Two years after the Cardinals signed Sonny Gray as a free agent to headline their pitching, pitching, pitching offseason, the veteran right-handed waived his no-trade clause and renogiated his deal to allow a trade to Boston and underscore the Cardinals' new direction.
Pivoting, pivoting, pivoting.
In a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, baseball writer Derrick Goold and editor Nathan Mills discuss the fallout from the Sonny Gray trade. They explore the next group of Cardinals likely to be traded with Mills giving a rundown of the left-handed batters and one left-handed pitcher that are generating interest from other teams and what players would be wisest to trade. The $20 million sent with Gray to the Red Sox in exchanage for two young talents, starters Brandon Clarke and Richard Fitts, is a sign of what the Cardinals are willing to pay for younger, cost-controlled talent. So what does that say about the Cardinals' willingness to cover millions of Nolan Arenado's contract to spur a trade of another All-Star?
The discussion arrives at a juncture for the Cardinals.
For years, the club and its fans have been defined by an urgency about what the game today or the move today did to help them win the next World Series. Now, the question seems to have shifted to what the move did today to help them win their next World Series -- in the future, whenever that is. During his press conference following the Gray trade, Chaim Bloom said the urgency fans expect and the long-term view the Cardinals have adopted can coexist, and he added that he welcomes the pressure such urgency puts on their daily decisions, even if the goal is in the distance.
Plus! Questions from chatters and a Thanksgiving thank you to the community of BPIB listerns who have made the podast possible going back to its earliest days of recording in a attic.
In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of 51ºÚÁÏ, is a production of the 51ºÚÁÏ, , and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.
51ºÚÁÏ
With Major League Baseball’s annual Meetings set to begin Monday in Orlando, Florida, prospects across baseball could find themselves in different organizations on Wednesday after the Rule 5 Draft.
The Cardinals made a series of moves in late November to protect four of their Rule 5 Draft-eligible prospects when they added catcher Leonardo Bernal, outfielder Joshua Baez, and lefties Cooper Hjerpe and Brycen Mautz to their 40-man roster.
Two years after the Cardinals signed Sonny Gray as a free agent to headline their pitching, pitching, pitching offseason, the veteran right-handed waived his no-trade clause and renogiated his deal to allow a trade to Boston and underscore the Cardinals' new direction.
Pivoting, pivoting, pivoting.
In a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, baseball writer Derrick Goold and editor Nathan Mills discuss the fallout from the Sonny Gray trade. They explore the next group of Cardinals likely to be traded with Mills giving a rundown of the left-handed batters and one left-handed pitcher that are generating interest from other teams and what players would be wisest to trade. The $20 million sent with Gray to the Red Sox in exchanage for two young talents, starters Brandon Clarke and Richard Fitts, is a sign of what the Cardinals are willing to pay for younger, cost-controlled talent. So what does that say about the Cardinals' willingness to cover millions of Nolan Arenado's contract to spur a trade of another All-Star?
The discussion arrives at a juncture for the Cardinals.
For years, the club and its fans have been defined by an urgency about what the game today or the move today did to help them win the next World Series. Now, the question seems to have shifted to what the move did today to help them win their next World Series -- in the future, whenever that is. During his press conference following the Gray trade, Chaim Bloom said the urgency fans expect and the long-term view the Cardinals have adopted can coexist, and he added that he welcomes the pressure such urgency puts on their daily decisions, even if the goal is in the distance.
Plus! Questions from chatters and a Thanksgiving thank you to the community of BPIB listerns who have made the podast possible going back to its earliest days of recording in a attic.
In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of 51ºÚÁÏ, is a production of the 51ºÚÁÏ, , and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.
51ºÚÁÏ
Rookie pitcher Michael McGreevy’s final two months of this past season provide a fitting forecast for what next season could hold for Cardinals pitching. Every day served as chance for McGreevy to make progress. Of course, that progress largely depended upon his ability and willingness to adapt.
