Trade rumors surrounding St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras have been a thing for nearly his entire tenure with the organization.
It began with a positional change from catcher to first base early in his St. Louis career and the rumors have swirled ever since. Monday during the Winter Meetings, Cardinals' manager Oli Marmol further opened the door to a conversation about a trade involving Contreras.
"He feels at home in St. Louis but at the same time if it makes sense, then it's a conversation," Marmol told A.J. Pierzynski. "We'll see kind of where that leads."
Contreras has spent the last three seasons in St. Louis after spending the first seven seasons of his career with the Chicago Cubs. Contreras has actually been a bit more productive in his time with the Cardinals than he was in seven seasons with the Cubs.
As for trade fits, the ideal fit or situation is unclear. Contreras did not spend an inning behind the plate last season, so what is the likelihood he's asked to catch again with another team? There are teams such as the San Diego Padres, New York Yankees and Miami Marlins that struggled with production at both of those positions last season.
With Contreras still being owed at least $36.5 million over the next two seasons and having a no-trade clause, the return package if a deal were to take place would likely not be anything absurd.
More MLB: Cardinals have a problem with trading Willson Contreras