photo: Adam Kloffenstein (Memphis Redbirds)
In our weekly Cardinals news recap… The 40-man roster was adjusted prior to the Rule 5 Draft and most players were kept for 2025. Prior Cardinals Manager of the Year and Most Valuable Player Award winners are remembered.
Cardinals finalize 40-man roster for Rule 5 draft
Two deadlines came and went this past week that affect the St. Louis Cardinals’ roster for the offseason and beyond. On November 19, all 30 teams were required to add any non-roster players who they wished to protect from the upcoming Rule 5 draft onto their 40-man rosters.
The Cardinals added four players. They are right-handed pitchers Tink Hence, Matt Svanson, and Tekoah Roby as well as outfielder Matt Koperniak. All but Koperniak ended their 2024 season on the roster of the Double-A Springfield Cardinals. Koperniak was with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.
The organization also outrighted pitcher Drew Rom, removing him from the 40-man roster. Rom cleared waivers and remains in the organization with Memphis.
The Rule 5 draft, which will take place on December 11, is an annual event that gives teams a chance to “draft” eligible players from the minor league rosters of the other 29 teams. Those eligible players are ones who have been on a minor league roster for either four or five years, depending on their age when they were drafted or first signed.
In addition, all teams had until November 22 to tender (offer) contracts to any arbitration eligible players or pre-arb players they wished to retain for the upcoming season. The Cardinals tendered contracts to all their players except one, RHP Adam Kloffenstein.
Kloffenstein, 24, was acquired by the Cardinals in a 2023 deadline deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. The trade sent Kloffenstein and pitcher Sem Robberse to the Cardinals for reliever Jordan Hicks. Hicks finished the 2023 season with Toronto and then signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants. Robberse remains in the Cardinals minor league system with the Memphis Redbirds.
Kloffenstein was added to the 40-man roster on November 14, 2023. He was called up to St. Louis on June 20 for the Rickwood Field game against the Giants. He threw a perfect inning and was optioned back to Memphis the next day. He was not called up again before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in July.
Kloffenstein started 17 games for Memphis and posted a record of 4-5 with an ERA of 4.74.
The Cardinals tendered contracts to all six of their arbitration eligible players. They are Ryan Helsley, Lars Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, Andre Pallante (Super Two), JoJo Romero and John King.
News and Notes for the Offseason
In this space will be information on news and events of the offseason that do not require extensive coverage. Check back each week to learn what is happening.
- Cardinals 2025 Spring Training tickets on sale now – The Cardinals have opened up the sale for 2025 Spring Training tickets for individual games. You can access information and purchase tickets at https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/tickets/spring-training
- Cardinals 2025 Winter Warm-Up – The plans for the 2025 Winter Warm-Up have been announced and covered in last week’s report. As a reminder you can access information about the January event at https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/fans/winter-warm-up
- Cardinals 2025 Season Tickets now available – Fans can now purchase season tickets for the upcoming 2025 season. You can access information about season tickets at https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/tickets/season-tickets. A telephone number to call and a chat feature is available for fans to use.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
In last week’s notebook, we discussed the potential for a trade of closer Ryan Helsley based on recent reports by several Cardinals writers and some general supposition. This week we do the same with Cardinals’ third baseman Nolan Arenado.
No concrete rumors of a trade in the works for Arenado are available. At this time, it all is just guess work. POBO John Mozeliak has hinted about the possibility of an Arenado trade if the right fit is found, despite the reports that Arenado has not definitively asked to be traded (as he did in 2021 when the Cardinals got him from the Rockies).
The speculation comes on the heels of accounts that Arenado, unlike teammates Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray, has not told the Cardinals organization that he wants to remain in St. Louis through their period of “reset”. This opened the floodgates of trade hypothesizing based mostly on squishy words uttered by Mozeliak (a trademark of the POBO, by the way).
In any event, the most recent of the conjecture is based on a story (subscription required) by a reporter who covers the Boston Red Sox, named Sean McAdam. Mr. McAdam wrote a piece ostensibly to discuss among other things that the Red Sox are considering the idea of moving their third baseman, Rafael Devers, to first base (despite Devers’ agent disputing that Devers is willing to move). A summary of all this can be read at MLB Trade Rumors.
You can see what comes next. If the position change does occur, that leaves the third base position open, and who might be available to fill that position? Nolan Arenado of course, along with free agent Alex Bregman perhaps if the Astros don’t re-sign him.
There is more trade talk out there if you are so inclined to find it, just Google “Nolan Arenado” and there it is, including this article involving the Blue Jays.
Transactions
- 11/19 The Cardinals selected the contract of LF Matt Koperniak from the Memphis Redbirds.
- 11/19 The Cardinals selected the contract of RHP Tink Hence from the Springfield Cardinals.
- 11/19 The Cardinals selected the contract of RHP Matt Svanson from the Springfield Cardinals.
- 11/19 The Cardinals selected the contract of RHP Tekoah Roby from the Springfield Cardinals.
- 11/19 The Cardinals sent LHP Drew Rom outright to the Memphis Redbirds.
- 11/22 The Cardinals non-tendered RHP Adam Kloffenstein, who elected free agency.
Injury Report
There are no new injuries to report.
