51ºÚÁÏ

The plan to reengineer the Cardinals for future performance that Chaim Bloom has described in front of a mic and behind the scenes this offseason burst into action Tuesday with the first significant trade of his tenure — and an assertive affirmation of the club’s direction.

They’re in the young talent accumulation business.

For the first time in recent memory and perhaps since the advent of Major League Baseball’s current revenue-sharing system, the Cardinals are set to be a recipient, and that has immediate ramifications this offseason for ways they can build their roster toward the future.

Previously a franchise that was the envy of middle markets and an annual resident in the neutral zone between revenue-sharing recipients and payers of the competitive balance tax, the Cardinals will be a receiver this winter, a club official confirmed. The club notes it's the first time the Cardinals will receive revenue-sharing funds following a full season in at least 25 years, and it’s believed to be the first time since the advent of the current program, which began in 1996.

One of Chaim Bloom’s finest moves in Red Sox history will be the Sonny Gray trade.

Of course, the caveat is Bloom is now with the Cardinals. And on Tuesday, in a symbolic move of the state of the 51ºÚÁÏ franchise, Cardinals baseball boss Bloom traded Gray to Boston, where Bloom used to be in charge.

The talent the Cardinals received in return for Sonny Gray from the Boston Red Sox included a right-hander they are counting on contributing immediately and a left-hander with incandescent stuff they hope to develop into one of their highest-ceiling pitching prospects in the system.

On Tuesday, the Cardinals finalized a trade that sent their leading pitcher to Fenway Park in exchange for two younger starters, Richard Fitts and Brandon Clarke, and a player to be named later. The Cardinals included $20 million in the deal to finalize it and also increase the upside of the players coming back to them from Boston.

The Cardinals' rebuild reached its first offseason milestone Tuesday when the team traded veteran starting pitcher Sonny Gray to Boston.

Here's what president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom had to say about the Sonny Gray trade and what possible future transactions may involve.

In the first significant trade of Chaim Bloom's tenure atop the Cardinals' baseball operations, the club is dealt its leading pitcher, Sonny Gray, to the Boston Red Sox for three players on Tuesday.

Gray has waived his no-trade clause to make the deal possible, and the Cardinals announced the deal at lunchtime Tuesday.

We’d rather see Chaim Bloom and his lieutenants work well than work fast.

Sure, there would be a rush of excitement and enthusiasm if the Cardinals’ new president of baseball operations announced his presence with authority by pulling the trigger on a flurry of trades or free-agent signings that revamped the club’s starting pitching plans before folks sat down for turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

For as long as Jacob Buffa can recall, his life has involved Cardinals baseball.

The Chesterfield native grew up watching the likes of Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds. Cardinals conversations filled family gatherings, and dinners were the type where “our family eats dinner and then stops to watch Albert Pujols take an at-bat and then go back to eating dinner.� 

A few days after the Cardinals maneuvered their roster to free up spots and meet a deadline, they worked to finalize an agreement that will bring back one of the players who briefly became a free agent.

Yohel Pozo and the Cardinals finalized a deal Monday, the club announced. The agreement, which was first reported by the Post-Dispatch, is a major league contract that will keep the backup catcher as part of the team's depth.

The last of affiliated baseball played in 2025 wrapped Friday with the conclusion of the Arizona Fall League, where eight Cardinals prospects played for the Glendale Desert Dogs.

Highlighted by right-handed starter Chen-Wei Lin, the Cardinals prospect group invited to the AFL also included right-handers Darlin Saladin, Randel Clemente, Tyler Bradt and D.J. Carpenter, outfielders Travis Honeyman and Miguel Ugueto, and catcher Graysen Tarlow.