photo: Ryne Stanek (John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports)
With the New Year, the St. Louis Cardinals are continuing to add arms, but their on-the-block players have not yet been moved. All seven salary arbitration eligible players came to terms on 2026 contracts. Our history section highlights key events this past week in team annals.
Cardinals sign free agent reliever
On Saturday, reports indicated that the St. Louis Cardinals have signed veteran RHP Ryne Stanek to a one-year contract for $3.5 million. The deal includes a $6 million club option for 2027. The signing has not been confirmed as of this writing as the deal is contingent on Stanek passing a physical.
The 34-year-old reliever was born in St. Louis and attended Blue Valley High School in Stillwell, Kansas. As a high schooler, Stanek was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the third round in 2010 but did not sign. He played college baseball at the University of Arkansas and was drafted in the first round in 2013 by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Stanek played for three seasons in Tampa and was traded at the 2019 deadline to the Miami Marlins. He became a free agent in 2020 and joined the Houston Astros. After two seasons with the Astros, Stanek signed with the Seattle Mariners in March 2024. He was traded at the 2024 deadline to the New York Mets and later re-signed with the Mets for the 2025 season.
In 2025 with the Mets, Stanek posted a 4-6 record and an ERA of 5.30 in 56 innings. While Stanek has swing and miss stuff, he had a walk per nine innings rate of 5.14.
Stanek joins a bullpen that is being rebuilt following the loss of several veterans from last season, including Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton and Steven Matz.
Cardinals cut ties with FanDuel Sports Network
With less than three months remaining before the 2026 season, Cardinals fans are uncertain how they will be watching their team’s games.
FanDuel Sports Network is having financial difficulties and after missing their January payment to the Cardinals, ongoing questions became louder regarding the future of regional sports networks, and particularly this one.
Branded as FanDuel Sports Network, its owner, Main Street Sports Group, had contracts with nine MLB teams for their broadcast rights, including the Cardinals. This past week, all nine teams reportedly terminated their contracts with Main Street. This was done mostly to avoid getting caught up in a potential bankruptcy proceeding should Main Street Sports Group file for their second round of bankruptcy protection.
Main Street has been seeking a buyer, and a potential sale to the streaming service DAZN did not work out. There have been rumors of interest by FUBO TV, but the reports have been conflicting.
So, what is next for the Cardinals broadcasting situation? There are several options available. One is to launch their own RSN, which the Texas Rangers did last season. The Cubs and the Yankees also have their own networks, Marquee Sports, and the YES Network. This option is the least likely for the Cardinals.
Another option is for MLB Media to take over the production of the local broadcasting. MLB Media did this for the Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Twins, and Guardians in 2025. They are adding the Mariners in 2026. The Nationals are supposedly planning to leave MASN, which they share with the Baltimore Orioles, and join with MLB Media.
Teams could come up with their own alternatives as well, including contracting with an over-the-air affiliate or some other arrangement.
The nine teams at this point appear to be weighing their options. It remains possible that some will renegotiate with Main Street Sports Group.
Fans must wait to find out how the Cardinals plan to bring the games to their large fanbase in the most comprehensive way possible.
Cardinals with no arbitration hearings
On January 8, the Cardinals and their seven arbitration eligible players all came to an agreement on 2026 salaries. For the first time in several years, the team and its players will have no arbitration hearings.
The seven are Alec Burleson, Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman, Matthew Liberatore, Lars Nootbaar, Andrew Pallante and JoJo Romero.
Full details here:
Cardinals, All Seven 2026 Arbitration-Eligible Players Settle
News and Notes for the Offseason
This section in the coming months will contain information and snippets of news that don’t require extensive coverage but are of interest to Cardinal fans.
- The Cardinals’ Low-A affiliate, the Palm Beach Cardinals, will have a name change for all 12 of their Saturday home games in 2026, when they will be branded the “Frozen Iguanas”. While other Cardinals’ affiliates have used alternate identities in season, this is a first for Palm Beach.
- The Cardinals are less than a week away from their 29th annual Winter Warm-Up fan festival and Cardinals Caravans. The former, reduced to two days in 2026, will be held at Ballpark Village and Busch Stadium on Saturday, January 17 and Sunday, January 18. Details here.
- Autograph and photo tickets for the Winter Warm-Up are now on sale. Tickets can be purchased online
- Cardinal ticket packs, all-inclusive tickets, Opening Day tickets, Cardinals Theme tickets and Spring Training tickets are now on sale. Information on purchasing any of these tickets and more can be found here.
- “Banana Ball” will return to Busch Stadium in 2026. The Savannah Bananas, a popular entertainment baseball team, will come to Busch Stadium on Friday, August 21 and Saturday, August 22 as part of their world tour. Information can be found here.
The Big Picture
There was modest offseason activity this past week, as the Cardinals reportedly signed free agent RHP Ryne Stanek to a one-year contract with a club option for 2027. Stanek, 34, does not meet the criteria set out by POBO Chaim Bloom that additions to the team will conform to their long-term goal of rebuilding the franchise back to its former glory. One wonders what the thinking is here, given Stanek’s age and the one-year contract. He may be late inning bullpen depth and a candidate to trade at the deadline, ala Phil Maton in 2025.
