photo: Alec Burleson (Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports)
Utility player Alec Burleson won the first Silver Slugger award of his career. Bryan Torres was added to the Cardinals’ 40-man roster as the first flurry of offseason moves began. This week’s history feature looks at every Cardinal to win a Silver Slugger award since its creation.
Alec Burleson earns first Silver Slugger award
The annual Silver Slugger awards were handed out this past week on November 6 for the NL and November 7 for the AL.
The Cardinals had two of the three finalists for the NL utility player Silver Slugger, Brendan Donovan and Alec Burleson. When the winners were announced, it was Burleson who took home the award.
Burleson manned three positions for the Cardinals during the 2025 season. He played 50 games at first base, spelling regular first sacker Willson Contreras, and 75 games in the outfield, 41 in left field and 34 in right field. Burleson also hit as the DH in 22 games and even pitched in one game.
His 2025 season saw him reach career-highs in batting average (.290), on-base percentage (.343), slugging (.459), and OPS (.802). The left-handed hitter also hit 26 doubles and two triples, both career-highs. Burleson hit 18 HRs and drove in 69 runs in his 2025 campaign.
The soon-to-be 27 year old will be eligible for arbitration for the first time in 2026. He is projected by MLB Trade Rumors to garner around $3.5 million in his first year of arbitration.
In addition to all these accolades, Burleson hit another milestone in his personal life, when he and his wife welcomed their first child, son Braxton Andrew, on October 4.
Congratulations are in order on two fronts for Alec Burleson.
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.
- Last week we reported that former Cardinal Albert Pujols was believed to be the favorite for the San Diego Padres manager position. That belief turned out to be false. The Padres instead hired former pitcher Craig Stammen as their new manager, replacing Mike Shildt, who resigned in mid-October.
For those fans who are eager to continue to see Cardinal players play baseball for an extended time, the Arizona Fall League is for you. Eight Cardinal minor league players, five pitchers and three position players are currently playing in the AFL for the Glendale Desert Dogs. This league will play through November 12. Most games are available to stream on the AFL website here. It should be noted that it appears Glendale home games are not available to stream but most, if not all, road games can be streamed.
- “Banana Ball” will return to Busch Stadium in 2026. The Savannah Bananas are scheduled to return to St. Louis next year for two games. The 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 first week of the offseason has concluded. This week we saw Miles Mikolas declare free agency and not receive the Qualifying Offer from the Cardinals.
The 40-man roster was reduced to 37, as two players on the roster, Roddery Muñoz and Michael Siani, were claimed off waivers by the Reds and the Braves.
One additional player, LHP Anthony Veneziano, was outrighted off the roster and became a free agent. His spot on the roster was offset by the addition of outfielder Bryan Torres, whom the Cardinals added to the 40-man to prevent his loss to free agency.
LHP Zack Thompson was also outrighted off the 40-man roster, but his status was initially confusing. The Cardinals originally announced that he became a free agent like Veneziano, but then learned he was ineligible for minor league free agency due to his having spent the entire 2025 season on the injured list. Therefore, he did not accrue the necessary number of years to qualify for minor league free agency. Thompson remains under organization control for the 2026 season. The Cardinals could still release him or retain him on the Memphis roster.
There could be additional movement on or off the 40-man roster between now and November 18, as the team makes decisions regarding which Rule 5-eligible players they wish to protect. The roster currently has room for three additions. If more players are to be protected than Leonardo Bernal, Joshua Baez, and Brycen Mautz, more players will need to be removed from the 40-man roster.
As we covered last week, there are two dates in November when player movement occurs. One is November 18 and the other is November 21. Players subtracted off the roster on or before November 18 will have to pass through waivers and be subject to being claimed by another team. A player who is not tendered a contract on November 21 automatically becomes a free agent and is eligible to be re-signed.
We will know the outcome of these decisions within the next couple of weeks.
Stay tuned for more happenings as the offseason continues.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
There are no new trade rumors to report.
Transactions
- 11/6 – RHP Roddery Muñoz was claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds.
- 11/6 – The Cardinals selected the contract of OF Bryan Torres from the Memphis Redbirds.
- 11/6 – The Cardinals activated LHP Zack Thompson from the 60-day injured list.
- 11/6 – The Cardinals sent LHP Anthony Veneziano outright to the Memphis Redbirds. He declared free agency.
- 11/6 – The Cardinals sent LHP Zack Thompson outright to the Memphis Redbirds.
- 11/6 – CF Michael Siani was claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves.
Injury Report
- There are no new injuries to report. However, stay tuned to this space for updates on the recovery from surgery of Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, and Iván Herrera.
Looking Ahead
The offseason is underway. The Cardinals will be preparing to file their Reserve Lists with the Commissioner’s Office by the November 18 deadline. As of this writing, the 40-man roster has been reduced to 37 players.
After the Reserve Lists are filed, the tender deadline will follow on November 21. On this date, teams will tender contracts to all players they wish to retain that don’t have guaranteed contracts for the upcoming season. Any players who are not tendered contracts will become free agents.
November is awards month. The Gold Glove awards and the Silver Slugger awards have already been given out. The Cardinals have two winners of these awards, Masyn Winn, who won the Gold Glove at shortstop, and Alec Burleson, who won the Silver Slugger for the utility position.
Other awards to be given out this month are:
- Rookie of the Year: November 10.
- Manager of the Year: November 11.
- Cy Young Award: November 12.
- Most Valuable Player: November 13.
- Reliever of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, and Hank Aaron Award: November 13.
The Cardinals do not have finalists (top three finishers) for any of these remaining awards.
The General Manager Meetings will take place on November 10-13 in Las Vegas Nevada.
Blast from the Past
This past week, the annual Silver Slugger award was given out. This award, given out since 1980, recognizes the best offensive player at each position in both leagues. The award is voted on by players and managers and awarded every November.
Three finalists for each award are named roughly a week prior to the award being given out. The Cardinals had two of the three finalists for the Utility Player Silver Slugger award, Brendan Donovan and Alec Burleson. Alec Burleson was named the winner on November 6.
As noted at the beginning, this is a fairly new award and has been given out only since 1980. Nevertheless, the Cardinals as a team have won 32 Silver Slugger awards since the award was first instituted. Some Cardinals have won the award multiple times.
The most recent winner, Burleson, won his first. In this week’s Blast from the Past, we rank the 32 awards by players with the most to the least.
Below is the list of players who have won the Silver Slugger beginning with the player who won the most with the years they won listed.
- Albert Pujols (6 awards) This one was easy, huh? 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010
2.Edgar Renteria (3 awards) 2000, 2002, 2003
- Jack Clark (2 awards) 1985, 1987
- Bob Forsch (2 awards) 1980, 1987
- George Hendrick (2 awards) 1980, 1983
- Alec Burleson (2025)
- Paul Goldschmidt (2022)
- Nolan Arenado (2022)
- Adam Wainwright (2017)
- Matt Carpenter (2013)
- Yadier Molina (2013)
- Matt Holliday (2010)
- Ryan Ludwick (2008)
- Jason Marquis (2005)
- Jim Edmonds (2004)
- Scott Rolen (2002)
- Mark McGwire (1998)
- Ozzie Smith (1987)
- Willie McGee (1985)
- Ted Simmons (1980)
- Garry Templeton (1980)
- Keith Hernandez (1980)
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