photo: Billy Southworth and Stan Musial, Spring Training 1942
The St. Louis Cardinals acquired a veteran relief pitcher in trade and may be done with off-season moves. Our weekly history feature highlights prior team events and one major signing that occurred during the January 1-7 period.
Cardinals trade for bullpen help
The St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays made a trade on Friday, January 5 that sent OF Richie Palacios to Tampa Bay for RHP Andrew Kittredge.
The 33-year-old Kittredge, a reliever, debuted with the Rays in 2017. The Rays acquired him in a November 2016 trade from the Seattle Mariners. Kittredge pitched for five seasons in Tampa before he went on the injured list in June 2022 for Tommy John surgery. The right hander returned in August 2023.
Kittredge posted a 3.09 ERA in 11.2 innings in 2023. He pitched one scoreless inning in Game 1 of the 2023 AL Wild Card Series against the Rangers. Kittredge earned an All-Star selection in 2021.
The Washington native is entering his third year of arbitration and is expected to make under $3 million. He will become a free agent following the season.
Palacios, 26, was acquired by the Cardinals for cash from the Cleveland Guardians on June 16, 2023. Palacios played in 32 games for the Cardinals and posted a slash line of .258/.307/.516 with six home runs and 16 RBI.
The trade adds a veteran arm to the bullpen and frees up additional space in an outfield logjam.
News and Notes for the Cardinals offseason
This section features offseason news items each week that do not require extensive coverage.
- IF/OF Tommy Edman is recovering from October arthroscopic wrist surgery. This report was a surprise to most (including this writer), as media had inquired of POBO John Mozeliak if there were any lingering health concerns and he said none existed. That suggests either the information was being withheld or it was not known to the team until well after the fact. Neither possible explanation is comforting.
Edman had had wrist issues during the season and had been on the injured list in July with right wrist inflammation.
As to whether Edman will be ready to go for Spring Training, sources report the team and Edman are “hopeful”.
- Several former Cardinals found new homes this past week. RHP Dakota Hudson signed a one-year deal with the Rockies for $1.5 million, with an extra $1.5 million in incentives. Hudson was non-tendered by the Cardinals in November.
Harrison Bader has inked a deal with the Mets. The contract is for one year and $10.5 million. Bader spent five seasons with the Cardinals before being traded at the 2022 deadline to the Yankees. The Reds claimed the center fielder off waivers in August 2023. Bader was plagued by injuries with the Yankees and the Reds and finished the 2023 season on the injured list with a groin strain.
- The annual Cardinals Winter Warm-Up is scheduled for January 13- 15, 2024. Details can be found at com/WWU . Autograph tickets are on sale with the signing schedule found here. Free autograph tickets are also now available. Admission tickets can be purchased at www.mlb.com/cardinals/fans/winter-warm-up .
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
- The Cardinals acquired another bullpen arm in a trade of OF Richie Palacios to the Tampa Bay Rays for RHP Andrew Kittredge. Kittredge, 33, was not one of the arms publicly linked in rumors to the Cardinals. The right hander had Tommy John surgery in June 2022 and returned to pitch for the Rays in August 2023.
Whether the acquisition of Kittredge is the final transaction for the Cardinals this offseason is unknown. Katie Woo of the Athletic reported in her Mailbag segment, published before the Palacios trade, that the Cardinals intended to add one more reliever. That reliever has been added.
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- Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch reported the Cardinals’ interest in reliever Ryan Brasier. Given the acquisition of Kittredge, this report may be moot, as it was filed the same day as the trade was announced.
- Rumors persist that the Cardinals are among the teams interested in acquiring Dylan Cease from the White Sox. However, with many teams in the hunt, the acquisition price is expected to be high, not a place the Cardinals usually play. Also, last month, Mozeliak said he “doubted” the Cards would add another starting pitcher after signing three this off-season.
In her Mailbag referenced above, Woo indicated that the addition of another starter appeared to be a “fever dream”. Therefore, signs point to the Cardinals being done as far as major offseason moves are concerned.
Transactions
- 1/5 The Cardinals traded OF Richie Palacios to the Tampa Bay Rays for RHP Andrew Kittredge.
Injury Report
- IF/OF Tommy Edman had arthroscopic surgery on his right wrist in October. The surgery was not publicly announced by the Cardinals, and its occurrence was revealed in several reports on X (formerly Twitter) on January 4. According to John Denton of MLB.com, the team and Edman are hopeful that the starting center fielder will be ready to go for Spring Training.
Looking Ahead
The year 2024 has begun and spring training opens in mid-February. The Cardinals Spring Training schedule can be found here. Individual game tickets are now on sale.
The first important date in 2024 is January 12, the deadline for teams and arbitration eligible players to submit salary figures. The Cardinals now have six players who are arbitration eligible with the addition of Kittredge, who is in his third and final year of arbitration eligibility. The returning four are Tommy Edman (2nd year), Dylan Carlson (1st year), Ryan Helsley (2nd year), John King (1st year) and JoJo Romero (1st year).
Arbitration hearings run from January 29 through February 16.
The Cardinals annual Winter Warm-Up begins on January 13. Details can be found at Cardinals.com/WWU.
The 2024 international signing period begins on January 15.
The 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced on January 23 on MLB Network at 5 p.m. CT.
Blast from the Past
This week’s Blast from the Past continues the look at some notable trades and/or signings that occurred during the offseason each week of December and January.
Because there was only one notable transaction that occurred during the period January 1 through January 7, this installment will look at other interesting events during the period.
First, is the player transaction, and it was a major one.
January 6, 1937 – St. Louis signed 16-year-old Stan Musial to a professional baseball contract. The Cardinals had scouted the teenager as a pitcher for his Donora High School baseball team. Musial’s father was against his son pursuing a baseball career, but his wife and son convinced him to agree to the contract.
The Cardinals did not file the contract with the Commissioner’s office until June 1938, a common practice in those days.
Other events that occurred during the period January 1 through January 7 follow.
January 1, 1921 – The Cardinals, along with Branch Rickey, purchase a majority stake in the Houston Buffaloes, making them the first affiliated minor league baseball team.
January 1, 1966 – The Cardinals announce that Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium will be renamed Busch Stadium.
January 3, 1956 – Cardinals GM Frank “Trader” Lane removes the Birds on the Bat logo from the team uniform. The change was so unpopular that it was reversed the next season.
January 4, 1942 – Rogers Hornsby is elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
January 6, 1967 – Former Cardinals manager Johnny Keane dies of a heart attack at the age of 55. At the time of his passing, he had been a scout for the California Angels for just one month after his firing as manager of the Yankees during the 1966 season.
January 7, 1985 – Lou Brock is elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
January 7, 1985 – Enos Slaughter is elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
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