The team’s other acquisition this week, LHP Justin Bruihl, appears on the surface as fitting better into Bloom’s construct. Bruihl is 28 years old and has 1.112 years of service time, meaning he is under control until 2031. Bruihl was acquired from the Guardians for cash. However, the journeyman has no minor league options remaining, severely limiting any flexibility the Cardinals might have with him.
There has been no publicly reported activity on the trade front for Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan, and JoJo Romero. Donovan’s market appears to have stalled, reportedly because Bloom’s asking price is too high for interested teams to swallow. Bloom is said to be looking for two top prospects, and interested teams believe Donovan, an All-Star in 2025, is overvalued.
The Cardinals appear to be quite comfortable keeping Donovan and waiting for the 2026 trade deadline, and perhaps beyond, if necessary, to obtain the return they are seeking. Ketel Marte, strong competition for Donovan in the second base market, was pulled from the trade arena by the Diamondbacks this past week. This shrinks the available pool of second baseman, so perhaps the queasiness of those teams looking at Donovan will ease a bit.
It appears the market for Nolan Arenado has not expanded beyond the Los Angeles Angels. It is not certain that Arenado would waive his no-trade clause for them should some deal be possible. Other teams have not shown interest, despite Arenado floating the idea of moving to first base to expand his versatility score. According to John Denton of MLB.com, a source told him that a deal for Arenado may have to wait until Spring Training, when teams may lose players to injury.
There is no additional news on Romero, either. Interest in the lefty reliever has been reported since the beginning of the offseason, but no deal has materialized as of this writing.
Stay tuned for more happenings as the offseason continues.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
- The market for utility player Brendan Donovan, which had stalled for the past several weeks, could reheat following the news that the Diamondbacks will not be trading 2B Ketel Marte. Marte had been the most significant competition for Donovan in the market of teams looking for a second baseman.
The Donovan market has stalled not only due to the perceived availability of Marte, but also due to what some teams consider an extremely high price for the All Star. We reported here previously that POBO Chaim Bloom was seeking two top prospects for Donovan. Several teams have balked at the high price, including the Kansas City Royals, according to MLB.com’s Anne Rogers.
Teams may be waiting to see if the price comes down, but it likely won’t, says ESPN’s Jeff Passan, in answer to a fan question on social media.
As Passan says, the Cardinals do not need to trade Donovan and would be comfortable waiting until the 2026 deadline or the 2026-27 offseason.
Transactions
- 1/6 The Cardinals acquired LHP Justin Bruihl from the Cleveland Guardians.
- 1/6 The Cardinals designated RHP Zak Kent for assignment.
- 1/9 RHP Zak Kent was claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers.
Injury Report
- There are no further updates on the recovery from offseason surgeries of Masyn Winn, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, and Iván Herrera. Stay tuned to this space for future updates coming from Winter Warm-Up this coming weekend.
Looking Ahead
After the date for exchange of arbitration figures, the next offseason date of interest is January 15. This is the opening day on the calendar for teams to sign international amateurs.
The annual Cardinals Care Winter Warm-Up will take place on Saturday, January 17 and Sunday January 18, 2026. The Cardinals Caravan, which runs in conjunction with the Winter Warm-Up, begins on January 16, 2026. Details on both can be found here, and here.
The announcement of the 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced on January 21 at 5:00 p.m. CT. The only former Cardinal on the ballot is Carlos Beltran, who figures to have the best chance to be elected.
Blast from the Past
This week’s Blast from the Past will continue with the series highlighting notable events from the history of the franchise for a relevant period. The offseason brings occasions such as awards, retirements, baseball transactions, and other interesting events.
In this installment, we look at events from the period January 5 through January 11. For each event, its date, individual(s) involved, a description of the event, and any other relevant details are provided.
January 5, 1937 – The Cardinals signed 16-year-old Stan Musial to his first professional baseball contract.
January 5, 2024 – The Cardinals acquired RHP Andrew Kittredge from the Tampa Bay Rays for outfielder Richie Palacios.
January 6, 1967 – Former Cardinals manager Johnny Keane passed away at the age of 55.
January 7, 1985 – Cardinals outfielder Lou Brock is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers of America.
January 7, 1985 – Cardinals outfielder Enos Slaughter is selected by the Veterans Committee to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
January 8, 2002 – Former Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers of America.
January 8, 2016 – The Cardinals former scouting director, Chris Correa, pled guilty in federal court to five counts of Unauthorized Access of a Protected Computer and is later sentenced to 46 months in prison. Correa unlawfully accessed the computer system of the Houston Astros and entered their player personnel system and email database.
January 11, 2010 – Former Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire, recently hired as the Cardinals hitting coach, publicly apologized for his use of steroids that began prior to the 1990 season. McGwire had refused to talk about steroid allegations in a congressional hearing in 2005.
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