NL Central foe facing difficult offseason that should have Brewers fans smiling

While the Milwaukee Brewers head to October as the top seed in the National League, the Cincinnati Reds earned the final Wild Card spot, and the Chicago Cubs return to the playoffs for the first time since the pandemic, it is another disappointing and losing season for fellow NL Central member, the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals just cannot seem to get out of their own way, and they will once again be watching the playoffs from their couches.

With another lackluster season comes an offseason of tough decision-making that will force the organization to take a long look at themselves in the mirror. They must decide whether to continue treading water and tossing a coin for a playoff berth each season or enter a full-on rebuild, sacrificing the rest of the 2020s for long-term success.

It's music to the ears of Brewers, Cubs, and any fan of an NL Central team not named the Cardinals. Seeing a team that controlled the division for years, seemingly lucked into several players, and caught numerous frustrating breaks have no idea what their next move will be is a welcomed development, especially because their next move should be to tear everything down and start over.

The Cardinals need to find a way to move on from Nolan Arenado

The Cardinals have been trying to trade Arenado for what feels like years now. There has been no winning for the Cardinals on this one. Arenado, who is now 34 years old and regressing steeply, reportedly rejected a trade to the Houston Astros last offseason, but has since warmed to the idea of leaving St. Louis.

In 2025, Arenado hit only 11 homers to go along with a .236 batting average and a .660 OPS. That is not the kind of production that you look for when you have a big name like Arenado, who is commanding more than $20 million this season. While his glove is certainly an asset, Arenado as a whole is a depreciating one, who no longer plays up to his big price tag.

The days of Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt flanking the pitcher’s mound in a lethal corner infield combo are long gone, with Goldy shipping out for the Big Apple last offseason. It's time for Arenado to follow suit, with the New York Yankees emerging as a potential trade candidate for the aging veteran.

One thing is clear: there is no spot for Arenado in St. Louis any longer. Whether it is a full rebuild or some sort of Wild Card limbo in St. Louis, the need for at-bats at the hot corner is much greater for a young up-and-coming infielder like Thomas Saggese than it is for a veteran who will be a free agent at the end of the 2027 season. Step one for St. Louis this offseason needs to be finding a deal for Arenado. Once that is complete, the direction of the franchise will become much clearer.

Could Willson Contreras be available in trade talks?

Assuming they do find a trade partner for Arenado, why stop there? Wilson Contreras also has two years left on his expensive contract, and while his bat remains solid, the Cardinals are not in need of aging veterans on expiring contracts.

Contreras way outperformed Arenado this season, slugging 20 homers and collecting 80 RBI to go along with a .791 OPS on the year. Certainly not bad numbers by any stretch of the imagination, but the Cardinals have very little need for a first-baseman/designated hitter, who could fetch a fine return on the trade market.

Unlike Arenado, who the Cardinals would be offloading at the lowest point of his career, dealing Contreras this offseason would net a better return as the now 33-year-old continues to be a productive big league hitter. That said, the brother of the Brewers' All-Star backstop has been relegated to a first base/designated hitter role, decreasing his value on the trade market considerably. Even still, the Cardinals should seriously consider trading Contreras.

The pitching staff has some encouraging pieces, but lacks direction

There's certainly some intriguing pieces around the Cardinals' roster, with names like Masyn Winn and Brendan Donovan leading the charge, but without improvements to their starting rotation, the Cardinals can't expect to be a playoff team in the near future.

At the top of their rotation, Sonny Gray enters the final year of his three-year contract with St. Louis and will earn a whopping $35 million during the 2026 campaign. While the Cardinals do hold a club option worth $30 million for the 2027 season, moving Gray this offseason, assuming he doesn't exercise his no-trade clause, would be a wise move for new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom.

The duo of Matthew Liberatore and Michael McGreevy poses at least an intriguing future for St. Louis, but the Cardinals pitching staff still needs a major makeover if the Cardinals want to end their now-three-year postseason drought. Miles Mikolas is off the books after three disappointing seasons in a row, but the Cardinals need to be thinking longer term than patching a rotation with aging veterans. That has been their strategy in recent seasons and it hasn't worked out.

Overall, the Cardinals face a tough, but inevitable rebuild. Their current approach has proven not to be a successful recipe for success in today's game. With Chaim Bloom, who has made his fair share of blockbuster deals, now at their helm, expect the Cardinals to have an active, and potentially frustrating offseason.