Breaking News: Cardinals Closing In On One-For-One Blockbuster Trade That Would Send $75 Million Star To Hated Rival
Sonny Gray could be on the move this season.
Sonny Gray is the best pitcher on the St. Louis Cardinals and it’s been that way since the Cardinals brought him in ahead of the 2024 season. During his time in St. Louis, Gray has made 31 starts with a 3.90 ERA, 3.25 FIP, 106 ERA+, and 1.06 WHIP.
The righty has been consistent at the top of the Cardinals rotation, but he’s now 35 years old and potentially headed for the backend of his career. St. Louis is seemingly entering a rebuild and Gray remains one of the only veterans on the roster. At this point, the Cardinals could be better off trading him, especially if they can get the other team to take on his entire contract.
While there would be a lot of suitors on the market if the Cardinals began to aggressively shop Gray, the Chicago Cubs stand out above the pack as the team who could make the most sense.
Chicago needed to add some pitching to its roster before the season started. The slow starts from Ben Brown and Jameson Taillon has put this weakness on display. To make matters even worse, Justin Steele suffered a season-ending injury early this week, depleting the Cubs’ pitching staff to a new low.
With the Cubs likely to reach a new level of desperation, the Cardinals could take advantage in a rare interdivision trade.
Instead of paying Gray for the next year or two and then dumping him to a different team when he’s 37 years old, the Cardinals could extract the most value out of him right now while the Cubs are chasing a National League Central title and the World Series.
Cardinals Could Trade $15 Million Starter To Desperate Division Rival
The Cardinals could trade Erick Fedde to the Cubs after Justin Steele’s injury.
The St. Louis Cardinals are entering some sort of rebuild this season, so there are players on the roster who are at risk of being traded. The one player who stands out above the rest as the most likely to be dealt away is starting pitcher Erick Fedde.
Fedde, 32, is in the final year of his two-year, $15 million contract. The righty was very consistent with both the Cardinals and the Chicago White Sox in 2024. Now in 2025, he’s turned in 15 solid innings for the Cardinals. For teams looking to add a consistent pitcher for an affordable price, Fedde is the perfect guy to trade for.
And there might not be any team in the league more desperate to add a starting pitcher than the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs have a lot of talent on their roster, but their pitching staff just suffered a brutal injury. Justin Steele is reportedly set to undergo season-ending elbow surgery, and the Cubs will be left scrambling for options.
While interdivision trades can be rare, this is the kind of scenario that one would make sense.
Chicago’s window to win is right now. It only has Kyle Tucker under contract for one year, so that year cannot be wasted.
The Cardinals wouldn’t be losing anything important by trading Fedde. In fact, trading Fedde would clear a spot in the rotation for a young prospect like Quinn Mathews to come to the big leagues. Plus, the Cardinals would likely be able to get the desperate Cubs to overpay a bit for Fedde in this situation.
It would be a low-risk, high-reward move for the Cardinals to make this year.
