed interest in staying rather than giving up its non-trade rights. Nolan Arenado He is reportedly more open to a move, although he used his no-trade clause to block a potential trade to Houston.

Mozeliak has publicly stated that the organization is trying to trade Arenado. Baseball operations leaders say it’s the easiest way to get teams to where they want their payroll to be. These can still come together, but it’s proving more difficult to coordinate than management imagined. The Astros have moved on. Other teams are reportedly balking at much of the $64MM remaining on the third baseman’s contract. Katie Wu of The Athletic wrote last week that negotiations for Arenado were at an impasse.

Those circumstances are beyond Mozeliak’s control, aside from his willingness to include no-trade clauses in Contreras and Gray’s free-agent deals. (Arenado acquired NTC from the Rockies when he was re-signed in 2019.) Management likely expected these veterans to be eager to move rather than wait out one or more transition seasons. In that sense, the Cards are in an unenviable position.

The most puzzling part of their offseason is that they did nothing to address these obstacles. Their offseason includes buyouts Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn and Keiynan Middleton Claims to be a deep reliever Bailey Horn Turn off immunity. That needs to change between now and Opening Day.