From the start of the offseason and the beginning for a new front officer leader, the Cardinals have signaled their priority this winter is to accumulate talent that will help them contend in the future.

They began that process by trading Sonny Gray and $20 million to the Boston Red Sox for a pair of pitching prospects, Richard Fitts and Brandon Clarke, and now the Cardinals' pursuit continues with the arrival of MLB's biggest gathering of the Hot Stove season. The Winter Meetings are coming.

To discuss the Cardinals' to-do list for the Winter Meetings, KMOX/104.1 FM's Kevin Wheeler rejoins the Best Podcast in Baseball. He and BPIB host Derrick Goold discuss the Cardinals' search to trade Nolan Arenado and what happens if another winter passes without a deal; which of the players nearing free agency, such as Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero, will help the Cardinals achieve their goal of accumulating young talent; and what does a contract extension look like for manager Oli Marmol.

The significant National Baseball Hall of Fame vote set for Dec. 7 is also discussed.

This is the first of two episodes because what started as a short conversation spilled into a heated debate about, oh, just the future economic structure of baseball. Look for that bonus BPIB shortly.

In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball has reached a new season-high with 30 episodes. Each episode is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and lead baseball writer Derrick Goold.

Cardinals' forecast calls for a bustling Winter Meetings