The St. Louis Cardinals enter the 2026 season with low expectations. They had a very busy winter, trading away veterans like Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan and Willson Contreras. It’s a full-scale rebuild in St. Louis, the likes of which hasn’t happened in over three decades.
They had one more trade chip in left-hander JoJo Romero, but Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that as of now, it appears he’ll be staying in St. Louis.
With that in mind, the Cardinals might just be done this offseason in terms of making moves, which means this current squad is what will be on the field on Opening Day.
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Are the Cardinals finished this offseason?
Sep 16, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher JoJo Romero (59) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the eighth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | Joe Puetz-Imagn Images
Romero makes sense as a trade candidate because he is in the final year of his contract, but the Cardinals don’t seem to be inclined to move him, so that would mean that as of now, the bullpen is set as is. They also have a plan to fill the void of a right-handed hitter by using Jose Fermin and Thomas Saggese in the outfield more frequently.
The Cardinals landed plenty of solid young pitching prospects in the trades they made this winter. They also signed right-hander Dustin May to bolster the starting rotation and right-hander Ryne Stanek as a bullpen presence for 2026.
So, it would appear that as of now, the Cardinals are set for 2026. If they are out of contention at the trade deadline, May, Stanek and Romero would be the ideal trade candidates. But right now, this is what the Cardinals look like, and barring any sudden changes, this is what they should look like on Opening Day.
It will certainly be interesting to see if they’ve got anything else up their sleeve this winter. Chaim Bloom has been very busy since the start of the offseason reshaping the roster and the future. 2026 may be a rough year in St. Louis, but it doesn’t mean that there can’t be some progress made with the young core that they have.
But as things currently stand, fans can ultimately assume that the offseason activity has come to an end and that this is the team the Cardinals will trot out at Busch Stadium on Opening Day.
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