Reflecting back on the Willson Contreras trade after the Christmas holiday, it really feels like Chaim Bloom is hitting his marks on what he outlined the Cardinals rebuild to be.
Each of the club’s moves so far during his first winter at the helm have matched the stated objective to build something sustainable down the road without conceding anything in the present.
The first significant move, the Sonny Gray trade, saved cash on the margins without meaningfully sacrificing the on-paper performance of the team, especially when you consider that Dustin May was signed for $12.5 million to effectively replace Gray’s slot in the rotation. The Cardinals paid $20 million to the Red Sox to get them to absorb the other half of the remaining financial commitment to Gray, and then doubled back and signed May.
$32.5 million for that rotation spot isn’t exactly a bargain, but the Cardinals didn’t enter into this off-season from a position of strength on that front. They owed Sonny Gray his money—that was the situation Bloom inherited. From it, he extracted some value by bringing in a capable filler for rotation depth in Richard Fitts, while adding an intriguing prospect (Brandon Clarke) who rates favorably relative to the rest of the Cardinals’ minor-league system.
While I wouldn’t project May to outperform Gray in 2026, upside exists for the former top prospect who finally stayed on the mound for a meaningful stretch in 2025. Following five straight MLB seasons below 100 innings pitched, May logged 132.1 innings this past season.
Though I’ll never advocate for the Cardinals crying poor, Bloom saved ownership some cash while producing some upside scenarios from what would have otherwise been a lame-duck Sonny Gray season in St. Louis.
It’s also interesting how the Gray trade effectively facilitated moving Contreras for value, as well. Contreras always said the right things about wanting to be a Cardinal and seeing his commitment to St. Louis through to the end. That it didn’t ultimately end that way doesn’t make him a liar—the circumstances simply changed enough for Contreras to fully grasp the reality of the direction in which the Cardinals are heading.
Bloom’s first move (trading Gray) allowed Contreras the opportunity to weigh the new landscape and reconsider waiving his no-trade clause for the right situation—which is the outcome Bloom’s front office likely wanted all along.
It’s not that Chaim Bloom doesn’t see the value of Contreras on the field or in the clubhouse, but in a series of moves that leaves the Cardinals reasonably, on-paper, set to project a win total that might generously begin with a seven, Contreras doesn’t serve a ton of utility on the roster in the waning years of his contract.
The Cardinals probably win more games in 2026 with Contreras on the team, but the difference wasn’t going to be enough to project a leap into the playoff conversation—not with the tenor of the off-season being what it is.
So if you’re Chaim Bloom, you make your first move to create the opportunity to make the next one. That both deals came with his former club in Boston is a strange quirk of the winter, but it doesn’t ultimately matter considering that Bloom accomplished his goals in both deals.
The Contreras trade brought another arm to stock the big-league rotation with ample depth, Hunter Dobbins, as the Cardinals should avoid feeling the urge to rush along any pitching prospects prematurely based on a need at the MLB level. The Cardinals also added another lottery ticket type of prospect as 19-year-old Yhoiker Fajardo has some intriguing characteristics on the mound that Bloom’s new player development group will have the chance to cultivate.
Not to mention, Contreras was a roster redundancy as a first baseman when you consider that Alec Burleson’s most natural fit defensively comes on the infield dirt at that same position. Burleson’s bat has staying power. Moving it back to first base gives the Cardinals some room to play around with maximizing their outfield for both offensive and defensive efficiency into the future.
It’s not to say that the Cardinals have had a groundbreaking off-season, but within the context of what the new president of baseball operations had outlined upon taking over the role, it seems that Chaim Bloom’s first winter in charge is going as smoothly as anyone could have hoped.