The Cardinals leaned more heavily into the rebuild they should have begun during the previous offseason. They made four significant future focused trades in Chaim Bloom’s first season running baseball operations.
Major League Signings
- RHP Dustin May: One year, $12.5MM (including buyout of ’27 mutual option)
- RHP Ryne Stanek: One year, $3.5MM (deal includes ’27 club option)
- 3B Ramón Urías: One year, $2MM (including buyout of ’27 mutual option)
- C Yohel Pozo: One year split contract
2026 spending: $17MM
Total future spending: $18MM
Trades and Claims
- Traded 2B Brendan Donovan to Mariners in three-team deal (also involving Rays) for minor league RHP Jurrangelo Cijntje, minor league OF Tai Peete, minor league OF Colton Ledbetter, and two Competitive Balance Round B draft choices (#68 and 72 overall)
- Traded RHP Sonny Gray and $20MM to Red Sox for RHP Richard Fitts, minor league LHP Brandon Clarke and a player to be named later or cash
- Traded 1B Willson Contreras and $8MM to Red Sox for RHP Hunter Dobbins, minor league RHP Yhoiker Fajardo and minor league RHP Blake Aita
- Traded 3B Nolan Arenado and $31MM to Diamondbacks for minor league RHP Jack Martinez
- Acquired LHP Justin Bruihl from Guardians for cash
- Acquired RHP George Soriano from Nationals for RHP Andre Granillo
- Selected RHP Matt Pushard from Marlins organization in Rule 5 draft
- Claimed RHP Zak Kent off waivers from Guardians (later lost on waivers to Texas, re-claimed, then lost on waivers again to Minnesota)
- Claimed 3B Bryan Ramos off waivers from Orioles (later lost back to Baltimore on waivers)
Option Decisions
- None
Notable Minor League Signings
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Brendan Donovan, Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado, Miles Mikolas, John King (non-tender), Michael Siani (lost via waivers), Andre Granillo, Jorge Alcala (non-tender), Roddery Muñoz (lost via waivers), Anthony Veneziano (outrighted)
The Cardinals officially entered the Chaim Bloom era as soon as the 2025 regular season concluded. The team had announced a year in advance that Bloom would take over baseball operations from the retiring John Mozeliak. They felt their new front office leader would benefit from a year to familiarize himself with the organization, but the atypical arrangement contributed to an inert 2024-25 offseason that squandered trade value on veterans who should have been moved (e.g. Ryan Helsley, Erick Fedde).
St. Louis was reasonably competitive last year and finished within a few games of .500. At the same time, it was clear ownership was pulling back payroll as their local broadcast deal teetered on the brink of collapse — which finally happened this winter after Main Street Sports defaulted on a rights payment. If they weren’t going to invest to fix the pitching staff, they needed to more proactively strip things down.
That’d be the focus of the 2025-26 offseason. Bloom may never have used the term “rebuild,” but it was obvious between the lines. He said that adding a long-term influx of talent to the organization took priority over immediate upgrades to the big league club. Bloom also made the direction clear to a trio of veteran players who had say over their fate in the form of no-trade clauses.
Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras had all previously been very choosy about whether or where to accept a trade. Gray and Arenado said that’d change this winter, considering more possibilities to play for a contender on the back ends of their respective careers. Contreras was a little more reticent early on, but he’d also approve a trade once the time came.
In all three cases, the primary motivations for the Cardinals were in shedding money and opening playing time for younger players. Gray, Contreras and Arenado all remain solid or better players, but none of them had immense trade value. Gray’s and Arenado’s respective contracts were above market value, in fact, while the remaining two years and $41.5MM on the Contreras deal felt about right for what he’d earn if he were a free agent.
That left Brendan Donovan as the Cardinals’ biggest trade chip. He’s controllable for two seasons via arbitration and was set for a salary in the $6MM range. Of the players that St. Louis would realistically consider trading (i.e. not Masyn Winn or top prospect JJ Wetherholt), Donovan was the only one who’d fetch a significant prospect haul.
