The Cardinals may not be in a position to make a real playoff push, but that hasn’t stopped the conversation from turning toward what St. Louis should do next.
At 68-69 and 4 1/2 games back of a National League Wild Card spot, the math is still messy with 25 games left. A surge could keep things alive, but there’s a lot that has to break right for that to happen.
Even if October ends up out of reach, 2026 has still been a clear win for the organization’s development. JJ Wetherholt has arrived and already looks like a star as a rookie.
Jordan Walker has turned into one of the season’s best feel-good stories, making the All-Star team and completely reshaping how people around baseball view him. Kyle Leahy and Michael McGreevy have looked like rotation pieces, Andre Pallante has fit in there too, and Quinn Mathews and Joshua Báez have both made the jump to the majors.
Riley O'Brien has also taken a major step in the bullpen.
That’s why the front office can afford to think bigger, even now. The farm system is one of the strongest in the league, more help is coming, and St.
Louis doesn’t look far from being in the mix in the division. The idea is simple: if the Cardinals are going to invest, why not start getting a head start?
That brings the focus to Luis Robert Jr., who the New York Mets have placed on outright waivers. He’s available, and that alone makes him worth a serious look.
Robert is 29 and can be claimed without giving up anything beyond the roster spot. His 2026 season hasn’t been his sharpest - 10 homers, 23 RBIs and a .716 OPS in 57 games - though that OPS is still his best since 2023.
When he’s right, he gives a club the kind of power-speed combo that can change the feel of an outfield in a hurry.
The track record is what makes this interesting. Robert hit 14 homers, drove in 53 runs and stole 33 bases in 110 games last year with the Chicago White Sox.
In 2023, he put everything together and finished with 38 homers, 80 RBIs and 20 steals. The Cardinals have already watched Walker flip his own narrative this season, so it’s fair to ask whether Robert could follow a similar path.
There’s also a bigger layer here: team control. Robert has a $20 million club option for 2027, which means a claim now wouldn’t just be about this season.
It could also give St. Louis a movable asset if he caught fire.
If the Cardinals decided they didn’t want to keep him, they could potentially use him in trade talks over the winter or even next summer before the deadline. The club already took a similar approach with Dustin May, bringing him in to help in the short term before the possibility of turning him into a trade chip later.
Of course, the health history is the obvious concern. Robert has had trouble staying on the field, and he has appeared in only 57 games this season. Still, he’s healthy now and has been since the end of July.
Fit is the other issue. Walker is already in right field, Báez is in left, and Nathan Church has been manning center. If the Cardinals claimed Robert, the question becomes whether they’d want to cut into Church’s playing time for a player who comes with some uncertainty.
That’s the decision in front of them. It looks like the kind of move the Cardinals should consider making. But it’s not without a real question attached.
In Other News...
Cardinals Just Took A Late-Season Hit They Couldn't Afford
The Cardinals had little margin for error down the stretch, and now they have to get by without one of the rookies who helped shape their season. St. Louis placed JJ Wetherholt on the 10-day injured list with right wrist tendinitis, a setback that comes at an inconvenient time for a team still trying to squeeze value out of every remaining game. In a corresponding move, the club brought up infielder Csar Prieto from Triple-A to help fill the gap.
Wetherholts absence matters beyond the day-to-day lineup shuffle because he had become one of the Cardinals most important young players this year. The injury also adds another wrinkle to what had been shaping up as a real National League Rookie of the Year conversation, and now the Cardinals have to wait and see how much time he loses before they can get a clearer read on the race and on their own late-season plans. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Look Smarter Every Week After One Risky Offseason Trade
The offseason deal that sent Brendan Donovan to Seattle was one of the Cardinals more aggressive steps in a broader reset, and it has aged in a way that fits St. Louis new thinking. Donovan has gotten into 39 games for the Mariners, but injuries have interrupted his rhythm and his production has been only modest, which has only sharpened the focus on what the Cardinals brought back as they leaned into development and rebuilding.
In exchange, St. Louis added prospects Jurrangelo Cijntje, Tai Peete and Colton Ledbetter, plus two Competitive Balance Round B picks that were used on Andrew Williamson and Dawson Montesa. The immediate return may not be the kind that grabs headlines in the moment, but it is the sort of package the Cardinals were chasing - multiple chances to build depth, spread risk and see whether a riskier move can pay off down the road. [Read more 🡒]
Adam Wainwright Still Owns Some Of The Most Chilling Cardinals Memories
Adam Wainwright turned 45 this week, a reminder of just how long he spent shaping Cardinals baseball and just how many big moments came attached to his name. He retired after the 2023 season with the kind of rsum that made him a fixture in St. Louis, from a home run in his first at-bat to the October outings that helped define his reputation, along with one last win in September 2023 that felt fitting for a pitcher who always seemed to have something left.
The Cardinals made sure his goodbye matched the career, staging a retirement ceremony filled with former teammates and club legends who knew what he meant to the organization. Even now, the Wainwright memories that linger most around Busch Stadium are the tense, unforgettable ones, the kind that still make fans think back to the edge-of-the-seat nights when he was at his best and the outcome felt anything but ordinary. [Read more 🡒]