The Cardinals’ offseason shopping list starts with the bullpen, and it’s not particularly close.
St. Louis spent much of this season looking like a club ahead of schedule in its rebuild, but the relief corps still dragged the group in plenty of moments.
The Cardinals blew 30 saves and finished with a 4.40 ERA out of the bullpen, making that unit the clearest problem area on the roster. Riley O'Brien did at least give them a notable bright spot, tying for the most saves in the National League with 38, but the overall picture was still shaky.
The staff threw 613 2/3 innings, and while several young arms made an impression, the Cardinals need more stability if they want to get back into the postseason mix soon.
That likely means bringing in help, and the way St. Louis has operated in recent years suggests it could look for affordable arms it can potentially move later.
The club already dealt JoJo Romero, one of its better relievers, at the trade deadline, and that fit a pattern the Cardinals have followed over the past few seasons. However they go about it, the goal is the same: add a couple of relievers who can protect leads.
The rotation is in a better place, but it still needs a boost at the top.
St. Louis ranked 12th in the league with a 4.17 ERA from its starters, a solid number for a group that leaned on young pitching.
Michael McGreevy, Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy are expected to have spots, and the Cardinals also have several younger options in the mix, including Quinn Mathews, Liam Doyle, Tanner Franklin and Jurrangelo Cijntje. Even with that depth, there’s no established ace in the group after Sonny Gray was traded away last offseason.
That leaves the Cardinals relying on a lot of unproven talent, which is why adding a proven front-end starter would make so much sense.
Third base is the other big question mark, and Oliver Marmol made that clear last week when he said the competition there was "wide open."
The position didn’t produce nearly enough offense for a premium spot on the diamond, and the Cardinals ranked among the worst teams in the league in most offensive categories at third. Thomas Saggese finished strong, but he was sent back to the minors after an uneven first stretch.
Blaze Jordan showed some flashes in his rookie year, though not enough to lock the job down. Nolan Gorman is still in the picture, and José Fermín could also be part of the mix.
For a team that was fortunate to have Nolan Arenado anchoring third base for five years, this is a very different setup. The Cardinals are headed into a real battle for the job, and they’ll be hoping someone makes the kind of jump Jordan Walker did this season.
In Other News...
Oli Marmol Revisited The Early Goldschmidt Lesson That Changed Him
Long before the Cardinals were sorting through the present-day details of their roster, Oliver Marmol was already learning a lesson that would shape the way he handled players. In a private conversation, Paul Goldschmidt told Marmol that some of the younger guys felt intimidated by the managers demanding style, a blunt message that landed hard enough to stick with him. Marmol recently revisited that exchange as a turning point, one that forced him to think differently about how he connected with the clubs youngest players.
The memory appears to trace back to a 2023 road trip, though the exact timing and some of the names around the conversation are a little hazy now. Even so, the takeaway is clear for a manager whose edge was never in question: the challenge was not just getting players to meet a standard, but making sure they could hear it without feeling shut out. For the Cardinals, that kind of evolution matters because it says as much about the tone in the room as it does about the results on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals May Have An Expensive Answer To Their Third Base Problem
The Cardinals have taken care of a couple of major offseason chores already, with catcher and center field looking settled, but third base remains the lineups most obvious hole. It has been a weak spot since 2025, and that makes it one of the key areas St. Louis has to address if it wants a cleaner, more complete roster heading into next season.
One name to watch is Teruaki Sato, the 27-year-old third baseman and reigning MVP from Nippon Professional Baseball, who profiles as one of the top free agents available. He could offer an immediate answer at the hot corner, but the fit is not without questions, from his defensive home to the strikeout concerns that follow him, and on top of all that comes the price tag tied to bringing him over through the posting system. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Walkers Late Slump Just Took On Bigger Meaning
Jordan Walkers breakout 2026 season already had all the markers of a budding star for the Cardinals, with his first All-Star nod and a Home Run Derby title giving St. Louis plenty to dream on. But the finish to his year now looks a little different in hindsight, after Chaim Bloom confirmed Walker was dealing with hip pain and discomfort during the final weeks of the season.
For a player whose late slump had raised some questions, the injury context matters in a big way. The Cardinals have prescribed rest as Walker works to recover, and his offseason now carries a different kind of significance as St. Louis waits to see how much of that downturn was about fatigue, and how much was about the hip limiting him down the stretch. [Read more 🡒]