St. Louis focused on the more expensive players first. The field for those veterans was smaller given the money involved and their no-trade protection, so it made sense to prioritize them while teams had more budgetary flexibility. There’d surely be a market for Donovan at any point of the offseason.
Gray was the first one to go. The Cardinals sent the three-time All-Star to the Red Sox just before Thanksgiving. Gray’s heavily backloaded free agent contract essentially meant he was playing on a one-year, $40MM deal ($35MM salary plus a $5MM option buyout to be paid at season’s end). That kind of salary is reserved for aces, while Gray is more of a #2 or high-end #3 starter. The Cards would need to kick in some money.
Ownership signed off on paying down half the contract. They’re sending the Red Sox $20MM as part of the trade, which also involved a minor restructure to Gray’s contract. An additional $5MM was pushed back to year’s end in the buyout, while Gray received an extra $1MM and a guaranteed buyout in exchange for waiving the no-trade clause.
The trade netted the Cardinals a pair of controllable pitchers, which would be a theme of their offseason. Richard Fitts has made 15 MLB appearances over the past two seasons, compiling a near-4.00 ERA with middling strikeout and walk numbers. It’s the statistical profile of a fifth or sixth starter, but Fitts has a 96 mph fastball and a pair of power breaking balls. He’ll start games over the course of the season.
St. Louis also landed a higher-upside arm in the form of A-ball pitching prospect Brandon Clarke. He’s a 6’4″ lefty with upper-90s velocity and massive strikeout rates in the low minors. Clarke’s command will need to improve significantly if he’s to be a high-leverage reliever, much less a starter, but he’s clearly an intriguing arm for the player development department.
One month later, Contreras followed Gray to Fenway. The Red Sox were looking for a power bat and needed to upgrade at first base, making Contreras a logical target once Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber signed elsewhere. The Cardinals again chipped in a little bit of money, though the cash was much more modest than in the Gray trade. St. Louis paid $8MM over two years on the Contreras deal (including an extra $1MM the slugger received for waiving the no-trade clause).
It was a lesser return than the Gray trade but one that followed a similar path: a near-MLB depth starter and a pair of pitching prospects. The former, Hunter Dobbins, is rehabbing a torn ACL and won’t be available on Opening Day. He managed a 4.13 ERA across 13 appearances as a rookie, albeit with a modest 18% strikeout rate. Dobbins hasn’t missed many bats but also has a mid-90s heater and a pair of breaking balls that make him an intriguing swing option. The prospects, Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita, are low minors development fliers who slot into the middle of the farm system.
The eventual Arenado trade was purely about a change of scenery. His declining offensive numbers made him a less appealing target for other teams than Gray or Contreras had been. The Cardinals reportedly had the framework of a trade in place with the Athletics, but the 10-time Gold Glove winner preferred to approve a move to the Diamondbacks.
The Cardinals paid all but $11MM of the remaining $42MM and two years on Arenado’s contract. The only player they received in return, Jack Martinez, is a 2025 eighth-round pick who hasn’t thrown a minor league pitch. Aside from the marginal cash savings, this was about getting younger in the infield.
Nolan Gorman will get what’ll probably be his last shot to cement himself as a key piece of the organization’s future. Gorman slugged 27 homers a couple seasons ago but hasn’t hit over the past two years. He has immense raw power from the left side but figures to rank among the league leaders in strikeouts if he gets a full season of playing time.
At the other infield corner, Alec Burleson will replace Contreras as the primary first baseman. Burleson has played more outfield in his career, but he doesn’t run well and has never covered much ground on the grass. He fits better as a primary first baseman/designated hitter who’ll slot somewhere in the middle of the lineup.
Winn is locked in as the franchise shortstop. Wetherholt’s impending arrival at second base meant this was the right time for the Cardinals to trade Donovan. They’d seemingly not shown much interest in extending the All-Star utilityman. His trade value wasn’t going to get any higher within the next two seasons.
Donovan’s high-contact bat and defensive versatility made him an ideal fit for a number of teams. The Royals, Diamondbacks, Pirates, Red Sox, Astros and Guardians were among the clubs that checked in over the offseason. He’d been a target of the Yankees and Dodgers at the 2025 deadline. Yet this winter’s bidding seemingly came down to the Giants and Mariners.
