The St. Louis Cardinals have missed the postseason for three consecutive years and finished below .500 in two of the last three years.
Veteran pitcher Sonny Gray signed with the Cardinals expecting to compete for a World Series and that hasn’t happened.
Management hasn’t made moves lately that signal a change in that direction and there’s growing belief Gray in done with his time in St. Louis. If that’s the case, where could the veteran land this offseason?
Sonny Gray linked to Mets, Orioles
The Athletic’s Jim Bowden released his top 10 trade candidates for this offseason on Thursday morning and Sonny Gray was No. 7 on the list.
Gray will be entering his 14th year in the MLB, and his 2025 season showed that he still has it. The Cardinals’ starter carried a 4.28 ERA this season, but led the league with his 5.29 strikeout to walk ratio and surpassed 200 strikeouts for the second straight season.
“His 2025 FIP (3.39) was nearly a run lower than his ERA (4.28),” Bowden wrote. “He finished in the 66th percentile in overall pitching run value and the 97th percentile in breaking run value, thanks to his curveball that opponents hit .215 against and his sweeper that they hit only .150 against.”
Top 10 players likely to be traded this offseason according to Jim Bowden
1) Tarik Skubal
2) Freddy Peralta
3) Hunter Greene
4) Jarren Duran
5) Mackenzie Gore
6) Sandy Alcantara
7) Sonny Gray
8) Brandon Lowe
9) Alec Bohm
10) Jo Adell pic.twitter.com/3ac1BlII1B— AT (@YankeeWRLD) October 23, 2025
Gray has two years left on his contract with the Cardinals and has a no-trade clause in place. However, he can waive that clause if the right team wants to acquire him.
“Chaim Bloom has taken over as the head of baseball operations for the Cardinals, and he’s already talked to Gray about waiving his no-trade clause,” Bowden wrote. “Gray has indicated to Bloom he would consider doing so for the right contending team.”
Bowden named the New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles as the top contenders to trade for Gray.
Take a minute and appreciate how good Sonny Gray has been over the course of his career pic.twitter.com/GV2QArNVVE
— MLB Hall of Pretty Good (@hallofgoodpod) October 13, 2025
Despite the Orioles rough 2024 season, they have all the pieces and just dealt with injuries this past season. Baltimore was a playoff team the year before, and Gray is exactly what the Orioles need to improve their pitching staff.
The Mets also have all the pieces, and also have all the money needed to get whatever else is needed to put a World Series-caliber team on the field.
Bowden added that both the Mets and Orioles have a history of liking shorter-term commitments to starting pitchers and that’s exactly what Gray is right now.
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