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Should Cardinals Shop Catcher to Clear Path for Teenage Phenom?
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- Should Cardinals Shop Catcher to Clear Path for Teenage Phenom?
(Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)
St. Louis Cardinals' president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom showed just how committed he was to a rebuild of the franchise and trading away the veteran core last winter by making a series of huge trades over a four-month period.
He sent Sonny Gray to Boston in late November, Willson Contreas to the Red Sox in December, Nolan Arenado to the Dbacks in January and Brendan Donovan to the Mariners in early February.
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Once the World Series begins and ends, and the flag drops on what should be a frenzied signing and trading period prior to MLB's Collective Bargaining Agreement expiring, Bloom could be poised to be the offseason's most active dealmaker again.
Based on where the Cardinals were when they ended the 2026 season, Bloom would be wise to explore what the club could get for Ivan Herrera on the trade market.
While a Cardinals offense that finished 10th in the National League in runs scored can hardly afford to lose one of their best bats – he was the team leader in games played (161), on-base percentage (.353), walks (76) and runs scored (98) – Herrera is a man without a position moving forward. The Cardinals simply can't afford to continue to put Herrera behind the plate after he allowed 37 of 38 base stealers to swipe bases in 2026, and he's thrown out just one runner in two seasons.
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Somewhat shockingly, Herrera's arm strength dipped to 76.6 mph last season, making him a target for foes to run on in the 52 games he caught. Also, his average pop time of 2.0 seconds ranked in MLB's bottom 8th percentile. All that came after an offseason when he had loose bodies removed from his elbow and he worked throughout the winter to improve his mechanics.
Playing first base isn't an option with MLB RBI leader Alec Burleson firmly in place, and neither is experimenting with Herrera in left field with the team not wanting to take reps away from promising slugger Joshua Baez.
Teams in need of catching and in possession of few other options can gamble that the 26-year-old Herrera can ultimately become competent behind the plate.
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The Cardinals, however, can no longer gamble on that. Suddenly, they are flush with options behind the plate.
With the way Leo Bernal performed at the big-league level after being promoted on Aug. 31, the Cardinals might have finally found their long-term successor to Yadier Molina four years following his 2022 retirement. Bernal's 85.8 mph arm strength might be the closest thing the Cardinals have had to weapon behind the plate since Molina hung up the shin guards.
Jimmy Crooks has yet to hit at the big-league level, but he finished with a flourish at Triple-A Memphis and pitchers love throwing to him. And, for now at least, the Cards still have Pedro Pages, who threw out 15 base stealers in 2026 (tied for seventh most in MLB).
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Then, there's the curious case of Rainiel Rodriguez, who set Double-A records as a 19-year-old this past season only previously reached by current MLB titans Bryce Harper and Juan Soto. Rodriguez, the top catching prospect in the Minor Leagues, who was last seen taking ground balls at third base for Escogido's Dominican Winter League club before heading to Jupiter, Fla., for the Cardinals' Minor League offseason program.
Before making the mistake of moving Rodriguez, the Cardinals should instead clear a catching path to the pros for their most promising prospect since Oscar Tavares.
That can be done by trading Herrera, whose value might never be higher than it is now and he likely won't be a full-time catcher for the Cardinals ever again.