Seattle ultimately pulled ahead by building a prospect package around 2024 first-rounder Jurrangelo Cijntje. He’s another touted minor league pitcher who adds ceiling to a pipeline that hasn’t graduated enough pitchers with swing-and-miss stuff. Cijntje is most famous for being a switch-pitcher, though his stuff as a righty is much more impressive. Even if he settles in as “only” a right-handed pitcher, he has a chance to be a mid-rotation arm. Cijntje fanned 26% of opponents with an ERA around 4.00 between High-A and Double-A last season. A 2027 debut seems likely.
The Cardinals also landed a former supplemental first-rounder with plus tools but significant whiff concerns in A-ball center fielder Tai Peete. Double-A outfielder Colton Ledbetter came over from the Rays in the three-team deal. He has a lower ceiling but could be a factor by the end of this season if he makes enough contact in Triple-A.
St. Louis also netted two Competitive Balance Round B draft picks — one apiece from the Mariners and Rays — that’ll become a pair of mid-level prospects this summer. Those selections add more than $2.5MM to their draft bonus pool. It sets the Cardinals up well to take an upside swing on a solid high school prospect to whom they can float an overslot bonus in the middle rounds.
The Donovan trade more or less ensures that Wetherholt will begin the season on the Opening Day roster. The seventh overall pick in 2024, Wetherholt is coming off a .306/.421/.510 season between the top two minor league levels. Even though he’s only hitting .240 this spring, he has a pair of home runs and an excellent eight walks against five strikeouts. Wetherholt could be an adequate shortstop but will surely slide to second base in deference to Winn, one of the sport’s premier defensive infielders.
Carrying Wetherholt on the Opening Day roster starts his six-year service clock in a rebuilding year. However, it could set the Cardinals up for another draft choice down the line via the Prospect Promotion Incentive — as soon as 2027 if he wins the NL Rookie of the Year award. If the Cards waited until midseason to call him up, they’d lose the potential for a PPI pick while still running the risk that Wetherholt earns a full year of service with a top two Rookie of the Year finish.
St. Louis added veteran utility player Ramón Urías on a $2MM deal late in the offseason. He plays second and third base and will be a righty-hitting complement to lefty swingers Wetherholt and Gorman. The Cardinals also wanted to add a complementary right-handed bat in the outfield, but that search didn’t bear fruit. Reported targets Austin Hays and Miguel Andujar found better paths to everyday playing time elsewhere (White Sox and Padres, respectively). A multi-year deal for Harrison Bader’s age 32-33 seasons doesn’t really fit the timeline.
Lars Nootbaar is opening the season on the injured list after undergoing surgeries on both heels. That more or less took him off the trade market despite loose ties to teams like the Pirates, Mets and Rangers. The Cardinals control Nootbaar for two seasons in arbitration and didn’t need to force a sell-low trade. They can move him at the deadline or next offseason.
That leaves a wide open opportunity in left field to begin the season. Minor league signee Nelson Velázquez has had an excellent camp to take advantage. He’ll probably make the team as the righty bat in a platoon, likely with lefty-hitting Nathan Church. The Cards have also gotten righty-hitting infielders Thomas Saggese and José Fermín work in the outfield this spring.
Victor Scott II and Jordan Walker will play center and right field, respectively. It’s approaching make-or-break time for Walker, a former top prospect who simply hasn’t performed over two and a half seasons in the big leagues.
Walker is still young, turning 24 in May, but he’s over 1000 plate appearances into his career and has been well below replacement level. The reemergence of former second-round pick Joshua Baez as a legitimate prospect gives the Cardinals a potential right field alternative by 2027. Nootbaar will be traded at some point, so Walker and Baez could coexist on the same roster, but the former is running out of time to continue warranting regular playing time.
They’ll run things back with the same catching group as they had in 2025. It’s technically a three-catcher setup, but they’ve never been keen on Iván Herrera defensively. He’ll be the primary designated hitter/third catcher behind Pedro Pages and Yohel Pozo.
