The St. Louis Cardinals have the means to add a high-impact piece, or two, to this young roster this offseason if things line up.

The Cardinals currently have one of the lowest projected payrolls in baseball. Right now, the Cardinals rank 28th in the league, per Spotrac, with a projected 2027 payroll of just over $83 million. On top of this, the Cardinals have one of the very best farm systems in baseball. Baseball America ranked the Cardinals' farm system as the second-best in baseball in August. So, the Cardinals could certainly afford to bring a contract or two in this offseason and have the means to pull off a trade, if the right type of player became available.

St. Louis may not be a World Series contender on paper right now, but it does sound like the club isn't closing the door on making a trade to improve. Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom made that point, as shared by ESPN's Jesse Rogers.

"'We'll continue to have lanes for our young players,' Bloom said. 'There's also looking outside the organization from a trade standpoint to join those players for the long haul. That could be front and center or a supporting role.' The Cardinals believe they're deeper than they were a year ago at this time. It gives them flexibility to improve," Rogers wrote.

The Cardinals Are Trending Up

The General Manager Meetings just occurred across the league and this is now the second time the idea of a trade for a player who could fit the team for the long haul has been discussed. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch also hit on the idea in a recent question-and-answer session with fans.

It's certainly interesting to hear about the idea of adding a piece to the organization who could help in the long run, rather than the idea of trading all of the talent off the roster.

Last offseason, you couldn't go a day without someone talking about a veteran on the Cardinals' roster as a trade chip. The fact that Bloom and the Cardinals at least sound open to the idea of adding a piece could help in the long run, is a sign that the front office at least views this club as ahead of last year in the rebuild process.

At this moment, the Cardinals haven't been connected to a handful of options yet. It's still early in the offseason, though. The fact that the club isn't shutting down the idea of an addition is positive in itself.