The Cardinals spent another season stuck below .500, and the NL Central made sure they noticed.
St. Louis finished fourth in the division for the second straight year, with the Brewers and Cubs once again occupying the top two spots and heading back to the postseason.
The Reds, who were third in 2025, got pushed down a rung this season when the Pirates surged past both Cincinnati and St. Louis to claim third place.
The Cardinals were expected to take a significant step back this year and were projected to finish near the bottom of the league in winning percentage, but they still won just one fewer game than they did in 2025.
That leaves the Cardinals with a clearer picture of where they stand and how much work remains. The club did get encouraging signs from JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera, Alec Burleson, and Jordan Walker, who showed they can handle everyday roles in the lineup.
Even so, the back half of the order is still full of uncertainty. Joshua Baez and Leo Bernal look like natural candidates for two of those openings, while Masyn Winn, Nathan Church, and Thomas Saggese are all headed toward 2027 as they try to carve out long-term roles.
The pitching group is in a similar spot. St.
Louis already has some big-league answers on the roster, but it is still missing the final pieces needed to become a staff that truly scares opposing hitters. Andre Pallante, Michael McGreevy, and Kyle Leahy are leading the rotation picture, with Quinn Mathews and others in the mix to fill out the rest.
The bullpen remains a mess, though not one without any continuity. Riley O'Brien, Luis Gastelum, George Soriano, and even Justin Bruihl appear to be next-season options, while Gordon Graceffo and Cooper Hjerpe could also join the starting-pitching competition.
So roughly half of the 2027 roster already feels settled, but that does not mean the Cardinals are close to being finished. They still need a true star at the plate and another one on the mound.
Without that kind of impact talent, St. Louis risks being trapped in the middle, especially if the rest of the division keeps moving forward.
Milwaukee continues to set the standard in the Central. The Brewers keep winning on a budget and somehow remain not just the class of the division, but one of the best teams in baseball.
Their formula has been built on long-term extensions for young players, sharp trades involving major league talent, and a steady pipeline of arms. It is a model that has come out of nowhere to some, but it also gives the Brewers the flexibility to go in either direction from season to season.
Chicago looks like the team at the most obvious crossroads. The Cubs spend for quality free agents and are less inclined to trade away upper-level talent, which has left them with a roster that blends youth and experience while keeping the farm system in the middle tier. A decision point is coming, whether it is a mini rebuild or another round of adding money to solve the next problem.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has reason for optimism, even if the picture is still complicated. The Pirates finished above .500 for the first time since 2018 and only the second time in the past 10 years, but they still missed the playoffs for the 10th straight season. Paul Skenes and Oneil Cruz remain among the sport’s best talents, yet both are moving deeper into the phase of their careers when money becomes a major issue for Pittsburgh.
Keeping those two is going to be expensive, especially if the postseason drought continues. The Pirates also have an aging Bryan Reynolds and Brandon Lowe around rookie Konnor Griffin, who is locked up for the next eight seasons, but the rest of the lineup has plenty of holes. Their pitching staff remains young, and the organization has long shown an ability to develop arms, but the money problem has repeatedly surfaced when those pitchers have reached the point of a major decision, as seen with Gerrit Cole, Joe Musgrove, Jameson Taillon, and Clay Holmes.
The Cardinals made progress, but so did everyone else around them. The timing is different for each club in the division, and that means one front office is going to have to do something creative or explosive to take control of the NL Central’s next run.
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 🡒]
Cardinals Face 3 Offseason Questions That Will Define This Rebuild
The Cardinals spent much of this season looking like a club caught between eras, which is exactly what makes the winter ahead so important. Even after trading away top players and officially leaning into a rebuild, St. Louis hung around the playoff race for most of the year before finishing with a losing record, and there were real signs of progress along the way. Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson and JJ Wetherholt all gave the organization reasons to believe the next wave might be close enough to matter.
Still, the offseason questions are the kind that can shape whether this rebuild moves forward or stalls out. The bullpen needs help, the rotation needs a front-end starter, and third base remains unsettled after Oliver Marmol called the competition there wide open with several players in the mix. For a team trying to thread the needle between development and contention, those are the decisions that will tell the story of what comes next in St. Louis. [Read more 🡒]