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.
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’s never made a start in his career
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.