Offseason Outlook: St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals didn’t use the word “rebuild” at last week’s press conference, but it’s abundantly clear that they’re taking a future-focused approach and stepping back from what’s been a perennial goal of fielding a contender for decades. The 2025 season will be president of baseball operations John Mozeliak’s final year on the job. A new era of Cardinals baseball is approaching. Let’s break down what the offseason could entail.

Guaranteed Contracts

• Nolan Arenado, 3B: $73MM through 2027
• Sonny Gray, RHP: $65MM through 2026 (includes buyout of 2027 club option)
• Willson Contreras, C: $59.5MM through 2027 (includes buyout of 2028 club option)
• Miles Mikolas, RHP: $16MM through 2025
• Steven Matz, LHP: $12MM through 2025
• Erick Fedde, RHP: $7.5MM through 2025

Option Decisions

• Kyle Gibson, RHP: $12MM club option with $1MM buyout
• Lance Lynn, RHP: $12MM club option with $1MM buyout
• Keynan Middleton, RHP: $6MM club option with $1MM buyout

Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; salary projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

• Ryan Helsley (5.105): $6.9MM
• JoJo Romero (4.045): $1.9MM
• John King (3.145): $1.5MM
• Lars Nootbaar (3.076): $2.5MM
• Brendan Donovan (3.000): $3.6MM
• Andre Pallante (2.145): $2.3MM
• Non-tender candidates: None

Free Agents

• Paul Goldschmidt, Andrew Kittredge, Matt Carpenter

As the Cardinals’ lackluster season drew to a close, it became increasingly clear that changes were on the horizon. Speculation ranged from the front office to the dugout. Ultimately, manager Oli Marmol will remain in place for the 2025 season, and Mozeliak will return for an 18th season leading baseball operations — but with a caveat. Former Rays senior vice president and Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom will oversee player development next season before taking the reins as the Cardinals’ new president of baseball ops. General manager Mike Girsch has already been reassigned. In the dugout, several coaches have been let go already.

It feels almost foreign to be discussing the Cardinals, a bastion of competitive rosters in the NL Central for the past couple decades, as a team now focused not on who might be coming into the fold but rather who might be exiting the frame. That’s reality, however, as much of the roster could turn over via a series of trades or surprising decisions on what otherwise seemed like straightforward option calls.