Today: The Cardinals have formally added Alcalá to their active roster ahead of this evening’s game against the Cubs. In a corresponding move, Gordon Graceffo was optioned to Triple-A.
August 7: The Cardinals announce that they have claimed right-hander Jorge Alcalá off waivers from the Red Sox. Boston designated him for assignment earlier this week. The Cards had several 40-man roster openings from their deadline dealings. Alcalá is out of options, so the Cards will need to make a corresponding active roster move once he reports to the team.
Alcalá, 30, has a decent overall track record but is having a rough season. From 2019 to 2024, he pitched 163 1/3 innings for the Twins with a 3.64 earned run average. He struck out 25.4% of batters faced while giving out walks at an 8.3% clip. He earned one save and 28 holds in that time.
But as mentioned, this year has been a struggle. He posted some poor numbers earlier in the year and got flipped to the Red Sox in June. Between Minnesota and Boston, he has thrown 40 2/3 innings with a 6.64 ERA. His 24.2% strikeout rate is still a good number but he has given out free passes to 12.1% of opponents.
For the Cards, they’re only 5.5 games out of a playoff spot but clearly have their sights set on next season. They had planned for 2025 to be a reset year from the beginning. Even though they hung around the playoff race, they sold off impending free agents ahead of the deadline. That included three relievers, with Ryan Helsley traded to the Mets, Phil Maton to the Rangers and Steven Matz to the Red Sox.
Those trades left them with some openings on the roster. This is their second waiver claim since those deals. They grabbed Anthony Veneziano from the Marlins a few days ago and now have added Alcalá into the mix.
Alcalá is making $1.5MM this year and can be retained for 2026 via arbitration. His poor results this year will prevent him from earning a big raise. The Cards can get a close-up look at him for a few weeks and decide if they want to tender him a contract.
Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images
Pick up Stroman he’s can be outnumber 3 or. 4
Sure pick up someone older, more expensive. Brilliant.
Except he wouldn’t be more expensive.
He has to clear and then agree to sign with the Cardinals before it would be prorated. If they claim him they are on the hook for the remaining salary this year.
He’s already cleared. He was released last Friday.
League minimum pro rated.
1.5 pro rated
We can’t wait, we can’t wait for tomorrow…Alcala can’t wait.
Wayback machine! Alcoa can’t wait!
The ghost of Santo Alcala wants a word. The -1.2 career bWAR was hard earned.
More runway…
runway models!!
Glove flip after a strikeout to end the inning. Next big thing in baseball!
Pretty cheap for a 3 or 4 and control.
Age is not an issue with him yet
He also hasn’t been healthy or consistently good for the last couple of years.
Alcala has lights out stuff, but he struggles at times. We saw it here in MN. If the first guy reaches base, his ERA was north of 10. He can also struggle with command. 2024 he was very good posting a record with a 3.24 ERA, and 130 ERA+. 2025 wasn’t so good in MN posting a 8.88 ERA and a 49 ERA+.
He was hard to watch in boston..Def doesn’t belong on a team trying to make the playoffs..maybe the cards will help him harness his stuff
Yep they have worked wonders for Mikolas and Fedde. Why not try someone with an even higher ERA?
He’s going to a TOR SP in 2026 after MIL picks him up on waivers next Spring.
Alcala can’t wait!
Can’t pitch, either.
Red Sox shipped him out of town. He sucks.
Enjoy. He’s been dumped by two teams including the crappy twins
The Twins shipped him out when they had one of the best MLB bullpens – then traded them all (Duran, Jax, Coulomb, Varland, Stewart). Alana has the stuff, but he’s something of a head case.
Alcala has the stuff…
You just described every struggling MLB pitcher. They all have stuff, but can’t control it
Well, he is an MLB pitcher. No one has to say it.
Feel sorry for you as Twins fan! I would feel ripped off if I was going to anymore games this year!
I thought the Cards needed Left handed relievers ? why did we pick up a right handed one ? with not good stats, was this a MO pick ?
My gosh, relax folks. It’s a nearly-free look at a cost-controlled, arb-eligible bullpen arm with lots of upside.
There’s room on the 40-man and some time to see if he can be fixed.
There’s literally no downside.
Definitely need a fresh arm for the bullpen after Pallante did his best Dak Hudson impression yesterday.
He’s lost mph and life off his fastball. When he was effective he could throw the ball by people and little else. Now he doesn’t even have that.
The team needs someone to fill innings. It’s worth seeing if he can find his past performance.
Only 5.5 games out of WC. However, You have no bullpen left,. Good luck against the Cubs. Hope it quits raining!
O’Brien, Leahy, Romero, and Svanson are going to open a lot of eyes. Graceffo just got sent down, but also has a ton of upside.
Stay tuned!
Really struggled with command in Boston. Was easy to see why they wanted a look though. Triple digit fastball but not always sure where it is going. Hopefully he can harness it a little more going forward.