The Cardinals are staring at a familiar offseason problem, and third base has quickly become one of the loudest items on the list.
St. Louis has a soft deadline of December 1 to start knocking out its winter work, and the club still has several holes to address. The bullpen needs help, the team is still hunting for a long-term center fielder, and the hot corner has emerged as another obvious spot that needs attention.
That need has been building for a while. Nolan Arenado’s run at third base ended after five seasons, and Chaim Bloom opted to move on from him as the Cardinals tried to hand Nolan Gorman an uninterrupted chance to lock down the job.
That never really happened. Instead, St.
Louis cycled through a handful of options and kept hoping one of them would stick. By the end of the season, the group had finished 27th in baseball in fWAR and 29th in wRC+.
Now the Cardinals head into next year without a clear starter at third base for the first time in a decade. Gorman, Thomas Saggese and Blaze Jordan all got looks there, and each flashed enough in small samples to suggest they can belong in the majors.
Jordan looked like the most complete hitter of the three. Saggese brings enough versatility that he’s more likely to settle into a super utility role than become an everyday third baseman.
With no obvious answer waiting in Triple-A, the search has shifted to free agency. But the market at third base is thin, and that scarcity has pushed attention toward a familiar name: Phillies corner infielder Alec Bohm.
Still, Bohm is not the clean fit some Cardinals fans seem to want him to be. MLB Trade Rumors ranked him as the 55th-best free agent this offseason, and his profile comes with real limits.
He has put together a productive run in Philadelphia, though not without some turbulence along the way, and he has benefited from being part of a stronger lineup than the one St. Louis can offer.
Bohm has driven in at least 88 runs in three of the past four seasons, but he has only 61 home runs over that same stretch. For a Cardinals offense that needs more punch, that’s the issue. He can drive in runs, but he hasn’t supplied the kind of power this lineup is missing.
The price tag could land in the $10-15 million range, and while that’s not outrageous for RBI production, it may be money better spent elsewhere. St.
Louis has other needs, especially on the pitching side, and could get more value by letting Jordan and Saggese handle third base early on. The Cardinals can treat the position as a prove-it opportunity for their own players and revisit the market later if the current mix becomes unworkable.
In Other News...
Cardinals Just Made A Front Office Move Fans Needed To See
The Cardinals have made another significant move in their baseball operations department, promoting Rob Cerfolio to general manager after two seasons in the organization. Cerfolio arrived two offseasons ago as assistant general manager and now steps into a larger role under president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, giving St. Louis a familiar face in a key spot as the front office continues to take shape.
The timing matters, too, with the club adjusting after assistant GM Randy Flores left for the Houston Astros. Keeping Cerfolio in the building helps preserve continuity at a moment when the Cardinals are looking to steady their leadership structure and keep the decision-making chain intact. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Just Put A Huge Part Of Their Turnaround On One Executive
The Cardinals front office reshuffle has put a familiar name in a much bigger chair. Rob Cerfolio has been promoted to general manager after Michael Girsch was moved into an advisor role, a change that underscores how much St. Louis has leaned on Cerfolio since he arrived in October 2024 as assistant general manager overseeing player development. His impact on the farm system has been one of the quieter reasons the organization has felt more stable of late, even as the big league side has continued to search for the right formula.
Cerfolio now steps into the job alongside Chaim Bloom, giving the Cardinals a leadership structure that still includes a strong executive and scouting group around him. The promotion also says plenty about where the organization believes its turnaround work has been happening, and how central player development has become to the bigger picture in St. Louis. What remains to be seen is how the new alignment will shape the next phase of the clubs roster-building plan. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Chasing A High-Upside Arm Before This Window Closes
An 18-year-old Japanese pitching prospect is already drawing attention from across Major League Baseball, and the Cardinals are part of the group keeping tabs. Shoki Oda has reportedly met with several teams as he weighs whether to sign in the United States rather than go through the NPB Draft, a decision that would put him on a different development track than the one most young Japanese arms follow.
For St. Louis, the appeal is obvious: Oda is viewed as a high-upside arm with fastball velocity and plenty of room to grow. He is eligible to sign starting Jan. 15, 2027, unless international signing rules are altered by labor issues, so this is hardly an immediate roster move. Still, the fact that the Cardinals are already involved suggests they are looking well ahead for pitching talent before the market tightens. [Read more 🡒]