photo: JJ Wetherholt (Memphis Redbirds)
The St. Louis Cardinals made a series of roster changes at two deadlines this past week. The organization named their minor league Pitcher and Player of the Year, Brycen Mautz and JJ Wetherholt. Our history feature looks back at key events this past week in team annals.
Cardinals make roster changes
As is required every offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals filed their Rule 5 draft reserve lists with the Commissioners’ office on Monday, November 18. One player was removed from the 40-man roster, and four Rule 5 eligible players were added.
The 40-man roster had been at 37 players, but it was reduced to 36 when the Cardinals designated RHP Jorge Alcalá for assignment. At the same time, four Rule 5 eligible players, C Leonardo Bernal, RF Joshua Baez, LHP Brycen Mautz and LHP Cooper Hjerpe, were added to the roster.
The latter four are now protected from being selected in the Rule 5 draft, which will take place on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, the last day of the Winter Meetings.
All four are currently on the roster of the Double-A Springfield Cardinals. One or more of them should start the 2026 season with the Memphis Redbirds. Hjerpe is recovering from Tommy John surgery but is expected to return to pitch in 2026.
The roster became temporarily full with the addition of these four players.
The second wave of moves occurred on Friday, November 21, the tender deadline, as the Cardinals did not offer a 2026 contract to four players. They are C Yohel Pozo, RHP Sem Robberse, LHP John King and RHP Jorge Alcalá.
Robberse has not reached the major leagues and has been out since May 2025 with Tommy John surgery.
Alcalá had been designated for assignment on Monday, which removed him from the 40-man roster on that day. He was non-tendered to release him from the organization.
All four non-tendered players are now free agents. The roster was trimmed back to 37 players with the removal of Pozo, King and Robberse.
Further details can be found in these articles:
News and Notes for the Offseason
This section contains snippets of news that don’t require extensive coverage but should be of interest to Cardinal fans.
- The Cardinals named their Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year. The honors went to infielder JJ Wetherholt, and LHP Brycen Mautz.
Wetherholt ended his season with the Memphis Redbirds and is virtually assured of receiving an invitation to St. Louis’ Spring Training camp. The 2024 first round draft pick is on the precipice of his major league debut.
Mautz spent the entire 2025 season with the Springfield Cardinals and is likely to begin 2026 with the Memphis Redbirds. An invite to Spring Training is also likely for the left hander.
Cardinals Name Wetherholt and Mautz 2025 Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year
- The Cardinals announced 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.
- Cardinals 2026 ticket packs are now on sale with seven options available. Information on purchasing them can be found
- “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. More information about the event and how to get tickets can be found here.
The Big Picture
The deadlines for filing reserve lists and tendering 2026 contracts have now passed. The eventful week of roster churn ended with the Cardinals adding four minor league players to the 40-man roster and not tendering contracts to four others.
Details are provided above.
To clear up some possible confusion as to why Alcala’ was both designated for assignment and non-tendered, the DFA of the right hander only took him off the 40-man roster. Since Alcalá was not claimed off waivers, the non-tender was done to release him from the organization and make him a free agent.
Once a player is non-tendered and becomes a free agent, the Cardinals still can offer the player a minor league contract and the player has the choice to accept or decline. Multiple sources have reported that the Cardinals may do this with Yohel Pozo and Sem Robberse.
At this point in the offseason, we now wait to see what the Cardinals do in terms of trading some of their veteran players and potentially some arbitration eligible players. It is no secret that the team would like to trade Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras, who all have high dollar guaranteed contracts with no-trade protection. A trade of Arenado is most likely, and Arenado has expanded his list of teams to whom he would accept a trade to facilitate the process. Trading Gray is also more likely now than last season, as Gray has expressed openness to it. Trading Contreras is more problematic, though not impossible, as he has not closed the door completely to the idea.
Reports indicate that the Cardinals will listen to offers on arbitration eligible players, including Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar and JoJo Romero. Two of their nine arbitration eligible players, Jorge Alcalá, and John King, were recently non-tendered.
Trading Arenado and Gray would reduce the 40-man roster to 35, assuming no major leaguers are received in return. Trading one or more of the arbitration eligible players could open up additional spots.
