Ahead of what will be a busy offseason for the St. Louis Cardinals, one team reporter believes that will dangle a former top prospect in trades to improve the roster for 2025.
Although the Cardinals finished second in the National League Central this season, their 2024 campaign did not go the way they had hoped. They finished 10 games back of the first-place Milwaukee Brewers. And were not a serious threat to earn a Wild Card spot in the final weeks of the season.
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Changes are sure to come for the Cardinals roster this winter. And there have been trade rumors circling around the team already. Including rumblings top pitcher Sonny Gray and eight-time All-Star Nolan Arenado could both be up for grabs in the offseason.
However, on Monday, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Cardinals reporter Derrick Goold suggested one of the team’s top prospects in recent years could be used in trade talks at the upcoming MLB general manager meetings.
St. Louis Cardinals likely to dangle Ivan Herrera in trade talks this winter
“Another alternative would be trading [Iván] Herrera, who will get interest — and potentially a lot of it — and that would set up the Cardinals to have [Pedro] Pagés for sure and [Jimmy] Crooks on the way,” Goold wrote in an online Q&A with Cards fans. “These are avenues the Cardinals will explore certainly by/at the GM Meetings.”
Heading into the 2022 MLB season, Herrera was among the top five prospects in the St. Louis Cardinals system on MLB.com. While he didn’t show much in limited action that year, he has steadily gotten better in the two seasons since and was very good in relief of Willson Contreras this season.
In 259 plate appearances, he posted a .301/.372/.428/.800 slash line. Along with five home runs, 27 RBIs, and 37 runs scored in 2024. Double-A catcher prospect Jimmy Crooks is among the team’s five best prospects at the end of this season and could be ready to reach the big league level at some point next season. Making Herrera a bit more expendable in the right trade.
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