According to Jim Bowden of The Athletic, the St. Louis Cardinals are looking for one very specific thing on the trade market this offseason, especially when it comes to moving veteran pieces.

Intending to add controllable, young starting pitching, the Cardinals hope to trade veterans Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray and Nolan Arenado this winter, though they’ll need to convince each of them to waive their no-trade clauses.

Is that a realistic goal?

Arenado is very much a depreciating asset at this point, so the idea of getting anything of real value for him is not realistic. The Cardinals may be able to get a young pitcher as a flier, but don't expect any Top-30 pitching prospects with real upside in a deal for him.

Take this quote from Buster Olney, who was on our sister Mariners site's podcast on Thursday:

Nolan ​Arenado: If ​you ​look ​at ​the ​production ​he's ​had ​in ​the ​last ​four ​years, ​his ​OPS ​has ​gone ​down ​dramatically ​each ​year. ​I ​think ​it ​was, ​four ​years ​ago, ​2022, ​it ​was ​.871, ​and ​then ​it ​was ​down ​to ​like ​.791. ​And ​then ​.771, and in ​this ​most ​recent ​year ​it was a .​666 ​ops. ​There are ​questions ​about if ​his ​defense ​is ​going ​to ​be ​as ​good. ​Basically, ​if ​you're ​signing ​up ​for ​Nolan ​Arenado ​at ​this ​point, ​you're ​looking ​at ​a ​right-​handed ​hitting ​platoon ​player. ​And ​as ​you ​know, ​teams, ​with ​the ​roster ​constraints ​that ​they ​have, ​​that ​is ​a ​very ​specialized ​type ​position ​where ​to ​add ​a ​guy ​like ​that...

If the Cardinals were to take most, or all, of the $40-ish million remaining on his contract, then perhaps they could buy a better player, but it still won't be a guy that a trading team is really high on.

Gray is still a solid pitcher, but with one year left on his contract, is a team really going to give up a controllable pitcher for him? Perhaps a solid prospect in Single-A, but no one that feels close to the big leagues yet. We discussed this more in our video above.

What the Cards may need to do

In order to get what they want, they may have to trade other pieces to facilitate deals. Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson and Lars Nootbaar should all command good returns on the market, and while the Cardinals may not want to part with them, it feels like they may need to in order to up the return.

That's the job of new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom: to be creative in how he gets the Cardinals back to a level of competitiveness. 

Related Cardinals stories

THE ARENADO BLUEPRINT: If the Cardinals are going to move the future Hall of Famer, this could be the way to do it. CLICK HERE: 

BLOOM ON GROWTH: Chaim Bloom caught up with MLB Network on Wednesday to talk about areas of focus for the organization. CLICK HERE: 

NOOTBAAR GAINING SUITORS: According to one report, the Cardinals were fielding calls on the outfielder at the outset of the offseason. CLICK HERE: 

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