The Cardinals need rotation help even without trading Gray and some additions to the pitching staff, whether in the rotation or the bullpen appears likely. The minor leagues do not have much MLB ready pitching depth, especially starting pitchers. Should there be injuries to the major league rotation, that lack of depth would be even more of an issue.
Making the necessary additions in the form of returns in a trade or by signing free agents is where the focus should be during the remainder of the offseason. However, cost-cutting may get in the way of this plan. The upcoming Winter Meetings will be a good opportunity to see where the franchise is heading on that front.
Stay tuned for more happenings as the offseason continues.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
There are no new trade or acquisition rumors to report.
Transactions
- 11/18 The Cardinals selected the contract of RF Joshua Baez from the Springfield Cardinals.
- 11/18 The Cardinals selected the contract of C Leonardo Bernal from the Springfield Cardinals
- 11/18 The Cardinals selected the contract of LHP Cooper Hjerpe from the Springfield Cardinals.
- 11/18 The Cardinals selected the contract of LHP Brycen Mautz from the Springfield Cardinals.
- 11/18 The Cardinals designated RHP Jorge Alcalá for assignment.
- 11/21 LHP John King elected free agency.
- 11/21 RHP Sem Robberse elected free agency.
- 11/21 C Yohel Pozo elected free agency.
- 11/21 RHP Jorge Alcalá elected free agency.
Injury Report
- There is an update on SS Masyn Winn, who had surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee on September 25. Winn says his recovery timeline has been expedited. Winn has resumed jogging and hopes to be cleared to swing a bat and field grounders soon.
- There are no further updates on the recovery from offseason surgeries of Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar and Iván Herrera. Stay tuned to this space for any future updates.
Looking Ahead
The offseason continues into its fourth week. The filing of reserve lists and the tender deadline have passed.
The next key date on the offseason schedule is December 7.
First, the Hall of Fame Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, formerly known as the Veterans Committee, will announce their 2026 selections. The nominees are Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela. Valenzuela is a former Cardinal.
The Winter Meetings will take place from December 7 through 10 in Orlando, Florida. This is the time when trades and signings may be commenced/finalized. In the past these Meetings were very busy and impactful. In the last several years, they have become less so, as teams are waiting longer for various reasons to make their decisions on players they wish to acquire.
During the Winter Meetings, the Rule 5 draft and the annual draft lottery are held. The CBA prohibits teams from having lottery picks in three straight years. The Cardinals had a lottery pick last year, so this year will be their final chance under the current CBA, which expires on December 1, 2026.
Blast from the Past
This week’s Blast from the Past will continue with the series highlighting notable events that occurred in 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 that occurred during the period November 17 through November 23. For each event, its date, individual(s) involved, a description of the event, and any other relevant details are provided.
November 17, 2008 – Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols is named the National League’s Most Valuable Player. This was Pujols’ second MVP award.
November 17, 2023 – On the non-tender deadline, the Cardinals did not tender contracts to RHP Dakota Hudson, RHP Jake Woodford, C Andrew Knizner and 1B/OF Juan Yepez.
November 20, 2023 – The Cardinals signed RHP Lance Lynn to a one-year contract. Lynn was drafted by and pitched for the Cardinals from 2011 through 2017. He became a free agent at the end of the 2017 season and played for multiple teams before returning for his final MLB campaign in 2024. Lynn retired from baseball at the end of the season.
November 21, 2023 – The Cardinals signed RHP Kyle Gibson to a one-year contract. As with Lynn above, Gibson returned to free agency at the end of the 2024 season, but after unsuccessful attempts with the Orioles and the Rays, heretired from baseball.
November 22, 2013 – The Cardinals traded World Series hero David Freese and RHP Fernando Salas to the Los Angeles Angels for outfielders Peter Bourjos and Randal Grichuk. Bourjos played for two seasons with St. Louis and was claimed off waivers by the Phillies in December 2015. Bourjos is now retired from baseball. Grichuk remained with the Cardinals for four seasons and was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2018. He played for the Diamondbacks and the Royals in the years since and is currently a free agent.
November 22, 1946 – Cardinal icon Stan Musial is selected as the National League Most Valuable Player and the Player of the Year by the Sporting News.
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