Offseason In Review: St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals began their offseason by announcing major changes to the baseball operations staff and pledging to refocus on player development. Their efforts to free up playing time for younger players came up empty, however, and they’ll run it back with nearly an identical roster.

Major League Signings

• Phil Maton, RHP: One year, $2MM

Option Decisions

• Declined $12MM club option on RHP Kyle Gibson
• Declined $12MM club option on RHP Lance Lynn
• Declined $6MM club option on RHP Keynan Middleton

Trades and Waiver Claims

• Acquired INF Michael Helman from Twins in exchange for cash
• Claimed RHP Roddery Munoz off waivers from the Marlins
• Claimed LHP Bailey Horn off waivers from the Tigers (later traded back to Tigers for cash)

Extensions

• None

Minor League Signings

• Nick Anderson, Jose Barrero, Ryan Vilade, Rob Kaminsky, Yohel Pozo, Victor Santos, Zack Weiss

Notable Losses

• Paul Goldschmidt, Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, Andrew Kittredge, Keynan Middleton, Matt Carpenter

“The message is, ‘we’re going young,'” Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said at the conclusion of the regular season. DeWitt’s comments came on the heels of a press conference wherein longtime president of baseball operations John Mozeliak announced the 2025 season would be his last running baseball operations in St. Louis. Former Red Sox chief baseball officer and Rays senior vice president Chaim Bloom, hired as an advisor the prior offseason, would take the reins in 2026. He’d already agreed to a five-year contract.

It was a jarring change in tone for a Cardinals club that had perennially sought to compete in the National League Central. Mozeliak candidly acknowledged that the team’s primary focus would not necessarily be on building the best roster for 2025, but rather on bolstering the organization’s player development practice and building out the type of modern baseball operations systems and infrastructure that the Cardinals no longer possessed.

“Yes, this is a reset,” Mozeliak said at the time. “Yes, this is going to be where we’re not focusing on necessarily building the best possible roster we can.”