Looking Ahead
The month of November is when free agency begins and rosters are adjusted for the upcoming season. It is also the month for the annual MLB awards.
All November awards have been announced. The Cardinals had three finalists for Gold Gloves, Masyn Winn, Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan, but none of the three were winners. The Cardinals had no finalists (or winners) for any of the other awards.
St. Louis manager Oli Marmol received one third place vote for Manager of the Year, which came from Keith Law of the Athletic. Ryan Helsley, the NL Reliever of the Year, received one fourth place and two fifth place votes for the Cy Young Award. Shortstop Masyn Winn did not receive any votes for Rookie of the Year. No Cardinal received any MVP votes.
The deadline to add players to the roster for the upcoming season has passed. The Cardinals added four players to the 40-man roster – RHPs Tink Hence, Matt Svanson, and Tekoah Roby, and LF Matt Koperniak. In addition, the Cardinals outrighted LHP Drew Rom to the Memphis Redbirds.
The deadline to tender contracts to pre-arbitration and arb eligible players has passed. The Cardinals did not tender a contract to RHP Adam Kloffenstein and he elected free agency.
The 40-man roster now stands at 38 players.
The month of December is fast approaching. Key dates for December to pay attention to are:
- December 1 – Competitive balance draft picks are assigned. These picks are given out to teams that fall in the bottom 10 in revenue and/or market size. The Cardinals are not one of these 10 teams.
- December 8 – Results of the voting for the nominees for the Hall of Fame from the Classic Era Committee area announced. One former Cardinal, Ken Boyer, is a nominee.
- December 8-11 – The Winter Meetings will take place in Dallas, TX. The Winter Meetings are typically when the Hot Stove heats up and transactions are made.
- December 10 – The 2025 draft lottery takes place. This lottery determines the top six draft picks for the annual draft in 2025. All 18 non-playoff teams from 2024 have a chance to get the first pick in the draft. Last season, the Cardinals did not receive one of the first six picks and was assigned the seventh pick, despite finishing the season tied with the Nationals for the fifth worst record.
- December 11 – The Rule 5 Draft takes place on the last day of the Winter Meetings. In 2023, the Cardinals picked up RHP Ryan Fernandez in the Rule 5 draft from the Boston Red Sox. The Cardinals currently have two 40-man roster spots they could fill in this draft.
Blast from the Past
November is when the winners of the major awards for the prior season are announced.
This week’s Blast from the Past continues a series that showcase the offseason awards, specifically the history of Cardinals players or managers that have won the various awards over their history.
This final installment will cover two awards, the Manager of the Year and the Most Valuable Player. We begin with a brief history of both awards and end with the list of Cardinals players and managers who have won them.
The Manager of the Year award has been given out annually since 1983 to one manager in each league. The award is voted on by the BBWAA (two members from each league city, 30 members in total vote). They pick a manager for first, second and third place. The manager with the highest score wins the award.
The following is a list of Cardinals managers who have won the award and in what year.
Whitey Herzog – Herzog, who managed the Cardinals from 1980-1990, was selected in 1985. He is one of 12 managers to win the award in a year in which their team won 100+ games. The 1985 Cardinals had 101 wins.
Tony La Russa – La Russa managed the Cardinals from 1996-2011 and won the award in 2002. It was the fourth Manager of the Year award for La Russa who also was selected in 1983 with the White Sox, and 1988 and 1992 with the Athletics.
Mike Shildt – Shildt, who managed the Cardinals from mid-2018 through 2021, received the honor in 2019. It was his first full season as the Cardinals manager, after replacing the fired Mike Matheny on July 14, 2018. In the 2024 vote, Shildt, now with San Diego, came in second.
The Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) has been in existence since 1931. It has been voted on by members of the BBWAA since its inception. It began by polling three BBWAA writers in each MLB city in 1938 and was reduced to two writers per city in 1961. In 1944, the award was named after the first MLB Commissioner, Kennesaw Mountain Landis. His name was taken off the MVP Plaque in 2020 due to complaints from players about Landis’ role in resisting the integration of baseball.
The Cardinals have had 18 MVP winners since 1931, second only to the Yankees with 22.
The following is a list of Cardinals players who have received the MVP award beginning with those won it more than once and in what year(s).
Stan Musial – Stan “The Man” Musial was the MVP three times, in 1943, 1946 and 1948.
Albert Pujols – Pujols received the MVP award three times, in 2005, 2008 and 2009.
Frankie Frisch – Frisch won the MVP in 1931.
Dizzy Dean – Dean took the MVP in 1934, the first Cardinal pitcher to win the award.
Joe “Ducky” Medwick – Medwick was the MVP in 1937.
Mort Cooper – Cooper was named the MVP in 1942.
Marty Marian – Marian received the MVP in 1944.
Ken Boyer – Boyer won the vote in 1964.
Orlando Cepeda – Cepeda received the MVP in 1967.
Bob Gibson – Gibson was the MVP in 1968.
Joe Torre – Torre won the MVP in 1971.
Keith Hernandez – Hernandez tied for the MVP in 1979 with Willie Stargell.
Willie McGee – McGee received the MVP in 1985.
Paul Goldschmidt – Goldschmidt was first in the MVP voting in 2022.
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