The Cardinals’ offseason has primarily focused on subtracting veterans from the big league roster as the club embarks on a rebuild, but with yesterday’s Brendan Donovan trade now complete, most of the heavy lifting on the sell side of things has been complete. And although the main goals for president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom have been to restock the farm and trim payroll, the Cards could still have a few smaller-scale acquisitions in them. Bloom indicated at today’s press conference regarding the Donovan trade that he’s still hoping to add to his outfield, be it via free agency or trade (via Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat).
It’s not the first time that Bloom has signaled a desire to add to his outfield. He voiced a desire to add a righty-swinging outfielder prior to the holidays, but those comments are now six weeks old, so it’s of at least some note that he’s still publicly stating that interest. Austin Hays, Harrison Bader, Rob Refsnyder, Willi Castro and Jorge Mateo have all signed elsewhere since Bloom’s past statements. St. Louis had some interest in Hays before he signed with the White Sox, and just this week they agreed to a minor league deal with righty-swinging Nelson Velazquez, who at least provides some righty-hitting depth.
Bloom didn’t specify the “right-handed” portion of that desire this time around, but with an outfield group including lefty swingers Lars Nootbaar, Victor Scott II and Nathan Church, it’d be a sensible pursuit. Right fielder Jordan Walker hits from the right side of the plate, as do infield/outfield options like Thomas Saggese and Jose Fermin, but the Cardinals don’t have any form of somewhat established right-handed-hitting presence in their outfield.
Options at this point are limited, regardless of handedness. If a right-handed bat remains the goal, then any of Miguel Andujar, Austin Slater or old friends Randal Grichuk and Tommy Pham remain available. Trade options are tougher to nail down, particularly with so many names off the board already, but the Cardinals aren’t likely to take on any notable veteran salaries (e.g. Nick Castellanos). Speculatively speaking, the Rays (Jonny DeLuca), Blue Jays (Jonatan Clase), Phillies (Johan Rojas) and Royals (Drew Waters) have some outfield options who have fallen down their depth charts this winter.
It’s still possible that any outfield needs in St. Louis could expand further, too. Nootbaar underwent surgery to remove bone spurs from both heels following the 2025 season and might not be ready for Opening Day, but he’s in the same service class as Donovan (two years of team control remaining) and has drawn interest not only this offseason but at the ’25 deadline and in the 2024-25 offseason. He could boost his stock with a big first half, thus making him a more desirable target for other teams at the ’26 deadline, but hanging onto him also inherently runs the risk of Nootbaar incurring another injury or simply struggling in the wake of that dual procedure on his heels.
Sounds like they need Tauchman and Andujar platooned together.
Maybe they want their old friend Tyler O’Neill back??? Please???
Red sox could trade yoshida and some cash for oneil we miss him in Boston.
As much as enjoyed Tyler’s moon shots in St. Louis, his issue has been health and 2025 was no different. Three stints on the IL for neck, shoulder and wrist issues. And a 33 mil contract over the next two years. It would take some heavy lifting to justify that move.
He needs to be a dh going forward
Offer to pay the rest of Yoshida or Castellanos contract and acquire some prospect capital to go with. With very little money on the books for ‘26, spending some money to further bluster the farm would be a wise investment IMO, and also offer a (little) bit of upside in the OF.
Agreed that they should be spending all these savings on ways to bolster their farm, but I don’t think Yoshida or Castellanos are good investments. They’re both basically unplayable in the field, really capping their value even if some offense takes a step forward.
I think I’d rather see them sign another of the interesting mid-range SP’s that are still out there and flip them at the deadline if things go that way.
Also, at some point the Cards need to target getting back top quality over quantity in their trades. They now have pretty good farm depth and you can’t protect everyone in coming years. At that point, one great prospect is better than 5 good ones. Of course, prying away a great prospect is easier said than done.
