Though the offseason is not yet complete and spring training is right around the corner, pundits around Major League Baseball are handing out grades for each team in the big leagues.

With regards to the St. Louis Cardinals, former MLB executive Jim Bowden of The Athletic has given the team a “B” for its offseason to this point.

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Thus far, the Cardinals winter has revolved around the beginning stages of the rebuild under first-year executive Chaim Bloom. The Cardinals have moved on from former All-Stars Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado, acquiring several younger prospects and stop-gap pitchers like Hunter Dobbins and Richard Fitts in the process.

And the team could still move on from Brendan Donovan, who has been coveted on the trade market, but that hasn’t happened yet. The Seattle Mariners still feel like the biggest possibility on that front with less than two weeks to go until pitchers and catchers report.

The Chaim Bloom era has begun in St. Louis. His first offseason running the team was highlighted by dealing veterans Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado, who all waived their no-trade clauses. The Cardinals focused on obtaining young, controllable pitching prospects back in all of their trades, with lefty Brandon Clarke from the Gray deal having the highest upside.

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There’s no way of sugar coating it: Any time you move on from three of your highest-profile players, you are destined for a rough go of it. However, what the group lacks in established big leaguers, they will make up for intrigue and player development. Top prospect JJ Wetherholt, who is a consensus Top-10 prospect in the sport, will debut at some point and Liam Doyle, a first-round pick in 2025, could as well.

By getting younger and more athletic, the Cardinals should play an exciting – albeit inconsistent, brand of baseball. By signing Dustin May and Ryne Stanek, the hope is that the group can stay afloat enough in the first half to keep things interesting.

Bowden, like most people, thinks the Cardinals will finish last. It’s a reasonable assumption considering the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds all made the playoffs in 2025, and then the Pittsburgh Pirates went out and made several moves to improve this winter.

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All four teams appear better than the Cardinals on paper, but at least the game isn’t played on paper.

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