Sonny Gray finds himself in an unexpected position heading into the 2025 MLB season. After joining the St. Louis Cardinals as a marquee free-agent signing following the 2023 season, the veteran right-hander is now navigating a team focused on developing young talent amidst payroll reductions and the departure of key players like Paul Goldschmidt.

This is not the offseason the St. Louis Cardinals envisioned, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak acknowledged Saturday at Busch Stadium, speaking from the podium on the first day of the team’s annual Winter Warm-Up.

“John Mozeliak says trading Nolan Arenado remains ‘Priority 1, 2 and 3' but acknowledges the team remains in a holding pattern due to the FA market. He would like to add to the bullpen/maybe a RH-bat, but won’t before they have clarity on Arenado’s future,” Katie Woo of The Athletic wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

There hasn't been much chatter since a deal fell apart with Houston, and that has kept the Cardinals from moving forward on other signings they want to make.

John Mozeliak says trading Nolan Arenado remains “Priority 1, 2 and 3” but acknowledges the team remains in a holding pattern due to the FA market. He would like to add to the bullpen/maybe a RH-bat, but won’t before they have clarity on Arenado’s future.