Photo: Rob Cerfolio and Chaim Bloom (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals promoted Assistant General Manager of Player Development Rob Cerfolio to General Manager. Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson have been named as finalists for the Silver Slugger Award. Our history feature highlights past offseason events that occurred in this time period for the Cardinals.
Assistant General Manager Rob Cerfolio earns promotion.
At a Friday, November 6 press conference, Cardinals President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom announced that Assistant General Manager of Player Development Rob Cerfolio has been promoted to General Manager.
The announcement came off the heels of the recent announcement that the Houston Astros had hired Cardinals Assistant General Manager and Scouting Director Randy Flores as their new General Manager.
The promotion was not unexpected, as front office attrition is commonplace at this time of the year. After the loss of Flores, a promotion for Cerfolio was simply the natural process at work.
Cerfolio, 34, was one of the first hires by the then-incoming President of Baseball Operations at the end of the 2024 season. Cerfolio came from the Cleveland Guardians, where he was the Director of Player Development.
Cerfolio will continue to guide player development as a part of his work in the General Manager position. The General Manager position had been vacant for the past two years after the former GM, Michael Girsch, was moved into an advisory role.
Stay tuned.
Cardinal players named award finalists
The finalists for the annual Silver Slugger Award were announced this past week. This awards are given to the best hitter at each position in both leagues. The list of finalists includes two Cardinals. They are Alec Burleson, a first base finalist, and Jordan Walker, an outfield finalist.
Burleson won the NL Silver Slugger award for Utility Player in 2025. This is the first Silver Slugger nomination for Walker.
The award is voted on by manager/coaches (who are not allowed to vote for players on their own team). The award was established in 1980. New awards for Utility Player and Best Offensive Team were added in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
The winners will be announced at 10 am CT on November 17.
The Big Picture
November is the time for major league award winners to be announced. The Gold Glove winners have been announced but none of the three Cardinals finalists won the award at their position.
The next award for which a Cardinal player is a finalist is the NL Rookie of the Year. JJ Wetherholt is a finalist for this award, and the winner will be announced on November 9. On November 11, the Hank Aaron Award winner will be chosen. Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker is a candidate for this award.
There are no Cardinal finalists for the Manager of the Year, Cy Young and Relief Pitcher of the Year, or the MVP award, winners of which will be announced this coming week. The Silver Slugger award remains to be given out on November 17. Both Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker are finalists for this award.
The annual General Manager Meetings will take place during the week of November 9th. This is the time in a normal offseason that discussions concerning offseason trades and signings first occur. This may change or be diminished due to the likely lockout on December 1.
Other offseason dates in November of interest are November 17 and November 20. On the 17th, two things occur. The first is the deadline for players to accept or reject the Qualifying Offer. The QO for a one-year contract has to be made to players during the five-day window following the end of the World Series. The Cardinals have not offered the QO to any player, as they had only one free agent, Ryne Stanek, whose club option for 2027 was declined.
Also on the 17th, teams must add players to the 40-man roster that they wish to protect from the Rule 5 draft. This will take place regardless of whether the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft occurs in December.
November 20 is the tender deadline. On this date, teams must tender a contract to all pre-arbitration and arbitration eligible players. Any player who is not tendered a contract is released from the organization. The Cardinals have nine arbitration eligible players – Andre Pallante, Nolan Gorman, Alec Burleson, Matthew Liberatore, Masyn Winn, Jordan Walker, Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pages and Kyle Leahy. The salaries of the arbitration eligible players will be determined at a later date.
Over the next couple of months, these and other activities will be chronicled in this space. Should the anticipated lockout occur, no major league activity will take place during that period. Therefore, after December 1, news about the labor negotiations, lockout relevant news, or non-major league activity of interest will be the focus here.
Stay tuned for what’s next in the offseason and beyond.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
There are no trade or acquisition rumors to report.
Transactions
- 11/2 The Cardinals designated RHP Chase Hampton for assignment.
- 11/2 RHP Chase Hampton was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles.
- 11/2 RHP Ryne Stanek elected free agency.
- 11/2 The Cardinals activated RHP Max Rajcic from the 60-day injured list.
- 11/3 The Cardinals acquired LHP Eduardo Rivera from the Boston Red Sox for RHP Juan Garcia.
Injury Report
There are no new injuries to report.
Looking Ahead
November is awards month. The Gold Glove, Platinum Glove, and Heart and Hustle award have already been given out. No Cardinal won one of these awards.
Other awards to be given out in November are:
- Rookie of the Year – November 9. JJ Wetherholt is a candidate for this award.
- Manager of the Year – November 10.
- Cy Young and Relief Pitcher of the Year – November 11.
- Hank Aaron Award – November 11. Jordan Walker is the Cardinals’ nominee.
- All MLB team, Comeback Player of the Year, Outstanding Designated Hitter – November 11.
- MVP – November 12.
- Silver Slugger award – November 17. Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker are finalists.
The Cardinals have returned all injured list players to the 40-man roster. The next offseason steps are to finalize the 40-man roster in preparation for the Rule 5 draft, and to tender contracts to all pre-arbitration and arbitration eligible players. This must be done on November 17 and November 20, respectively.
Blast from the Past
The offseason is underway, but it is likely to be of short duration due to the likely major league player lockout after the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires at 11:59 pm on December 1, 2026. The month of November generally is a time when free agency gets underway, awards are given out, and movement of players, managers, coaches, and front office personnel take place.
In this week’s Blast from the Past, we continue to chronicle offseason events that occurred in the history of the St. Louis Cardinals’ franchise during the period through November 2 through November 8.
Below is a list of offseason events from the past. The date of the event and the details are included.
November 2, 2000 – Cardinal 1B Will Clark announced his retirement from baseball after a 15-year major league career. Clark, a long-time Giants star, had been added to the 2000 roster by the Cardinals in a deadline trade from the Baltimore Orioles.
November 3, 2016 – Cardinal outfielder Matt Holliday is granted free agency.
November 3, 1953 – The sacrifice fly rule was reinstated by the Rules Committee. The sac fly rule had been dropped in 1939.
November 6, 1938 – Ray Blades is hired to manage the Cardinals. Blades was a former Cardinal outfielder who played for the team in two separate stints during a 10 year period from 1922-1932. Blades was a tough taskmaster, whose first decision was to prohibit the drinking of alcohol by the players. Blades was fired on June 7, 1940.
November 6, 1945 – Manager Billy Southworth leaves the Cardinals to manage the Boston Braves. Southworth is replaced by Eddie Dyer.
November 6, 1972 – The Cardinals acquire C Tim McCarver from the Montreal Expos. McCarver began his career in St. Louis but was traded to the Phillies in 1969. McCarver’s second stint with the Cardinals lasted two seasons.
November 6, 2002 – Cardinal manager Tony La Russa is voted the NL Manager of the Year. La Russa joined Bobby Cox as the only managers to win the award in both leagues. La Russa won the award three previous times, once as the manager of Chicago White Sox, and twice as the manager of the Oakland Athletics.
November 7, 1967 – Orlando Cepeda wins the NL MVP award, becoming only the second NL player to win the award unanimously.
November 8, 1984 – Cardinal RHP Bruce Sutter was granted free agency.
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