Inside the Cardinals’ roster redesign: youths, trades, and tough choices
Last week’s statutory roster alignment marked the first time the St. Louis Cardinals’ new baseball administration made a real imprint on the roster. While none of the moves were particularly unpredictable, each decision contributes to a broader story as the team’s identity begins to take shape.
After being previously designated for assignment, reliever Jorge Alcala was not tendered a contract for the 2026 season. Neither were reliever John King, injured minor league starter Sem Robberse nor catcher Yohel Pozo. Pozo later returned on a split contract that will pay him less in the minors than the Major League Baseball minimum. Robberse signed a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training and will continue to rehab.
Pitchers Cooper Hjerpe and Brycen Mautz were added to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft, as were catcher Leonardo Bernal and outfielder Joshua Baez. Infielder Bryan Torres had previously been added to the roster to circumvent his eligibility for minor league free agency.
Each of these decisions falls in line with the natural calendar of the offseason. As the hot stove cranks to life, none of these individual moves says much about the team’s long-term plans. Yet, reviewing the roster with an eye on the Cardinals’ goals for the coming months highlights their current place in the competitive cycle.
Judging by the pitching market, it appears St. Louis will find a trade partner for Sonny Gray. It seems unlikely Gray will use his no-trade clause to block a move. If new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom determines the return is worthwhile, trading the veteran ace would leave the pitching staff with strikingly little experience.
JoJo Romero is also drawing trade interest this winter, and he has just over five years of major league service time. Beyond Romero, with Alcala and King now former Cardinals, the most experienced pitcher on the roster is Andre Pallante, who debuted in 2022. Among relievers other than Romero, the most service time belongs to Kyle Leahy, who finished 2025 with one year and 140 days. If Leahy is grouped with the starters, the baton passes to Riley O’Brien, who was injured for about 150 days of his one year and 129 days of service.
Bloom has acknowledged the benefit the club received from veteran relievers Andrew Kittredge and Phil Maton over the last two years, and the team will seek a similar profile this winter. Outside of Gray, the de facto staff ace role would likely fall to Matthew Liberatore. If, after his initial acquisition, one had predicted Liberatore as the 2026 ace, it might have seemed logical, but almost no one would have foreseen the path to that outcome.
There has been a consistent two-step around the word “rebuild” to describe the Cardinals’ current state. Bloom has said he has no interest in “conceding” anything regarding competitive goals before the season begins. That stance is perhaps both admirable and necessary as the leader of a club suddenly struggling to keep its footing in its home market, but it is also an attempt to thread a very fine needle.
If this is not a rebuild, it is hard to imagine what one would look like.
To be sure, Bloom has been candid about the club’s desire to add veteran pitching for both the rotation and bullpen this winter. That could happen via free agency or trades, with the latter route determined in part by league-wide demand for some of the Cardinals’ position players. Nolan Arenado may be unlikely to yield a significant trade package, but Gray very well could.
So could Brendan Donovan, popular in trade circles and under team control for two more years. Lars Nootbaar will attract interest. Nolan Gorman will have suitors who believe they can unlock his considerable power. The names are familiar; the career stages are transitioning from “opportunity to establish themselves” to “assets whose value may be maximized in a trade.”
The string of one-year deals that has defined Cardinals free agency in recent years—save for Gray and Willson Contreras—was intended in part to give Bloom a clean slate to shape the roster as he sees fit. The timing also coincides with a competitive downturn marked by roster redundancies without clear resolutions.
Between open roster spots and a willingness to move on from marginal players who lack a clear major league future, early signs are positive from a roster-construction standpoint. But those same early trends reveal a team that, without major additions, may be forced to navigate the season with little veteran guidance.
It can be done. But it is not usually done in pursuit of competitive success. More often, it is a concession—regardless of whether the team is willing to call it one.