It wasn’t just about feeling like he could compete against big-league hitters. The process of McGreevy maturing as a pitcher and continuing to grow his game to meet the demands of the majors was as important as feeling like he belonged.
Cardinals starting pitcher Michael McGreevy, right, reacts as he walks to the dugout in the third inning against the Pirates on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, at Busch Stadium.
Cardinals continue collecting pitching depth, pluck Zak Kent off waivers from Guardians
The Cardinals' accumulation of pitching depth and roster flexibility continued on the eve of the Winter Meetings during a flurry of waiver claims in Major League Baseball.
The Cardinals claimed right-handed reliever Zak Kent off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians and added him to their major-league roster.
From additional hires to limitations with their training facility, a look at how the Cardinals' player development staff has approached this offseason.
Cincinnati basebaFirst All-Star trade of Chaim Bloom's tenure signals the club's direction, but he says pressure to improve is still daily while focused on future.
The fifth overall pick and New Hampshire native plans to cheer for the Blues as they face the Bruins on Thursday, and hockey writer Matthew DeFranks spoke to him.
Return of Marmol's staff had previously been reported, but the additions continue the goal of increasing the size of the staff and cohesion with other departments.
Cardinals' winter meetings forecast calls for flurry of moves: A new BPIB
From additional hires to limitations with their training facility, a look at how the Cardinals' player development staff has approached this offseason.
The fifth overall pick and New Hampshire native plans to cheer for the Blues as they face the Bruins on Thursday, and hockey writer Matthew DeFranks spoke to him.
Worthy: Yankees stint shaped Sonny Gray. His love-hate New York saga remains intriguing
Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray works the first inning against the Angels on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, at Busch Stadium.
Post-Dispatch photo
The version of Sonny Gray at Cardinals spring training in 2024 carried the emotional scars of an onerous tenure with the New York Yankees, but they ultimately made him better and contributed to Gray becoming the quirky, super-ardent and hyper-aware presence who came bursting through with the Cardinals.
The Cardinals wouldn’t have gotten the Gray they had the past two seasons without his trying stint in New York. While he wasn’t a Cy Young contender in 51ºÚÁÏ, he was still the best and most consistent option they trotted to the mound since the start of 2024. He went 27-17 with a 4.07 ERA. The Cardinals won 63% of his starts during a span when the overall team winning percentage was just under 50%.
Do Blues have a new fan in Boston? Cardinals' top pick Liam Doyle swings by rink for visit
If the camera pans at the right level, just five rows up behind the Blues bench, right there at the blue line of Boston’s TD Garden, there will be a face the Cardinals are counting to be familiar, perhaps even a year from now.
Liam Doyle, the Cardinals’ 2025 first-round pick and rising prospect, visited the Blues dressing room Thursday, met with players and already knew where he would be sitting for the evening rematch of the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals. Five rows up, right behind the Blues, ready to go, he told Post-Dispatch hockey writer Matthew DeFranks, who was at the rink to cover the Blues and coach Jim Montgomery's return for the newspaper .
Tennessee’s Liam Doyle pitches during a game against Vanderbilt this past at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. The Cardinals selected Doyle with the No. 5 overall pick Sunday, July 13, 2025, in the MLB draft.
Kate Luffman, Tennessee Athletics
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Ten Hochman: On Cardinals great Lee Smith’s birthday, why so few saw his famous save
Inside Pitch: Catching up on Cardinals offseason moves ahead of MLB's Winter Meetings
After last year's overhaul, what does this winter present to Cardinals player development?
There isn’t a metric farm director Larry Day could provide to evaluate how the Cardinals system, in a season following an offseason influx of hires, reached one of its main objectives to establish trust and familiarize new staff with returning staff.
Day, however, pointed to examples of prospect performances up and down the system who showed how the familiarization process and relationship-building phase of a new-look farm system came together in 2025.
