photo: Brian Curley (Hillsboro Hops)
The St. Louis Cardinals held their end of season press conference and added another pitching prospect to the organization. The club is preparing for nine players eligible for arbitration. Our history feature highlights memorable happenings this week in team annals.
Cardinals receive final player in Nootbaar trade
On Thursday, October 1, the Cardinals announced they have received the final player (player to be named later) in the August 3 trade of Lars Nootbaar to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
RHP Brian Curley, 23, played for the Diamondbacks Double-A affiliate Amarillo Sod Poodles. He was drafted by Arizona in the third round in 2025. Curley began his professional career in 2026 at the Complex League level with the ACL Diamondbacks in April. He was promoted to the Sod Poodles on July 27.
Ironically, Curley started Game 2 of the Texas League Championship Series against the Cardinals’ Double-A affiliate Springfield. The Cardinals lost that game and the Championship Series in Game 3. Curley was the winning pitcher of Game 2.
Curley was ranked by Baseball America as Arizona’s #19 prospect. Curley has not yet been assigned to a team for 2027, but a Double-A assignment seems most likely.
The Big Picture
The Cardinals held their end of season press conference on Monday, September 28. President of Baseball Operations’ Chaim Bloom responded to questions from the media.
No major announcements were made as Bloom reiterated the team’s plans to not take shortcuts on the way to return to contention. The addition of several veteran players is possible for 2027, but the primary message was to continue to help their young players improve.
There will be little to no activity by the team while the postseason is underway. The only occurrence of note were transactions made recalling all 40-man roster players who were either assigned to the Memphis Redbirds or ended the season on the 10-day or 15-day injured list. Only one player, Max Rajcic, who is currently on the 60-day injured list, was not recalled. Rajcic will be added back onto the roster after the playoffs and will use the remaining 40-man roster opening.
After the World Series concludes, any eligible free agent will officially become a free agent. The Cardinals have only one player in this category, RHP Ryne Stanek. Stanek was signed to a one-year contract with a club option for 2027. It is unlikely that option will be exercised. The team has five days from the end of the World Series to make that decision.
Due to the impending lockout that will likely occur on December 1, 2026, the month of November is the only time following the postseason that normal major league activities could occur. The first week following the World Series other important dates loom, such as the deadline for making a Qualifying Offer to eligible free agents.
Other offseason activities include the annual player awards in each league, the first of which is usually the NL and AL Gold Glove Awards. The remainder of the awards will follow over the next couple of weeks.
The General Manager Meetings will occur during the week of November 10th. Reserve Lists must be filed on November 18. This is when Max Rajcic will have to be added back to the roster.
November 21 is the tender deadline, when teams tender contracts to their pre-arb and arbitration eligible players. Each season there are usually at least one or more players who are non-tendered due to their projected salaries via arbitration being higher than their expected 2027 value to the team. Possible non-tender candidates by the Cardinals include Nolan Gorman and Pedro Pagés.
Over the next couple of months, these and other activities will be chronicled in this space.
Stay tuned for what’s next in the offseason and beyond.
Arbitration estimates
MLB Trade Rumors released their annual prediction of salaries that arbitration-eligible players could receive for 2027. The Cardinals have a higher-than-average total of nine applicable players of the 196 across MLB.
They range from Pedro Pages at $1.3 million to Alec Burleson at $8.3 million. Others include Andre Pallante, Nolan Gorman, Matthew Liberatore, Masyn Winn, Jordan Walker, Ivan Herrera and Kyle Leahy.
The estimates for the nine total $40.8 million, so this group of players of between just under three years and six years of MLB service time will be an important part of settling the team’s 2027 plans.
Final NL Central Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct | GB | WCGB |
| Milwaukee | 103 | 59 | 0.636 | ||
| Chicago | 89 | 73 | 0.549 | 14 | |
| Pittsburgh | 82 | 80 | 0.506 | 21 | 6 |
| St. Louis | 77 | 85 | 0.475 | 26 | 11 |
| Cincinnati | 75 | 87 | 0.463 | 28 | 13 |
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
There are no trade or acquisition rumors to report.
