There is no solid evidence that the Guardians and Cardinals are about to make a trade. However… there is a random Twitter account talking about it and because of how slow the Guardians news is right now… we are going to talk about that.
A Twitter account @MLBaseball_Live with 10.2K followers who seems to have offered Cardinals news early in the past said the Guardians and Cardinals have picked up trade talks recently. No specific names were given and no deal was said to be close. You can read the tweet
here:
https://x.com/i/status/2000680765684842976
This could be, and most likely is, much ado about nothing. But, because we have nothing else to do, let’s rank the Cardinals I would be most interested in the Guardians pursuing were they actually talking to St. Louis:
5. Alec Burleson, LHH 1B/DH, 27 years old, under team control through 2028 – Burleson has a career 107 wRC+ but put up a 124 wRC+ and 2 wins last year.
Analysis: Burleson very clearly is not an outfielder so would have to do 1B/DH duties with Manzardo. Tbh, I am not sure he is an improvement over C.J. Kayfus but he has at least done it in the bigs last season. Burleson has pronounced splits, however: 117/70 RHP/LHP
4. Lars Nootbaar, LHH OF, 28 years old and under arbitration control through 2027 – career 110 wRC+, average centerfielder/above average right-fielder defensively.
Analysis: Do you like the idea of Nolan Jones who is actually what his metrics have said he could be? Then Nootbaar is your man, and he is splits neutral, handling LHP well. He doesn’t move mountains on this team but he would represent a higher floor move, allowing George Valera to be depth and Nolan Jones to be DFA-fodder, while DeLauter would likely move to right field. Nootbaar has had a variety of nagging injuries, however…
3. JoJo Romero, RHrP, 29 years old and under control through 2026 – Romero has been a solid middle reliever his whole career (3.55 career ERA) and had an ERA of 2.07 in 61 innings last year. He has an 8.55/3.32 K/BB/9 for his career and tends to avoid high contact.
Analysis: In the words of Sir Kay in Disney’s “The Sword in the Stone”… “Sure. Why not? Why not.”
2. Brandon Donovan, LHH 2B/LF, 29 years old, under control through 2027 – A career 119 wRC+ hitter who is average defensively at second base and left field.
Analysis: Donovan would allow the team to shift Juan Brito to first base and right field and give Travis Bazzana more runway. He can also shift to left field when Kwan is inevitably traded in the 2026 offseason… or be flipped himself. He makes sense but not at the level of returns that have been rumored as the ask out in the public. He’s a nice piece to have for the Guardians but not desperately needed. His career splits are 130/88 wRC+ RHP/LHP.
1. Willson Contreras, RHH 1B/C, 33 years old, owed $18M a year for 2026 and 2027 with a club option for 2028 – career 122 wRC+ who put up 124 wRC+ last year. Has a career 135 wRC+ against LHP. Looks to be a good defensive first baseman. Would have to waive his no-trade clause (he’s apparently willing to do so, but who knows for which teams).
Analysis: Contreras is the guy for me. Near career highs in bat speed and average exit velo last year, he shows no signs of slowing down and would immediately make the middle of the Guardians lineup far more imposing and bring a (needed) edge to the team.
So, in other words, if a random Twitter account is right and the Guardians and Cardinals are talking… please let it be about Willson Contreras, please let him waive his no-trade clause, and please get him to Cleveland.