You’re not wrong, but the investment is in the prospect attached to the deal, not the aging washed outfielder. We’re gonna suck in 26 regardless, watching yoshida flounder in LF or waste the entire year on the IL would be palatable knowing the ROI wouldn’t be seen right away.
I do agree that we should take some fliers on possible deadline trade fodder.
Understood, and agree that that is a viable path. But what I left unsaid is that I think there’s a cap on how good of a prospect such teams will be willing to send out just to save some money. At some level, they have to sell it to their fanbase.
It’s a gamble, but I think you might be able to get more if you sign a SP, say a Bassitt type, and sell at the deadline to a desperate team (if he’s healthy and doing well).
Plus, I think the Cards could benefit from another guy to reliably soak up some innings early in the season.
I see your point. I’d welcome a bassitt caliber player. Regardless, I’m just glad they’ve finally chosen a direction to commit to. Halfway selling won’t build the farm, and halfway buying won’t build a contender. I like most of Chaim’s moves so far, we will see if the changes he’s made to player development can get us back on track in a reasonable timeframe
Yeah, not a good idea for a team who already has the good majority of their DH PAs reserved for Herrera, one of their two best remaining hitters.
Unless he loses the job Ivan is slated to be the everyday catcher again.
I see Herrera as the DH mostly also since he couldn’t stay healthy last year,
First, Herrera has never been the starting catcher.
Second, no, Herrera is slated to be (one of) the backup catcher(s) behind Pagés, and that’s only if they decide he should catch again during Spring Training.
I think at this stage it wouldn’t matter how good/bad Yoshida and/or Castellanos do in the field in this scenario. If they bounce back even a little bit as merely platoon hitters a more competitive team may offer something for them at the trade deadline. The Cardinals need system depth as much as they need top prospects at this point.
They were just ranked as the #2 farm system in MLB. I think they have quite a bit of system depth already.
But even a rebuilding team doesn’t want to see a terrible defensive veteran outfielder embarrass himself and the team on a semi-regular basis.
The Cards don’t really have anyone worth a top prospect on their team, except their young controlled players such as Winn whom they hope to build around. There isn’t much point in trading the commodity you are looking to accquire. You really need a 4+ WAR player on a controlled, under market value contract to acquire top prospect talent – and that contract needs to be expiring before your competitive window for it to make sense.
They did pretty well to get a Top 100 prospect for Donovan!
Pham blew it in St. Louis with his warrantless demands, but he mostly played well for them. A reunion on a minor league deal would be interesting..
Bring back Pham!
@wilmer — They already brought him back once after he pushed hard for a contract the first go ’round.
The Cards released him the second time because he wasn’t playing well and the org straight-up told him he’d be on the bench. He asked to be traded because he wanted to play every day. Not unreasonable for an aging vet.
That said, Tommy’s not really a rahrah clubhouse guy and not really a leader. He’s just kind of a high strung weirdo who really really wants to play baseball, despite a declining skill set, so I don’t think he’s a fit for this situation.
How about Ozuna lol
I remember him falling off of the outfield wall and acting like LeBron James being fake hurt like it was yesterday.
Outside of Winn nearly taking the head off of that first base ump, it’s easily top 5 highlights in recent’ish Cardinal history
Not really the leader we need and he’s a terrible fielder, but the dude can still hit, albeit as a DH.
Oh I in no way would like him back but man, lol’ing out loud just thinking about him in LF
@payne
Iirc a year or 2 before that he won a gg in Miami, my question is how bad where the other lf that year that he was the best defender.
Yes to Ozuna only if the contract says no to the gentleman’s joints on the east side.
I do believe that was Sosa. Winn would’ve decapitated that man
That was Edmundo Sosa, not Winn.
Yoshida’s available and ready to prove that iconic fielding report from the ferris wheel by Bloom’s scouts was true
Nathan Lukes from the Jays?
they don’t have a spot for him
True. Jays outfield is crowded.
