The St. Louis Cardinals are heading into a winter that looks nothing like last year’s.
A year ago, the mission was clear: move veterans, keep replenishing the farm system and use low-cost additions to patch obvious holes. Dustin May was the clearest example of that approach.
He signed with St. Louis, spent the first half of the season there and then was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Ryne Stanek and Ramon Urias also joined the Cardinals, though neither ended up being moved before the deadline.
This offseason figures to be different. The Cardinals no longer have a cluster of aging pieces to flip, and president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom is operating at a different stage of the rebuild. That means the focus shifts from selling off veterans to sorting out the next layer of the roster.
One of the biggest needs is still in the rotation. St.
Louis has one of the youngest rosters in baseball, and after moving May, the club could use another veteran starter. Jack Flaherty has been mentioned as one possible fit, but the broader idea is simple: follow the same model used with May.
Sign an interesting veteran arm, see whether he can help push the team toward a playoff race, and if he does, great. If not, turn him into prospects.
Third base is the other real lineup question hanging over the Cardinals. There aren’t many spots that look unsettled, but this one does. Internal options include Thomas Saggese and Blaze Jordan, while Jesus Baez could enter the conversation at some point in 2027.
There’s also the matter of Matthew Liberatore. The left-hander went through the toughest season of his career in 2026, yet St.
Louis stuck with him in the rotation all year. The Cardinals now have to decide what that means going forward and whether the same role makes sense in 2027.
The bullpen needs attention too, and probably a lot of it. Stanek arrived last offseason and has a club option for 2027, though it would be somewhat surprising if that option is exercised.
Even so, the bigger issue is that the Cardinals need multiple relief additions. Their bullpen was the team’s biggest weakness in 2026.
And looming over all of it is the possibility of a lockout. The collective bargaining agreement expires after the season, and there is a real chance baseball could shut down this winter.
For a young team like the Cardinals, that creates another layer of urgency. If a lockout hits, the club won’t be able to keep the same level of communication with players on the 40-man roster.
So before that happens, St. Louis needs its programs and plans in place quickly.
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Cardinals Linked To A Familiar Arm Who Could Steady This Rotation
The Cardinals are headed into free agency with a rotation that still leans young, which makes the idea of adding a proven starter easy to understand. One familiar name has already surfaced as a potential fit: Jack Flaherty, the former St. Louis right-hander who is now on the market again and carries both history with the club and the kind of experience a staff like this could use.
Flahertys appeal goes beyond nostalgia. He has already shown he can handle the expectations that come with pitching in St. Louis, and his recent work suggests he could still bring value as a stabilizing veteran in a group that needs one. For the Cardinals, the question is whether this is the right moment to bring back a pitcher they know well and whether the reunion would make as much sense for the rotation as it might for the player himself. [Read more 🡒]
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Cardinals Fans Have A Postseason Choice Shaped By Old Grudges
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The Dodgers, Brewers, Yankees and Braves all come with built-in baggage for a St. Louis audience, while teams like the Padres, Guardians, Rays, White Sox and even the Angels offer different levels of neutrality depending on how much history a fan is willing to overlook. It is less about finding a perfect fit than deciding which dislike can be lived with for a few October weeks, and for Cardinals fans that kind of postseason math is part of the fun. [Read more 🡒]