Heading into 2026, we can’t promise that the St. Louis Cardinals will be good, but we can certainly promise that they’ll be interesting.

By trading Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado, the Cardinals are very firmly in a rebuild this season, but with several young players and new prospects to watch develop, St. Louis is in the infant stages of building its next contender. The hope is that Chaim Bloom and Co. have found the right prospects to acquire and that the rebuild won’t be as painful as some others around the sport have been recently (think Chicago White Sox).

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Good, bad or otherwise, the new-look Cardinals will take the field for the first time on Feb. 12, which is when the first pitchers and catchers workout of spring training is. The full squad works out for the first time on Feb. 16.

It should be noted that position players who are playing in the World Baseball Classic will report before the 16th. Right now, that is just catcher Ivan Herrera, though he’ll already be there early for pitchers and catchers.

Riley O’Brien is currently the only other Cardinals 40-man roster player on a WBC roster, as he plans to play for Korea.

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Before the Cardinals arrive at spring training, it’s really just about how many other players will be dealt between now and then. Brendan Donovan is expected to be traded and Lars Nootbaar could be dealt. JoJo Romero is also expected to be moved, and we heard one rumor on him on Wednesday.

Beyond that, health updates will be important on multiple players. Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins both ended the 2025 season injured, with Dobbins suffering a torn ACL that he hopes to be recovered from by the time Opening Day rolls around.

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The Cardinals acquired both players in separate deals from the Boston Red Sox.

If the Cardinals trade the likes of Nootbaar, Romero and Donovan, they could look to free agency to fill gaps and provide more time for prospects to develop in the minor leagues. The team has already brought in starting pitcher Dustin May and reliever Ryne Stanek this offseason.

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