This Cardinals starter would be perfect offseason trade candidate for Orioles

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the St. Louis Cardinals are reportedly open to trading star right hander Sonny Gray this offseason.

The Cardinals have been rumored to be looking for ways to reduce payroll as former Red Sox boss Chaim Bloom is set to step into a larger front office role ahead of GM John Mozeliak's planned departure after the 2025 season. Moving Gray and his contract seem like a good place for the Cards to start, if that's indeed their intention.

Gray signed a three-year deal worth $75 million with the Cards last offseason. The righty had arguably the best season of his career in 2023, pitching to a 2.73 ERA in 184 innings with the Twins en route to a second place Cy Young finish. Gray followed up his superb 2023 with another strong year in 2024. With St. Louis, Gray pitched to a 3.84 ERA in 166.1 innings while posting the second-highest strikeout rate of his career.

Cardinals starter Sonny Gray could hit the trade market this winter

Interestingly, the Cardinals backloaded Gray's contract. The righty received just $10 million in 2024, and is set to see that figure increase to $25 million in 2025, before going up again to $35 million in 2026. There is also a $30 million club option for 2027 with a $5 million buyout.

If the Cards are truly looking for ways to reduce payroll this winter, Gray's contract is a good place to start. While their roster doesn't look bad heading into 2025, there are a few areas of need that would be easier to address if they had a bit more payroll flexibility.

Enter the Baltimore Orioles. Just last week, GM Mike Elias told reporters that he felt confident that the O's would be looking to increase payroll over the winter. With David Rubenstein at the helm, the Orioles should have an increased budget compared to the thin Angelos family days.

The O's have a few different needs this winter, but replacing Corbin Burnes' production is near the top of the list. Burnes has been adamant about hitting free agency and current projections suggest that he'll be rewarded with a contract north of $200 million.

While the Orioles want to increase payroll, they might not want to commit that much to Burnes. There are other ways the O's could replicate most of Burnes' production without dishing out a truck load of money to do so.

Two immediate things stick out as potential snags here. First is that Gray has a full no-trade clause in his contract, so he'd have to sign off on any potential deal. Gray was rumored to dislike pitching in the spotlight with the Yankees several years back and it's unclear whether he'd be willing to pitch for a different team in the AL East.

Second is that Gray is still a very good pitcher and contract status aside, he'll be expensive to acquire. Elias wouldn't have to give up someone in the Coby Mayo tier to acquire Gray but there would have to be legitimate pieces going back to St. Louis in the deal.

Elias gave up a pair of talented prospects in Joey Ortiz and DL Hall to acquire Burnes last winter. It's possible that he'd be willing to pay the price to acquire Gray, who is both a top starter and wouldn't require a long-term commitment. It seems like a long shot looking at it right now, but both sides have the resources and means to get a deal like this done.