Prospects Jimmy Crooks, Leonardo Bernal and (much further off) Rainiel Rodriguez are in the pipeline. This is an area of organizational depth even if Herrera moves off the position entirely. It’s easy to envision them swapping someone for pitching, but they have the luxury of waiting to see how the minor leaguers develop. Pages and Pozo would have modest trade value — the latter was non-tendered and re-signed to a split deal — so Herrera or one of the prospects would have the better chance of netting a significant return.
Strengthening the pitching pipeline was a clear goal. The Cardinals had previously relied on an excellent infield defense to compensate for lacking swing-and-miss arms. They’re moving away from that approach after ranking 23rd in runs allowed and 29th in strikeout rate (ahead of only the Rockies) over the last three seasons.
It’ll take time for that to translate into MLB success. Their only big league rotation move this winter was to sign Dustin May to a one-year, $12.5MM free agent deal. It’s a decent sized bet on a pitcher with his injury history who is coming off a near-5.00 ERA. May has mid-90s velocity and found success early in his career with the Dodgers, but he struggled to get hitters to chase or miss bats last year.
The Cardinals will hope to coax better results that could turn him into a midseason trade chip. He’s also young enough (28) that he could be a candidate for a two- or three-year extension if he’s healthy and pitching well as the deadline approaches. The Cardinals don’t have much in the way of long-term certainty in the rotation.
Matthew Liberatore should probably be in line for his career Opening Day start. May is going to be in the rotation, and it seems safe to pencil reliever convert Kyle Leahy in there as well. Andre Pallante, Michael McGreevy and Fitts are vying for the final couple spots. It’s probably a bottom five rotation in MLB right now. They’re awaiting the arrivals of Cijntje, Clarke and last year’s fifth overall pick Liam Doyle — plus a hopeful rebound season from Quinn Mathews — to improve the long-term outlook.
There wasn’t much turnover in the bullpen, where they’ll use a committee approach in the ninth inning after trading Ryan Helsley last summer. The Cardinals opted not to move left-hander JoJo Romero, who is coming off a career-low 2.07 ERA but had a mediocre strikeout and walk profile that seemingly limited trade interest. Romero is an impending free agent and one of the safer bets to be traded midseason, but the Cardinals evidently feel they can do a little better at the deadline than whatever was on the table over the offseason.
St. Louis took a rebound flier on Ryne Stanek on a $3.5MM free agent deal. Stanek is coming off a bad year but has plus-plus velocity and late-game experience that the bullpen was lacking in general. Riley O’Brien will work in leverage spots and could close games after a solid ’25 campaign.
The Cards sent cash to the Guardians to add lefty Justin Bruihl to the middle innings. They flipped Andre Granillo for righty George Soriano, who is out of options and has presumably nailed down a roster spot by striking out seven over five scoreless innings this spring. Soriano rode the DFA carousel all winter but never made it as far as the Cardinals (who ranked middle of the pack in waiver priority after a 78-84 season). After multiple unsuccessful efforts to claim him, they jumped the line with a trade. Matt Pushard, a Rule 5 pick out of the Miami system, is also vying for a middle relief job.
St. Louis rounded out the offseason with an extension for their fifth-year skipper. Despite the front office change, they evidently believe Oli Marmol is well positioned to oversee the rebuild. Bloom preemptively shut down any speculation about a managerial change early in the offseason. Marmol is entering the final year of his previous deal and signed an extension running through 2028.
They’re new times in St. Louis. Most of the previous core is either gone or likely to be traded within a year. At the same time, a nucleus of Winn, Herrera, and Wetherholt means they’re unlikely to bottom out the way teams like the Rockies or White Sox have. There’s a path back to contention within two or three seasons — one that’ll largely be determined by how well they develop the pitchers who are now the focal point of the rebuild.
How would you grade the Cardinals' offseason?
St Louis had a decent off-season for a team that’s rebuilding, I gave them a B. The problem is of course that rebuilds make your team worse before they make it better, so I get why people are giving them a D.
For 2026 though that rotation is not going to be fun to watch day to day oof.
