The Cardinals have re-signed Packy Naughton to a two-year minor league deal, as revealed by the left-hander himself on his Instagram page. The extended nature of the contract is due to another tough injury setback for Naughton, as he said that he underwent a UCL reconstruction surgery last July. Naughton was already working his way back from a flexor tendon surgery in June 2023, though he also re-tore his flexon tendon in addition to the UCL damage.
Naughton didn’t specify if he underwent a full Tommy John surgery or a brace procedure, though in either case, it seems unlikely that he’d be able to pitch again before the end of the 2025 season. The two-year contract therefore allows Naughton plenty of time to rehab while still keeping him under St. Louis’ control for what will hopefully be a comeback year in 2026.
The southpaw made his MLB debut with the Angels in 2021 and then came to the Cardinals on a waiver claim prior to the 2022 season. Over 59 2/3 innings and 37 appearances in the big leagues, Naughton has a 4.98 ERA, and he last pitched in the Show on April 7, 2023. He pitched in one more Triple-A game that season before undergoing his first surgery, and he threw 20 1/3 combined innings over three levels of the Cardinals’ farm system this year before injuries again put his career on hold.
Packy???
Not sure if this is a hand out by the Cardinals or just dumpster diving.
Packy has a very interesting arm. This is a solid move by the Cardinals.
Packy was looking outstanding before he went down. He’s definitely worth taking a chance.
The best Cockney Pickpocket name in Baseball…
Ugh I was just about to say something similar 😀
Sounds like a character from Boardwalk Empire
Nucky’s brother?
Hey Packy! Don’t give up, you need a MLB victory on your Baseball reference page.
redbirdrants.com/cardinals-do-right-by-forgotten-p…
This is an article from Redbird Rants of Fansided. I don’t know if any of you are familiar with Fansided. They have team pages of teams from baseball and many other sports. Since I only use it to read articles about the Cardinals, I have never explored it so I don’t know how many team pages from what sports are contained within it.
The gist of the story is that the Cardinals are giving Packy a two year contract because he will be able to rehab his injury using team facilities and hopefully be able to pitch in ’26. Packy has never contributed much to the Cardinals because of injury. This has been a 2 year ordeal and now it will be until ’26 before Packy can pitch again, a 4 year ordeal. The extraordinary part is the Cardinals carrying a minor league player for 3/4 years without realizing much output or contribution from said player. So this is a feel good story perpetuated by a Major League baseball club. The general consensus is that MLB teams are greedy money grubbers. Here is evidence that both POVs are possible, alive and well. Good things do abide in this world.
Believe It Or not. Twilight Zone
“Naughton? Come on down here, I wanna talk to ya!”
To the Moon!
The Pack is back !
Another, cheap and scraping the bottom of the barrel signing, by the billionaire Dewallet family, who puts profits before fans.
Maybe read the article? And comments?
So does this mean that he gets to keep his health insurance while rehabbing? Do minor and major league contracts get the same coverage? What happens in a case like this where he had the surgery but did not have a major or minor league contract? Just wondering….
Can (or does) this have a link under “Latest Rumors” to pin it, at least for the week? Had to scroll back in the archive to find it. Being posted before the Winter Meetings (with addt posts from it) only further buries it.