I bet Straw could be had. He is expensive, but put up 2.9 WAR in limited playing time last year and is a vacuum in CF
Or Schneider
Is that Tommy Pham’s music?
I’d rather see Pham sign with a team he hasn’t played with yet.
Pham has suited up for 10 different teams and is only 3 away from breaking Matt Stairs record for position players
By 2.0, I can only assume that means the new (much younger) and vastly improved version. 😉
St. Louis is going to be terrible this year
Real hot take there Carlos
Nailed it. You’ve got your finger on the pulse of the club, no doubt 🙄
Thanks for clearing that up because we were all on the fence about that.
Joshua Baez
He’ll probably be up with the club mid-season if he plays well. Hasn’t had any time in Memphis yet, so that would be a big jump.
What happened to Chase Davis?
Jo Adell for JJ Wetherholt
You’re funny; you make me laugh.
Those must be really really good drugs
Red Sox fans under Chaim: were losing every season this is awful!
Cardinals fans under chaim: look at those wonderful savings! That’s some fine penny-pinching! This is wonderful!
A full rebuild isn’t the same thing as pinching pennies.
Rangers might be willing to discuss Duran for Romero.
I do feel like Grichuk is the best option to fill this need. He provides big league hitting experience along with decent fielding. He can also be a trade chip at the deadline to get a prospect.
Yeah I agree he makes a lot of sense. Really need someone on a 1 year deal that either can be dealt or let go in July when hopefully Baez is ready.
I’d love if they brought Grichuk back. At worst, he’s a platoon lefty masher and that has value at the deadline if you wanted to cash him in later. Last year was down, but he was still mashing the ball, just to bad luck outcomes.
He’s also really transformed himself to being a pretty good contact hitter after selling out for power and having high K rates earlier in his career. He was K’ing at around 30% with the Cardinals and is down to around 20% recently. Most of the roster could benefit from a few pointers in how to alter their approach like that.
McNeil in his prime was way better than Donovan, and I think Donovan is the balls. You don’t know what you’re talking about.
Grichuck or Andujar. If they want a RH Outfielder to sit on the IL for half the season then Slater
Treovr Larnach. He’s expendable.
The Twins’ Larnach or Wallner for a reliever, and maybe not even a very good one.
They have to be cheap. That’s tightwad owner, Billionaire Bill DeWallet’s, top priority.
Castellanos +$10M, Rincones Jr. (#8), McFarlane (#19) for Nootsbaar & Pallante? Cardinals would only be adding $400K to their books and need RH veteran for the middle of their order. Noot’s best position is RF, Pallante would allow Painter some tune up time at AAA. Sorry, last ditch effort from a Phillies fan to find a taker for Casty. Suggested Boston (lefty heavy lineup) for Jordan Hicks but they traded him to White Sox. Dodgers need a RF, how about Casty for Tanner Scott? Then they signed Kyle Tucker. Astros need prospects and a LF/1B, Castellanos + prospects for Lance McCullers & Jake Meyers? Think the Cards and Astros (maybe the Reds for K’Bryan Hayes?) are our last hope. At this point, they might as well keep him and let him play one of the corners against LHP. Not sure why we don’t see more bad contract swaps in MLB.
Cardinals are not going to take on Castellanos plus money and also give up Nootbaar and Romero. Jesus, come on. Unless you’re throwing in Painter. that makes as much sense for the Phillies as your trade does for the Cardinals
Id make that trade, Rincones Jr. and McFarlane, Castellanos and 10M for Pallante and Nootbar.
Potential to flip Castellanos at the trade deadline and Rincones a good prospect.
What’s the point. They’ve already traded two right handed bats and a solid outfielder in Arenado, Contreras, and Donovan. This is a 4th place team at best and is going nowhere in 2026. Why bother. They’ve decided to tank, just go all the way and see if they can’t stink more than the Rockies.
