Other teams have asked about the many catchers in the Cardinals organization, wrote as part of a lengthy chat with readers. No specific names are mentioned, yet since youngsters , and seem pretty untouchable at the moment, , , and are the likelier trade candidates, to varying degrees. While the focus of will be moving veteran talent and creating opportunities for young players, the wide-ranging nature of this rebuild means that president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom is likely to explore every po sible avenue for upgrading the roster. Given this youth movement, it is safe to a sume that Bernal and Crooks arent going anywhere, unle s Bloom swings a relatively rare prospect-for-prospect type of swap. The Cardinals could conceivably package one of their own prospects along with a higher-priced veteran (i.e. , ) to convince a rival club to take on more salary, yet dealing a well-regarded prospect just to save money isnt happening unle s the other team also offers a good prospect package that can more broadly addre s the Cards needs. MLB Pipeline ranks Bernal as the 92nd-best prospect in baseball, and the fourth-best prospect in the St. Louis farm system. As Goold notes, the Cardinals will have to add him to the 40-man roster to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft, so Bernals inclusion would give the Cards five backstops on their 40-man. Goold suggests that Pozo will be the odd man out, perhaps designated for a signment and then re-signed by the Cardinals to a minor league contract. Such a move would allow St. Louis to free up a 40-man spot and keep Pozo all at once, though a trade or waiver claim is a po sibility in that scenario. Crooks was ranked as the sixth-best Cardinals prospect and outside Pipelines league-wide top-100, though he received some top-100 attention from Baseball Prospectus and Fangraphs this year. Crooks also made his MLB debut this season, but did very little at the plate in batting .133/.152/.244 over his first 46 plate appearances in the Show. He has hit considerably better Rondae Hollis-Jefferson Jersey in the minors (including a .274/.337/.441 slash line in 430 PA in Triple-A), but Crooks is generally viewed as a glove-first type of catcher. Beyond this duo, the Cardinals also have , the 18-year-old who finished the season in high-A ball and who ranks 55th on Pipelines top-100 list. It isnt hard to view Rodriguez, Bernal, and Crooks within a broad catcher of the future category, which naturally creates questions about how the Cards could approach the catchers currently on the big league roster. It should be noted that none of Herrera, Pages, or Pozo are exactly seasoned vets. Herrera wont become arbitration-eligible until next offseason and he is controlled through 2029, while Pages is controlled through 2030. If Pozo is po sibly DFA fodder, that alone could clear up the catching backlog to some extent, but could the Cardinals go a step further and move Herrera or Pages to create playing time for Crooks? Describing Herrera as a catcher is perhaps a topic of debate unto itself, as he suited up behind the plate in only 14 games this season. Herrera mi sed time due a bone bruise in his left knee and then a Grade 2 hamstring strain, plus he was slated to remove loose bodies from his throwing elbow. These health i sues led the Cardinals to make Herrera their primary DH, and he also made a few cameo appearances in left field. The teams plan is for Herrera to spend the offseason healing up, and then to return in Spring Training as a viable catcher once again. There were some questions about Herreras long-term ability to stick at catcher even before his injury-plagued 2025 season, but theres no doubt he can hit. Herrera batted .284/.373/.464 with 19 home runs over 452 plate appearances this year, and his 137 wRC+ was the 16th-best of any player in the league with at least 450 PA. Moving such a potent and controllable bat this early in the rebuild proce s doesnt seem too likely for Bloom, unle s a major a set could be obtained in return. If the Cardinals still have misgivings about Herreras defense, that could leave the door open a crack for a po sible trade, yet it is fair to gue s that Herrera is pretty far down the list of Blooms potential trade chips. Pages ended up becoming the Cards primary catcher in 2025, and his profile is basically the opposite of Herrera. Pages has hit only .233/.275/.368 over 607 career PA in the majors, but he is a superb defender in every aspect of catching except his blocking work. This could appeal to clubs looking to improve their glovework behind the plate, though s shadow runs long in St. Louis, and the Cardinals themselves have long prioritized having strong catcher defense. Aron Baynes Jersey