The St. Louis Cardinals will likely have a very different in spring training in 2026 compared to last year.

The Cardinals are in the middle of a top-to-bottom rebuild and are likely to move on from several key veterans this offseason.

Multi-time St. Louis All-Stars have been floated out in the rumor mill, including starting pitcher Sonny Gray and third baseman Nolan Arenado.

There's a question, as there is with all teams with a potential trade piece, whether the Cardinals will be proactive in discussions or if they'll wait to see how the market progresses before a potential deal.

St. Louis was in a situation of that ilk last offseason when it had a deal in place that would've sent Arenado to the Houston Astros. Arenado exercised his no-trade clause and nixed the deal.

In a recent appearance on the Card Territory podcast, former Cardinals pitcher and two-time All-Star Lance Lynn proposed a new rule that would help St. Louis, and other clubs, avoid a potential stall in pending trades in the future.

"They need to do a trade deadline in the winter. I think that will really speed up (things). I think last year (at) the trade deadline, they were talking about (Dylan Cease) and a couple other guys holding up markets because they didn't know who was gonna get traded and then markets don't move. So I think to speed up, maybe, a free agent situation, put a trade deadline in the winter time, Once you're on a team and all that, let's say after Jan. 15 ... they can't trade you until April 30 or something like that. ... Maybe put a little window there that might help some things out. But all in all, you want to be ready to go wherever you go by the first of the year so you can get things set up."

A winter deadline like Lynn proposed would help move along trades and could leave clubs less reliant on the free agent market.

There could be a con to that for free agent players in long negotiations. If teams are more inclined to trade then get into bidding wars, less teams could be inclined to be involved in big name free agents.

Regardless, it would be an interesting rule change.

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