If they could get someone with upside on a one-year deal and hope to flip him at the deadline, this makes sense. Otherwise, it makes more sense to give at bats to the young players already on the roster. I’m sure they’d like to see what Joshua Baez could do this year, and he’s already on the 40-man.
I thought Pham was a cancer in the clubhouse.
Not a cancer, just kind of high strung and not a leader. He’s been with the club twice and was only traded due to performance. Not the most amiable guy, but he plays hard and works his tail off.
A’s have outfield prospect Colby Thomas that’s mlb ready but blocked especially after soderstrom and butler signed extensions.
He looks like a good fit because hes a righty and can play some center. He could compete with Jordan Walker for playing time. Not sure what hes worth or who the Athletics would want.
They need a veteran platoon guy who’s okay with not playing full time and who can also play all over the outfield.
They traded Donovan who’s an everyday player and his trade value was so high, they couldn’t just sit on him. And he really only played LF. And the infield is crowded, so Donnie wasn’t really a fit for this situation.
They should be looking for a lot since they have just been dumping everyone. If you want someone to absolutely gut your team hire Bloom!
Just sign Goldschmidt & move Burleson to the OF or DH Goldy.
Here’s an idea trade Bloom to team Israel where he can manage his team in the WBC.
Not sure why another historic franchise gave this guy another shot at running the show. His vision is gut the team and do it as cheap as possible. I’m not an advocate for spending like the dodgers however I’ve said this many times before about him: Hey Chaim, you’re not in Tampa Bay anymore. Act like it, fans in Boston and St. Louis don’t care about your vision if it involves losing for 7 years
I agree 💯%. This team is unwatchable.
Just move the team to Nashville & change the team name to the Bootleggers. Then the new owers can put a real team in St.Louis and call them the Riverboat Gamblers.
Cardinals have been focused on pitching in all their rebuild trades which is interesting. Outside of Weatherholt, they don’t have any potential impact bats in their system which MIGHT be a problem down the road.
Pitching prospects have the added risk of arm health that bats don’t. They’re willing to accept that risk and are essentially all-in with pitching prospects here. If these guys stay healthy it could catapult them back to the top of the division. If they don’t stay healthy then it’s going to be a rough couple years for the team.
I’m definitely not qualified but had I been in the GM chair I would’ve prioritized bats over arms. I think it’s easier to build a good lineup and the fans would have a better time watching a team with a good offense/bad pitching rather than the other way around.
It’s probably not fair to point to the past now that Bloom is in charge, but in the past the team has been more willing to spend on impact bats than they have on impact pitching. I assume the logic behind that is similar to what you already started, pitchers in general tend to be more injury prone than hitters. So if you’re going to spend on one or the other it’s less risky to spend on hitting than pitching. Of course the ideal would be to spend on both. But since that hasn’t been how the club has operated in the past I’m inclined to think the prioritization of young pitching is an indication that the team still has no plans to spend on impact pitching in the future either.
Another possibility is they develop these arms and, best case scenario, accumulate a surplus they can trade from to get bats as needed. If they can keep these youngsters mostly healthy for the next 2-3 years then they are going to have an enviable collection of arms to work with.
What they do in this upcoming draft is going to be interesting. They could take advantage of their extra picks and balance out the farm by grabbing 5-6 of the top college bats available.
We have a controllable Zach Dezenzo. Not sure if you have anything interesting though. Nootbaar is injured and he’s the only one I would have interest in if I’m the Astros.
Add Adular and bring back Goldy. Veteran presence that is respected. Platoon him with Burly and let Burly cover Outfield some of those days.
They need to add 3 outfielders because the three they have can’t hit a lick.
You gotta be kidding about Walker, he shows no hustle in the outfield and continues to swing and strike out on the low and away. He’s a waste , he needs to earn his way on the opening day roster along with Gorman.
Nootbar will go nowhere until he proves he can bounce back from yet another injury spell. I see him as trade bait at the deadline if he even has a mediocre first half , his ceiling is so high. I would do for a pick or double A pitching.