The problem is that some of their moves (or non-moves) are questionable even for a rebuild. They signed an injury-prone starter instead of an innings-eater, an infielder instead of an outfielder, and half the bullpen will consist of AAA players being rushed to the Big Leagues and a lousy AAAA free agent addition (Stanek) who shouldn’t be pitching late innings for any MLB team other than the Rockies.
That’s why I gave them a C.
Maybe they are fielding a bad team on purpose. It leads to higher draft picks which helps the rebuild. I thought Bloom was likely doing that in Boston.
Injury prone starter with upside is perfect for a rebuilding year where competing is not the top priority. If May is healthy and performs for half the season, he is traded for additional prospects at the deadline. That is the upside of the signing.
There is no upside to an innings eater. Just paying money for work one of the young guys can put in.
They are well positioned financially if there is a lockout next season. If the next CBA has a salary cap of some sort they will be a blank slate with more options then teams that are trying to get under a figure.
I said C, mainly because we have no idea how this rebuild will go for a few years. May end up an A or B in a few years, may end up a D or F depending on how the kids work out.
But they traded off most of the guys they needed to, so there is that.
I give them a B for restocking the farm, which is probably the one (and only) thing Chaim Bloom is good at
I gave them a B as it was a brutal but necessary step backwards. They had to unload vets without much trade value and bit the bullet. It opened up opportunities for their own prospects to play more, as they really didn’t acquire a lot back in these deals. Getting two MLB ready arms is great though and they got some interesting prospects and picks in the Donovan trade.
That is a really looooong article
Nice rebuild start. B
B-. He got some decent talent for Donovan. Two guys with some promise, and two picks.
Chaim did his job and traded Contreras, Arenado and Donovan. Now it’s just a matter of acquiring talent and developing the kids they got. It won’t be for a few more seasons until these moves can be graded.
I’m not sure how fair it is to criticize them harshly for not trading more veterans during the 24-25 offseason. It’s tough to trade players with no-trade clauses without their agreement, and those agreements were not very forthcoming during that period. Also for some of the others, we just don’t know what they were offered. I think it’s fair to say it was a disappointing offseason, but I don’t know how to grade it without knowing what else they could have done.
They had an Arenado deal on the table and he blocked it. Gray and Contreras were not willing to go.
At the same time, Fedde should have been traded. They held Helsley because they thought they might compete…
I gave them a B as well but the true grade will be determined when the stats for those acquired all tallied. It’s the growth of VSII and Walker plus Gorman that will be critical to the success or failure. Starting pitching should be adequate but not stellar. Bullpen hopefully will sufficiently hold leads. Alot of if, hopefully, and wishes for improvement.
I’m just grateful the pitching staff is 50 years younger than the last couple of seasons. The reasons for some of the poor trades in the past decade was because of the “veteran” approach to building the rotation. No more Fedde or Mikolas providing below replacement level starts will be win, even if they have to dip into the prospect pool pretty deep to cover all those innings.
They got rid of Mo! That’s an A+ offseason no matter what else happened. The wins might come slowly, but there is finally a new plan in place and it doesn’t involve ego, or legacy, or for the love of God, the term “runway”. This season is a breath of fresh air. Let’s go Cards!
But they extended Oli.
I could honestly see the Rockies with a better record in 2026 than the Cardinals.
Nah man, what smokin up there in the mountains?
Everything is better in CO than MO
2026, sure. I don’t think so, but OK. However, if the Cardinals are worse than the Rockies for multiple years, that would be a tragedy! The Rockies are a terribly run organization.
You know that completely new people are running the org this year, right?
If Josh Baez goes to AAA and rakes the first month or two, and Walker struggles, he’ll be up. Their pitching will surprise. They’ll likely struggle to score runs unless the young guys who have faltered the past couple of years catch fire. This won’t be a bad team. No playoffs but a WC contender. Book it.
I know it is early and Spring training is jot always a good indicator of how a team will do. But something I find interesting about their spring so far is Runs Scored vs. Runs allowed. They are currently 24th in runs scored at 96, but the complete polar opposite and in a 3-way tie for 5th with 94.
They are currently 4th in the Grapefuit league and 2nd in win % amongst NL Central teams (Pirates .652, Cardinals .611, Reds .545, Brewers .429, Cubs .409).
