The Cardinals are in agreement with free agent reliever Ryne Stanek, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Chris Cotillo of MassLive first reported that St. Louis was pursuing the hard-throwing righty. The Cardinals will need to open a 40-man roster spot once the MVP Sports Group client completes a physical.
Stanek gets a change of scenery after an inconsistent year and a half with the Mets. New York acquired him from the Mariners at the 2024 trade deadline. While he allowed 11 runs in 16 1/3 regular season innings down the stretch, Stanek’s plus strikeout rate and strong postseason work led the Mets to bring him back on a $4.5MM free agent deal.
That didn’t pan out, as the 34-year-old had an up-and-down season. Stanek had strong run prevention marks in May and July but was knocked around in the other four months. He finished with a 5.30 earned run average across 56 innings. ERA estimators were only slightly more bullish as Stanek’s strikeout and walk rates each went in the wrong direction.
A 22.7% strikeout rate was narrowly the lowest of his nine-year career. Stanek had fanned nearly 28% of opposing hitters one season earlier. It’s crucial that he miss bats because command has never been a strong suit. Stanek has walked at least 10% of batters faced in all but one year, including a 12.5% mark last season.
The Cardinals are taking what should be a low-cost bet that he’ll strike out more batters in 2026. Stanek still has the stuff to do that. He averaged 98.5 MPH on his heater, a top 15 mark in MLB. He backs that up with a plus slider and mixes in a splitter and sweeper as his third and fourth offerings. Stanek still missed bats at a slightly above-average rate on a per pitch basis.
St. Louis doesn’t have a ton of experienced arms in the late innings. Southpaw JoJo Romero had been their only reliever with even two years of MLB service. There’s a decent chance he’s traded before Opening Day. The Cardinals were looking for a veteran arm who can pitch in the back half of the bullpen. Stanek fits best in middle relief but could be in the high-leverage mix, perhaps even as a closer, on a rebuilding club. He’s a known commodity to president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, who was in the Rays front office when Tampa Bay drafted him in the first round in 2013.
There’s also a geographic tie. Stanek was born in St. Louis and went to high school not far outside Missouri in Stilwell, Kansas. There’s a decent chance he’ll be traded midseason if he’s pitching well, but he’ll get a chance to play for his hometown club for at least a few months.
Image courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images.
I mean, it’s what you expect out of a tank job. Can be solid out of the pen, but won’t be as good as his Astros days
There are so many pitchers in Memphis and Springfield that are better than Stanek. Veteran presence, I get, but he is…not good.
Yes you are correct but I’m sure they are going to use him as their closer. That’s a lot different than regular relief.
Hard to imagine him being handed the closer role over O’Brien or even Svanson given his performance last season.
He’s a veteran who will teach those young pitchers what it means to be a major leaguer, and it gives a veteran arm to take on innings for those young guys to be allowed to develop properly.
This is great news for mets fans. Thank you St. Louis.
Great news? He was a free agent.
Which ment Dave-O could bring him back. St. Louis took that option away so I thank them.
Cardinals always seem to over pay for players like this. I hope that is not the case this time.
They sure did a good job with Phil Maton and Andrew Kittredge
Just in case Ryne is reading this, HI !!! Welcome to STL lol
I like it!
Solid solid addition. Give him closer role. He may have all star year . The skills are there just needs to dominate the mental side of pitching
No chance. Fastballs are meatballs.
Out of curiosity, when was the last time you saw him pitch? When he’s not handing out walks like candy, he’s serving up the most hittable 99 mph flat fastballs you’ve ever seen.
Ryan Helsley would like a word
Cards are gonna be tough to watch for a couple years
A lot of Cardinals fans already stopped watching
It will be interesting to see if Chaim really learned much from his Boston stint.
The early trades of starters instead of letting them walk for nothing is at least one improvement
Nah, we’ll surprise some folks.
He only needs to be good for four months. Chaim will trade him at the deadline.
Smart move
Welcome home, dude. Like Maton, this felt like it would always happen with the local connection
Cardinals fans beware! Bring your fire hose bcuz Stanek is an ARSONIST!
“Doh!”–Homer Simpson
Have the cards brought in any position players?
Not yet. Gotta trade all the vets first.
Born on St. Louis, yes. Hometown club, no. High school in KC suburbs. Royals are his hometown club.
The Cardinals no longer make sense to me. They seem to be trying to reduce their odds of a top draft pick.
They’re rebuilding. That’s what happens.
Why? Do you think Ryne Stanek makes them at least 2 wins better? The outcomes are basically
A. He has a good first half and they flip him
B. He doesn’t have a good first half and the Cardinals continue to be bad
Horrible player.
Stanek shouldn’t get more than a minor league deal, he’s atrocious
Good move for a rebuilding club. Would imagine he’s off the roster at trade deadline one way or another, ( either traded because he’s playing well, or released because he’s garbage).
Also hopefully this means the dfa of roycroft. Guy is huge and throws heat but just can’t miss bats.
Joe Dirt to be precise.
Looks like the Cardinals got their big move for the winter unless Donovan gets traded.
As the Mr. Grinch song goes: Stink, Stank, Stanek