Transactions
On 9/28, the Cardinals recalled all 40-man roster players who were assigned to the minor leagues. This is a business-as-usual activity for the off-season. They are all from Memphis:
- RHP Tekoah Roby
- RHP Matt Svanson
- RHP Ryan Fernandez
- LHP Cooper Hjerpe
- RHP Richard Fitts
- C Jimmy Crooks
Injured St. Louis players were also “activated” on 9/28:
- RF Everson Pereira from the 10-day injured list
- LF Joshua Báez from the 10-day injured list
- 3B Blaze Jordan from the 10-day injured list
- RHP Hunter Dobbins from the 15-day injured list
9/28 The Cardinals claimed RHP Chase Hampton off waivers from the Washington Nationals.
Injury Report
- OF Joshua Báez (left oblique strain) was activated from the 10-day injured list.
- 3B Blaze Jordan (high left ankle sprain) was activated from the 10-day injured list.
- OF Everson Pereira (left hand contusion) was activated from the 10-day injured list
- RHP Hunter Dobbins (right flexor strain) was activated from the 15-day injured list.
- RHP Max Rajcic had right UCL reconstruction surgery (Tommy John) on July 23. Rajcic will likely miss the entire 2027 season.
- Cardinals playing through minor injuries as the season ended include Masyn Winn (left thumb), JJ Wetherholt (right wrist) and Jordan Walker (hip).
Looking Ahead
The Wild Card Series ended with eight teams advancing to the Division Series, which is currently underway. They are the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Guardians.
Following the Wild Card Series, the Division Series begins on Saturday, October 3 and concludes in both leagues on or before October 10.
The Championship Series will begin on Sunday, October 11 and will run through Tuesday, October 20 if necessary.
The World Series begins on Friday, October 23 and runs through Saturday, October 31, if necessary.
At 9:00 am on the day following the end of the World Series, all eligible free agents officially declare free agency. Ryne Stanek is the only Cardinals free agent. He has a club option for 2027 which will likely be declined. This decision must be made by the fifth day following the World Series.
Blast from the Past
This week’s Blast from the Past will highlight notable events that occurred in franchise history during a relevant period. The final week of the regular season ended a week ago Sunday, and the postseason began last Tuesday. This time of year brings events such as records being set or broken, roster changes to get ready for the offseason, and other notable events.
In this installment, we look at events that occurred during the period September 28 through October 4 in St. Louis Cardinals’ franchise history. For each event, its date, individual(s) involved, a description of the event, and any other relevant details are provided.
September 28, 1924 – Cardinals’ second baseman Rogers Hornsby finished the season with a whopping .424 batting average to win the National League batting title.
September 28, 1979 – Cardinals’ switch-hitting shortstop Garry Templeton had three hits total in both games of a doubleheader against the New York Mets on this date to become the first player to collect 100 hits from both sides of the plate. Templeton had a total of 211 hits, which led the National League.
September 29, 1963 – Stan Musial played his final game as a Cardinal. He had two hits in this 3-2 win over the Reds at Busch Stadium. Musial retired with 3,680 hits, 1,815 at home and 1,815 on the road.
September 29, 1965 – Cardinal pitcher Bob Gibson hit his first career grand slam in a 6-5 win over the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park.
September 30, 2005 – Albert Pujols blasted his 40th home run, a grand slam, in a 12-6 rout of the Reds at Busch Stadium. This 40th round-tripper made Pujols the first Cardinal in the history of the franchise to hit 40 home runs in three consecutive seasons.
October 1, 2009 – With a 13-0 rout of the Reds, manager Tony La Russa moved into second place for the most games managed in major league history. La Russa’s 4,770 games trails only Connie Mack, with 7,755.
October 3, 2007 – The Cardinals announced that Senior Vice President and General Manager Walt Jocketty was fired and replaced on an interim basis by Assistant GM John Mozeliak. Mozeliak became the GM officially on October 31, 2007, and served until his final contract expired at the end of the 2025 season.
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