As the St. Louis Cardinals prepare for a different type of offseason than usual, new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has several important decisions to make concerning the 2026 roster.
With outfielder Lars Nootbaar’s recent injuries, there was some speculation that St. Louis might non-tender him to clear a spot on the roster. However, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that this will not be the case for Nootbaar.
“At this point in the offseason, the Cardinals are more likely to explore trading their arbitration-eligible players for helpful returns than non-tendering them to trim salary,” Goold reported.
Nootbaar is among nine arbitration-eligible players on the Cardinals’ roster, joining Matthew Liberatore, Jorge Alcala, Andre Pallante, JoJo Romero, John King, Alec Burleson, Brendan Donovan, and Nolan Gorman. Rather than letting those players walk for nothing, St. Louis appears focused on exploring trade opportunities that can bring back younger or controllable talent.
The organization has a growing logjam of left-handed hitters, especially with top prospect JJ Wetherholt expected to debut soon. Trading one or two of those players could help balance the roster while creating space for the next wave of talent.
The Cardinals received interest for their left-handed hitters at the trade deadline, per Katie Woo.
While the offseason is still young, one thing seems certain: Bloom is not in a rush to slash payroll. Instead, he’s focused on maximizing value and building long-term sustainability for the franchise. Cardinals fans may not see splashy free-agent signings right away, but smart trades and strategic decisions could set the tone for a stronger future.
The Cardinals can use these opportunities to set the stage for the future and focus on bringing back talent that can help in the next few years.
Tendering Nootbaar a contract and exploring deals for him and other arbitration-eligible players shows that the Cardinals are committed to their rebuild, and Bloom’s approach could define the next era of Cardinals baseball.
It will be interesting to see how the Cardinals go about clearing out roster logjams and setting themselves up for 2026 and beyond. Bloom has a tall task on his hands, and all of the issues won’t be fixed in a single offseason.
But Bloom can at least extract value from certain players rather than let them go for nothing. This may mean keeping Nootbaar instead of trading him, but they can still find ways to clear out their logjam of lefty bats.
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