The MLB Winter Meetings have come and gone, and Chaim Bloom's St. Louis Cardinals are still looking for their next big splash in the trade market. There have been plenty of rumors and reports revolving around the Cardinals as a team actively exploring additional 'sell mode' types of trades, but nothing has come to fruition yet following the deal that sent Sonny Gray to Boston before Thanksgiving.
Now, a new report suggests that the Cardinals and the Red Sox might not be finished wheeling and dealing with one another.
Chris Cotillo, who covers the Red Sox for MassLive, wrote Thursday that the Red Sox are "one of many teams interested" in Brendan Donovan, while adding a new potential destination for the St. Louis first baseman whose name seems increasingly relevant in the trade market.
Previous reporting by The Athletic suggested that Willson Contreras is softening on the notion of waiving his no-trade clause this winter, and Cotillo connects that the Red Sox could be a match for the veteran slugger.
If Boston still seeks a power upgrade after watching Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso go off the board in free agency, it could do worse than Contreras, whose .817 OPS across three years in St. Louis has been a consistent presence in the middle of the Cardinals lineup.
Two trades in one off-season with the organization for whom he used to run the baseball operations department would be a quirky set of circumstances for Bloom, though it should be noted that the acquisitions from the Gray deal (Richard Fitts and Brandon Clarke) joined the Red Sox after Bloom's departure.
If the Cardinals ultimately move Contreras, the move could provide additional payroll relief while opening up first base for Alec Burleson. Those, of course, are the benefits beyond what the Cardinals could acquire in terms of talent from the Boston system--from which Bloom and his rebuilding Cardinals could be eager to go shopping for the second time in the same winter.