The Rays have turned another Cardinals castoff into a useful big-league piece, and this time it’s Ryan Vilade.
Vilade was cut loose by St. Louis in June 2025, then barely got a look with Cincinnati, where he appeared in just one game after the Reds claimed him. Tampa Bay has given him a real runway, and he’s made the most of it while filling a supporting role on a club sitting atop its division.
That’s a sharp turn from his time in St. Louis.
In seven games with the Cardinals in 2025, Vilade managed only one hit in 13 at-bats and struck out five times. The oddest wrinkle in that brief stint may have been manager Oli Marmol’s decision to use him against left-handed pitching instead of Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman after Jordan Walker was injured.
Whatever Marmol thought he saw, Vilade has looked far more comfortable in Tampa Bay. As of July 8, he’s batting .263 with a .785 OPS in 133 at-bats.
He has six home runs and has paired that power with solid walk and strikeout numbers. The Rays have mostly used him in right field, with a little first base mixed in.
He was originally expected to be a lefty specialist, but the Rays have leaned on him more than that because of their thin outfield. The results have been steady against both sides. Vilade is hitting .255 against right-handers and .269 against lefties, and his OPS is actually a touch better versus righties at .788 compared with .783 against lefties.
The Cardinals-Rays connection has produced plenty of familiar names over the years, and not all of them have worked out the same way.
St. Louis fans know the Randy Arozarena-for-Matthew Liberatore deal all too well, and it remains the headliner in the recent history between the two clubs.
But the Cardinals have also sent Richie Palacios, Dylan Carlson and Chris Roycroft to Tampa Bay in separate moves. Carlson’s stint in Tampa Bay fizzled after a strong start, and he’s now hanging on in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.
Palacios, once a surprise for the Cardinals in 2023, has settled into a role as a slightly below-average second baseman. Roycroft’s start with the Rays was rough, with two home runs allowed in two innings in his lone outing so far.
Vilade doesn’t really belong in the same bucket as Arozarena, though. He was picked up off the scrap heap and had already passed through four organizations before landing with the Rays.
And with Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom coming from the Rays’ front office, the connection between the two clubs only gets more interesting. Bloom is trying to bring that kind of forward-thinking approach to St. Louis, and maybe someday the Cardinals will find a Vilade of their own.
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