The St. Louis Cardinals generated a lot of excitement among the fanbase this season, more than their 77-85 record would indicate. Jordan Walker finally became the player the Cardinals expected him to be, JJ Wetherholt burst onto the scene, and Alec Burleson led Major League Baseball with 116 RBI during the regular season.
They may have missed the playoffs, but the future is bright. Still, there are things they’ll want to take care of in the offseason. Currently, they have a lot of catching depth. The problem is, there simply aren’t enough spots for everybody, especially with Leo Bernal having emerged and top prospect Rainiel Rodriguez on the way.
Among their catchers is Ivan Herrera, who is mainly used as a designated hitter. According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals will be exploring trades for some of their catchers, and that includes Herrera.
“The Cardinals will explore trades involving catchers Pedro Pages, Ivan Herrera, and Jimmy Crooks in the coming months,” Goold wrote in his weekly Cardinals chat. “That’s going to be part of their winter ahead of the CBA. That doesn’t necessarily mean they will pull off a trade, but expect them to at least engage in some discussions about those catchers. They’ll want to see who is interested and what they can get in return.”
St. Louis Cardinals Are Loaded With Catching Depth
The Cardinals may have finally found their catcher of the future in Bernal, who came up to the big leagues late in the season and got off to a red-hot start. That would mean that catching opportunities would be limited for Herrera.
Though he has been used mainly as a DH, Herrera does have a lot of trade value if the Cardinals are going to explore trades for him. The 26-year-old slashed .241/.353/.382 with 19 home runs, 69 RBI, a 2.9 WAR and a .735 OPS in 2026 and was even named an All-Star for the first time in his career, so there is a lot of value there.
Of all their catchers, Herrera could probably get them the most in return in terms of what they’ll be after this offseason. More pitching depth, especially for the bullpen, would be one area that they could focus on, and Herrera could bring back a good haul of that from a contending team in need of a right-handed bat.
Pages and Crooks also have value, Crooks for his upside and Pages for his game-calling and arm, so the Cardinals could get something good for one of them as well.
Ivan Herrera’s Upside as St. Louis Cardinals Consider Possible Trades
2026 was somewhat of a down year for Herrera, but a lot of teams should be interested in him if St. Louis is going to shop him. He hit .284/.373/.464 with an .837 OPS in 2025 and is still a valuable piece of the puzzle.
In order to trade him though, the Cardinals would likely have to be blown away by an offer. Because of his upside, it won’t be easy to convince Chaim Bloom to trade him, but they are at least going to explore the market it seems.
Cardinals Will ‘Explore Trades’ for Ivan Herrera, Other Catchers This Offseason