St. Louis is not shopping at the top of free agency this winter. President of baseball operations Chaim Bloom made that plain after a 77-85 season that kept the club in the wild-card picture into early September before a fade. The rebuild is further along than it was a year ago, he said, but there is still a lot of work left, and chasing contention with deals that do not fit is how clubs get off track.
That leaves a narrow shopping list: bullpen help, a veteran starter on a short deal, and a bridge at third base. Guaranteed money on the books is light outside the extension for JJ Wetherholt. The only notable contract decision among departing arms is reliever Ryne Stanek, whose $6 million club option for 2027 looks unlikely to be exercised.
The infield picture is already clearer than the winter market. The Cardinals designated Ramon Urias for assignment in mid-September to clear a spot for Wetherholt, then released him after he passed through waivers. The one-year, $2 million deal signed over the winter never worked. Elbow trouble in both arms limited Urias to 43 games, and he hit .151 with four home runs in 100 plate appearances. Cutting him three weeks ago is not the move of a club that plans to bring him back as the answer at third.
Third base is the position hole Bloom has already labeled a long-term vacancy. Thomas Saggese, Blaze Jordan, and Jose Fermin are the internal candidates. Nolan Gorman is the name that no longer fits that group cleanly. He is arbitration-eligible at a projected $3.4 million, and he is on the short list of non-tender candidates. If the club keeps him, he is just as easily a trade chip. The bat has never settled into an everyday role, and another winter of waiting on a breakout is a hard sell.
One outside look is already on file. In May, the Cardinals were one of 10 clubs with scouts at Koshien Stadium for Hanshin Tigers third baseman Teruaki Sato, along with the Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, Mets, Angels, Diamondbacks, Reds, Tigers, and Rangers. The game was rained out, but the interest was real. Sato, 27, is a left-handed slugger coming off a Central League MVP season and another big year in 2026. He would have to be posted, the posting fee comes on top of the contract, and the strikeouts and the glove are real questions. In a market that also includes the Yankees and Dodgers, St. Louis is a long shot. It is still the most interesting third-base name the club has been tied to.
The bullpen is the clearer need. It was the club’s biggest weakness in 2026, with an ERA around 4.40 and roughly 30 blown saves. Names that fit the budget and the timeline include AJ Minter, Andrew Kittredge, John Schreiber, Jonathan Loaisiga, Paul Blackburn, and left-hander Ryan Yarbrough. Higher-end options such as Adrian Morejon, David Bednar, and Alex Vesia would look useful in the eighth or ninth, but they figure to cost more than St. Louis has been willing to pay for a closer.
The rotation ask is another Dustin May type: a veteran on a one-year deal who can help in April and be moved in July if the standings say so. May himself is back on that list. He made 21 starts in St. Louis before the club sent him to Milwaukee at the deadline, along with JoJo Romero, for prospects Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale. May struggled down the stretch with the Brewers and will be a free agent again. A return on another short deal is a realistic fit, not a reunion for its own sake.
Jack Flaherty, still only 30 after a 4.48 ERA in 20 appearances for Detroit, is the other reunion that makes sense on a pillow contract. Jordan Montgomery is in that same conversation. Shane Bieber, Casey Mize, Kris Bubic, Tyler Mahle, and Nick Martinez are the other realistic looks. Zac Gallen and Michael King, if King opts out, are better on paper and likely too expensive.
That leaves Matthew Liberatore, who had the worst season of his career and is the roster decision that sits next to Gorman’s. A shift to the bullpen is on the table. So is a trade. The two have been best friends since childhood in Arizona, teammates on travel ball, reunited when the Cardinals acquired Liberatore from Tampa Bay in 2020, and big-league teammates ever since. Packaging them for a change of scenery is the kind of deal that would solve two lingering questions at once and give both a fresh start somewhere else.
What is not coming is a run at Bo Bichette, Tarik Skubal, or any long-term position-player deal meant to force a 2027 playoff push. The young core — Wetherholt, Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, Masyn Winn — is the plan. Free agency, this winter, is for the arms and the bridge pieces around it.
