New Guardians-Cardinals mock trade has Cleveland paying steep price for MLB help

After a bit of a forgettable 2025 season, the St. Louis Cardinals are entering the Winter Meetings as one of the most interesting teams in all of baseball. 

Chaim Bloom has gone on record to let the world know that the Cardinals are going to be active in their “retooling” in his first season as the team’s new president of baseball operations, and he put his money where his mouth was at the end of November when he traded Sonny Gray to the Red Sox while eating some of his salary. 

While the Cardinals have plenty of players who would be valuable assets for teams across MLB, the Guardians stand out as the top team who could stand to benefit from the Cardinals veterans thanks to the obvious holes in the lineup. 

That kind of thinking has been evident everywhere, as we’re officially in Mock Trade season ahead of next week's Winter Meetings. On Thursday, MLB analyst Thomas Nestico threw his hat in the ring by putting together a mock trade around the Cardinals and Guardians that was… kind of perfect? 

As you can see, the trade has the Guardians dipping into their prospect pool to acquire three genuine major leaguers from the Cardinals in Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar and JoJo Romero. Although that’s a bit of a steep price, this trade would solve the Guardians’ problems while also giving them another chance to capitalize on José Ramírez’s prime. 

Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar and JoJo Romero would all help the Guardians win in 2026 

We’ve written stories about all three of the Cardinals included in this mock trade, which goes to show how easy it is to imagine them in Cleveland. 

Donovan stands out as the top option thanks to his ability to play around the diamond and put the bat on the ball, so any trade for him would be an easy win. But adding Nootbaar and Romero to this trade makes it even better, even if the price becomes a bit more steep. 

Nootbaar burst onto the scene in 2022 with a breakout season where he hit 14 home runs adn 40 RBI, which made it seem like he’d be a franchise cornerstone in St. Louis for the foreseeable future. And although he’d been a productive player since, he’s missed nearly 30% of the Cardinals' games over the past three seasons and has had a sharp decline in his numbers since 2023. 

That said, the Cardinals announced at the end of last season that Nootbaar had undergone surgery for Haglund's deformities on both of his feet. While that could impact his availability at the start of the season, it’s also a promising development to know that he could be back to 100% at the start of next season.

Nootbaar could become an everyday player in right field, while Donovan could swap between second base and the outfield or handle either on a full-time basis. 

The last part of the trade is Romero, who is coming off a dominant season where he had a 2.07 ERA in 61 innings. He’s due to hit free agency after the season so he doesn’t have as much control as Nootbaar or Donovan (who will both be free agents after the 2027 season). 

But even with that, there’s no denying this trade would sting thanks to what the Guardians would need to give up. 

Messick dazzled in his first taste of MLB action last year and has a ton of fans in the Guardians organization, but giving him away with this trade would be selling when his stock is at its highest.

Even if the Guardians’ pitching depth isn’t what it has been in years prior, they still finished last season with a six-man rotation, so someone will need to go at some point. 

While Joey Cantillo and Logan Allen are also trade candidates from that group, Messick would generate the biggest return, hence why he’s here. 

Geano is the Guardians’ top infield prospect outside of Travis Bazzana and has one of the best eyes in Cleveland’s system. The Guardians just added him to their 40-man roster, but he’s still a year away from being ready to play in the big leagues. 

Lastly, Wilkinson (who has the nickname Tugboat)  threw his way into Guardians’ fans hearts in 2024 when he posted a 1.90 ERA in 118 2/3 innings across Single-A and High-A, but he took a step back last season (4.24 ERA in 104 innings at High-A).

Still, he’s a promising pitching prospect who could fit into St. Louis’ next core. 

Giving up those three prospects would be a steep price to pay, but it would be worth it for the Guardians.