The Cardinals signed Bruce Zimmermann to a minor league deal, as per the southpaw’s MLB.com profile page. He was outrighted off the Brewers’ 40-man roster at the end of the season and then elected minor league free agency.
Zimmermann spent all of 2024 in the Orioles’ minor league system, and then just about all of 2025 with Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate before his contract was selected in the final week of the season. With the Brewers looking to cover innings and generally save its pitchers heading into the playoffs, Zimmermann ate up six innings in a start on Sept. 23, allowing five earned runs in his lone MLB appearance of the year.
The left-hander’s previous big league resume consists of 158 1/3 innings with the Orioles from 2020-23, starting 27 of 38 games and posting a 5.57 ERA, 18.1% strikeout rate, and 5.2% walk rate. Zimmermann was tagged for 40 home runs during his time in Baltimore, and he hasn’t had much success against either left-handed or right-handed batters at the Major League level.
The Brewers were deep enough in rotation options that Zimmermann was something of an afterthought for the team, even though he posted decent numbers as a starter and reliever at Triple-A Nashville. St. Louis might not necessarily offer Zimmermann more chances at MLB playing time since the rebuilding Cardinals are prioritizing their younger arms, but he could fill a similar role as a Triple-A depth option, with spot start opportunities available if any of the youngsters struggle or if injuries arise.
Zimmermann is out of minor league options, so if he is selected to the Cards’ 26-man roster, they’d first have to expose him to waivers before outrighting him off the 40-man and sending him back to Triple-A. Since Zimmermann has previously been outrighted, he’d also have the right to elect free agency rather than accept another outright assignment. Depending on whether or not the Cardinals bring him up to the Show at all, Zimmermann might be in for a busy year on the transaction front.
When I saw Zimmermann and the brewers jersey I thought it was Jordan zimmermann randomly signing a minors deal
Who wants an innings eater with a 7.50 ERA? I sure hope he has learned from his mistakes. We’ll see.
Hes a lefty that is still young with minor league success. These guys are at least worth stashing in AAA as depth
He’s not young (he’ll be 31 next year) and he’s out of options (they can only stash him at AAA if he clears waivers).
Seems like the kind of player you can add to the 40 man roster for a double header and not worry about having to cut a few days later when someone returns from the 60 day IL and needs a spot.
if he gets regular run, i think he is capable of a big league ERA in the mid 5s (ERA plus in the 80-85 range).
Still not good, but as a “stash in AAA” guy who is your 9th option in the rotation if everything has gone horribly wrong on the season, i am fine with him. He lacks the stuff to be useful in anything but this role, but this is what minor league deals tend to be. Most teams need that much depth in their rotation. Most teams will roll out 9-12 guys over the course of the season- but your 9-12 guys are really only trotting out there to either conserve innings for a clinched team, or eating some innings on a lost season.
Lefties get infinite chances
Especially when you’re signed to be org filler
I think he is mariginally above what i consider to be an Org filler. An org filler is a guy who there is no shot at ever playing in the bigs, and they just need a guy who will not be an embarrassment at the minors level you put them in.
Zimm is a step up from that as Organizational depth. He is likley the 8th-10th option to start games. He is not just in AAA to get innings, if things go horribly wrong he may end up throwing some real innings in the bigs. I think he is capable of being a below average 5th starter if he gets some real run (that is a really low bar).
I get that this is a really low bar, and i think teams have 3-4 SP , a MI, a CI, 2 C and 2 OF that fit that bill. Some are actual future pieces that fit that bill right now, but if not they sign a guy who will be in AA or more likely AAA keeping fresh to slide in and take some run if things have gone really wrong for the big league club. As an Os fan that is what Zimm was for a long time, Guys like Thromp (c), Tavarez (OF), and a bunch of other guys who are likely to get some run are.
Solid move. They needed more of these guys the last three years but were too broke to sign them. Memphis needs innings filled too.
I am guessing they are getting a split contract with 850k if they are in the bigs, and 200-500k in the minors? those terms tend to not be released as they are a rounding error for a lot of teams.
Fan aren’t booing him cause he bad. Fan going “Broooooce!”
It’s a slow day at work. The TL;DR is: Bruce needs to go to the bullpen. He’s been a starter quite literally everywhere in the United States. Let’s look at the relief stints.
2023, Baltimore: 13.1 IP, 3 BB, 14 K
2024, AAA: 16 IP, 7 BB, 22 K
2025, AAA: 27.2 IP, 4 BB, 28 K
Yes, there’s a sample size issue. Yes, many of those appearances were long relief. After a decade of tolerable AAA starts and crazy HR/9 rates in the majors, how about trying him as a two inning middle reliever in AAA to see what happens?
i thought the general view was that he did not throw hard enough for the pen. He generally sits in the low 90ies. As a lefty if he can get to sitting 93-94 it may play in the pen.
At 30, they need to make that move now.
To be fair, I think ZImmerman will play for the Cardinals. You don’t want to overwork your young arms.
Cardinals should unload grey and arenado then go lock up Bichette
Bichette isn’t going to St. Louis. They are rebuilding and won’t sign a QO FA.
Redbirds keeping it interesting.
Zimmerman always sat on the verge of success but a good appearance would be punctuated by some ill timed dingers. Bruce could use some radical coaching to extend his career, he can bring it — hopefully, St Louis Gooey Cake pushes him over Quad A to a higher leverage pen piece. Easy to root for him, as I did when he was with Baltimore.
When you lose Drew Rom but really want a former Orioles lefty who can barely touch 90!