I think there is a decent possibility this team surprises everyone and has a better season that anticipated. Do i think they will win their division….it’s not likely. I think they will finish 3rd right around the .500 mark.
Cardinals minor leaguers outscoring other minor leaguers.
Entirely possible the team could be half decent; starting pitching depth appears to be legit and the bullpen looks to be strong with O’Brien, Svanson, Romero, and other young guys backfilling.
Find a little offense and get this thing going!
Another long summer for the St. Loser Cardinals. 🤣
Hindsight is 20/20. Last offseason, they still had decent reason to believe a full rebuild wasn’t necessary and that they had an outside chance at contention in 2025 (which they actually managed until mid-July).
It was unexpected that Fedde and Pallante would both collapse and Gray would be so inconsistent, while only McGreevy would take a step forward among their AAA pitching prospects.
Oh yeah, and Ryan Fernandez went from Rule 5 major success story to struggling to pitch in AAA and was just sent down after stinking it up again in Spring Training.
What about Velázquez?! I see him taking Walkers place in right…
Could happen. Jordan’s runway may be shorter after such a bad spring.
I’m pulling for Walker, but his remaining time as a Cardinal looks to be maybe even worse than most have suspected.
I gave the Cardinals a B.
They signed one of my favorite relievers in Ryne Stanek who caught a lot of bad press from wonky Mets fans. His surface stats in ’25 may justify the hot air to some degree but this is a guy who can ring up 10.0K/9 and whose fastball was sitting 98MPH last season, up a tick from his dominant ’22 campaign in Houston. It was the splitter that led Stanek to a 1.15 ERA in ’22 and the splitter that hurt him in ’25. If he can get the splitter working again, he is a good candidate to bounce back this season. A 6M dollar team option in ’27 could be a hit.
I also like Dustin May to bounce back. Another year removed from elbow surgery, his second in four years, he should have more confidence to throw this season. May’s fastball was down a tick or two last season, he wasn’t letting it rip, but the heater has been back to 98MPH this spring. It is a good sign for the young righty. Only 28, if he develops his changeup into an out pitch, he is a good bet to be a top-of-the-rotation option after the allstar break. May is likely to be on the block at the deadline and could return a nice prospect or two.
The Cardinals reupped Yohel Pozo at catcher despite having significant depth on the farm at the position. This could be their best move all off season. Poho can hit, is a good defensive catcher and can back up 1B too. I think he could prove to be a capable OF. A nice utility player on the bench who could find an opportuniy for everyday at-bats if a starter hits the IR.
Minor league signee Nelson Velasquez looks likely to break camp. It’s a huge win. Velasquez is stacked and hits bombs. His power is just what the Cardinals needed with Jordan Walker falling. If Velasquez gets 400 ABs, he could hit 30+ HRs this season. I liked the Bligh Madris signing too. Another guy that is stacked and hits bombs. It seems like it is Velasquez over Bligh but don’t sleep on Bligh, if he gets an opportunity, he is freaky athletic, and he too could bloom late.
Seven pitching prospects and a pair of picks collected from four off season trades that saved the Cardinals 50M in payroll over the next two seasons. With Gray, Contreras, Donovan and Arenado out, their young propsects will have opportunities to develop with the big league club in ’26.
All together a great off season for the Cardinals. If they could have moved Jordan Walker and Victor Scott II in trades, they would have gotten an A+. Pitching is their crux this season. A number of old projects at the back of the bullpen and no true ace in the rotation has them out of contention early but they could surprise if their pitching comes together.
I think the Cardinals will have the lowest payroll in 2026 after you subtract the 41 million given to other teams for players changing uniforms. It will be a dreadful year and anyone thinking otherwise is kidding themselves. Though I understand why they are doing this because they cannot compete in this game economically. The league is clueless.
😂
The starting pitching has to be better this year. Sonny Grey had a horrendous road era. Mikolas was brutal. Pallante fell apart at the end of the year ( due to depth now he can be sent down ). VS2 needs to hit and get on base. If some guys can step up and hit they may be a 500 team…